The rise of bedroom pop music and how it's become synonymous with Gen Z

Every day on your For You Page, you’ll find songs that are soft on the ears and vocals whisper that lyrics to you. That’s the magic of bedroom pop. What once existed as a lo-fi subculture has now become the soundtrack of Gen Z, resonating with anyone who’s ever recorded a voice note at 2 AM or journaled through a bad day.

Built on a DIY spirit, the genre offers vulnerability in today’s overstimulating hustle and bustle. With nothing more than a laptop, a basic mic, and free music software, young artists have bypassed the high walls of the music industry to create and share songs that feel deeply personal. Free websites like SoundCloud and YouTube are the hotspots which were platforms used by Clairo, Beabadoobee, and Rex Orange when they started in their bedrooms.

Why does the genre hit close to home?

What sets bedroom pop apart is its embrace of imperfection. There’s a certain beauty in its rawness — the crackle of a cheap mic, the hum of a fan in the background, the soft creak of a chair. A generation that is not allowed much space for error, the rawness of bedroom pop really hits home.

Lyrically, it leans into themes of anxiety, identity, queerness, loneliness, and young love. For a generation whose second home is a therapy room, this music feels like home.

Even as it seeps into pop charts and film soundtracks, bedroom pop hasn’t lost its soul. In a world that’s constantly performing, it’s a genre that reminds us how powerful it is to simply be.