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What music is popular now?

Pop is the most popular music genre among US teenagers (age 16-19) in 2018. Music genre Percentage of teenagers listening Rock 28% Rock & Roll 28% Classic Rock 26% R&B 23% 8 more rows •

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Pop, rock, and hip-hop are just a few of the most popular music genres worldwide.

Find out:

How music genre tastes change based on age, country, and race

Which music genres are the best for working out and which for setting personal records Which rap artist has the most album sales and which K-pop groups have the most views on YouTube Did you know there are 29 types of rock genres? Find more interesting facts and stats below:

Music Genre Statistics (2022)

Most Popular Music Genre Statistics

There are over 300 music genres worldwide.

worldwide. Pop is the most popular music genre worldwide , whereas hip-hop/R&B dominates the US market. is the most popular music genre , whereas dominates the US market. Pop is the most favorite music genre for gym-goers , but most personal records are broken while listening to hip-hop/rap music. is the most favorite music genre for , but most personal records are broken while listening to music. Hip-hop is the most popular music genre among listeners aged 12-35 . is the most popular music genre among listeners . With 27 million sales, “The Eminem Show” by Eminem is the best-selling rap album of all time.

Music stats (industry revenue, growth)

Fascinating music streaming statistics

Listening to music stats (listening time per day, avg. songs)

What’s the most popular music genre?

Pop is the most popular music genre in the world.

Here’s a table of the 10 most popular music genres:

Popularity ranking Music genre 1. Pop 2. Rock 3. The 90s 4. The 80s 5. Soundtracks 6. Hip-hop/Rap/Trap 7. R&B 8. Dance/Electronic/House 9. The 70s 10. Soul/Blues (IFPI)

What are the unique music genres people listen to in different countries?

Interesting music genres enjoyed, based on the country.

Country Interesting niche genre Canada Video game soundtracks US Zydeco UK Northern soul Brazil Axé Argentina Latin Sweden Black metal Poland Disco polo Italy Space disco South Africa Gqom Russia Shisha rap China Hokkien song South India Carnatic South Korea K Trot Japan Vocaloid New Zealend Te Reo Mãori (IFPI)

EDM/Electronic is the most common music genre on music festivals worldwide.

The numbers and percentages of bigger music festivals that have more than 10,000 visitors: Music genre Number of festivals Percentage EDM/Electronic 318 38% Rock/Indie 237 28% Hip-Hop 72 9% Pop 65 8% Folk 58 7% Metal 42 5% Country

music 33 4% Jazz 17 1% (Festival Pro)

How Does the Popularity of Music Genres Change Over Time?

Trends in music genres are heavily influenced by historical events and popular musicians. Huge events, such as political, social, or economic, can hugely affect the popularity of specific music genres. Most notably, punk rock, grunge, and rap were first played in the underground but then popularized by likable artists. However, music genres that quickly gain mass appeal tend to fade away fast. Rock peaked in 1983, occupying 60.9% of all spots on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. That makes it the most consumed genre in history. Music genre The year when genre peaked Percentage of songs on Billboard Charts that year Rock 1983 60.9% Pop Standards 1958 41.7% Pop 2011 40.9% Soul 1974 37.1% R&B 1997 31.9% Rock & Roll 1963 31.4% Rap/Hip-Hop 2016 30% Country 2011 24.6% Folk 1971 9.7% Metal 2003 9.3% Blues 1959 7.2% House

Electronic

Trance 1992 6.7% Punk 2006 5.7% Ska

Reggae

Dancehall 1993 3.9% (The Data Face)

What is the Most Popular Genre in the US?

R&B/Hip-Hop is the most popular music genre in the US.

It has been this way since 2017 when it overtook pop and rock music genres.

(Billboard)

Here’s a more detailed view of the music genres’ popularity in the US from 2017 to 2021.

