Perhaps the most significant shift in 2021 popular media was the decline of the traditional "gatekeeper." You no longer needed a studio or a record label to dominate the culture.

2021 was a watershed year for inclusive storytelling, but it was met with intense culture war friction.

Physical media sales hit an all-time low in 2021, but vinyl records saw a 20-year high (driven by Taylor Swift’s re-recordings and Billie Eilish). Meanwhile, the "home theater" upgrade became a middle-class pandemic obsession. Sony and LG sold record numbers of OLED TVs, and soundbars became as common as microwaves. The way we consumed popular media shifted permanently to the 65-inch screen in the living room, not the 15-foot screen at the multiplex.