- FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened - If you have never heard of FYRE Festival before, consider yourself lucky that you weren’t one of the people who ended up being duped. FYRE Festival has to be one of the biggest festival disasters that have ever happened. It is a tale of bold ambitions and social media manipulation.
- Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids - This is a 2016 American concert film that documents the last performances of Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience World Tour. The documentary was filmed in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Not only is it great to see Justin on stage and learn more about him, but it is actually the final film that Jonathan Demme directed before he passed away in 2017 at 73 years old.
- The Sparks Brothers - This is a documentary film that was released in 2021. Directed by Edgar Wright, the film is about Russell and Ron Mael, members of the rock and pop duo Sparks. The documentary includes lengthy interviews from the two main men themselves, as well as other musicians, including Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Bex. Apocryphal anecdotes between the musicians are reproduced via a number of short animation sequences. It gives you a fantastic insight into their lives, and it has an impressive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Miss Americana - Taylor Swift is one of the most famous and popular singer-songwriters in the world. This American documentary film follows her life over the course of a number of years, giving you a real insight into her career. Unlike a lot of other documentaries that are only surface-level, this film really gives you an emotionally revealing and unvarnished look at Swift. It shows her struggling to accept her role as an influential woman in the industry. Whether you’re a big fan or not, it’s certainly worth a watch.
- Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese - Finally, we have a 2019 pseudo-documentary, which brings together both nonfiction and fictional material. It covers Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour from 1975. Throughout the film, Dylan himself even refers to fictional characters, so you find yourself guessing what’s genuine and what’s fabricated. The unusual approach has been well received, with many calling it a true celebration of Dylan’s career. The more critical reviewers have described it as a rescue mission. We’ll let you be the judge.
As we can see, Netflix has very much been dominant throughout the year. With music documentaries like this, it’s not hard to see why. But enough talking, time to start watching.