Early 2000s soft rock really is the best genre
This playlist is proof
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After a few weeks of experiencing what some creators call “200s jail,” referring to a low number of video views, I decided to refer back to my most popular TikTok to date: bittersweet early 2000s nostalgia.
The playlist’s debut video, a duet with a creator sharing their affinity for early 2000s music, now has 5.9 million views. I later posted a video with the same sound, Rob Thomas’s “Little Wonders,” to celebrate the playlist’s 100,000th save. This video reached 372,000 views with 27,000 likes.
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So, I posted a video responding to Spotify’s comment with the text: “Remember when I accidentally made the most popular early 2000s playlist on Spotify?”—an easy attention grabber applying all the right keywords. I posted the video at 10 p.m., typically when my followers are most active, with the same “Little Wonders” sound.
The next morning, I woke up to eight new Instagram followers. I went to TikTok to find the video was an overnight success, and even earned me a couple hundred new followers. By the 24-hour mark I had gained over 1,000 followers from the video, which now has almost 950,000 views, and the playlist gained almost 20,000 saves.
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Every time I share my bittersweet early 2000s nostalgia playlist on TikTok, it’s an instant hit. Why does the algorithm love it so much? As many in my comments section love to point out: it’s just soft rock.
According to data from the original video, 59% of the viewers were between the ages of 18 and 24. The second majority group, accounting for 37% of viewers, were between 25 and 34.
Anyways, Follow For More
Insta: @sarah.alessandrini • TikTok: @sarahalessa_ • Spotify: @saraha724
After a few Google searches, I couldn’t find much expert material on why early 2000s music is so loved (If you’re a music psychologist or expert, there may be a fun case study here). I just finished the book This is What it Sounds Like by music producer Susan Rogers. Rogers writes that familiarity is a quality many listeners strive for, and that 25% of listeners visualize personal memories when listening to music.
I don’t think it’s a mystery why Gen Z and millennials love soft rock, specifically from the 2000s, so much.
This period of time saw a rise in alternative music that was just playful enough for radio. As an article from the The State Journal-Register states, the 90s gave rise to grunge, but post-9/11, the main message of Western music turned to hope and inspiration.
Also gaining popularity during this decade is pop punk, which appealed to teens struggling with depression and the pressures of growing up the same way grunge did, but with playful elements friendlier to radio: Think “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World or “Move Along” by The All American rejects.
When making this playlist, I did strive for a very niche vibe. There are way more songs from the early 2000s out there, many that may evoke a sense of nostalgia. But I was looking for the bittersweet element. I was looking for Rob Thomas’s “Little Wonders,” or Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know.” I wanted the wailing male vocals of Maroon 5 or The Goo Goo Dolls, and the piano ballads of Coldplay and Snow Patrol.
Now, take all those elements, all these songs that were already evocative of a wide range of human emotion, and throw nostalgia on top. These were the songs playing on the radio when we were heading to our first day of school, be it kindergarten or high school.
Millennials and Gen Z—at least the 181,000 who saved my playlist—agree we were lucky to grow up during one of the best decades for music.