The Popularity of Music Genres, 2005-present

genre_rock
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genre_pop
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genre_hiphop
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genre_EDM
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genre_classical
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genre_jazz
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genre_blues
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genre_heavymetal
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genre_disco
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From Google’s beta-stage measurement analysis of topics, designed to accurately measure overall interest in a broader topic area, not just one specific search term.

Results are relative to previous interest, but Google doesn’t offer absolute search volumes.

 

39 Responses

  1. Randy

    Placing an ad over each one of the graphs was a really nice touch.

  2. Anonymous

    “From Google’s beta-stage measurement analysis of topics”

    The popularity of Google, 2005-present:
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    • Paul Resnikoff

      Checked it out, looks like Google isn’t batching that as a category, perhaps because it’s such a broad search term (spanning everything from ‘Klezmer’ to ‘R2D2’ to ‘Coachella’). Perhaps there will be something in the future that we can look at.

  3. roland

    its hard to tell what these graphs mean. electronic dance music is relatively new to the mainstream so of course it is up in popularity. what are the numbers though? pop music is probably still way ahead.

  4. Anonymous

    As a single entity, music just isn’t as popular in general. Too much competition for peoples time from other media.

    • Anon

      I would like to see data to back this statement because it seems more people are into music than ever before.

      • GGG

        I think it’s less that people aren’t INTO music, more that if you take the modern day equivalent of 1000 kids who would have sat in front of their turntable with headphones in 1967, an enormous chunk of them will be playing video games now, or watching YouTube videos, or generally surfing the web. Not that music won’t be present, jut that it’s not the focus.

  5. markedwards

    Why no data on Country music? That may be a format with some actual growth to report.

      • QvoleVero

        I think Latin music genre would also show growth? Even the ad placed over your results for country, in my browser is in spanish…. #megustaconleche

        • Paul Resnikoff

          This one I’m not exactly sure about. The closest Google has was ‘Music of Latin America’ as a bigger category, which showed a marked decline. So, tough to say on this one.

          But, yes, interesting that the ads popped up in Spanish, we’ve been experimenting with image-based units so we didn’t realize they’re being automatically translated.

  6. Rick Shaw

    So, other than EDM, it appear people really don’t like music any longer.

  7. Ryan Troughton

    Alternative Music? Inide Music? These genres have become in some senses, interchangeable with “rock.” I am curious to see the effect of how new music gets categorized, as genres continue to evolve

  8. jim C

    The Y axis would be useful here. If you read the annual Neilson Music reports you get a better sense of how each genre is related to each other in terms of overall listener share.

    So Rock and Hip Hop may be on a downward trend based on previous peaks but their slice of the overall consumption remains very high. Also, the definition of “rock” now often gets lumped into ALternative and Pop depending on it’s Billboard charting. What is 21 Pilots? What is Imagine Dragons? Think I missed country music consumption here…as well as R&B/Urban Contemporary.

  9. DeezNizzuhh

    I don’t think these graphs mean very much. As social media has grown since 2005, searching for music by genre has declined because now people look for specific artists on social media. There’s no need to really search for music based on genre.

    • Paul Resnikoff

      This is a reality Google has to contend with. Apps aren’t generally searchable, and that includes hugely-important apps like Snapchat. Over the past few years, Google has struggled as other platforms have started to host serious, often search-driven discussions and indicators of interest (Twitter being one major example).

  10. Julian Huntly

    So genres are more or less popular than they were, but amongst a set of how many people.

  11. John Smith

    Sorry to see hip hop flattening out like that, hopefully in the future it will continue to nosedive.

  12. Dennis

    Someone tell this to the people setting concert ticket prices. Those sure aren’t going down.

  13. d. fuentes

    i will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER listen to EDM… it’s not music… it’s synchopated, computer-generated drumbeats with no soul whatsoever. give me a real person with a real instrument making real music….

    • dobbs

      That word, syncopated, I don’t think it means what you think it means.

    • A. Nonymous

      I find EDM useful for work which requires deep thought. Have you ever had a song running in your mind and you can’t get it out of your head? EDM keeps it away and frees those neurons for more useful activity. (Warning: that has not yet been scientifically confirmed.) Also, I don’t actually “listen” to EDM. It is just background, not something I focus on.

  14. DarkoV

    Seems to me that practitioners of the different genres might want to combine forces for an alternative music category so as to halt their respective skid. Heavy Metal and Disco are both skidding toward Old Age homes…why not combine and have Heavy Disco…unless the resulting music would be the cause for sore backs and out-of-whack joints..