How many music genres are there on Spotify

'Tis the season of Spotify Wrapped — a time for reminiscing about that one song we played on loop during that weeklong depressive spiral, the many new artists we discovered (and then never listened to again), the throwback songs we maybe have unhealthy attachments to, and... the several hundred genres we apparently discovered?

If you're like me, perhaps the most surprising and perplexing piece of data from your 2020 Spotify Wrapped package was the number of genres you reportedly listened to throughout the year. Forget the broad categories of rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, electronic, and more from the old days. Unlike some musical institutions, Spotify is clearly classifying its billions of tunes on a much larger and more fluid, inclusive scale.

How much larger, you ask? It turns out, what's revealed on your Spotify Wrapped is but a fraction of the supposedly 5,071 genres the streaming service categorizes its music into, according to Every Noise at Once, a website created by Spotify's genre taxonomist Glenn McDonald. The website is a visual representation of every label they use to slap on a song, and frankly, scrolling through is overwhelming.

Browsing the website reveals nomenclatures we've never even heard of, like "deep liquid bass," "talent show," "antiviral pop," and yes — "Escape Room." A microgenre that's popped up on a lot of people's Wrapped lists this year, "Escape Room" has long been a curiosity of listeners and music enthusiasts alike. And what does it sound like? Well, Charli XCX, Lizzo, Kaytranada, M.I.A., and JPEGMAFIA are just a slice of the hundreds of existing artists filed under the label. (A Spotify-generated playlist of "Escape Room" songs can be found here.)

If that all still feels confusing, maybe this 2016 quote from McDonald, in which he reveals that he came up with the genre name himself, will be a bit more illuminating.

"[Escape Room] is one where the genre comes from collective listening patterns, but I made up the name myself, because I couldn’t figure out any existing one to apply. The vibe is kind of an underground-trap/PC-music/indietronic/activist-hip-hop kind of thing, and I thought of “escape room” both for the sense of escaping from trap, and for the ideas of excitement, puzzle-solving and indoorness implied by the actual physical escape-room phenomenon."

Once you remember that Spotify has one of the world's most advanced recommendation and playlisting algorithms, the nicheness of it all makes a lot more sense. How else would they be able to know whether someone wants to listen to Phoebe Bridgers rock or Nirvana rock without breaking the genre down into all of its smaller, more specific parts? Several of the categories are also geographically linked, so that one can browse hip-hop being made in Scotland ("scottish hip-hop) or Malaysia ("malaysian hip-hop").

Every Noise at Once is just one of several online tools provided by Spotify that provides a peek into how the whole engine works. Other ways you can slice up the data? See the most popular genres broken down by country, or take a brief tour through the "most passionate genre cults," or find out which song is most resonating with 18 through 24 year olds in Japan. Personally, this all might be a bit too scientific for the way I like to find new music. But hey, at least we know now that a hardcore scene exists in Connecticut.

Did you know that Spotify has more than 2,000 genres in its backend? Did you even know that many existed?

Spotify data alchemist Glenn McDonald creates the genres by using an intricate science system we can’t even begin to understand. All of these genres—and the ones that have been created since then—are charted on Every Noise At Once.

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In June 2018, Spotify had 1,742 genres. As of Dec. 10, Spotify has 2,424 different genres.

As the streaming site’s data alchemist, he translates numbers into “musical experiences.” Because McDonald uses science to chart and even create new genres, we have features such as Related Artists and even the Daily Mix playlists.

There’s many different reasons to use the Every Noise map. We’ve used it to find 15 genres that you might enjoy based on the music you probably already listen to—check it out below.

Pixie

Artists classified as this genre: Paramore, Waterparks, Andy Black, Jule Vera, Escape The Fate

This genre is filled with pop punk and scene familiars. The music sounds bright, poppy and has an immense amount of energy. The pixie genre is just a few coordinates away from the pop-emo genre on Every Noise.

Trancecore

Artists classified as this genre: Crown The Empire, We Came As Romans, Asking Alexandria, the Word Alive, Attack Attack!

The sound is the name: a combination of hardcore and trance. Even though it’s filled with some of our favorite bands, we still had no idea this genre existed. But we’re here for this genre, with its rhythmic tones and melodic screams.

