How LORDE Changed Pop Music 

Even bowie said it, and he was absolutely right. I still think she completely deserved the Grammy for Melodrama.

I did notice a shift with minimalism being more of a trend but I didnt notice Lorde started the shift, very neat!

Lorde is the OG Billie Eilish. By that I mean Lorde was the one who really showed what anti-pop is.

"...the dry sounds of her whisper singing, is attractive. It's intimate, sexy, and heartbreaking." *FBI OPEN UP*

People don't remember that before Lorde - Royals came out, pop music was all about going to the club, partying, and electronic-heavy.

you could say that "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye had a similar "avant garde" feel , and had a great impact on pop music

I love Lorde. And yes she went against mainstream pop norms of 2013, but now, in 2018, her style has been copied by almost all the popular artists 1,000 times over and is now a part of mainstream pop. It’s no longer a cool, one of a kind, awesome, and original style; it’s now an overused, overrated, overdone, overplayed, and all too familiar style. Few artists genuinely succeed at making truly amazing music in this style today. And Lorde is one of them.

Tbh she did better than billie eilish at her age 5 years ago

Her.. her name's not.. Lorde..? I am thoroughly shaken wow

it's so bizarre to hear these kind of stories when you live literally meters away from Lorde. shes just so down to earth, best kid out there. Great vid!

Dave Grohl coining it "stripper pop" is golden lmao

Royals changed the sound of pop music, but it didn't change the core of pop music, which is using a formula over and over again until people finally get sick of it.

It's a good day when your fav channel makes a vid on your fav artist. Lorde is absolutely incredible in her music, especially with her album Melodrama. That stuff never gets old for me

Thanks New Zealand for a game changing artist

Lorde walked so Billie Eylish could run

Didn't David Bowie said she is like the future of music? If that's true I agree with him. Melodrama is a really good fucking album BTW

Pure Heroine and Melodrama will always be my favorite album of all time Couldn't choose which is better

Royals seemed like the mocking, radio friendly choice. heartbreaking? No Tennis Court. now THATS heartbreaking

She's actually a guy called Randy who lives and comes from South Park, Colarado

I initially hated that song when I was younger, but then I also hated 'somebody that I used to know' 😂damn I was a horrible song critique

Damn. That was a really smooth transition over to your sponsor

Lordes critique of mass media/pop culture is likely product of her cultural upbringing in Aotearoa. We receive the pop culture from the US, but because a lot of the cultural institutions presented in this media are absent in NZ we are more easily able to identify the artifice. We don't have the mega rich upper class. We don't have the isolated celebrities. Go out for dinner in a cheap restaurant in town and you wouldn't be surprised to see the prime minister, or an actor from the latest NZ movie. New Zealanders are cynical about the pop culture industry. We know the gross corrupting influence large media companies can have, because out labour/tax laws were changed to suit Warner Bros interests. While Lorde underwent the same kind of raised to be a star production line that many pop artists seem to go through, nothing sat right with her, because of the cynicism that NZers.

I don't listen to pop, but I could listen to Lorde all day long

I was 13 when this came out and I feel like this really started my whole interest in pop music. The artists (especially female artists) that were around back then didn't seem relatable at all to a 13-year-old, and coming from a family of music teachers and having grown up on classical music it all seemed way too excessive and vain to me. But Lorde was something so interesting and different and she was the first female artist I knew of that kind of presented herself more through her personality and music than her gender and sexuality? I feel like she brought a whole new kind of representation in the business and paved way for other up-and-coming female artists. I don't know, I definitely feel like Pure Heroine was in a way the start of the 2010s pop era and it's still one of my favorite albums ever.

4:26 did she just yeet the nastiest dab in mankind?

Lana Del Rey walked so Lorde could run

Please do a video on Melodrama, it REALLY took me by surprise

Every time I listen to this song, I think about how she took something near completely unrelateable for many of us (the maximalist and hedonistic lyrical themes in the pop and hip-hop scene of that time) into something pretty much everyone can relate by criticizing it and being upfront about how she's never had any of those experiences as a teenager from New Zealand. It reminds me of this quote from her I read once and had to look up: "I definitely wrote 'Royals' with a lightness in mind….I was definitely poking fun at a lot of things that people take to be normal. I was listening to a lot of hip-hop and I kind of started to realize that to be cool in hip-hop, you have to have that sort of car and drink that sort of vodka and have that sort of watch, and I was like, 'I’ve literally never seen one of those watches in my entire life.'" Sums up the whole thing very well. Another quote I found while looking up the last one: "Around the middle of last year I started listening to a lot of rap, like Nicki Minaj and Drake, as well as pop singers like Lana Del Rey. They all sing about such opulence, stuff that just didn’t relate to me-or anyone that I knew. I began thinking, “How are we listening to this? It’s completely irrelevant.”

when i heard royals for the first time, it was really something else. got hooked instantly

It’s so pointless to compare Lorde and Billie. They’re doing entirely different things first of all, and they’re both doing amazing. They’re both talented artists who create for the right reasons.

