Forever young TikTok is breathing new life into old hits

This year, Gen Z had their "brat summer", or so we were led to believe.

- Dan Milmo

This was the year that gen Z had their "brat summer," or so we were led to believe. Inspired by the hit album by Charli XCX, the trend was seen to embody all the messiness of youth: trashy, chaotic and bright green.

But on teenagers' social media platform of choice, TikTok, a more sepia music trend has taken root. TikTok users have been raiding back catalogues of artists from yesteryear, including Bronski Beat and Sade, to soundtrack their short, scrollable videos.

This year set a new high for use of old tracks on UK TikTok posts, with tunes more than five years old accounting for 19 out of its 50 top tracks this year. It is the highest proportion since TikTok started monitoring the trend in 2021, when just eight out of the 50 tracks were from back catalogues.

The trend is also global, with 20 out of the top 50 tracks worldwide coming from back catalogues, led by the 80s hit Forever Young by German synth band Alphaville.