By the 1990s, it became redefined as a separate genre when companies began creating record labels that would exclusively produce anime songs for their series and artists.
[4][7] Furthermore, Cat's Eye (1983) received widespread media attention for having Anri, a singer whose activities had no connection to the anime industry, perform its theme songs.
[4] This was in part due the "Being Boom [ja]" phenomenon named after Being Inc., which gained a fanbase after their artists Zard and Maki Ohguro released songs that were well-received by the public.
[5] Some voice actors also formed their own groups and perform theme songs to other anime series, such as Minami Takayama with Two-Mix.
[4] The anime song industry shifted to recruit young girls who were able to have an "idol" presence, naming Riisa Naka, Koharu Kusumi, and Aya Hirano as examples.
[15] Since the 2020s, anime songs have experienced a rapid growth in global online popularity due to their widened availability on music streaming services like Spotify and promotion by fans and artists on social media.
[16][better source needed] In 2020, "Homura", a theme song for animated film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, rose to number eight on the Billboard Global 200.
[17] In 2023, the opening theme of the anime series Oshi no Ko, "Idol" by Yoasobi, topped the Billboard Global Excl.
[20][21] In the same year, Kenshi Yonezu's "Kick Back", an opening theme for Chainsaw Man, became the first-ever song with Japanese lyrics to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).