Everynoise.com is an amazing resource where one can see what genres Spotify classifies artists and songs as. One can also discover new pockets of music that would not have come to attention otherwise. This is where the order of most and least listened to genres was sourced, and that is how they are organized in this article.
The 50 most and 50 least streamed genres are listed here with brief opinions and ratings that follow based on a featured song from each category. So “1. pop” is the most popular genre amongst all of Spotify listeners, not my personal favorite, and my rating out of 100 ends each section. It is time to see if popular melodies are really better than hidden tunes.
DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind that the ratings will be based almost entirely on an impression of only a few minutes of listen time in most cases and may not be representative of the genre as a whole. All of these ratings and comments are completely opinions, for all music is subjective. This ranking is meant to be light-hearted, spark conversations, and maybe expose more people to unexplored areas of the music world.
- pop
Featured Song: TiK ToK – Kesha
Of course the most popular genre is the popular genre, but it is called that for a reason. The songs are catchy, but they are sometimes repetitive. Pop songs are great simply because everyone has heard them, and we can collectively jam out, yet I would never find myself choosing to listen to them on my own.
58/100
- rap
Featured Song: Sundress – A$AP Rocky
Mmm… poetry. As catchy of beats as any, even the most popular rap songs somehow feel personal. Rap spans stereotypes, borders, and generations for a good reason. Fun when you know the lyrics and still groovy when you don’t. Easily one of the best genres, especially for a broad, mainstream one.
92/100
- rock
Featured Song: Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
It is special when music from half a century ago feels relevant and modern; no genre has as much of that as rock. As the music I was raised on, and I may be slightly biased, rock certainly has the most classic bands and songs, each able to convey any range of emotions. Music without limits! Slow or fast, classic or new, energized or tranquil, rock always works.
94/100
- urbano latino
Featured Song: No Me Conoce Remix – JHAYCO, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny
Urbano latino is an umbrella term that includes electronic music, hip hop, and reggaeton. It’s enjoyable even if you don’t understand spanish. Almost seems like a catchall for the most popular Latin songs no matter the genre.
76/100
- hip hop
Featured Song: Can I Kick It? – A Tribe Called Quest
I was curious about Spotify’s sorting of songs into hip hop versus rap because I always considered hip hop to be the wider cultural phenomenon while rap is the music style specifically. Their categorization accomplishes this by keeping the hip hop genre composed mostly of classic, pre-2000 jams. Every song is instantly recognisable and perfectly unique.
95/100
- trap latino
Featured Song: Lollipop – Darell
Latin trap is a specific subsection of urbano latino. The tracks are catchy and beat heavy while the vocals are rhythmic and head bob worthy. It is synth heavy but it never takes away from the rap-style lyrics.
68/100
- reggaeton
Featured Song: More – Zion, Jory Boy, and Ken-Y
Reggaeton features more distinctive melodies than trap latino and quicker electronic beats. Individual sections and songs are snappy, but the overall computerized sound can get a bit overdone if you listen to the genre alone for long enough.
40/100
- dance pop
Featured Song: Genie In a Bottle – Christina Aguilera
Certainly good music and tons of hits, but the genre as a whole gives a very specific personality as a target audience. This can be heard with any singular song in the class and comes across as possibly too energetic to listen to on one’s own. I understand that these songs are meant to be danced to, hence the name, but for listening alone, dance pop doesn’t quite do it for me.
46/100
- pop rap
Featured Song: Kiss Me Thru The Phone – Soulja Boy and Sammie
The promising mix of two fantastic genres too often sounds forced with a little too much Auto-Tune. The mashup can result in great songs with the right collaborations, but all too often, as is the case with Kiss Me Thru The Phone, it sounds like any predictable pop song with some quicker words overlaid in some parts and artificial melodies in others.
27/100
- modern rock
Featured Song: Cigarette Daydreams – Cage The Elephant
Only the best of pop and rock, modern rock is easy to recognise and sing along when everyone knows the songs, yet it is not repetitive. There is no pressure to output at any level of classic rock since the style has shifted enough. This actually produces more total songs to sift out new masterpieces from. More songs are added every day, and the genre only continues to amaze me and to grow. Best so far!