Music Genre 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 R&B

Hip-Hop 27.7% 28.2% 27.7% 31.2% 25.1% Rock 20% 19.5% 19.8% 23.1% 23% Pop 13% 12.9% 14% 15.1% 13.4% Country 8.1% 7.9% 7.4% 8.4% 8.0% Latin 5.4% 4.7% 5.3% 7.7% 5.7% Dance

Electronic 3.3% 3.2% 3.6% 3.6% 4.0% Christian

Gospel 1.8% 1.9% 2.3% 2.9% 2.5% World Music 2.0% 1.8% 1.5% / / Children 1.2% 1.3% 1.4% 1.1% 1.4% Classical Music 1.1% 1.0% 1.0% 1.1% 1.0% Jazz 1.0% 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% 1.0% Holiday Seasonal / / 1.4% / / (MRC Data Reports 2021-2020) (Nielsen Music Reports 2019-2017)

Top 5 music genres in the UK.

The data is based on the TikTok reports from 2020-2021.

Rank 2020 2021 1. Pop Hip-Hop/

Rap 2. Hip-Hop/Rap Pop 3. Electronic Dance/

Electronic 4. Alternative Indie/

Alternative 5. New Age R&B/Soul (Music Week) (TikTok Music Report 2021)

Top 10 music genres in China.

Pop C-Pop Cantonese Songs Soundtracks 90s music Chinese folk music Singer-songwriter 80s music K-Pop Rock

(IFPI)

Top 10 music genres in India

Bollywood Older Bollywood (the 80s, 90s) Retro Bollywood (the 50s, 60s, 70s) Punjabi Traditional music International pop International Hip-Hop/Rap/Trap International Rock Soundtracks International Dance/Electronic/House

(IFPI)

Top 10 music genres in Russia.

Russian pop The 90s International pop The 80s Russian rock International rock Estrada/Russian old pop Soundtracks Russian chanson International Dance/Electronic/House

(IFPI)

The most downloaded music genres, based on country.

Country Most downloaded music genres Brazil Hip-Hop, Trap, House Australia Hip-Hop, Trap, EDM China Hip-Hop, Trap, R&B India Hip-Hop, Trap, EDM Canada Hip-Hop, Trap, EDM Nigeria Afrobeat, African, Hip-Hop South Korea Hip-Hop, Trap, EDM UK Hip-Hop, Trap, House US Hip-Hop, Trap, R&B (MRC Data Report 2021)

What are Music Sales Statistics by Genre?

Pop music genre sales brought the biggest cut of the revenue, 31.1% or $6.79 billion in 2017. That’s 3.9% more than the year before when pop sales brought in $6.53 billion. Rock music sales also grew by 2.5%, jumping from $5.12 billion in 2016 to $5.25 billion in 2017. R&B/Hip-Hop, while landing third in music genre sales share, doubled its sales in the last 10 years. Music genre Revenue percentage Pop 31.1% Rock 24.1% Hip-Hop/R&B 11.9% Dance 5.9% Country 5.3% Classical 4.3% Latin 1.9% Jazz 1.4% Other 14.1% (Music & Copyright)

What Music Genres are Popular Among Teenagers?

Pop is the most popular music genre among US teenagers (age 16-19) in 2018. Music genre Percentage of teenagers listening Pop 52% Hip-Hop/Rap 48% Indie/Alternative Rock 31% Rock 28% Rock & Roll 28% Classic Rock 26% R&B 23% Instrumental 22% Singer/Songwriter 21% Show music/Musicals 20% Country 19% Soundtrack 15% (Statista)

Music genres most popular among Gen Z:

Music genre Popularity in 2019 Popularity in 2021 Pop 48% 42% Hip-Hop/Rap 34% 55% Rock 31% 33% R&B/Soul 27% 30% Alternative 23% 26% Country 19% 25% (YPulse)

Music genres popular among millennials:

Music genre Popularity in 2019 Popularity in 2021 Pop 66% 38% Hip-Hop/Rap 56% 54% Rock 52% 38% Alternative 45% 28% R&B/Soul 38% 36% Country 34% 34% (YPulse)

Music Genre Preferences by Age Group

With 62% of US listeners, classic rock has the most loyal fanbase in the 45-54 age group.