Nintendocore

Artists classified as this genre: I See Stars, Enter Shikari, I Fight Dragons, Crystal Castles, Anamanaguchi

Technical, almost EDM video game style music blends with your favorite hardcore sound in this intriguing genre. Most of the time, we’re not purposely listening for that technical repetition in our hardcore music. In this case, we’re glad it exists for this interesting genre.

Orgcore

Artists classified as this genre: The Bombpops, Against Me!, the Menzingers, Propagandhi, Hot Water Music, the Flatliners

We don’t know how this genre got its name. Its heavier mixture of music is combined with harmonized vocals. The instrumentals and vocals unite into a solid foundation of heavier music. Just one notch away from melodic hardcore, orgcore is a genre you might enjoy.

Indie poptimism

Artists classified as this genre: Halsey, Walk The Moon, Kim Petras, Night Riots, Hayley Kiyoko

Music in this indie-pop sub-genre tends to make people feel happy, bright and optimistic. Maybe it’s the upbeat tempos or the lyrics. There’s just something infectiously optimistic about these indie-pop artists.

Permanent wave

Artists classified as this genre: Green Day, the Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Muse

Wave was very popular in the ’80s. It helped lead into the punk acts we know and love today. But permanent wave is its own genre with a massive variety of artists who encapsulate that sound and apparently are going to do it forever.

Melodic Metalcore

Artists classified as this genre: Bring Me The Horizon, While She Sleeps, In This Moment, Counterparts, Born Of Osiris

Softer melodies combine with metalcore instrumentals to create this genre. You get the best of both worlds with melodic metalcore. This genre is just a few charts away from alternative rock and screamo on the Every Noise chart.

Rap metal

Artists classified as this genre: Linkin Park, Hollywood Undead, Faith No More, Bodycount, Sevendust

Rap metal is a genre that’s been around for a while, but there’s a constant stream of artists adding to it. The genre’s sound is in the name: rap beats combined with metal guitars.

Escape room

Artists classified as this genre: Grimes, K.Flay, FKA twigs, M.I.A., Poppy

Escape room is a genre that’s hard to describe. If you’ve listened to any of the artists listed here, you might have had trouble describing them, too. It’s almost like indie combined with trance, with an addition of interesting lyrics.

Candy pop

Artists classified as this genre: The Pretty Reckless, Avril Lavigne, New Years Day, We Are The In Crowd, Tonight Alive

Similar to indie-poptimism, the bubblegum nature of this genre can’t be ignored. What gives this genre its attractive bubblegum nature though are elements of pop punk mixed with traditional pop.

Anthem emo

Artists classified as this genre: The Story So Far, WSTR, Neck Deep, Hot Mulligan, Like Pacific

Odds are you might listen to a lot of this music already. But anthem emo with its live sound and rough vocals is such a wonderful subgenre of emo that we couldn’t let it be ignored.

Protopunk

Artists classified as this genre: The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, the Who, Iggy Pop, the Kinks

This protopunk genre spans across decades. Basically, all of these artists combined left the trace elements of what would turn into punk. To hear where it all started, this is a good genre to investigate.

LGBTQ+ hip-hop

Artists classified as this genre: Lil Peep, Frank Ocean, Azealia Banks, ILoveMakonnen, Angel Haze, Taylor Bennett

There’s a whole genre dedicated to artists who are either in or supportive of the LGBT community. Really, that’s all that needs to be said for us to get behind this genre.

Conscious hip-hop

Artists classified as this genre: Rage Against The Machine, Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper, Logic, Prophets Of Rage

Conscious hip-hop is music with a message. We appreciate these bands and artists who take the time to put statements in their songs. That’s common for many genres, but this one gives a hip-hop spin to it.

Post-teen pop

Artists classified as this genre: All Time Low, 5 Seconds Of Summer, 3OH!3, the Maine, Ariana Grande

This weird mash-up of artists seems to be named after its audience than the musicians. However, we can’t deny that these artists create pop that appeals to post-teens. With their smooth pop-rock sounds and infusion of genres, this is one that we’ll keep coming back to.

How many types of music is there?

What genre is most listened to on Spotify?

Does Spotify list genre?

Where are genres on Spotify?