What music insiders say you can expect on the charts in 2026
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A surge of 2000s-era sonics, a hardening industry line on AI and a whole lot of familiar names are set to influence mainstream music next year.
Why it matters: Industry insiders say competition will intensify next year as labels, platforms and artists balance innovation with retro sounds.
- Execs from iHeart Radio and Amazon Music told Axios which trends they expect to see next year.
Prediction 1: The early 2000s band craze will return.
"I think nostalgia is making its way back into the music world — and this applies to any genre — but lots of nods to that millennial era pop," says Karen Pettyjohn, head of U.S. programming at Amazon Music.
- "Groups [are] something we're going to see again more frequently in the pop space. And that doesn't necessarily mean K-pop, but you're starting to see labels launching new groups."
Case in point: Netflix released two competition shows in 2025, "Simon Cowell: The Next Act" and "Building the Band," both focused on creating the next music group sensation.
- Meanwhile, the K-pop influenced girl group Katseye burst onto the scene this year, earning two Grammy nominations and a spot as TikTok's Global Artist of the Year.
Prediction 2: Olivias will dominate the charts, but a lot more big-name releases are coming.
"Olivia Dean is going to be one of the biggest breakout artists in 2026," predicts Tom Poleman, iHeartMedia's chief programming officer.
Driving the news: The British singer took on Ticketmaster for charging fans exorbitant resale prices for her upcoming tour in North America.
"We're looking forward to new releases from a lot of artists. Many still haven't been confirmed, but I would expect we'll hear from Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, Luke Combs, Nicki Minaj, Charli XCX, Noah Kahan and BTS among others," says Poleman.
- "I would hope that we'll have what I would call a 'consensus song' that is universally loved across multiple formats."
Prediction 3: AI's place in music will be debated, but expect streaming companies to draw a line in the sand.
"We're not going to support [AI-created music] on iHeartRadio. We don't play them on our radio stations, and we don't play them on the iHeartRadio app," Poleman tells Axios.
- "I think you're tricking the public, and I don't think people want that. Ultimately, it lacks soul and it lacks a heartbeat, and I think people can sense that."
State of play: Spotify is protecting artists from some of the ways bad actors can utilize AI — like spam, impersonation and deception.
- It's all meant to ensure "we have really strong systems in place so bad actors using AI tools can't crowd out or compete with authentic artists building a career in music," Sam Duboff, global head of marketing and policy for music business at Spotify said at the media briefing for 2025 Wrapped.
- "We're going to follow the lead of artists and the music industry, see how they're using AI tech, and we'll plan to evolve our protections, our policies, alongside them."
The bottom line: Whatever you hear through your headphones will always be influenced — at least in part — by listeners.
- "As a programming team, we're just always really customer-obsessed. We're looking at what customers are looking at and interested in connecting with. We follow their lead," said Pettyjohn.
