Music is part of our everyday lives, whether voluntarily when we pop on a playlist while getting ready or involuntarily from the songs serving as the backdrop in our favorite shows and movies. While some people like to enjoy a song at face value, others are deeply interested in pulling the curtain back before the curtain lifts. Nowadays when so much of an artist’s lives are plastered around the internet without their consent, more and more singers are choosing to offer fans a closer peek into their world on their own terms, from Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me to Jennifer Lopez: Halftime.
Music documentaries provide a great opportunity to discover the behind-the-scenes of our favorite artists or the industry as a whole. There’s so much to discover about artists’ creative processes, personal struggles, and about historic music events, Netflix has a slew of music documentaries to satisfy your curiosity. Here are the best music documentaries you can watch now on Netflix.
10 Wham!
Pop duo Wham! consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The British duo have a number of catchy hits under their belts, such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." In this documentary that Netflix categorizes as “captivating, heartfelt, and nostalgic,” fans get an inside look into the whirlwind days when Wham! was part of the British invasion. Wham! opens up with vintage footage of the duo sitting outside the school they met at, instantly tapping into that feeling about fate and what could have been had they not gone to the same school at the same time. How the stars aligned.
Using archival footage, old interviews, photos, and articles, we see how they connected over music, the creation of their first demo, and the funny inspiration behind "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." This documentary is perfect for lovers of the 70s and 80s music scene.
9 Gaga: Five Foot Two
In recent years, the multi-talented Lady Gaga has made a name for herself in the acting world, with stellar performances in A Star Is Born and House of Gucci. But before her acting prowess was on display to the world, her musical talents were what she was known for. In Gaga: Five Foot Two, Gaga’s “Little Monsters” follow along the singer’s journey to get her fifth album Joanne out in the world (think hit song Perfect Illusions) and as she prepares for a little gig known as the Super Bowl halftime show.
Known for her eccentric outfits and stunts, Gaga: Five Foot Two shows a more human side of the superstar. We learn of the challenges her chronic pain condition causes with her fast-paced lifestyle and how much soul she puts into her music. She states, “You have to go to that broken place of your heart to write songs. They say sometimes [making music] is like open-heart surgery.” This documentary is bound to inspire creatives no matter the medium they prefer.
8 Blackpink: Light Up the Sky
Blackpink has taken the world by storm and their legion of fans will enjoy their documentary, Blackpink: Light Up the Sky, released shortly after their 2020 debut album, simply titled The Album. The South Korean girl group doesn’t simply show fans a look when they are already topping charts and breaking records, but from the precipice when they are training and learning the ways of the industry and exactly what it’ll take to be a successful girl group. You’ll get chills seeing the group’s humble beginnings and then flashing to scenes when they’re performing in front of crowds that number in the thousands all across the globe.
The K-Pop music industry is notoriously grueling, yet these ladies manage to do so with grace, humility, and retaining their passion for the craft. The documentary builds up to Coachella 2019, where they were the first women K-Pop group to perform. Individual interviews are dispersed throughout, so you’ll become attached to not only the group as a whole but each member.
7 Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now
Lewis Capaldi is relatively new on many people’s radars after the Scottish singer-songwriter’s 2019 single Someone You Loved imprinted itself in everyone’s minds. From his subsequent body of work, the public discovered that his soulful voice which emits so much pain and heartfelt lyrics was not a one-off, he’s a talent many hope is around to stay for a while. In his 2023 documentary, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, Capaldi is able to display more of his jovial, carefree nature that many fans got used to from his social media presence. But as the best music documentaries show, there’s a lot more under the surface.
Capaldi also has Tourette's syndrome and experiences panic attacks and anxiety regularly. His vulnerability when sharing about these topics makes his ultimate transition from performing in local pubs to some of Europe’s biggest music festivals even more impressive.
6 Count Me In
We all knew that one kid in elementary or middle school who couldn’t stop pretending to drum on any surface imaginable. After watching Count Me In you may have a bit more understanding for the seemingly uncontrollable urge to tap on desks, walls, any metal surface. In a departure from some of the other entries, Count Me In doesn’t follow one particular musician, but instead puts a spotlight on drummers as a whole.