Here’s a table of the most popular music genres by age groups:

Age group Preferred music genre Percentage of US listeners 16-19 Pop 52% 20-24 Pop, Rap/Hip-Hop 54% 25-34 Pop 56% 35-44 Pop, Classic Rock 46% 45-54 Classic Rock 62% 55-64 Classic Rock 60% 65+ Classic Rock 48% (Statista)

What Genre of Music is Best for Working Out?

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The best music genres for working out are those with a strong beat like garage, house, or hip-hop. While there’s no definitive music genre for exercising, upbeat music works the best. Ideally, music should have anywhere between 120 to 140 beats per minute. Anything more or less starts showing adverse effects. Furthermore, music needs to have a constant beat. Overly long quiet passages and tempo changes again negatively affect workout endurance.

(Inverse)

Pop the overall most popular music genre among gym-goers.

Research by Fitrated surveyed 1000 gym-goers to find out their music genre of choice.

Here are the results:

Music genre Percentage of listeners Pop 53.4% Hip-Hop/Rap 48.6% Classic Rock 46.3% Alternative 30.4% Electronic/Dance 29.2% Heavy Metal 24% (FitRated) Weightlifters’ favorite music genres were heavy metal and pop. Pop listeners also enjoyed doing squats and Pilates. Interestingly, at 53 minutes, punk fans endured the longest workout sessions, whereas heavy metal fans were the quickest to run a mile (under 7 minutes).

(FitRated)

Music genres that helped gym-goers beat their personal records:

Here’s a table of music genres that motivate gym-goes to achieve personal records: Music genre Percentage of listeners Hip-Hop/Rap 57.4% Pop 54.9% Classic Rock 45.7% EDM 33.8% Alternative 33.1% R&B/Soul 29.3% Heavy Metal 26.8% Indie Rock 26.5% Country 24.3% Jazz 24% (FitRated)

Top 10 motivational workout music genres:

Here’s a table of music genres that motive the most during a workout: Music genre Percentage of listeners Pop 37% Classic Rock 33.8% Hip-Hop/Rap 33.7% EDM 20.9% Alternative 20.8% Heavy Metal 17.4% R&B/Soul 16.2% Indie Rock 15.3% Country 14.7% Punk 12.3% (FitRated)

Best music genres for intense workouts:

Here are the music genres that people prefer for intense workouts:

Music genre Percentage of listeners Hip-Hop/Rap 62.1% Pop 51.1% Classic Rock 45.9% EDM 38.5% Heavy Metal 31.5% Alternative 28.7% Indie Rock 26.9% R&B/Soul 26.3% Punk 21.4% Country 21.1% (FitRated)

Rap vs. Rock Statistics

Is Rap More Popular Than a Rock?

Rock music is more popular than rap music, with rock ranked the second most popular music genre.

Rap music is ranked 6th.

(IFPI)

How Many People Listen to Rap/Hip-Hop?

27.7% of US music lovers in 2021 listened to rap/hip-hop.

Here’s a percentage of US rap/hip-hop listeners from 2017 to 2021:

Here’s a table of rap & hip hop listeners in the US:

Year Percentage of US listeners 2021 27.7% 2020 28.2% 2019 27.7% 2018 31.2% 2017 25.1% (Nielsen Music Reports 2017-2019) (MRC Data Reports 2020-2021) Rap/hip-hop saw a considerable increase in popularity among the Gen Z audience, jumping from 34% in 2019 to 55% in 2021. On the other hand, popularity among millennials decreased from 56% in 2019 to 54% in 2021 yet remained relatively high.

(YPulse)

What are the Best-Selling Rap/Hip-Hop Albums of All Time?

