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Draft:Cultural impact of Harry Styles

Cultural impact of Harry Styles

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Styles on stage at Wembley Stadium in 2022

English singer and songwriter Harry Styles has made a significant impact on popular culture with his music, artistry, fashion, identity, tours, and commercial achievements worldwide. He is regarded as one of the most influential men in fashion and a subject of widespread public interest with a vast fanbase. He is considered to be among the most successful solo artists who have emerged from a band.

His musical career began in 2010 as part of One Direction, a boy band formed on the British music competition series The X Factor after each member of the band had been eliminated from the solo contest. They became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. After releasing his self-titled debut solo album through Erskine and Columbia Records in 2017, Styles steadily amassed fame, success and public interest throughout his career, becoming a fashion and cultural icon and one of the most successful artists of the 21st century. Additionally, Styles has been often described by media outlets as one of the culture defining figures shaping masculinity and a successor to artists such as Elton John, David Bowie, Elvis Presley and Freddie Mercury.

Commercial influence

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As a result of the anticipation for his albums, Styles has impacted the music industry's economy on several occasions. After the release of As It Was and Harry's House, the United Kingdom saw their highest annual exports level since 2000 and led a double-digit percentage increase in physical and digital download sales, streams and other consumption of British music in every region globally.[1] In 2022, Harry's House was listed among the key contributors to an increase of cassette sales in the UK, the highest level since 2003.[2] Styles has also been credited for the rise in vinyl sales in both the UK and the United States, for a 20% year on year industry increase.[3][4] Sony Music Group considered Harry's House a major seller for their third fiscal quarter of 2023, when the company experienced record earnings and a 42.9% year-on-year growth in music publishing revenue.[5]

British export

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The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has credited Styles' global success with boosting music exports of the United Kingdom multiple times.[6][7][8] Media outlets such as The Guardian have claimed Styles is "Britain’s most lucrative export" with his broad international appeal.[9][10] Harry Styles (2017) and Fine Line (2019) reached number one in the charts of over 30 countries, and Harry's House (2022), over 50. Styles' debut album earned the biggest sales week for a debut album by a British male in the Soundscan era[11] and Harry's House moved more copies on vinyl than any other artist since SoundScan tracking began.[12] Styles' As It Was (2022) is the longest running number one song by a British act in Billboard Hot 100 history.[13] Harry's House was the biggest debut for any British male artist on the Billboard 200 in history. Styles also holds the record as the first UK male artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with their first three albums.[14] Styles was named the most influential person on Twitter in 2015[15] and ranked the number 10 Most Famous Contemporary Music Artist by YouGov.[16] Styles has also broken a variety of records in Asia, Europe and Latin America with his tours.[17][18]

Styles has been particularly praised for "breaking the boyband mould" as a solo artist and "cracking America". James Masterton of The Guardian labelled Styles as "a new kind of cross-media poly-talent" across generations, and Styles is considered a "renaissance man" for expression and fluidity in British stars.[10] Styles was the first British male soloist to win Album of The Year at the Grammys since Eric Clapton and was the first to win the award after originating from reality television.[19]

Marketing strategies

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Styles' brand is considered "a professional, consistent and emotional presence" with "elaborate" and "lavish" marketing campaigns.[20][21] In 2020, Styles won the Silver Clio Award for Adore You in the "Music Marketing" category after undertaking the "Eroda" campaign.[22] Moreover, in 2024, Styles and Columbia Records won the Clio Grand in the "Album Launch/Artist Promotion Integrated Campaign" category for their achievement with Harry's House.[23]

Other depictions

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Covers and mentions

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Many musicians worldwide have recorded their own renditions of songs from Styles' discography. Styles' songs have been featured multiple times at the Live Lounge, a segment from BBC Radio 1 during which acts often perform a track from another artist. Artists such as Jorja Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Little Mix, Lizzo, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Maneskin, Cannons, and Jungkook have all covered Styles' work. Additionally, publications such as Billboard have created listicles ranking the best versions of Styles' songs.[24]

Styles has also been referenced and referred to on multiple tracks by other artists. Styles is featured as part of the titular track on Stormzy's album This is What I Mean (2022), Drake and 21 Savage's Her Loss (2022) on the track Major Distribution, Brockhampton's JOHNNY (2017) and Logic's 44 More (2018). Taylor Swift's album1989 is inspired by Styles, most prominently on the track Style.[25] Styles is also name-dropped on tracks by Kelsey Karter, Dylan, and Logan Paul.[26][27]

Tribute projects

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Styles has been the subject of various tribute projects around the world. Vitamin String Quartet released a cover of As It Was commemorating the song through classical music.[28] Classical musician Steve Horner also gave tribute to Styles' Sign of The Times as part of the soundtrack for the Bridgerton television series two.[29] Styles also inspired a jazz-funk cover of As It Was by Prep that went viral on TikTok, and an additional experimental jazz cover album entitled A Visit to Harry’s House by musicians Spencer Zahn, Dave Harrington, and Jeremy Gustin.[30][31]

Styles has also been the subject of many tribute concerts across the United Kingdom, including the Candlelight Concerts series and a tour entitled the "Harry's House of Gospel".[32][33] Styles-themed events like drag brunches and themed bars have also been utilized to pay tribute to the artist.[34][35]

Scholarly interest

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Styles is a subject of academic research. His artistry, fame, societal impact, and sexuality are broadly the topics of scholarly media studies. Some higher educational institutions offer undergraduate and elective courses focusing on Styles. The courses focus on a dissection of Styles' persona and works in how modern celebrity spawns “questions of gender and sexuality, race, class, nation and globalism, media, fashion, fan culture, internet culture, and consumerism.”[36] Universities such as Texas State University have courses dedicated to researching topics of Styles' impact.

