This article is a summary of developments in culture during the 2010s.
Film.
Superhero films became box office leaders. Animated films in the 2010s remained predominantly computer-generated. Traditional animation styles lost favor among general audiences, although (2D) anime remained popular.
3D films gained popularity, led by "Avatar", "" and "Monsters vs. Aliens" in late 2009. In 2010, "Avatar" became the first film to gross more than US$2 billion. Other 3D releases were also successful. 360-degree video also became widely available with the introduction of consumer virtual reality.
Movies and television struggled to maintain their position, as online viewing grew rapidly. Internet piracy was a major concern for the industry. In 2012, Viacom launched a US$1 billion lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement. In early 2012, the United States Congress began debating the SOPA and PIPA bills that were heavily lobbied by the entertainment industry.
"" grossed , becoming the highest-grossing superhero film of all time and the highest-grossing movie of all time, surpassing 2009's "Avatar".
Television.
The American soap opera format lost popularity in favor of reality television and daytime talk shows. Prime-time television serials and Spanish-language telenovelas remain popular globally. A new development in global television is the great popularity of Turkish drama series in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Korean dramas continued to enjoy widespread mainstream popularity across Asia. The launch of Korean entertainment channels like Sony ONE and tvN Asia gave access to millions of viewers across parts of East, South and Southeast Asia to watch Korean programs simultaneously with the South Korean broadcast or hours after its broadcast in South Korea.
Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as cord cutters switched to lower cost online streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video. These non-cable, internet-based media streaming services even began producing their own programming. TV sets, such as the Samsung SmartTV, started offering online streaming via television. The advent of streaming services has allowed for more serialized television content to rise in popularity which may allow for more complex and longer storytelling. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "Golden Age of Television", due to the large number of high-quality, internationally acclaimed television programs that debuted or aired during the decade. "House of Cards" became the first online-only web television series to earn major nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013. Disney+, a streaming service by Disney launched in November 2019 to big success.
Award winners
Music.
Advances in music technology, such as the ability to use 32 or more tracks in real time, changed the sound of many types of music. Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalization in the face of music streaming services created many subgenres. Dance and pop music surged into the 2010s, with EDM achieving mass commercial success. EDM, synth-pop, indie, alternative, footwork and trap (EDM) saw mainstream success throughout the early to mid-2010s. Trap and hip hop rose to prominence during the mid 2010s and have consistently remained popular forms of music, with hip hop and trap surpassing rock and pop music as the most consumed form of music in the United States in 2017. Inspired by video game culture, retrofuturism, cyberpunk, tech noir themes and collective nostalgia for 1980s culture, electronic genres such as vaporwave and synthwave also enjoyed a rise a popularity throughout much of the decade.
Distribution.
Digital music sales topped CD sales in 2012. Music streaming services such as SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora Radio became the preferred music delivery systems, similar to movie and television streaming services such as Netflix.
Video gaming.
Cloud gaming, virtual reality, stereoscopic 3D gaming and ongoing improvements in graphics were some of the biggest trends. Video game sales declined in the early 2010s, most likely due to the effects of the Great Recession. According to the Entertainment Software Association, in 2014, the average age of a person who played video games was 30.
Consoles.
The decade began dominated primarily by seventh-generation consoles, such as Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and Wii. The Wii introduced the sensor bar with compatible sensitive controllers, followed by the PlayStation Move and Kinect. This expanded the video game market to the elderly and those interested in physical therapy.
With the release of the Nintendo 3DS in early 2011, which introduced a glasses-free interface for 3D, the handheld became the first eighth-generation handheld. Initially struggling in a market dominated by smartphones, the handheld managed to sell 75 million units by June 2019. The PlayStation Vita followed in 2012, and low sales resulted in Sony discontinuing the console by March 2019 and leaving the handheld space altogether.
2012 introduced the first console in the eighth generation with the Wii U, followed in late 2013 with Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 managed to outsell its competitors at around 100+ million units, becoming the best selling console in the eighth generation. On the other hand, the Wii U was the lowest selling console of the eighth generation and one of the worst selling consoles in Nintendo history, leaving Nintendo to discontinue the platform in January 2017 in favor of the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid console which allows players to play their console games on the go, utilizing a docking station and detachable controllers. The Nintendo Switch was highly successful, managing to outsell the Wii U by January 2018.
PC gaming.
Games such as "The Sims" and many of Blizzard's titles remained popular on PCs and expanded to other devices. "Minecraft" became the best-selling game of all time.
Mobile gaming.
The increased computing power offered by smartphones and computer tablets reinvigorated the mobile gaming market as features such as the app store widened consumers' opportunities to choose where to download mobile apps. The revamped platform led the mobile gaming market to reach US$7.8 billion in revenue in 2012 and $50.7 billion in 2017, occupying 43 percent of the entire global gaming market. Early mainstream mobile games of the decade included "Angry Birds", "Flappy Bird", "Candy Crush Saga", "Clash of Clans", "Fruit Ninja", and "Temple Run".
Virtual reality.
Commercial tethered headsets released for VR gaming include the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, and Sony's PlayStation VR (which requires a PlayStation instead of a PC to run).
Cloud gaming.
The OnLive console was released in 2010 becoming the first massively produced cloud gaming-based gaming device.
Freemium gaming.
The later half of the decade saw the explosive growth of free-to-play battle royale games such as Epic Games' "Fortnite Battle Royale" and Respawn Entertainment's "Apex Legends". This model, dubbed "freemium", uses in-game microtransactions and loot boxes to generate revenue. These microtransactions have garnered ethical concerns; the intrusive nature of in-game microtransactions can lead to children accidentally or purposefully rack up a high bill from purchasing in-game items, while the compulsion loop caused by loot boxes has drawn comparisons to gambling addiction.
Architecture.
Postmodernism and green design were common architectural themes. "Sustainable design" emphasized natural lighting, green/white roofs, better insulation and other cost-saving features. New urbanism and urban revival influenced urban planning in the United States and other developed countries. China and the Middle East led in large-scale development.
In 2010, the United Arab Emirates' Burj Khalifa became the tallest man-made structure ever built, standing at . The United States' One World Trade Center, completed in 2014, is the tallest building in North America at .
Art.
Art trends that began in earlier decades continued into the 2010s, such as pop art, altermodern, cynical realism, the Kitsch movement, post-contemporary, metamodernism, pseudorealism, remodernism, renewable energy sculpture, street art, Stuckism, Superflat, Superstroke, urban art, video game art and virtual art. In 2015, Excessivism emerged.
Food.
Gluten-free diets became popular. Fusion cuisine offered a new twist on many traditional food items. An interest in local and organic foods carried over from the mid to late 2000s as a part of green and sustainable living. There was an increase in the number of vegetarians and vegans. Finger foods such as hors d'oeuvres and tapas were applied to many desserts and comfort foods. Food presentation became more important as social media caused an increase in food photography and sharing. In the United States, soda sales dipped in favor of healthier options, such as sparkling water. Energy drink sales experienced substantially higher growth than coffee.
The 2010s also saw significant early stage developments in cultured meat, a form of cellular agriculture whereby animal cells are cultured in order to grow meat without the need to raise and slaughter animals. This technology also saw substantial investment from billionaire entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson.
Theatre.
In 2013, for the first time, the four nominees for the Best Musical Tony Award were all based on movies. 2016 was the first year in which all the musical acting awards were won by performers of color.
References.
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