97/100
- pov: indie
Featured Song: Devil Town – Cavetown
No clue why Spotify has “pov:” there. Indie is where my heart lies, but listening to the most popular songs defeats the purpose for me. Certain corners of this genre would receive a 100/100 but because it is so diverse and scattered it can’t receive nearly that high. The quality of music is below most other categories’ so one has to discover the exact style where that no longer matters to them. Unfortunately, until that has happened, the majority of songs come across as underproduced.
63/100
- musica mexicana
Featured Song: Levantando Polvadera – Voz De Mando
This is the most instrumental genre yet, and it is fantastic. I’m so glad that sounds like this are near the top in popularity. I don’t listen to this ever, but the pure happiness that it instantly brings might make that change in the future. Solid, great music.
79/100
- latin pop
Featured Song: Todo Cambió – Camila
Honestly, better than regular pop since you have to make great music and not just slap a famous name on it. As always, the structure of pop itself isn’t the absolute best, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.
73/100
- classic rock
Featured Song: Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
I thought that all of the hits from regular rock would reappear here to receive the same ranking (I’ve already seen songs be categorized into multiple genres), yet they don’t. I still know most of the top songs here, but ironically, they aren’t all as classic as plain rock. The sound of the genre is just as impeccable as ever; you just don’t get as much singability-with-friends.
87/100
- filmi
Featured Song: Tamma Tamma Again – Bappi Lahiri, Anuradha Paudwal, and Badshah
Bollywood music got a pop and electronic flair. This is absolutely great! The rhythms are classic even without the traditionally used instruments that line the background. Ipersonally wouldn’t listen to this genre alone because the sound across songs is similar enough, but mixed in with other worldly music, filmi would thrive.
70/100
- permanent wave
Featured Song: Where Is My Mind? – Pixies
It’s a pre-electronically-ruled pop. There is enough freedom within the genre to allow each artist to encapsulate their own unique sound, and this definitely pays off. With just a dash of punk, permanent wave has a distinct sound that might not be initially apparent. It has enough variability, though, to listen indefinitely.
90/100
- trap
Featured Song: Rake It Up – Yo Gotti and Nicki Minaj
The songs are on the simple side in the hopes to emphasize the vocals, and while this could pay off, the featured lyrics themselves are often lackluster and overly vulgar. For me, trap is only the mildly annoying parts of rap.
19/100
- alternative metal
Featured Song: Happy? – Mudvayne
Better than plain metal, but the overall sound just isn’t too enjoyable for me. Some things have to rank on the low side to make the high ones mean something.
11/100
- k-pop
Featured Song: Up & Down – EXID
It’s funny that I enjoy other countries’ popular music more than the US’s. This may be an unpopular opinion (see what I did there), but I think that k-pop artists put more effort and care into their work than American pop stars. As you probably know if you’ve been reading through these, though, there’s still so much that I think is better than any version of pop.
75/100
- r&b
Featured Song: Weak – SWV
The grooviness is infectious! The layers and smoothness of r&b is consistently outstanding, yet it somehow never feels repetitive. Lyrics are phenomenal when you want to listen to them, but they are surprisingly optional.
98/100
- corrido
Featured Song: Mood Malandro – Código FN and Gabito Basteros
The first solely balladic genre to grace our ears, corrido tells a story even when you don’t know what the Spanish lyrics mean. The songs take me on a ride and each has its own progression that is perfectly complemented by the timbre of the instruments.
82/100
- canadian pop
Featured Song: They Don’t Know About Us – Victoria Duffield
Kinda just pop but the songs are made by Canadians. With this, you lose one of the few appealing aspects of regular pop: everyone knows the songs. I hadn’t heard any of the songs Spotify classifies as canadian pop before this.