Ranking Album name Albums sold 1. “The Eminem Show” by Eminem 27 million 2. “The Score” by Fugees 22 million 3. “The Marshall Mathers LP” by Eminem 21 million 4. “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill 20 million 5. “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” by MC Hammer 18 million 6. “Crazy Sexy Cool” by T.L.C. 15 million 7. “To the Extreme” by Vanilla Ice 15 million 8. “Devil Without a Cause” by Kid Rock 15 million 9. “Curtain Call: The Hits” by Eminem 13 million 10. “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” by Outkast 13 million 11. “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” by 50 Cent 12 million 12. “Big Willie Style” by Will Smith 12 million 13. “Encore” by Eminem 11 million 14. “Nellyville” by Nelly 11 million 15. “Doggystyle” by Snoop Dogg 11 million 16. “The Massacre” by 50 Cent 11 million 17. “2001” by Dr. Dre 10 million 18. “Greatest Hits” by 2Pac 10 million 19. “Life After Death” by Notorious B.I.G. 10 million 20. “E. 1999 Eternal” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 10 million (Audio Network)

Statistics About Why People Listen to Hip-Hop

People listen to hip-hop because it allows them to express themselves positively.

(The Daily Universe)

Other reasons why people listen to hip-hop:

It’s inspiring

It offers young people a way to express their personality and emotions

Lyrics are often thought-provoking

It reflects current events (social, political, economic)

Boosts energy (during workout)

Hip-hop culture is attractive and easy to practice, which attracts teens to become artists themselves in the future as well

(The Audio Dome)

Statistics About How Women Feel About Hip-Hop Music Videos

All women in rap videos are nude to some extent.

Out of 100% of nude women in rap videos, 95% were highly revealing, 10% were semi-nude, and 10% were only partially nude. Level of nudity Percentage of representation Highly revealing 95% Semi-nude 10% Partially-nude 10% (Southern Illinois University) Moreover, all videos portray some kind of violence toward women, with 70% showing a high level of violence, 20% medium level, and 10% low level. Level of violence Percentage of representation High 70% Medium 20% Low 10% (Southern Illinois University) Furthermore, 88% of women wore some type of bikini (one or two-piece), 9% had mini-skirts, 2% had a formal dress, and 1% had a long dress. Type of dress Percentage of representation Bikini 88% Mini-skirt 9% Formal 2% Long 1% (Southern Illinois University)

Race representation in rap videos:

Race Percentage of representation African American 100% Caucasian 95% Hispanic 80% Asian 60% (Southern Illinois University)

Women’s role in rap videos:

Role Percentage of representation Sitting in the club 100% Dancing 95% Surrounded in sexual abuse 80% Playing around 60% (Southern Illinois University) As of late, many more women hip hop artists have emerged and become famous, making the genre much more balanced.

(Deezer)

Hip-Hop Audience Demographics

Hip-Hop is most popular among the audience aged 12-34 and men.

Listeners in this age group filled their TOP 100 playlist with 43% of hip-hop songs. Age group Percentage of hip-hop songs in their playlists 12-34 43% 35-54 11% (Coleman Insights)

Hip-Hop/R&B popularity, based on race:

Race Percentage of hip-hop songs in their playlists Black 70% Hispanic 31% Other 14% (Coleman Insights)

How Many People Listen To Rock?

Rock was the second most popular music genre in the world in 2021.

(IFPI)

While classic rock is still one of the most popular genres in America, it’s losing its popularity among younger audiences under 35.

(Statista)

2022 C.B.S. News poll revealed that overall, with 32%, rock is still way ahead of other genres among the entire US population. A table of CBS News poll on popularity of music genres in the general US population: Music genre Popularity among all US listeners Rock 32% Pop 15% Hip-Hop/Rap 14% Country 12% Christian/Gospel 10% (CBS News) On the other hand, the rock landed 3rd among younger audiences between the age of 18-29. Here’s a table of the most popular music genres among US youngsters aged 18-29: Music genre Popularity among US youngsters aged 18-29 Hip-Hip/Rap 32% Pop 19% Rock 17% Christian/Gospel 11% Country 8% (CBS News) 40% of white U.S. listeners claim the rock music genre is their favorite.

