The complete list of the 100 most important moments in rock in the 21st century (so far) from The Ongoing History of New Music
The Ongoing History of New Music just wrapped up a ten-part series on the things, people, events, and developments in rock that we’ve seen so far in the 21st century. This is the complete list along with links to the web post for each episode. Podcasts versions can be found wherever you download podcats.
100 Most Imporant Moments in Rock in the 21st Century So Far
Episode 1046: 10-11 The devaluation of music
2 Streaming replaces physical media
3 The COVID lockdown
4 The final Tragically Hip tour and the death of Gord Downie
5 Social media’s impact on music
6 The introduction of the iTunes, iPod, and iTunes Music Store
7 The vinyl resurrection (starting with Record Store Day)
8 The death of David Bowie
9 File-sharing and music piracy
10 The death of the 12-year pop vs. pop cycle
Episode 1045: 20-1111 The October 7 attack on the Supernova Festival
12 The Las Vegas Harvest Festival shooting
13 Bataclan Massacre
14 Smartphones at concerts
15 The Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger
16 Mainstream music becomes a niche genre
17 The early 00’s indie rock revival
18 The death of Chester Bennington
19 The death of Chris Cornell
20 It becomes okay for artists to “sell out”
Episode 1044: 30-2121 U2’s 360 Tour
22 The Beatles end their digital boycott
23 The death of Joe Strummer
24 The death of Joey Ramone (and the rest of the original Ramones)
25 Radiohead’s In Rainbows experiment
26 The rising cost of concert tickets
27 The introduction of the iPhone
28 The birth of YouTube
29 The Oasis reunion
30 The Oasis breakup
Episode 1043: 40-3131 Metallica sues Napster and their fans
32 SARStock
33 The breakup of The White Stripes
34 The biopic trend
35 The drop in sales of electric guitars
36 Led Zeppelin’s reunion (2007)
37 AI enters the music space
38 Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons bring alt-rock back to the mainstream
39 Lollapalooza returns (2003)
40 The death of Scott Weiland
Episode 1042: 50-4141 The death of Taylor Hawkins
42 The Station nightclub fire
43 The rise of two-piece bands
44 Slow return of hifi music
45 Limewire gets sued out of existence
46 Album release day switches to Fridays
47 The death of Layne Stayley
48 Bots and concert tickets
49 The Radiohead stage collapse
50 The enduring appeal of Mr. Brightside in the UK
Episode 1041: 60-5151 Auto Tune
52 The acceptance of backing tracks in live performance
53 The introduction of Garageband and other easy-to-use DAWs
54 Rage Against the Machines #1 at Christmas
55 Green Day releases American Idiot
56 Metallica in Antarctica
57 The failure to stage Woodstock 50
58 CBGB closes
59 Jack White stumbles on the riff for “Seven Nation Army”
60 The rise of podcasting
Episode 1040: 70-6161 Rock’s #MeToo reckoning
62 The evolution of Lollapalooza and Coachella
63 Coldplay’s attempts at eco-friendly touring
64 Nickelback hate
65 The death of big chain record stores (Tower, HMV, etc.)
66 The Loudness Wars
67 Online fame for everyone (YouTube, TikTok, Vine, etc.)
68 The second life of legacy bands
69 Streaming takes over as the revenue leader
70 The Polaris Music Prize is established
Episode 1039: 80-7171 The Sphere opens in Las Vegas
72 The death of Sinead O’Connor
73 Live 8 Concert
74 The Nine Inch Nails-Lil Nas X connection
75 Dave Grohl breaks his leg
76 The assassination of Dimebag Darryl
77 The rise of playlists and the effect on albums
78 Apple introduces Apple Music
79 A Tool album, at long last.
80 The weird copyright infringement trend
Episode 1038: 90-8181 U2’s free album fiasco
82 The Sony-BMG rootkit scandal
83 The ever-evolving music video
84 MuchMusic and MTV bail on music videos
85 Revivals (punk, emo, ska, hard rock, shoegaze, psych)
86 The explosion in new genres
87 Radio’s challenges
88 REM breaks up
89 The death of Amy Winehouse
90 The failure of the Zune
Episode 1037 : 100-9191 MySpace
92 Pearl Jam’s official bootleg releases (2000)
93 Hologram shows
94 The goldrush for music catalogues
95 The Fyre Festival Fiasco
96 Kate Bush’s London residency
97 Artist residencies (Las Vegas, The Sphere, Adele)
98 Artists vs. Donald Trump
99 Maneskin wins Eurovision
100 Reunion Fever: Bands getting back together