34/100
- norteño
Featured Song: Voy A Llorar Por Ti – Los Rieleros Del Norte
This is just a subgenre of musica mexicana that is for some reason just a little more pleasing to the ear. It might be the emphasis on the vocals, harmonies, or the guitar, but it is very similar to the broader Mexican category.
77/100
- sierreño
Featured Song: Y Si Se Quiere Ir – Hijos De Barron
Another subgenre of the great musica mexicana, sierreño houses slower folk songs that feature twelve-string guitar, accordion, and tuba. The sound is immediately recognisable and comforting for even first time listeners such as myself.
71/100
- album rock
Featured Song: More Than a Feeling – Boston
When listening to singular songs, album rock is indistinguishable from classic rock. Album rock aims at the storytelling created through a whole album; without that, it is still great but a bit hard to lump into a genre. It will get the same rating as classic rock (and Sidney Crosby):
87/100
- soft rock
Featured Song: Sailing – Christopher Cross
Characterized by catchy, soft melodies and smooth harmonies, soft rock is aesthetic and calming. It feels natural and flowy but never predictable or cliché. Amazing sound that takes talent to sound effortless.
91/100
- pop dance
Featured Song: Words – Alesso and Zara Larsson
Uhh… How is this different from dance pop? I have no clue. Apparently pop dance is less listened to, though, since dance pop is the eighth most popular and pop dance is the 27th. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
46/100
- sad sierreño
Featured Song: Adueñarme – Nivel
I expected this to just be sadder than normal sierreño and therefore worse because of the less listening scenarios. And, well, it is sadder, but it’s also groovier with even more reliance on tuba. This takes the good part of sierreño to the extremes and it is worth it. Unexpected jams for the win!
84/100
- edm
Featured Song: Goodies – Dillon Francis
Electronic Dance Music can be great for specific parties and clubs but I can’t imagine listening to it on my own. It is too electronic. It is too dance. It is too… well, that one doesn’t work.
52/100
- hard rock
Featured Song: Poison – Alice Cooper
This is on the wrong side of rock for me. There is still the great instrumentals and melodies, but the raspy vocals and the extensive electric guitar is venturing too far into metal territory. At least, hard rock isn’t completely screaming lyrics.
55/100
- contemporary country
Featured Song: Rumor – Lee Brice
How is country the most popular genre in Pennsylvania? I’m sorry, I can’t do it. For the reasons that I don’t like pop and so much more than that. Country is slow and repetitive melodically and lyrically. When solely contemporary, there isn’t even a chance I’ve heard the song before. I know this will change no one’s mind, but I will not lie in my journalism. I’ll shut up now.
2/100
- mellow gold
Featured Song: The Boys Of Summer – Don Henley
Mellow… And golden… Yep… Must listen… Great!
96/100
- uk pop
Featured Song: Praising You – Rita Ora and Fatboy Slim
I was expecting this to follow the path of canadian pop, but in trying to go into each genre unbiased, I liked the first song. Then the second. Catchy songs all around in the UK! This is some quality music (much is still better, don’t get ahead of yourself now).
85/100
- melodic rap
Featured Song: Selfish – PnB Rock
Yes, there is slightly more melody in the lyrics than regular rap, but more importantly, the background tracks are more fluid and less copy paste in some areas. These should be the modern rap songs that get the most attention. Plain rap only gets a better rating because of the sheer amount of classic songs that are placed there and not in melodic rap.
86/100
- modern bollywood
Featured Song: Nianowale Ne – Neeti Mohan
This almost feels like the classic bollywood style is trying to change with the times when I don’t think it needs to. Classic stuff is great and some of these modern songs are trying to accomplish too much. They are good songs, no doubt, but it is hard to stand on the shoulders of giants and stand out from them at the same time.
78/100
- alternative rock
Featured Song: Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes
I swear that every song Spotify has categorized as alt rock are the same ones in classic and album rock. For the featured song, I had to skip the first two songs listed since they were already used in those other genres. I hate to be a little mad at such great music, and it’s not their fault, so SPOTIFY, PLEASE BUNDLE THESE GENRES. I mean, I know there’s a lot of rock songs, but when they put the same four tags on each song, what is the point?
