: Many major films, such as Black Widow and Dune , were released simultaneously in theaters and on streaming platforms. This trend led to a high-profile legal dispute between Scarlett Johansson and Disney over compensation tied to box office receipts.
2021 marked a turning point for non-English language content, headlined by the unprecedented success of the South Korean survival drama . Its ascent to becoming Netflix’s most-watched series underscored a broader cultural shift: audiences became increasingly platform-agnostic regarding the origin of content, leading to a surge in popularity for international titles like Money Heist and Lupin . The Creator Economy and Short-Form Video youthlust2023lilmilkfirstanalxxx720phev 2021
Olivia Rodrigo was the undisputed queen of the year. Her debut album SOUR was a time capsule of Gen Z angst, driven by the viral smash drivers license . The song’s success was inextricably tied to TikTok, where fans dissected every potential reference to her co-star Joshua Bassett. Rodrigo proved that in 2021, vulnerability and a good bridge ("I'm on the drivers license...") could conquer the world. : Many major films, such as Black Widow
November 2021 saw the release of Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 . The latter was a love letter to Mexico, downloaded by 10 million players in its first week. But the real giant was Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific , which kept its stranglehold on the battle royale genre. The song’s success was inextricably tied to TikTok,
2021 was the year global content truly went mainstream in the West.
The music industry also experienced a resurgence in 2021, with the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The year saw a number of highly successful album releases, including Olivia Rodrigo's "Sour" and Drake's "Certified Lover Boy". Podcasts also continued to gain popularity, with shows like "The Daily" (The New York Times) and "My Favorite Murder" (True Crime) attracting large and dedicated audiences.