“So what kind of music do you listen to?” is a question usually asked upon meeting someone new. It’s normal and instinctive to play it cool, by saying things like “I listen to techno and classic rock” or the ever ambiguous “a little bit of everything,” as if testing the waters to whether the other person is actually a safe musical space. 

Perhaps our hesitation comes from our tendency to assert and identify our individuality through our taste in music. Somehow, admitting to liking mainstream songs like Pop or semi-niche (and as a matter of fact not completely obscure) genres like Country has become a faux pas. Instead, we dub them as guilty pleasures – music we absolutely love but would never openly admit to liking. 

Even behind the armor of noise-canceling headphones and Spotify private sessions, our best kept guilty pleasures are being aired out. Check out the October 2023 Billboard Hot 100 and you’ll see Country hits like Fast Car by Luke Combs and I Remember Everything by Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves gracing the Top 10. Of course, catchy Pop tunes like Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift and Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo are also in sight. 

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The power of these hits are magnified on TikTok, whose algorithm favors trends and the use of popular songs. This inevitably made the platform a welcoming place for mainstream music, which may have triggered the movement of users confessing their guilty pleasures. Take for example, the different iterations of straight men coming out as Swifties, a title that was once exclusive for women and younger listeners. 

Or what about the trend of boyfriends downplaying their love for Harry Styles by begrudgingly accompanying their girlfriends to the Love on Tour concerts, only to reveal that they’re even bigger fans?

We can say that these once satirical TikTok trends are now a powerful force in taking out the guilt from our guilty pleasures. A more concrete manifestation would be the huge buzz brought by the 1.38bn box office hit Barbie, with a soundtrack that debuted 2nd place on Billboard 200 last August 2023. The Barbie soundtrack featured hit songs such as "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, "Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa, and “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj feat. Ice Spice and Aqua.

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[screenshot above or embed the 3 Barbie songs from Spotify]

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The power of popular music only magnifies and has actually been reported responsible for saving economies. We’re talking about the recent phenomenon of Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which together contributed an estimated $5.4bn to the US GDP, according to Bloomberg. Somehow, the videos of concert goers we see on TikTok have solidified into real life scenarios such as this one.

Does this finally mean that we can lay the concept of guilty pleasures to rest? Borrowing from Gen Z’s hyper individualism and inclusivity, there’s definitely plenty of room for just liking what you like and without guilt. Perhaps, true individuality can be found in openly listening to whatever you like– one Taylor Swift song at a time.

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