87/100(like the other two)
- banda
Featured Song: Cuál Adiós – Banda Clave Nueva
Another subgenre of regional Mexican music is happily welcomed! This one features a full band sound which plays parallel chord melodies that resemble a majestic choir. When the real choir then sings on top, it’s a fantastic sound.
80/100
- post-grunge
Featured Song: She Hates Me – Puddle Of Mudd
Another reminder that all of this is my opinion because this is almost everything that I have said that I don’t like so far mashed up. The predictability of country and pop, the voicing of country and metal somehow at the same time, and the instrumentals of metal and grunge. I DO see how some might like this, but it just checks every box I don’t want at this time in my life for music.
5/100
- corridos tumbados
Featured Song: Quiero Darte – Designó
A slightly faster version of regular corridos, corridos tumbados has slight hip hop influences that ever-so-slightly shine through the latin themes. The sounds complement each other very well and are constantly varied and layered.
83/100
- sertanejo universitario
Featured Song: Meia Noite e Meia – Guilherme & Santiago
This is the most popular Portuguese genre on Spotify and for a good reason. It almost sounds rooted in country music but the different language changes the tone of the vocals and other surrounding music creates the layers that american country lacks. It still slightly triggers something in me that is hard to overcome from a lifetime of disliking similar sounding music.
66/100
- nu metal
Featured Song: Push It – Static-X
Nu metal features a lot of overlap with alternative metal (see at the 18th most popular genre slot) as it is actually a subgenre of alt metal. According to google, nu metal has a bit of influence from hip hop and funk, but I don’t hear it.
11/100
- country
Featured Song: Sold – John Michael Montgomery
See the 31st most popular genre, contemporary country, above. At least this umbrella category of country has Cotton Eye Joe. It also has tons more of regular old country songs. I didn’t realize until now how much I am repulsed by this music as I often say I like most styles. It must just be uber-trained into me at this point.
0.01/100 rounded down to 0/100 sorry : (
- art pop
Featured Song: Something in the Room She Moves – Julia Holter
Art pop is all over the place! The three songs I listened to were all completely different with almost no commonalities. I suppose that is just like art. After listening to more tunes, about half are slower and wispy compared to normal pop and the others each have unique vocal characteristics. They almost sound more indie than pop, and that is a good thing in my books. Pure diversity, yet every song is undeniably good within itself. This consistency among inconsistency is rare and pleasant.
91/100
- atl hip hop
Featured Song: So What – Field Mob and Ciara
I forgot that so much great music comes from Atlanta. This entire genre is just hip hop from Atlanta artists, and it is not lacking in the slightest.
93/100
- urban contemporary
Featured Song: How Deep Is Your Love – Dru Hill
I thought hip hop and urban were basically the same thing. Well, it turns out that they are, and Spotify just likes having too many genres. Because my ratings are only based on what songs Spotify puts in each category and that listen count, urban contemporary will only score lower than rap and hip hop because there are less classic and known songs put in its ranks.
89/100
- sertanejo
Featured Song: Azul – Edson & Hudson
This is the base genre for the more popular and modern sertanejo universitario genre. Sertanejo is a bit more country-like and predictable. The fact that it is in another language helps some but not much.
30/100
- southern hip hop
Featured Song: Like A Pimp – David Banner and Lil’ Flip
This is only geographically distinct from atlanta hip hop (three above), but musically, they are the same to me.
93/100
- singer-songwriter
Featured Song: You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
I gotta call out this specific song because “You Can Call Me Al” is just so good, and it wasn’t what I was expecting for this genre. I was half thinking this would be Taylor Swift dominated, but Simon, Morrison, and Young all appear here and Swift doesn’t. Thanks Spotify! A lot of outstanding genres have come back to back recently!
