Music creation platform Splice and MIDiA Research shared their “Sounds of 2025” report earlier this week, highlighting the music trends that took over 2024 and predicting which ones will set the tone for 2025. “The music industry is always trying to get ahead of trends, but there is perhaps no more forward-looking cultural trend than sample usage,” said Mark Mulligan, Managing Director and Music Analyst at MIDiA Research. “The sounds that producers use to create today give us a window not only into the genres that will be big tomorrow but also early indications of entirely new genres that will emerge from the process of mixing samples across styles and cultures.”
One of the biggest takeaways: it’s the year of pluggnb. Blending the heavy bass and synths of the trap sub-genre with the harmonies of 90s R&B, sound downloads within the genre on Splice saw a 343% increase in downloads, according to the report. Unsurprisingly, apps like TikTok drive its global rise thanks to popular sounds across the video-sharing platform. Genres like Jersey Club, Melodic techno, drift phonk, and Afro House also saw major growth in 2024, marking trends likely to continue well into 2025 and beyond. Nostalgia also continues to be an important musical touchpoint, as dance and electronic sounds from the 90s and 2000s saw a resurgence in major releases in 2024.
Despite the blending of genres over the last decade as they converged in the digital space, listeners are reportedly finding their niches once more. Genres are still heavily connected to full-blown IRL scenes, each with their own aesthetics, hobbies and values, and artists and producers in niche sub-genres are garnering large followings while still maintaining their “underground” status. That fandom also often comes with its own brand of creativity, as listeners bridge the gap between creator and consumer through fan-made remixes shared on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Some even lead to the creation of new tracks altogether, with artists like K-Pop group Le Serrafim releasing official pluggnb remixes of their songs following the popularity of fan-created versions.
With a wealth of talent and genres with global appeal from Afro-House to K-Pop, artists, producers, and sounds from regions like Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa will also continue to heavily influence the mainstream—which has become a niche of its own in many ways.
You can read the full report here.
