Despite the fact that 2014 was considered the year of the boom of Ukrainian music, at the end of 2021 there was no development of Ukrainian music. However, after a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the situation changed. In 2022, Ukrainian artists released about three times more music than in previous years.
Chief editor and founder of the media about the new Ukrainian culture LiRoom Alexey Bondarenko explained the reasons for the birth of new Ukrainian music in 2022.
Russian has long been used in the repertoire of performers. But a few weeks after February 24, 2022, all public communication began to take place in Ukrainian. Of course, it is difficult to decide what to do with the existing Russian repertoire, whether to bet on the European market, etc.
It should be said about the minuses. We are talking about a large number of same-type songs and videos, singing the fight with Russians. Most of these clips are news clips. This direction in music does not have a name yet: say «bayraktarshchina», «bairaktar-pop» and even neo-Bryovarshche. Finding the right way to cover a war is hard. As for indie music, unfortunately, most musicians, with the exclusion of Latexfauna or Tvorchi, remained with a small audience of fans.
In 2022, the situation is changing. This was facilitated by TikTok, as well as the fact that someone from the popstar left or went to war, someone could not quickly respond to the Ukrainization. In addition, earnings fell because concerts and corporate parties disappeared. There are also new rap artists. Next year there will be three Ukrainian bands on Hellfest: 1914, Stoned Jesus and White Ward. His album is at number 56 for a year on rateyourmusic, which is one of the world’s major music websites. These are all very positive changes in Ukrainian music.
However, there are also problems in this area. The adopted law on the quota of Ukrainian music at the level of 50% of radio broadcasters and the ban on Russian music did not change the situation much. The biggest problem remains the issue of royalties, as without transparent rules of collecting royalties, artists will remain without the opportunity to earn anything other than concerts and streaming. Financial support from the state is also not enough. This year grants were received much less.
However, in 2022 it became possible to hold concerts without quarantine restrictions, which is an undoubted advantage. 2022 significantly affected Ukrainian culture. People have massively switched to the Ukrainian language, they have flared interest in their own culture for the first time in many years, thanks to which artists have new opportunities. It is a pity that the impetus for the development of Ukrainian music was the war.
Nevertheless, it can be concluded that 2022 is the year of birth of new Ukrainian music.