92/100
- reggaeton colombiano
Featured Song: Esta Noche – Mike Bahía and Greeicy
Okay, but what makes this so much better than regular reggaeton? I did not at all expect this as I was bracing myself for the “bad” one coming up. This music is rhythmic and smooth and groovy!
85/100
- arrocha
Featured Song: MINHA EX – Zé Felipe
The live sounding vocals sound slightly off with the sometimes electronic background. Parts sound forced and too fast for the vocalization of the lyrics, but never-the-less, it is fun to listen to.
49/100
…
Now we move on to the 50 least listened to genres across all of Spotify to see how they compare!
…
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- baroque cello
Featured Song: Capriccio I in C Minor – Joseph-Marie-Clement Dall’Abaco and Elinor Frey
The first wordless song of today might be the one that has expressed the most so far. A singular cello, although sometimes a bit boring, I will admit, can express so much emotion with only four strings. The baroque style itself is elegant and captivating. How does one rank this with the same scale used for pop, trap, and rock? I will go with what feels right, I guess.
74/100
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- cambodian traditional
Featured Song: Bom Pet – Kong Nay
Lute and traditional southeast asian vocal complexity galore! Each song is lengthy and harnesses unheard sounds throughout. I don’t think I would ever choose to listen to this, but it is a fun experience to listen to the world with the click of a button. Everyone should hear this at least once.
37/100
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- vintage swoon
Featured Song: Beautiful As You – Warren Williams
Honestly, the rocking and swooning chorus of this old-timey tune is just as catchy and enjoyable as almost any modern, technology-based tunes. I have a feeling that many of these lesser known genres will be hard to describe. My truthful advice: listen for yourself.
91/100
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- musique centrafricaine
Featured Song: Wali – Ozaguin and Mr Leo
Central African music indeed! The diversity of culture is apparent from the diversity of each song. It almost feels wrong to lump all of this music together, but there is really no other way. I prefer this upbeat sound over pop’s beat any day of the week. The best way to describe the sound is “happy!”
86/100
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- faroese jazz
Featured Song: Stjørnuskot – Plúmm
Some of these songs don’t sound at all like jazz. This one sounds like Dutch ABBA. They are all great, don’t get me wrong, but I think Spotify is trying to somewhat condense how many genres they are labeling songs as, especially when no one is listening to them, like in this genre. Good job, Spotify! You’re getting the hang of it.
72/100
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- bruneian indie
Featured Song: To Far – Yukahati
This is just indie music that happens to be made in Brunei I guess. I’m a bit surprised that indie sounds the same all the way across the world! Honestly, this is more consistently good than the general indie we saw in the most popular 50 genres. And so it will be rated higher.
81/100
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- korean classical piano
Featured Song: Suite bergamasque, L. 75: III. Clair de lune – Claude Debussy and Seong-Jin Cho
Piano. Classical piano. Classical piano played by a Korean person: Korean classical piano. I think you get it.
75/100 (just happened to get the same rank as k-pop)
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- vintage rockabilly
Featured Song: No Doubt About It – Ray Doggett and The Counts
There is no doubt this is vintage. I am certain that anyone could listen to this and know that the genre is called “vintage rockabilly” because it fits so perfectly. Then that person would start to jive uncontrollably. There is something about this music that just brings out the vintage dances alongside it.
84/100
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- rhythm and boogie
Featured Song: Jello Sal – Benny Ingram
The nice thing about lesser known genres like these is that their names describe the music straight up. If you couldn’t have guessed, this is a boogie that features fast rhythms on vocals and guitar trading lines back and forth. Classic sound that wouldn’t fit in any other category.
80/100
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- marċi brijużi
Featured Song: Emperor – Beland Band
I had no expectations… Marċi brijużi sounds like a marching band that learned mariachi then chose to play marches (not whilst marching) at an unprecedented level. This is so fun!
64/100
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- papuan traditional
Featured Song: Funerary Sung – A Weeping Group
This is the first genre that makes sense why it isn’t listened to. The whole genre is two albums of traditional songs plucked right from random parts of Papua New Guinea. So much potential for the first song to actually be a group of people actually just talking and weeping over each other.
