Music and fashion were the most noticeable factors of the 80s. Many movies such as The Breakfast Club and The Goonies are just some of the iconic movies with even more iconic soundtracks. However, media such as Stranger Things and movies such as The Black Phone have skyrocketed in popularity due to the easily identifiable 80s traits. Due to the growing popularity of these films popular 80s music has been streamed more than any other decade of music in recent years. However, it isn't only Spotify that has seen a growth; the sales of CDs and vinyl have become more popular than ever, with sales slowly but surely increasing over previous years. Is this due to the regrowth of 80s music?  

The popular show Stranger Things has given classic songs a new lease of life, the song ‘Running up that hill’ by Kate Bush saw a peak in its streams shortly after season 4 aired on Netflix. The song originally hit No.30 in the charts in 1985, however on June 11th (two weeks after season 4) it re-entered the charts at No.8 - in a report by Spotify, they stated that the stream of the song increased by more than 9,000%. With the shows large following it's no surprise that the 80s themes/fashions became more widely accessible for people to recreate and listen to. Another example of this effect would be Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis 2022 film – a biopic of Elvis Presley's life with the main features being his most famous songs. After this movie was released in the cinemas, Fender reported double the number of its users were playing Presley’s songs and there was again a noticeable spike in the streams of his songs showing how much of an effect modern day media has on music. 

Not only have streams of this type of music grown vastly, but the sales of CDs and vinyl have gradually increased in the past few years. The comeback of compact discs has been unexpected but could be caused by the rise of trends concerning the 80s and 70s era. During the pandemic many turned to CDs in order to support their favourite artists as concerts couldn't take place. In an interview with a year 10 student from Netherhall School they said, “I like to own the music” and “it makes a literal connection” giving a small insight into one of the reasons why younger generations are becoming interested in physical media. Similarly, in an age of digital media many enjoy owning hard copies of their favourite artists and albums instead of only using streaming services. 

Movies and series set in the 80s have recently became a subgenre within the movie scene developing their own aesthetics within the soundtrack and even cinematography style. Even with the contrast of social media and hard copy media, they unusually go hand in hand presenting younger generations with less recent music, that hasn’t only brought back the sounds of the 80s but also the styles of the 80s too.