After the Golden Age of Radio and right before the big network platforms like YouTube became popular, MTV (Music Television) had an important role in spreading music from one side of the world to the other. In 1981,“Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video ever transmitted. Later on, this channel made artists like Madonna and Guns ‘n’ Roses into international stars.

MTV made its first appearance in Italy in 1997, and since then it has influenced many artists as they decide to write and record in English. At the beginning, songs that were popular in the United States would take two or three months to become famous across the ocean, but they still had an effect on upcoming artist who were starting their carrier.

Elisa, a singer from Italy, is an example of how deeply artists were influenced by anglophone music. Her first album was entirely in English and after some important collaborations with international artists, she participated in creating the theme song of Quentin Tarantino’s movie “Django: Unchained” with Ennio Morricone. Morricone is an Italian composer who won his first Academy Award this year with the movie “The Hateful Eight.”

Recently, a group of three young tenors, ages 22-21, formed a group called “Il Volo” (Flight). They gained success after winning the Big Artist Award at the Sanremo Music Festival, which led them to three platinum records. The group released a translated copy of their album and had the chance to appear on well-known U.S. television programs: The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and American Idol, which strengthened the artists’ recognition and fame in the States. Currently, their tour dates around the 50 States are all sold out.  

Italian television programs like The Voice and X-factor challenge the participants to sing in English, and help them adjust their pronunciation in order to break language barriers. The songs we listen to, the videos we watch, and the movies we talk about are mainly imported from America, and people need to know English to be constantly up to date with the new and upcoming events and productions around the world.

As an example of how much American music influences other countries, the playlists on “Spotify” that keep track of the top 50 hits in each country give a clear idea. In the first 20 of the “Italy top 50” playlist, only 3 songs are not in English. In First place appears to be “7 years” by Lukas Graham, followed by “Faded” by Alan Walker and “Work” by Rihanna.  The situation is alike in many other European nations, where the top positions are occupied by English songs.

With new technologies and sharing platforms, American music is shared at an impressive international level, affecting artists who write in other languages too.