8/100
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- macedonian metal
Featured Song: Implored by Hate – Hardfaced
At this point, you know how I feel about metal (if not, reference the 18th most popular genre: alt metal). Somehow, the words are clearer in Macedonian metal than in English. Welp.
15/100
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- lao traditional
Featured Song: Kao Nok – Molam Lao
It amazes me that each of these traditional genres is so different from one another and within themselves, yet I find it impossible to describe them. I love hang (those metal hand drums). But when one stands alone in a song for five minutes, it is a bit boring, sorry.
23/100
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- horo
Featured Song: Krivo Sadovsko Horo – Petko Radev
Now this is a music genre (compared to the modge podge of the traditional ones)! Fast slavic accordions speed along for minutes. Then they go even faster. FASTER! … And it just works! Wow.
82/100
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- wind quintet
Featured Song: Sextet in E-Flat Major, Op. 71: II. Adagio – Beethoven and The Israel Woodwind Quintet
A sextet being the most popular song in the quintet category is really funny. It’s five (or six) classical woodwinds, what did you expect? I expected more from five when one alone can be so good.
43/100
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- polish free jazz
Featured Song: Survival Kit – Pimpono Ensemble
Now this is all jazz needs to be! Fun sounds and people clearly having fun making them. But why is it free?
71/100
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- deep breakcore
Featured Song: Antigoon – DJ Skull Vomit
I didn’t think metal could get worse. This is — and I promise I’m not exaggerating — someone streaming at the top of their lungs with a dubstep beat glitching under it and speeding up.
4/100
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- tanci
Featured Song: Battle In Yunnan – Liu Baorui
Umm… this genre is lectures in Chinese. This one, I would guess, is about a battle in Yunnan. It might be interesting if I could understand him. He’s kind of just speaking for 5 minutes… ok.
9/100
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- balikpapan indie
Featured Song: Rintik Malam – Biru Tamaela
This is your dose of indie from the city of Balikpapan, Indonesia. Besides the language difference, this is a regular spread of indie music. There are almost no similarities between songs, some are great, most are ok.
65/100
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- uzbek traditional
Featured Song: Kosh-Chanar – Turgun Alimatov
As varied as all the other traditional genres, uzbek traditional is the one that hails from Uzbekistan, I suppose. At least this one has more that I can confidently label as music.
32/100
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- musica timor-leste
Featured Song: O Rai Timor – Tonny Pareira and Elder D. Araujo
Tropical sounds instantly fill the room when you put Timor Leste’s music on. It sounds as though it came out of a movie, so I am incredibly surprised that this is actually the music made in these places.
89/100
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- italian violin
Featured Song: Fantasia No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14 II. Allegro – Georg Philipp Telemann and Frederico Guglielmo
This is your classic classical violin solo piece except these songs happened to be played by Italians. Yep.
60/100
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- wandelweiser
Featured Song: Paloma Wind 3 – John Hudak and Eva-Maria Houben
This genre is just ambient sounds, and not even alway pleasing ones. Wind, metal shuttering, one sustained whistle, and mist (inaudible) are some of the different songs I listened to. I am sorry to say that “I don’t understand.”
17/100
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- bothy ballad
Featured Song: John Barleycorn – Fred Jordan
A lone Scottish voice singing farming tales is the extent of this genre. It is initially funny and entertaining, but after 30 seconds, it feels as though you are hearing a grandparent tell the same story for the 137th time in a row.
21/100
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- metal piauiense
Featured Song: Forbidden Legacy – Into Morphin
Please reference any other metal genre to see how I feel. Here’s a clue:
13/100
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- kenyan traditional
Featured Song: Kamano – Akito Arap Yeko
These traditional genres are so hard to rate because each song in each one is so different from anything I’ve heard before. This is based on if I would ever listen to these tunes again. I do enjoy the Kenyan style more than some of the other’s, though.
