It should be noted that almost all their songs have
a militarized context and are imbued with the
motives of Ukraine's victory. This phenomenon,
as it turned out, is now one of the main trends in
the modern music industry of Ukraine. The
number of Ukrainian-language songs has also
increased significantly, which is obviously a
reaction to political events (Roslon & Zavada,
2021) In addition, we would like to point out
such a trend as the creation of cover versions of
these works, which can be heard not only by
bands but also in arrangements for orchestras and
choirs. In particular, since the beginning of the
war, this was clearly reflected in the creation of
virtual projects with the participation of
children's choirs “Ukraine is you”, “I am
Ukraine” and others. Thus, even at the level of
academic music performance, there is an appeal
to the cultural sources of Ukrainian music. With
the help of arrangements of classical songs, they
are re-actualized in the musical space of Ukraine.
Discussion
Therefore, the development of Ukrainian music
has gone through a long evolution. It is worth
noting that after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Ukraine inherited a rather chauvinistic model of
social thinking. Everything that was Russian-
language was declared superior and urban, while
Ukrainian-language content was deliberately
humiliated and declared “rural”. Gradually, with
the development of our country's independence,
younger generations began to prefer Ukrainian-
language songs. Although this process is not as
fast as one might assume, a considerable
percentage of show business used the popularity
of the Ukrainian language in their projects. The
post-communist past, therefore, has not been
completely overcome, but the development of
Ukrainian music culture is undeniable. The
victories of Ukrainian artists at the Eurovision
Song Contests in 2003, 2014, and 2022
accelerated this evolution.
Russia's military aggression against Ukraine has
also affected the music market. First, at the
legislative level, the use of compositions by
Russian artists is prohibited, while Ukrainian
singers are allowed to use Russian to produce a
local product (Kuzio, 2021). This eliminated a
powerful competitor in the “shadow”, that is, in
the deep “underground”. Obviously, this
development will continue, and the Ukrainian
music product will gradually become the leader,
while the previously privileged Russian one will
disappear or be reduced to a minimum. The
patriotic wave, caused by admiration for
everything Ukrainian and rejection of the
aggressor's culture, will probably continue. This
will lead to the emergence of new names and
bands in the performing music culture of
Ukraine. The experience of The Kalush
Orchestra, the winners of Eurovision 2022,
indicates the beginning of this trend. The war has
led to the emergence of new songs from already
well-known Ukrainian artists dedicated to the
heroic resistance of the people (Sonevytsky,
2019). As a result, experts estimate that the top
20 videos of the Ukrainian segment of YouTube
include at least 8 Ukrainian-language songs.
The popularity of Ukrainian song and music
content is confirmed by the success of charity
performances abroad. Such activities not only
bring real and immediate help but also in the long
run serve to popularize the Ukrainian song
product among foreigners (Ostashewski, 2021).
The interest of Europeans, Aryans, and
Americans in participating in charity concerts,
we note, will lead to the development of a new
direction of musical activity for Ukraine –
crowdfunding. The search for benefactors
interested in the work of a particular band will
become a reliable source of income for the
industry in the future. Perhaps, well-known
digital platforms such as Patreon, ForFans, and
others will also be used for this purpose. Remote
support for Ukrainian music will also grow, if
only for the reason that many Ukrainians are
abroad, so they will not be able to return home in
the near future.
A difficult question is to look at the most popular
and mass genres. Undoubtedly, they will be rock
and pop, which were the flagships of the
Ukrainian media market before. At the same
time, it should be noted that under the influence
of Russia since the early 2010s rap music
gradually began to gain popularity in Ukraine.
First of all, it was about representatives of the
Russian direction, but today other performers are
gradually taking the lead. Obviously, the
progress of this music will only continue to
develop, and Ukrainians will listen to rap artists
more and more, perhaps even Ukrainian-
speaking ones. Academic art, in turn,
demonstrates openness and tendencies of
convergence and synthesis with popular and
media trends, while preserving the traditions of
the national performing school.
Conclusions
Thus, analyzing the trends of mass music culture,
we characterized the features and trends of this
segment of culture. It should be emphasized that