Although one of her most popular songs is “Falling Behind,” 24-year-old LA-based singer-songwriter Laufey (lāy-vāy) Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, who is simply known as just “Laufey” has been flourishing in the music industry. Laufey has gotten a 2024 Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, breaking streaming records for a jazz album, one of her album’s lead songs (“From the Start”) being one of the most streamed jazz songs in the world (all three of which are the result of her most recent album, Bewitched). So, she is unquestionably making noise not just within the jazz industry but also within the music industry as a whole. But she is doing more than just selling albums; she is also a spearhead in reviving a dying art form.
The current audience for jazz tends to be younger to middle-aged adults (25-48). According to Google Trends, the genre of jazz as a whole has been on a steady decline in popularity since an all-time high for the genre in June 2004 (besides a one-month spike in popularity in July 2019).
The fact of the matter is that while jazz is on a decline overall, Generation Z (people born between 1997-2012) might be a part of killing the genre’s interest since jazz just hasn’t piqued the 12-27-year-old’s interest. A study by the Polish company Biletomat, pl, which was later translated and simplified by Linkedin, it was found that jazz doesn’t even crack the top four of most popular genres for Gen Z and that less than 47% of the generation actually listens to the music. However, Gen Z’s interest in jazz has risen as jazz’s savior has appeared in the form of Laufey.
Laufey’s music combines classical music, jazz, ethereal vocals, topics of young love and heartbreak, and pop music to create music that Gen Z has become enchanted with. Her music success has led to tens of millions of monthly listeners on Spotify, millions of followers on TikTok, and even her identical twin sister, Junia, getting close to one million followers on TikTok herself, mostly through making videos with Laufey.
The popularity of Laufey, especially on social media platforms used by Gen Z, such as the aforementioned TikTok, has led to her popularity rapidly spiking despite jazz’s decline. It’s not hard to imagine that Laufey may be the person who modernizes jazz and saves it from its recent decline in popularity, and she may be the perfect person for it.
Music genres grow and evolve over time; it’s one of the beauties of music. Run-D.M.C.’s hip-hop doesn’t sound the same as Cardi B’s, and AC/DC’s rock doesn’t sound the same as Måneskin’s. Musical evolution is necessary for a genre to test the time, and the lack of evolution of jazz is why it is declining and why Gen Z simply isn’t interested. Laufey has made jazz that’s new and fresh, and despite some people who dislike her music being classified as jazz, Gen Z loves her jazz and is now buying into what has been a dying genre that they were previously uninterested in.
Yet, this is all just the start of Laufey’s journey, and it isn’t impossible to imagine that one day, she might be the figurehead of jazz. But until then, she remains the leader of Gen Z’s jazz revolution, and she will continue to change and grow the genre throughout her career.