57/100
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- quatuor a cordes
Featured Song: String Quartet, Op. 11: II. Adagio – Samuel Barber and Quatuor Modigliani
This is the best classical genre of the four heard thus far. This is what string quartets should sound like: not parallel chords but progressing majestic ones. Though the songs are longer than most genres, quatuor a cordes is so beautiful that I would still listen if one song was an hour long.
90/100
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- italian choir
Featured Song: Missa Papae Marcelli: I. Kyrie – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Sistine Chapel Choir
The most beautiful vocal sounds ever heard are those of an Italian choir. I don’t know why this would be less popular than other choral genres. There is something about the fact that it could just as easily be Latin being sung that takes this to another level of perfection for its limit. It’s limits are apparent, though, for I don’t want to only listen to slow but majestic choir music now.
81/100
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- zampogna
Featured Song: Ballo Lento/Tarantella – Antonio Critelli
BAAAAAAAAAGPIIIIIPESSSS!!!!!
77/100
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- ugandan traditional
Featured Song: Kigara Kyamsiriba – Babyesiga
There is almost no difference between this and kenyan traditional besides the actual country of origin. It makes sense to organize all of this diverse music by geography for classification, but for listener experience, they are basically indistinguishable.
57/100
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- kaba gaida
Featured Song: Izlel e Delyu Haidutin – Valya Balkanska
This traditional Bulgarian folk music creates an intense, distinct atmosphere. Kaba gaida’s layers of non-western harmonies breaks the brain a little at first, but soon, the true beauty of this music is realized.
67/100
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- tajik traditional
Featured Song: Ay Pari – The Badakhshan Ensemble
This differs from the traditional African music genres from before since all of the songs share a similar theme this time. It is closely related to uzbek traditional. The string instruments used here sound like no others!
59/100
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- wind ensemble
Featured Song: Sinfonia in G Minor – Gaetano Donizetti and Ottetto Italiano
I am once again surprised about how low something as known as a wind ensemble ranks on the popularity scale. 6274/6291 is crazy amounts of unpopular. This is straightforward, good music. Does anyone think classical is bad?
70/100
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- hungarian choir
Featured Song: Let the Light Shine on Me – Brian Field, Budapest Chorus, and Martón Tóth
I wasn’t expecting this to be sung in english. This is the first one in 25 to do so, and I’m not upset. It is only this song, too. The next few were in Hungarian. Worldly music is amazing and this definitely still qualifies as such. Crisp, staccato vocals make this music shine.
76/100
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- swiss classical piano
Featured Song: Preludes, L. 123, Book II: V. Bruyères – Claude Debussy and Francesco Piemontesi
This is just classical piano played by some people who happened to be Swiss, not even the composers. It feels weird rating this the same as classical piano as a whole, but they really are the same for anything that would play into a ranking.
75/100
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- mazandarani folk
Featured Song: Banoo Jan – Abolhasan Khoshrou
From the north of Iran, mazanderani folk features fluttering traditional guitar-like sounds to accompany the shifting, classical vocals. Definitely worth a listen at least once.
50/100
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- historic string quartet
Featured Song: String Quartet In C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4: I. Allegro Ma Non Tanto – Végh Quartet and Wilhelm Strienz
Besides sounding as if plucked straight off of a gramophone, historic string quartet has a slow enough tempo to capture any wandering soul. Besides this featured song specifically (which is amazing), the historic string quartet’s tunes are the same as a regular string quartet’s.
45/100
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- italian mezzo-soprano
Featured Song: Vi Scrivo Qui Dalla Stanzetta Mia – Cloe Elmo
These are the first operatic sounds so far. I don’t know why mezzo-soprano indicates rolling pianos and brass behind opera singing or if other vocal ranges are different genres, but the moment you begin to listen to these ballads, you are transported to a European opera house. It is spectacular that humans’ voices can sound like this.
54/100
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- swazi traditional
Featured Song: Mayetele Mina Kazula – Josefa Malindisa
Swazi traditional has more group singing than the other traditional genres, but there is almost no instrumental. The tone of the vocals overlapping each other and shifting is extraordinary. There just isn’t much of a melody or any part of western music to grasp onto.
