20+ Music Genre Statistics: Most Popular Music Genres (2024)

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:

Most Popular Music Genre Statistics

• There are over 300 music genres worldwide.
• Pop is the most popular music genre worldwide, whereas hip-hop/R&B dominates the US market.
• Pop is also the favorite music genre for gym-goers, but most personal records are broken while listening to hip-hop/rap music.
• Hip-hop is the most popular music genre among listeners aged 12-35.
• With 27 million sales, “The Eminem Show” by Eminem is the best-selling rap album of all time.

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:

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

Interesting music genres enjoyed, based on the country.

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:

Read more about music:

• Music statistics (industry revenue, growth)
• Fascinating music streaming statistics
• Time spent listening to music statistics
• Benefits of music according to research

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.

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.

Top 5 music genres in the UK.

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

Top 10 music genres in China.

1. C-Pop
2. Pop
3. Easy Listening
4. Anime / Anisong
5. Chinese Style
6. Chinese Folk
7. Classical
8. Soundtracks
9. Chinese Hip-Hop / Rap
10. K-Pop

(IFPI 2)

Top 10 music genres in India

1. Bollywood (modern)
2. Bollywood (classic)
3. Bollywood New Age (2000-2020)
4. Indian Hip-Hop / Rap
5. Bollywood Coming of Age
6. Punjabi
7. Indian Pop
8. International Hip-Hop / Rap
9. Bollywood Retro
10. International Dance/Electronic/House

(IFPI 2)

Top 10 music genres in Indonesia.

1. Indonesian Pop
2. Pop
3. K-pop
4. Dangdut
5. Islamic Music
6. Hip-Hop / Rap
7. Rock
8. Classical
9. R&B
10. Jazz

(IFPI 2)

The most downloaded music genres, based on country.

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.

What Music Genres are Popular Among Teenagers?

Pop is the most popular music genre among US teenagers (age 16-19) in 2018.

Music genres most popular among Gen Z:

Music genres popular among millennials:

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:

What Genre of Music is Best for Working Out?

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:

• 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:

Top 10 motivational workout music genres:

Here’s a table of music genres that motive the most during a workout:

Best music genres for intense workouts:

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

Rap vs. Rock Statistics

Is Rap More Popular Than a Rock?

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

Rap music is ranked 3rd.

(IFPI 2)

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:

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?

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.

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.

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.

Race representation in rap videos:

Women’s role in rap videos:

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.

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

How Many People Listen To Rock?

Rock was the second most popular music genre in the world in 2022.

(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 the popularity of music genres in the general US population:

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:

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:

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:

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.

(I Like Your Old Stuff)

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.

(I Like Your Old Stuff)

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.

(Like Your Old Stuff)

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.

(Like Your Old Stuff)

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:

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:

K-Pop Stats

How Big is K-Pop?

K-Pop has become a $5 billion industry.

It has smashed numerous records on 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:

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

Top 10 best selling K-Pop artists:

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
• BLACKPINK
• EXO
• NCT
• Monsta X
• Super Junior
• TWICE

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

However, the popularity of male K-pop groups dropped from 40.3% in 2022 to 37.9% in 2023, while the popularity of female K-pop groups increased by 1%.

Here’s a tabled data on what K-pop groups are most popular in 2023.

K-Pop music already has more than 228,407,638,928 views on YouTube.

Male groups also have the most likes on YouTube:

With 26,666,275,968 views, BTS are the most-watched K-pop artists on YouTube.

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:

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, Mexican 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.

Read more:

• How many people listen to audiobooks?

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.

Sources: IFPI, IFPI 2, The Data Face, Billboard, MRC Data Report 2021, MRC Data Report 2020, Nielsen Music Report 2019, Nielsen Music Report 2018, Nielsen Data Report 2017, Music & Copyright, Music Week, TikTok, Festival Pro, Statista, YPulse, Inverse, FitRated, Audio Network, The Daily Universe, The Audio Dome, Southern Illinois University, Deezer, Coleman Insights, CBS News, Musicians Wave, Wikipedia, PennState, I Like Your Old Stuff, 909originals, JMPerezPerez, Spotify, Masterclass, Daisuki K-Pop, How Music Charts