While the documentary places particular emphasis on the rock genre, it smartly recognizes the influence other genres had on rock and vice versa. The drummers discuss the changes in drumming over the years and the sexism female drummers faced. “I can play my drums all day and all night, and I love it,” one musician says, and it’s easy to believe. The joy and passion radiate from the screen as you watch each person interviewed talk about their love for this instrument.
5 Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99 is one of the more unique documentaries on Netflix. Instead of a 90-minute-long film, it’s broken up into three parts and documents the historic Woodstock festival held in July 1999. Rock and roll has a reputation for chaos and violence, but this year it took that reputation to a whole new level. Over four days, over 200,000 people attended the event in Rome, New York, and after none would look at music festivals the same.
Riots, sexual assaults, fires, looting, vandalism, and deaths made Woodstock ‘99 infamous in ways no one wanted. In the docuseries, you’ll receive first-person accounts from concertgoers, musicians, and journalists who were there during those scary days. So much was wrong with this event before it started and many believe it shouldn’t have happened, and now the main questions are: how and why?
4 Hip-Hop Evolution
Hip-Hop Evolution is another docuseries with tremendous insight and coverage on the birth and widespread impact on the hip-hop genre. Often overlooked, this docuseries proves how influential rap and hip-hop have been not just to the Black community, but to other cultures and genres. Starting from the Bronx, turntables, DJing, and more, rapper and presenter Shad celebrates the constantly-transforming genre.
But it’s not just dry facts and history. Viewers will hear from some of the top hip-hop artists like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Ice-T, Diddy, and so many more. It’s fascinating to discover the differences between East Coast, West Coast, and Southern rap, as well as the qualities that unite the three. It also delves into the racism that the genre faced by mainstream White American culture, and the acceptance rap and hip hop gained over the years.
3 This Is Pop
Despite the title This Is Pop, this docuseries offers a diverse range of music styles and shows how much variety pop music contains. Throughout eight episodes, music lovers will learn more about the influence of Boyz II Men’s sharp harmonies, ABBA’s pop domination, country music’s fusion with pop through the likes of legends like Dolly Parton and contemporaries such as Lil Nas X, and so much more.
Festival footage is always a treat in music documentaries, and This Is Pop doesn’t disappoint there with its coverage of Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and the aforementioned Woodstock ‘99. You’ll even get a new take on the use of autotune. Despite its demonization in the music world, artists such as T Pain discuss how it changed pop music for the good.
2 Song Exploder: How Music Gets Made
Song Exploder: How Music Gets Made is an insightful docuseries based on a podcast of the same name. In the podcast, musicians take apart their songs and detail the entire creative process, from lyrics to chord progressions. Even if you’re not a musician, seeing some top artists (Alicia Keys, Dua Lipa, Ty Dolla $ign, etc.) take off the curated masks they wear for the public and bare their souls in the studio is bound to resonate. Broadway and musical theater, soulful R&B, infectious pop, all that and so much more is covered in Song Exploder.
When we listen to hits on Spotify or in the media most don’t take the time to consider it started with a short string of lyrics or a simple pluck of a guitar. Here, those rough stages where creatives try (and sometimes fail) to translate what’s in their head or a feeling they get in their body is a delight to see.
1 Quincy
Quincy Jones is a prolific songwriter, producer, and composer. Even if by some chance you haven’t heard of him, you most certainly have heard of projects he had a hand in. Frank Sinatra’s It Might as Well Be Swing, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Donna Summer’s self-titled album, and many more. In the 2018 documentary Quincy, co-written and co-produced by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks, you get to learn about the man who had an undeniable impact on music.
Quincy shows the music legend in some of his lowest moments, including when he’s struggling with his health and was in a diabetic coma. Still, even with the heavier moments the light still shines bright as viewers marvel at the career he’s had. Critics agree with the poignancy of the film, as it won a Grammy for Best Music Film in 2019.