When did swing music begin to decline?

• A. In the early 1930s
• B. In the mid-1940s
• C. During the latter part of WWII
• D. In the 1960s

Answer: (C)

The key idea is when swing’s popularity started waning and why. Swing rose to its peak in the mid-to-late 1930s and remained dominant into the early 1940s. The decline begins in the latter part of World War II, for several intertwined reasons. First, the 1942–44 American Federation of Musicians recording ban and ongoing wartime restrictions cut the output and momentum of big-band swing. Second, many musicians were drafted or otherwise unavailable, making it harder to keep large ensembles together. As the war drew to a close, audiences also began to shift tastes, with bebop and smaller, more intimate groups gaining traction. Those postwar changes meant the big-band swing sound faded from its peak status by the end of the 1940s. So the decline is best placed in the latter part of World War II.