What is the most balanced year in music ever songs wise

[312999]

What year in music do you think had a little bit of everything. Like not one genre dominated over the other.

I think 2007 was the best year for that.

Rap was very popular, lots of ring tone rap, even if some were not the best.

Pop was big, and slowly starting to explode more this year.

R&b was big and had some nice underrated songs.

Hot ac was very very big.

Rock and alt was big even though the big names were probably Nickelback and Hinder.

Country had a very big hit, Before He Cheats, and then Taylor Swift first started to slowly break through as a country star at that time in 2007.

Lots of artists broke through and got their big hits and became popular. Flo Rida being a good example like Taylor Swift although it was leading more to 2008.

Some artists made huge come backs (Bone Thugs N Harmony) for example.

The number 1s of the year had a little bit of all the genres as well.

I’d say probably the only thing weak or missing was EDM or any big European dance hit explosions.

What year do you guys think had the best balance of all?

I also think that 2013 is an honorable mention. That year also had a bit of everything including breakthrough artists and comeback artists.

There’s probably more things that I forgot to say, but you get the point, in my opinion 2007 was very balanced in pretty much everything.

[irice22]

2007 is a great pick! I agree. 1999 maybe too?

[dremolus - solarpunk]

2017

[Joe1240]

2006/2007

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

1994

[dkampy]

1983 is the correct answer

[312999]

Mar 31, 2022 12:48:18 GMT -5 dkampy said:

1983 is the correct answer

Was Country big that year?

[dkampy]

Mar 31, 2022 12:51:11 GMT -5 312999 said:

Mar 31, 2022 12:48:18 GMT -5 dkampy said:

1983 is the correct answer

Was Country big that year?

Sure, Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers. And Dolly Parton was huge that year. You also had Quiet Riot and Prince in the top 10 at the same time

[mikerivera]

Mar 31, 2022 12:51:11 GMT -5 312999 said:

Mar 31, 2022 12:48:18 GMT -5 dkampy said:

1983 is the correct answer

Was Country big that year?

Yes and no. That was the last year that pop country would still cross over into the mainstream, with Islands in the Stream as the last major “country” hit for quite awhile. Now as far as country songs that actually mattered, that year gave us three all time classics. Dixieland Delight by Alabama, George Jones’ cover of Tennessee Whiskey, and of course, George Strait’s amazing cover of Amarillo By Morning

[ilikemilk]

2013 easily.

[Kelly's 10th Fan]

1995-1996

The '90s in general is the most diverse decade on the charts IMO, but picking specific years is kind of a struggle bc country in the mainstream tends to coincide with years when two or more other genres/sub-types are on the outs, at least from what I can recall and see on skimming these YE lists. I didn't spot any country songs on the 1995 or 1996 YE charts, but damn near EVERYTHING else was there in multiples: pop, r&b, hip-hop, rock, electronic/Euro/house, even a few instrumentals and reggae bops. And within those bigger genres there were a lot of varying sub-types and songs/albums encompassing several genres at once, e.g. pop was equal parts standard uptempo/mid-tempo pop, adult contemporary power ballads, and singer-songwriter fare. "Rock" in 1996 could mean hard rock, soft rock, alt-rock, post-grunge rock, heartland rock, ska, or whatever Breakfast At Tiffany's and the theme song to Friends were. Gangsta rap, party/fun rap, 'conscious' rap, Miami bass/club rap, and southern rap all charted. You could have a song like My Boo be r&b, hip-hop, and dance at the same time and somehow make perfect sense. But by the time Shania, Faith Hill, and Leann Rimes made their big crossover splashes in 1997-98, the AC ballads, house, and most rock and rap subtypes were out.

