One of the fun things about the recorded music industry is how music trends come and go. Very little music ever dies forever without eventually being brought back. Today, we want to highlight a few trends from yesteryear that may have disappeared, but seem ripe for a comeback.

Three Music Trends That Might Come Back Any Day

1 – Girl Bands

Maybe it’s a Yin-Yang thing, but it seems like either boy bands OR girl bands can be popular, but rarely at the same time. Girl bands are still huge in Asia – especially in Japan and Korea – but not anywhere else. Boy bands are ascendant elsewhere.

(It’s probably 1D’s fault.)

However, all it would take is one popular girl group to buck the trend. While we’re not exactly calling for a Spice Girls 2.0, the market may be prepped for one.

2 – Improv / Jamming

Right now, it seems like there’s a lot of emphasis on highly “pre-programmed” shows, either in terms of musicianship or tightly choreographed dance sequences. Either way, there aren’t many bands active with a strong emphasis on jamming, improv, soloing or other spontaneous activity.

When concerts are increasingly being bootlegged and put online, it may be worth adding some spice to your live shows, specifically so people on YouTube won’t think they’ve already seen all you have to offer.

3 – Unplugged

In terms of over-production and huge electronic budgets, it’s as if the ‘80s are back. Accordingly, there’s probably going to be a grunge-like backlash pretty soon, or at least a shift back toward “real” instruments and fewer electronics.

Now would likely be a great time to look at adding new instruments to your repertoire, or working on your ability to play without electronics. And anyone using Auto-Tuning, seriously, consider yourself on-notice. People are going to rapidly get tired of singers who sound like indistinguishable robots.

As electronics make it easier for people to “fake” music skills, it seems inevitable there’ll be growing demand for legitimate musicianship.

So, what do you think? What music trends are going to be coming back in the next few years?