Recession pop

Recession pop is an informal term used to define a genre of dance-pop music that emerged during the Great Recession and remained popular until the early 2010s. Its sound is often described as "feel-good" pop music, characterized by fast BPMs, high-energy production, catchy melodies, and lyrics centered around embracing hedonism, youthfulness, being carefree, and constant partying in the midst of an economic recession.

The rise of recession pop is argued to be the response of the musical industry to the decreased state of general consumer spending wrought by the Great Recession. Record labels translated parallelly to cable networks in this era, with music channels such as MTV branding this new sound directly to consumers inflicted by economic hardship. This hence gave rise to a new generation of performers typified with high energy compositions and showmanship. Through this phenomenon, prominent artists during this era grew to stardom through chart-topping anthems considered as major contributors to recession pop such as Lady Gaga, Kesha, and Katy Perry^[1]

With unemployment and inflation surging globally during the Great Recession, recession pop provided a sense of optimism and escapism to the regular working class in the United States, the population afflicted the most from the recession's repercussions, and in most Western countries.^[2][3] Notable examples of recession pop songs include "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas and "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry.^[4]

The first recorded mention of the term "recession pop" seems to have appeared in a 2009 Irish Independent article featuring an interview with Lady Gaga.^[5] However, the term only gained widespread recognition in 2024 after going viral on TikTok, a usual product of retrospective nostalgia. In July 2024, interest in "recession pop" peaked, with Google searches reaching an all-time high.^[2]

The term recession pop is sometimes used to describe modern music influenced by the style of its original era. Artists such as Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX have been associated with this revival.^[6][7]