I agree with this video. She’s young yet poetic and precocious and she really did influence the music industry. I think she’ll be one of the artists that people will never forget.

I'm 5 days older than Lorde. What am I doing with my life?!

I love how you break down music.

2013 was literally the weirdest year in music, in all senses

" Full bodied over the top sounds" .... That is the problem I have with vocal talent shows like the voice and A G T. It seems as though female vocalists think that's the only acceptable sound that is equal to having talent. I adore a Stevie Nicks or Janis or Courtney, (and more, obviously), who sing with the rasp and pain of an actual living person with a history and a struggle. There is no substance to the perfect, shiny, pop flawless big vocal style. The flaws are what has always made great vocalists stand out.

She and Lana are definetely the most refreshing faces of pop

I have a newfound respect for this song. I always kinda dismissed it as another pop song, but this video has convinced me to give it another chance

Crazy what a middle aged geologist in Colorado can do with a digital audio workstation... Thumps up to Lorde

I remember I worked at Starbucks when this was released , on busy days we would play this song on repeat while making fraps n lattes .... good times

On her sophomore album, Melodrama, Lorde claimed that The 1975's sophomore album highly influenced her entire second record, which I always thought was interesting, so maybe that could be a cool video idea! Or just anything about The 1975, a group I'd like to see your take on!

I am Lorde Yah-yah-yah Somebody had to do it..

I love how you addressed all the artists that are literally copies bc it’s so freaking true

Lorde's impact really was huge. I've also noticed how artists like Lady Gaga and Kesha have changed and adapted to the more minimalistic/personal style with Joanne and Rainbow. Hymn by Kesha actually sounds like a Lorde song.

Lorde's vocals are so unique. She has a powerfuo voice yet melancholic and quiet. She doesn't need to whisper to sound like that unlike some on the artists today who try to follow her style.

Lorde definitely had immense influence on Billie Eilish's music!

It's so funny the fact that Royals made this whole thing and it's Lorde worst song. She did with her worst what many couldn't with their best era.

this song a whole bop

I ain't sayin a video on glass animals is the move, but i think it might be...

Royals will always be one of my favourite songs along with someobody i used to know 😩❤️

Royals: Exists Videogames: I'm a joke to you?

What about Amy Winehouse? She opened the door for the new wave of alternative female artists. None of the names in this video would exist if it wasn't for her. Just like Bjork in the 90's. Just my 2 cents, I could be wrong tho. I love Lorde, she's amazing. ♡

I was under the impression Lorde was like 35 when she got big.

Billie Eilish can NEVER get on miss lorde's level!

*Talk* *about* *Frank* *Ocean*

I love how Lorde kinda came out of nowhere and dethroned Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus

This isn’t Lorde, this is Running On Empty Fooooooooood Review.

It’s so sad that I’m like a week older than Lorde and I’m sitting watching RU-vid in a bath..

She literally never has to work again.

Royals is the 2010's version of Smells Like Teen Spirit

lorde's music is great but the influence it had on other pop music is........ so unfortunate....... all these other pop stars trying to be lorde with that mellow voice but they all just turn out bad and boring. lorde pulls it off and she sounds great, all the other pop stars after her trying to emulate her style just sound like shit

Whether it's Lorde's impact or not, I just like how lyrics are given more importance now by the audience (and producers) in which drives the more substantive songs that we have today. Makes you want to actually listen to a song, and not just hear it to dance to it.

Royals is kind of like the movie shreak when they first came out they were huge hits and there was nothing like them out there but then immediately after that caused leaguens of imitators to flood the industry changing it completely

3:02 "It may be the Sign Of The Times-" Me: H-H-Harry Styles?

Royals is a good song but it didn't change pop music. Its success is an example of how the change described in the video had already taken place. Royals was released in 2013. You mention Lana del Rey briefly but in the previous couple of years she had released Video Games (73 bpm) and National Anthem (85 bpm) both of which were slower than a lot of pop songs at the time. Both were in a minor key, National Anthem made a critique of opulent lifestyles, had elements of hip hop production and both songs shared the "sultry, smokey, mystifying" vocals that Lorde is described as having. That's almost half a dozen similarities with Royals. By the time Royals was released Lana del Rey had already won an international breakthrough act award so the execs had already taken notice and pop fans were nicely prepared for the phase that Lana helped usher in. Cue Lorde with Royals.