38/100
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- trallalero
Featured Song: Baciccin – I Giovani Canterini di Sant’Olcese
This polyphonic (meaning many sounds at once) music from the north of Italy has classical, choral sections, folk singing, and operatic sounds all combined to create impressive songs. This is what I would love to hear bleed into more popular music.
90/100
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- baroque brass
Featured Song: Canzona Terza à 2 – Girolamo Frescobaldi and Don Smithers
It is nice to hear brass instruments featured in this style of music consistently throughout a piece let alone a whole genre. This is now one of my favorite classical subgenres.
83/100
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- himene tarava
Featured Song: Himene Pirae – Tahiti Pirae Tarava Group
This group of sounds from across Tahiti and other parts of Polynesia, compiles harmonies that would sound outright wrong if sung in an American song, but the vocalization of these crossing and weaving melodies lets the crunchy chords shine. The large groups sing words in unison while notes scatter in complex and beautiful progressions.
82/100
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- vintage western
Featured Song: Juke Box Gal – Claude Casey
If you couldn’t tell by fact that the genre itself is called “vintage western,” these songs are not only western, but vintage too!
72/100
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- classical string trio
Featured Song: Winter – Maurice Horsthuis and Amsterdam String Trio
The sounds that are possible with only three musicians at the hands of a genius composer blow my mind. The chords and emerging melodies that fade and reveal themselves in spectacular manner are unheard across most of the rest of music. The pictures that sounds can paint have never been more clear.
79/100
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- cinematic dubstep
Featured Song: Remember – Apathesis
The fact that this is dubstep but there is a cinematic element that drives a plot-like beat throughout feels intuitive yet, at the same time, a juxtaposition. I can’t tell if it improves the overall sound or makes it more niche and less appealing. I think I like this more than regular dubstep but less than normal cinematic scores.
25/100
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- quartetto d’archi
Featured Song: Sonnets et rondeaux: I. – Giovanni Sollima and Alkemia Quartet
“Quartetto d’archi” is just Italian for “string quartet.” It is that. No further commentary.
52/100
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- yunnan traditional
Featured Song: Shange diao – Daorongguang and Baoaizhande
This Chinese province’s music doesn’t sound like what I would have guessed it would. This genre is as varied as all the other traditional genres above, so, once again, they are very hard to give one ranking to. Overall, I see why this is among the least listened to genres. It is not bad… just niche.
29/100
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- classical piano quartet
Featured Song: Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 13: II. Scherzo. Presto – Richard Strauss and Malbec Klavierquartett
I thought this would be four pianos, but it is just a quartet that has a single piano as one of its members. I’m slightly let down, but this is still great, classical music.
55/100
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- deep deep tech house
Featured Song: Dubai – Housephonics
This is what should be at the bottom of the genre popularity list instead of random bits of classical music. These songs are just beats that some guy made in his garage. It is a great way to get into music making, but it doesn’t deserve to be listened to nearly as much as many other types of music. I have no clue why this is deeper than deep tech house!
20/100
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- wagnerian singing
Featured Song: 3 Lieder, Op. 8: I. Nature – Arnold Schoenburg, Anja Silja, and Wiener Philharmoniker
Strong voices over intense music is the defining characteristic of wagnerian singing. This operatic and classical sound is captivating. I wonder how much the names of the genres themselves affect how much they are listened to. I would never click on a wagnerian singing playlist, but now I wish I would have.
61/100
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Overall, the genres that take the top spots are mostly from the most popular 50 genres. 80% of the genres that scored 90/100 or better were in the popular 50. The 50 least listened to genres also ranked, on average, 10 points less than the pop 50. That being said, as someone who likes to mix things up every so often, I had a more enjoyable time experiencing the more obscure music than the mainstream tunes. I would highly suggest going onto everynoise.com to experiment with music that many don’t realize exists!
