Tumblr 2014 was an iconic time to be a teen, so we are looking back at Tumblr’s impact on music culture a decade later.
If you were a teen in 2013-2014 and were active on the site, Tumblr, chances are you’re familiar with the iconic ‘AM’ album cover from the Arctic Monkeys, as the black and white amplitude wave cover took the site by storm. You were probably also obsessed with artists and bands like The 1975, Troye Sivan, Marina & The Diamonds, Halsey, The Neighbourhood, and many others!
Teens in this era would make these bands and artists their entire personality and base their aesthetic on them. The look mainly includes black and white oversized band tees, striped flannels, fishnets, smudged eyeliner, and combat boots. The aesthetic was often referred to as ‘Soft Grunge’, ‘Indie’, and even ‘Emo”.
Back in Tumblr’s early days, the platform was hugely known for how influential it was. It is a site home to many fandoms and trends. It’s a place where users can post and reblog anything they are interested in, including fashion, music, art, and more all through tags.
Many of these bands and artists at the time filled the site with their iconic song lyrics, mood boards, and aesthetic photos of people posing with vinyl records of these albums. Many call this era ‘Sad Girl Pop’, with albums like Badlands by Halsey, Crybaby by Melanie Martinez, and Pure Heroine by Lorde playing a core part in 2014 Tumblr. These artists’ music was a huge game-changer for teens at the time. It was a newer wave of alternative music with hard-hitting lyrics that many seemed to have glamourized and looked up to.
Via laurennnxx on Tumblr
This era of Tumblr jumpstarted the height of some of these bands and artists! Especially since what fans were creating out of their music was a huge boost! Plus, artists like Halsey were active themselves on the site and often interacted with fans on there. It wasn’t rare back then to see your favorite band or artist active on the site. Tumblr was a place for these albums to flourish since many teens in those days grabbed inspiration from there and followed the trends. It was also such a big place for the growth of fandom/bandom culture.
A new and young artist at the time who had recently become Tumblr’s new obsession in this wave was Lorde. Lorde’s debut album, Pure Heroine, which was released in late 2013 when she was 16, took the site by storm. As to why? It’s probably due to many young users at the time related to her lyrics and even being around the same age as her at the time. “Baby, be the class clown. I’ll be the beauty queen in tears. It’s a new art form, showin’ people how little we care.”, lyrics from Lorde’s song, Tennis Court, were often used in Tumblr posts. Lyrics like these and many others were what resonated with people, and the singer had a carefree feeling that a lot of teens wanted and glamorized growing up.
Kids nowadays in 2024 wish they could live through these 2014 Tumblr days when these albums were all the hype and these trends and fashion were at their peak, while those who lived through it are just grateful that they were there to witness it all! Many are trying to bring the aesthetics and trends back through TikTok and Twitter, even calling it ‘Tumblrcore’.
Albums from this era, like Marina’s “Electra Heart”, “Badlands” by Halsey, “Blue Neighborhood” by Troye Sivan, and so many other iconic albums, will always be a staple to Tumblr and will almost always correlate to this time. So many people discovered this music through the site, and to this day, these albums still hold as much hype as ever, due to nostalgia and the good memories that these albums hold. As of today, these bands and artists are still active and thriving! But nowadays, bands and artists that seem to take up Tumblr’s front pages, and artists, bands, and groups like, Olivia Rodrigo, Hozier, Taylor Swift, Ghost, Twice, SEVENTEEN, Twice, and tons of others from all kinds of music genres!
Unfortunately, even though Tumblr is still active and in use, it doesn’t impact people as much today as before. But the constant looking back at this time shows that 2014 Tumblr will forever be known as such an iconic time for music, fashion, and trends, and there are tons of Tumblr blogs now that run as a sort of time capsule to look back on for those times.
I am a photographer, musician, and cosplayer, based in Austin! I spend a lot of time traveling around for events, and am constantly creating things, listening to music, playing bass guitar, or finding new hobbies to indulge in. I love being surrounded by music, and you can almost always catch me listening to some emo or pop-punk music.
