On January 20th, President Elect, Joe Biden and Vice President Elect, Kamala are definitely going to be dancing the night away to celebrate their inauguration. The lineup of performances for the night was just released on January 13th, and it includes many amazing talents such as pop king Justin Timberlake, the powerhouse vocalist Demi Lovato, and more acts.

These stars’ performances are a part of the live TV special “Celebrating America” which is hosted by renowned actor Tom Hanks, and features more stars that have yet to be announced. The prime-time special will be broadcasted at 8:30pm across the nation and marks the celebratory end to a very important day in the United States.

Olivia Rodrigo has come a long way from her pre-teen years on her Disney Channel show Bizaardvark, and is now showing off her musical talents on Disney Plus’ High School the Musical The Musical The Series (say that title five times fast!). She also proves to be an incredibly proficient songwriter and lyricist, as shown by her original “All I Want”, which was one of the featured tracks for her show’s soundtrack and has achieved official gold status in the United States with over 500k sales.

2021 is already looking bright for Harry Styles’ army of fans! On January 1st, 2021, the pop singing sensation released the latest addition to the series of music videos he created for the tracks on his Fine Line album, which released in early 2020. The newest video features the song Treat People with Kindness, and it sets the happy, carefree tone that we can hope to accomplish for this new year (especially after the mess that last year brought).

The Tik Tok community never fails to surprise us with their talents and capability to come together. Over recent months, their biggest project thus far has been creating an entire Broadway musical centered around the Ratatouille movie, a Disney-Pixar animated collaboration about a rat pursuing his dreams of cooking in one of Paris’ top restaurants.

What started out as a short catchy tune posted on the app for a meme, turned into a grand overture with other creators making full arrangements of chorus and instrumental parts. Suddenly, other creators such as @blakeyrouse and @sophiajamesmusic started creating more music to correspond with different scenes from the movie, such as “The Rat’s Way of Life”, an upbeat melody lead by the character Emile, and the jazzy brooding tune of Chef Skinner’s solo “I Knew I Smelled A Rat”.

It is pretty fair to say that 2020 has been a whirlwind of events. With the coronavirus pandemic putting the music industry to a halt, artists and labels have been forced to adapt to this new world of virtual performances, socially distant award shows, and tour cancellations.

However, with all of the changes surrounding COVID-19, one thing is certain: musicians and music lovers together have chosen not to give up. Instead, we have learned to be flexible by making extra efforts to connect with our audience, finding new ways to create and release content, and most importantly, keep the music alive. Throughout all of the negativity, the music industry has persevered because of the passion of the people in it, and the feeling of hope that we get from the songs we create.

Now that 2020 is coming to a close and we look ahead to the new year, the question stands: what is going to happen in 2021?