Here’s a table of the most popular music genres among white Americans:

Music genre Popularity among white US listeners Rock 40% Pop 15% Country 15% Christian/Gospel 9% Hip-Hop/Rap 7% (CBS News)

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In contrast, rock and hip-hop completely switch sides when looking at results from black listeners.

Here’s a table of the most popular music genres among black Americans:

Music genre Popularity among black US listeners Hip-Hop/Rap 35% R&B/Soul 30% Christian/Gospel 14% Jazz 9% Rock 6% (CBS News)

What are the Most Popular Rock Genres?

Among the most popular styles of rock music are:

Alternative rock

Rock & roll

Progressive rock

Indie rock

Punk rock

Psychedelic rock

Acid rock

Glam rock

Root rock

Folk-rock

Arena rock

Soft rock

Funk rock

Garage rock

Space rock

Electronic rock

Experimental rock

Surf rock

Brit-pop

Art rock

Stoner rock

Instrumental rock

Jazz-rock

Sleaze rock

Gothic rock

Jam rock

Industrial rock

Geek rock

Yacht rock

(Musician Wave)

Popular Music Genres in the Past

What was the Most Popular Music Genre in the 2000s?

House was the most popular music genre of the 2000s.

Based on chart-topping songs throughout the 2000s, house music was the most popular. R&B/Hip-Hop later overtook it in 2008.

What was the Most Popular Music Genre in the 90s?

Hip-Hop was the dominating music genre in the 90s.

While techno and alternative rock were getting big, hip-hop/rap still dominated the charts, with artists like Ice Cube, Ice T, 2Pac, De La Soul, and Geto Boys.

(PennState)

What was the Most Popular Music Genre in the 80s?

Techno pop was among the top genres in the 80s.

For the most part, techno-pop held its first position for the longest. Pop-rock overtook it in 1987. Pop-rock only stayed in the first spot for 2 years. The house genre overtook it in 1989.

What was the Most Popular Music Genre in the 70s?

Disco was the biggest music genre of the 70s.

While pop-rock held the first spot at the beginning of the decade, disco quickly overtook it and maintained its position right till the end.

What was the Most Popular Music Genre in the 60s?

Soul was the most prominent music genre of the 60s.

It has held itself as the most popular musical genre for the entire decade.

Spotify & Kpop

Most Popular Music Genres on Spotify

Hip hop genre accounts for 38% of all streams, making it the most listened to music genre on Spotify. 27% is dedicated to pop, 18% to Latin, 9% to R&B, and rock and electronic music share 4% each.

Check the table with the most listened to music genres on Spotify:

Music genre Popularity on Spotify Hip-Hop 38% Pop 27% Latin 18% R&B 9% Rock 4% Electronic 4% (909originals) On the other hand, 42% of all radio airplay consists of pop music.

(909originals)

With 575,580 followers, pop is Spotify’s most-followed music genre.

Dance-pop is second with 366,189 followers, and the third is the house with 328,939 followers.

Here’s a table with the number of Spotify followers by music genre:

Music genre Followers on Spotify Pop 575,580 Dance-Pop 366,189 House 328,939 Teen-Pop 328,082 Electro-House 327,309 (JMPerezPerez)

K-Pop Stats

How Big is K-Pop?

K-Pop has become a $5 billion industry.

It has smashed numerous records in the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

(Spotify)

Physical sales of K-pop music reached 54.05 million in 2021.