Royals was ahead of its time, it created that pop sound we started hearing 2017-2020. I remember back in late 2013 when that song was charting nobody had really heard anything like it. Pop music at that era was very loud, fast and energetic while this didn't match the style at all. Some were blown away by its difference while others said stuff like "why is she so monotone" or "this song is boring". Then as the years went on we heard quite a few other artists using that same formula, eventually billie eliish.

Her album Melodrama was on a whole new level of WOW

Great video as always. Was thinking a couple of years ago that Royals was a turning point in popular music and a catalyst for many of the songs on the Top 40. Whilst I personally believe that it inspired a big load of underdeveloped music, I still believe that Lorde’d ability to break the mould of the pop music at the time is incredible.

MIDDLETHONY 8TANO TALKING ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS YAAAAAAS!!

I love royals, lorde made the most significant song for sure, but Lana made the most significant album, born to die has been on the billboard charts for more than 5 years now and was the opening for everything that came after it.

Why would you make such an extensive video on Randy Marsh?

You should do a video over songs like "Hey Ya" by OutKast or "Walking the Dog" by Fun. that have somber lyrics but an upbeat musical style. I think it's awesome when artists do that, personally. Love your videos!

Can you do a video on Pink Floyd?

I love dream pop

Woah buddy, how old was she when she recorded those "sexy","intimate" vocals?

I love when lorde gets the recognition she deserves!!

Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish, maybe the next voice of generation.

Great video bro!!! Love pure heroine

I stopped at *Melanie Martinez.* My heart! By the way, Lorde's a legend!

"Randy!" -Sharon 2018

U should do about katy perry.. THAT WOMAN IS LEGEND. GOD. QUEEN. ALL

When you're ready to invade the music industry and take it by storm, look at what song styles have been trending for the past five years......and do the exact opposite.

She’s so underrated now

I took a lot from this video..the main thing being that this song is 6 years old and I'm doing nothing with my life

"It may be a sign of times..." I see what you did there, even if you didn't

Lorde and Lana Del Ray walked so Billie Eillsh could run.

Love your commentary yo

Lorde walked so Billie Eilish could run.

Billie is O’Connell while lorde is O’Connor and they are both the youngest artist to hit the billboard

Here after the downfall that is Solar Power

You should do the Geico jingle. I’m sure you’d make a fascinating video out of it with stuff that flew above my head lol

what about iyaz's replay

Lorde is way better than Billie eyelash

Thank you for taking this topic and doing it justice. I'm a 33 year old musician who loves music, not just the music he loves. I want people to embrace what they love, be it the headiest music, or complete pop-trash. Neither make you smarter, better, dumb, or worse and yet it's so hard to talk about it without people trashing anything that they don't already love. Lorde is one of those artists that, from my experience, people either think IS pretentious, or her fans are, OR that she's just "pop-trash" (Which even if she was, I would still embrace if she wrote as well as she did). I would have never guessed that in my early 30s I would EVER have a moment where I just sat there stunned at how much I loved an album, after just a few listens to an album .. written by .. a teenager. But "Pure Heroine" was that moment I guess. It wasn't even Royals. Royals is a remarkable song, but if you were to look at my Google Music album stats it's literally the song I've given thumbs up the least. On repeated plays when every song ends up being remarkable it actually falls to the background for me. Buzzcut Season's chorus still is one of the most beautiful choruses I've ever heard. EVER. Still sane, a song never talked about is probably my favorite song on the entire album. It's such a mix of being remarkably personal AND simple at the same time that it's the closest thing I've had in years to my mind being blown by a song. I've recently had to admit that not only do I love that album, but that I'd proudly display it among Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, Good Kid MAAD City, To Pimp a Butterfly, Ready To Die, Illmatic, Joanna Newsom's YS and Divers.. you know, albums that are uniquely amazing and greatest album of all time material. To me this is no longer strange, but every once in a while I have to remind myself that I have a possible GOAT album written by a girl in not just her teenage years, but MID teenage years. ... A fucking teenager wrote an album that I, a musician, know I would never be able to write. It's both heartbreaking to me and the greatest thing ever simultaneously. These kind of surprises are the reason that I love music so much. I've wanted to create video essays on music for so long because I write.. pretty much daily.. 10-20 paragraphs in RU-vid comment sections about stuff like this and .. it's probably a waste of everyone's time considering how terrible the RU-vid comment system before you even start to look at the content of them. For now I can step back for a second and know someone is doing a good job at this already. Thanks.

Billie Eilish (O’Connel) Lorde (O’Conner) Coincidence? I think not.

Hell yeah, new zealand fucking with pop!

I don't think she changed pop music. Still sounds like standard pop music, just at a slower BPM with a lot of reverb.

That sponsor transition: smooth

4:58 who is she ?

4:42 where are her legs she's literally floating