What Is The Best Music Genre?

What is the best music genre? Probably one of the most subjective questions that could be asked. It changes from person to person due to varying tastes. Music is also changing constantly along with us as we age. So how can we determine which music genre is the best? Well there will be two factors we can use to determine which music is the best:

1. Size of the biggest artists in a certain genre. In order to determine this I will find the most streamed artists on spotify.

1. Which artists have sold the most albums? Using lists of which albums have sold the best from across different genres.

According to Spotify’s wrapped, in 2024, the largest artists worldwide were:

1. The Weekend (123.2 million)
2. Billie Eilish (100.1 million)
3. Bad Bunny (87.9 million)
4. Taylor Swift (86.1 million)
5. Ariana Grande (81.3 million)
6. Drake (80 million)
7. Travis Scott (72.7 million)
8. Kanye West (66.8 million)
9. Peso Pluma (43.5 million)
10. Feid (40.6 million)

Now let’s look at the most purchased albums of all time:

1. Thriller, Michael Jackson (70 million)
2. Back In Black, AC/DC (50 million)
3. The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston (45 million)
4. The Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd (45 million)
5. Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), Eagles (44 million)
6. Hotel California, Eagles (42 million)
7. Come On Over, Shaina Twain (40 million)
8. Rumors, Fleetwood Mac (40 million)
9. Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf (40 million)
10. Saturday Night Fever, Bee Gees (40 million)

However singles release before an album releases. I will separate them into two categories: Physical and Streamed.

Starting with the most physical singles sold:

1. “White Christmas”, Bing Crosby (50 million)
2. “Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind”, Elton John (33 million)
3. “Silent Night”, Bing Crosby (30 million)
4. “Petit Papa Noël”, Tino Rossi (30 million)
5. “Rock Around The Clock”, Billy Haley & His Comets (25 million)
6. “I Will Always Love You”, Whitney Houston (24 million)
7. “It’s Now Or Never”, Elvis Presley (20 million)
8. “We Are The World”, USA For Africa (20 million)
9. “If I Didn’t Care”, The Ink Spots (19 million)
10. “My Heart Will Go On”, Celine Dion (18 million)

Next let’s look at some of the most sold digital singles now:

1. “Spotlight”, Xiao Zhan (54.3 million)
2. “Shape Of You”, Ed Sheeran (41.5 million)
3. “Despacito”, Luis Fonsi Ft: Daddy Yankee (36.1 million)
4. “Work”, Rihanna Ft: Drake (32.5 million)
5. “Something Just Like This”, The Chainsmokers Ft: Coldplay (21.5 million)
6. “Perfect”, Ed Sheeran (21.4 million)
7. “See You Again”, Wiz Khalifa Ft: Charlie Puth (20.9 million)
8. “Closer”, The Chainsmokers Ft: Halsey (20.7 million)
9. “Rolling In The Deep”, Adele (20.6 million)
10. “Uptown Funk”, Mark Ronson Ft: Bruno Mars (20 million)

Regarding the most popular artists and the most sold albums and singles, we can determine which is the best music genre. Looking at everything, it seems that most people agree that pop music is the current best, with four of the ten most streamed artists being pop artists along with the majority of most sold albums and singles being made by or featuring pop artists. It’s clear that people see pop as the best genre of music. 

However currently rap music and rock music are just behind pop at number two and number three, respectively. Overall while the best to you could be something else. Overall pop has the best chance to be known as the best music genre by most people. 

But remember that your favorite is yours for a reason and listen to what you want to listen to. Don’t let others choose what you can and cannot listen to.