[rainie]

maybe not *the* most balanced year ever, but i actually think the last year or so has been SUPER diverse chartwise. just looking at the current top 20, we have alternative / indie pop (heat waves), pop rap (big energy), rap rap (super gremlin), pop pop (ghost), pop rock (abcdefu), adele (easy on me), afrobeat (woman), country (til you can't), regional mexican (soy el unico), a house (?) remix of an elton john song (cold heart), and a goddamn disney showtune (we don't talk abt bruno). if we expand it to the top 30, we also have reggaeton (mamiii) and three r&b songs (hrs + hrs, i hate u, and no love)

[johnm1120]

The mid 90s was full of everything. You had the current superstars, up and comers, one hit wonders, comebacks, and legacy artists all charting together. Also a mix of many genres side to side as well, pop, rock, R&B, hip hop, AC, country, Eurodance, etc...

[Luckie Starchild]

Mar 31, 2022 17:34:51 GMT -5 dkampy said:

Mar 31, 2022 12:51:11 GMT -5 312999 said:

Was Country big that year?

Sure, Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers. And Dolly Parton was huge that year. You also had Quiet Riot and Prince in the top 10 at the same time

Good choice... before Ronald Reagan deregulated the FCC, one radio station might have songs in heavy rotation at the same time by Dolly Parton, Evelyn Champagne King, Dan Fogelberg, Def Leppard, Culture Club, Dionne Warwick, etc.

[phieaglesfan712]

Apr 9, 2022 13:47:43 GMT -5 rainie said:

maybe not *the* most balanced year ever, but i actually think the last year or so has been SUPER diverse chartwise. just looking at the current top 20, we have alternative / indie pop (heat waves), pop rap (big energy), rap rap (super gremlin), pop pop (ghost), pop rock (abcdefu), adele (easy on me), afrobeat (woman), country (til you can't), regional mexican (soy el unico), a house (?) remix of an elton john song (cold heart), and a goddamn disney showtune (we don't talk abt bruno). if we expand it to the top 30, we also have reggaeton (mamiii) and three r&b songs (hrs + hrs, i hate u, and no love)

I think this is a result of the fragmentation of our music consumption, with the collapse of digital sales. Something similar happened when digital sales collapsed in late 2001/early 2002. (I just hope that this leads into another R&B dominant period in late 2023 and all of 2024, like we did in 2003-2004. That was the best time in music in recent history.)

[jenglisbe]

It's hard for me to literally parse through every year of music, but I'll throw 1999 into the ring. That year had:
- the teen pop boom of Britney, Backstreet Boys, etc
- the Latin boom with hits by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, etc
- R&B artists like Brandy, Monica, TLC, etc smashing
- 'veteran' pop/R&B divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey had hits
- country crossover hits by Shania Twain, Lonestar, etc
- rock and alt acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lenny Kravtiz, Smash Mouth, Santana, etc had big hits
- the tail end of the Lilith Fair wave with hits by Sarah McLachlan, Jewel
- hip-hop and rap hits by Busta Rhymes, Will Smith, etc
- albums by harder rock acts like Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc sold well and those acts did well on TRL
- Cher had the biggest hit of the year with the dance song "Believe" and Lou Bega had "Mambo No 5"

You could break some of those down into even more specific categories if you wanted to (i.e. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, and Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, etc could be seen as different).

[kcdawg13]

2019

[roadrunner]

Hard to pick one year. I’ll go with 1987 but any year between 1982-1989.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

1997

[CF15]

2002 and 2013 each had a little bit of everything on year-end charts.

[dkampy]

Apr 30, 2022 23:55:10 GMT -5 roadrunner said:

Hard to pick one year. I’ll go with 1987 but any year between 1982-1989.

As someone of a certain age who began listening to music and following charts in 1982… somewhere between those years is the correct answer… it did not feel like corporations were controlling radio and anything could be played if it was a hit… now a days songs have to fit into their stations sound… for example if radio was still run like in the 80’s We Don’t talk About Bruno would have been a top 5 radio hit… but today people are surprised it made top 30…the 80’s is peak pop radio

[phieaglesfan712]

1975 had hard rock, ballads, the beginning of disco, and 5 country #1 hits:

[312999]

There was no rap though.

[big2000]

I could make an argument for 2020. Every genre had some huge hits that year.

[bjordan]

I would say the the mid 90’s to 2000’s. Those eras were the best.