Throughout the last five years, music has evolved from superstars with hit pop songs and a set “image” to artists who place their focus on lyrics and songwriting. Artists like Adele and Ed Sheeran have played a major role in this transition, as have the likes of Mumford & Sons, Snow Patrol and Florence & the Machine. The difference between these artists and ones like Justin Bieber, your typical pop star, is that these artists already have the voice and songwriting skills so they do not need all the lights, drama and “swag.”

The success of artists like Ed Sheeran has come from the rapid spread of their music around the world online through fans posting videos of their gigs and tweeting about their music. Unlike a Justin Bieber or Cody Simpson concert, where the audience is filled with teen girls and their parents, these concerts’ audiences consist of a variety of age groups.

The main attraction to these artists’ records is the truth in their lyrics. Their songs tell stories of their real-life experiences and it is the vulnerability that attracts the fans and makes true connections. Adele, for example, is infamous for writing about her past failed relationships. Her latest album 21 was entirely about one relationship, similar to Taylor Swift’s style of penning hits about her very public break-ups with Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer, Taylor Lautner and most recently Harry Styles. This allows fans to relate to her songs on a deeper level and has become a fun guessing game for people as to which tracks are about which boyfriend.

This newer style of acoustic music has taken the world by storm in a very short period of time. The artists solely focus on the lyrics in their songs and the messages that they send. They make the music they love and hope that it sells and they seem to be doing great. At most award shows in the last year, especially at the Grammys, Adele, Mumford & Sons and Taylor Swift have been sweeping up awards in every category.