Here’s a table of K-pop music sales per year:

Year K-pop items sold 2021 54.05 million 2020 38.88 million 2019 24.38 million 2018 22.52 million 2017 16.28 million 2016 9.76 million 2015 7.17 million 2014 6.29 million 2013 6.87 million 2012 6.04 million 2011 5.28 million (Daisuki K-Pop)

BTS are the best selling K-Pop artists, with 33.304.000 in physical sales.

Top 10 best selling K-Pop artists:

Rank K-Pop artist Physical sales 1. BTS 33.304.000 2. Shin Seunghun 10.262.000 3. Seventeen 10.101.000 4. EXO 9.843.000 5. Seo Taiji and Boys 8.000.000 6. Twice 7.605.000 7. NCT DREAM 7.295.000 8. NCT 127 6.653.000 9. Stray Kids 6.303.000 10. NCT 5.392.000 (Daisuki K-Pop)

K-Pop already has more than 41 billion streams worldwide on Spotify.

That’s more than 134 billion minutes of K-Pop music streamed on Spotify.

You can find K-Pop songs in more than 96 million playlists throughout the streaming service.

(Spotify)

K-Pop popularity exploded from 2014 to 2020, increasing by more than 1800%.

(Spotify)

The most popular K-Pop bands are:

BTS

SuperM

Red Velvet

Girls’ Generation

EXO

NCT

Monsta X

Super Junior

TWICE

Male K-Pop groups are the most popular on YouTube, based on views.

Here’s a tabled data on what K-pop groups are most popular.

Group characteristics Share of YouTube views Male groups 41.5% Female groups 35.1% Male solo 11.3% Female solo 9.2% Coed 2.9% (Daisuki K-Pop)

K-Pop music already has more than 420.077.530.986 views on YouTube.

Male groups also have the most likes on YouTube:

Group characteristics Share of YouTube likes Male groups 49.3% Female groups 26.3% Male solo 12.2% Female solo 10.4% Coed 1.9% (Daisuki K-Pop)

With 24.384.938.786 views, BTS are the most-watched K-pop artists on YouTube.

Rank K-Pop artist Views on YouTube 1. BTS 24.384.938.786 2. Blackpink 14.108.176.147 3. Twice 9.514.665.479 4. PSY 7.435.843.402 5. BIGBANG 3.798.825.574 6. EXO 3.782.841.787 7. Girls’ Generation 2.873.000.377 8. GOT7 2.832.879.153 9. Red Velvet 2.826.813.531 10. Stray Kids 2.810.745.250 (Daisuki K-Pop) BTS was the first Korean band to surpass 5 billion streams in 2019.

In 2020, it had more than 8 billion streams.

(Spotify)

Modern K-Pop originates from the 90s.

The song that started it all, “I Know” by Seo Taiji and the Boys, remained the most listened-to track in Korea for 17 weeks.

(Masterclass)

How Many People Listen To K-Pop?

39% of people from 18 countries stated K-pop was very popular in their country in the 2021 survey.

Here’s a table on how popular is K-pop across the globe:

Popularity level Percentage Very popular 39% Moderately popular 26.5% Adequately popular 23.2% Not very popular 11.3% (Statista 2) 53% of K-pop listeners are aged from 18 to 24, according to Spotify.

Out of all K-pop listeners, 73% are females.

(Spotify)

K-pop is mostly popular in:

The US

Indonesia

Philippines

Japan

Brazil

(Spotify)

The U.S. and Mexico represent the largest fan base of K-pop.

The US is a big market which automatically brings forward a large number of fans. On the other hand, Mexico listeners represent the biggest cut of Spotify users.

Most K-pop followers on Instagram come from the U.S.

Mexico has the most K-pop views on American YouTube.

Conclusion

These were the most interesting and in-depth statistics on the music industry and music genres around the world. Pop is still a dominating music genre worldwide, while the United States has shifted from rock to hip-hop.

Do you like K-pop? Which music genre is going to shape our future? Which one deserves bigger attention? Which is your favorite genre?

Let us know in the comments.

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