  1. ^ Paine, Andre (6 July 2023). "UK recorded music exports increase 20% to more than £700 million". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  2. ^ Paine, Andre (19 April 2023). "Cassette sales reach highest level since 2003". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  3. ^ Havens, Lyndsey (2022-12-12). "Inside the Return of Record-Breaking Vinyl Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  4. ^ Paine, Andre (30 December 2022). "New releases by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and more set to lead another year of growth for vinyl". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ Paine, Andre (26 February 2023). "Harry Styles, Beyonce and Sza lead Sony Music Q4 sales". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Streaming Powers British Music Exports to New High in 2020". BPI. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  7. ^ Harteam Moore, Sam (7 November 2023). "UK music exports deliver £4 billion boost to UK economy". PRS For Music. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  8. ^ "British music exports reach £400 million millennium-high". BPI. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  9. ^ Hunt, Elle (2019-11-18). "Tutu good: how Harry Styles suddenly became Britain's greatest export". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  10. ^ a b Khomami, Nadia; Arts, Nadia Khomami; correspondent, culture (2022-09-30). "'A new kind of cross-media poly-talent': the cult of Harry Styles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  11. ^ Neubeck, Kyle (21 May 2017). "The First Week Numbers for Harry Styles' Self-Titled Debut Are In". Complex. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  12. ^ Sisario, Ben (2022-05-31). "Harry Styles Is No. 1 With a Record-Breaking Total for Vinyl Sales". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  13. ^ Trust, Gary (2022-09-26). "Harry Styles' 'As It Was' Tops Hot 100 for 15th Week – Longest Reign Ever for a British Act". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  14. ^ Clarke, Patrick (2022-05-31). "Harry Styles makes chart history with 'Harry's House' around the world". NME. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  15. ^ Blair, Olivia (7 December 2015). "Harry Styles, Katy Perry and Caitlyn Jenner the most influential people on Twitter in 2015". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  16. ^ "The most famous contemporary music artists in the UK | Entertainment | YouGov Ratings". yougov.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  17. ^ "Harry Styles sets Scottish stadium concert record at Murrayfield". BBC News. 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  18. ^ Homewood, Ben (31 July 2023). "Harry Styles' Love On Tour in numbers". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  19. ^ McDowell, Erin. "Taylor Swift is the first person to win album of the year 4 times. Here's every other winner throughout history". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  20. ^ Woert, Hannah Van (2023-01-17). "What Harry Styles Can Teach Us About Branding". Meteor Street Studio. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  21. ^ Homewood, Ben (9 December 2019). "'This is definitely the most excited I've been': Harry Styles - The Music Week Interview". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Harry Styles - Adore You". Clios. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  23. ^ "Harry Styles - Harry's House". Clios. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  24. ^ Pascual, Danielle (2023-03-30). "Here Are 8 Memorable Covers of Harry Styles Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  25. ^ "All of Taylor Swift's Harry Styles Lyrical Easter Eggs in the '1989' 'From the Vault' Songs". ELLE. 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  26. ^ "Harry Styles face tattoo is fake, singer Kelsy Karter admits". BBC News. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  27. ^ DYLAN (2021-12-19). DYLAN - You're Not Harry Styles (Behind The Lyrics). Retrieved 2024-06-26 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "VSQ Performs Harry Styles' As It Was". Vitamin String Quartet. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  29. ^ Moayeri, Lily (2022-03-24). "Harry Styles' 'Sign of the Times' Gets String Arrangement for 'Bridgerton' — How the Cover Came to Be". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  30. ^ Padgett, Ray (2023-05-23). "Harry Styles' Album 'Harry's House' Inspires Experimental Instrumental Jazz Album". Cover Me. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  31. ^ Monroe, Jazz (2023-05-18). "Harry Styles' Harry's House Covered in Full by Dave Harrington, Spencer Zahn, and Jeremy Gustin". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  32. ^ "Gospel choir to perform Harry Styles' music in Glasgow | Skiddle". Skiddle.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  33. ^ Brooke, Amy (2023-04-19). "Experience iconic music by candlelight". Brighton On The Inside. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  34. ^ "Harry Styles Bottomless Brunch – Bristol". The Brunch Club. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  35. ^ Bear, Ally (25 January 2021). "There's a Harry Styles Bar Called 'Fine Line' in Argentina". KISS FM. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  36. ^ Clark, Alex (24 July 2022). "You can now study for a first-class degree in … Harry Styles. And why not?". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
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