Kim Kelly of Noisey reports:
Every diehard metalhead alive and breathing knows that A. heavy metal is the law, and B. other genres pale in comparison, but it’s always nice to see some quantifiable data to that effect…
… Spotify threw heshers a bone recently by releasing a slew of figures that detail by exactly how wide a margin heavy metal is ruling the streaming airwaves.
The study sought to determine which genre’s fans were the most loyal—i.e. returned most frequently to their favorite artists. As Spotify noted, “To create a measure of genre loyalty, we divided the number of streams each core artist had by their number of listeners. All of the charts are normalized against the genre with the loyalest fans.”
Metal was the clear winner. From Portugal to the United States to (of course) Norway, metal holds down a spot in the top ten—and usually top five—most loyally listened to genres in every country included in the study. Metal also takes the overall global genre loyalty crown, leaving pop to trail behind as a distant second and folk, country, and hip-hop to founder in the dust.
As Mashable notes, Spotify calculated their data around sets of core bands for each genre, with metal’s champions comprising Metallica, Slayer, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Pantera, Cradle of Filth and Anthrax…
…Given metal fans’ fierce loyalty to their chosen genre and propensity for making physical purchases, it makes perfect sense that they’d be spending the most time pressing replay on old Iron Maiden songs…
…While fans of most other genres are drawn to shiny new artists, metal fandom is generational; new recruits are encouraged to appreciate the bands that came before and build up chronological knowledge while still keeping abreast of current developments…
That same Mashable piece did its best to make sense of the notion that, not only does metal still exist after “the heyday of the genre in the 1980s and 1990s,” but more people than ever have fallen under its spell…
…As this Spotify data shows, metal is a global business, and metalheads are everywhere. The mainstream media and greater music industry are only hurting themselves by ignoring and belittling this rich vein of hugely dedicated, internationally-based fans, most of whom are more than prepared to shell out as much cash as they can on merchandise, print magazines, and physical music. Metal doesn’t need them, but as streaming services continue doling out pennies and sales of physical music continue to fall, they just may find that they need metal… and it sure can’t hurt for them to treat it—and by extension, us—with a bit more respect until that fateful day comes.
Read more at Noisey.
25 Responses
I agree that metal fans are the most loyal, and passionate, fans. It really is a “brother/sisterhood” mentality for this type of music. Countless times I’ve been rockin’ an Angel Witch, Tank, Steeler, Maiden, or other rock/metal band t-shirt, and people I don’t know will come up and give me “shout out”. I do the exact same thing to those rockin’ their favorite band t-shirts. This music we are loyal and passionate about just isn’t entertainment, but it’s also an attitude and a way of life….I’ve joked with my wife that at my Celebration of Life, I want two songs played…..Stairway to Heaven and Highway to Hell……
Of course metal rules, but I can be pretty open (well some of the time) with other genres of music, except rap , opera (for some reason I could never get into it even though I do like some classical music) and what passes for pop music these days. I am enjoying the prose and rhyming that’s being displayed on this site.
Hi Rob,
It’s funny that you should mention opera. I never liked it either, despite the fact that my ex’s father used to play it all the time, in their home.
However, I decided to give it a chance, and have attended both Puccini’s Turandot (with the famous Nessum Dorma aria) and Verdi’s Aida, at the famous Metropolitan Opera in NYC. I actually loved it, the stage sets, the costumes, etc., it was quite remarkable.
I can understand if it does not appeal to you, but you never know. If you ever visit NYC, perhaps you could consider attending one the opera I mentioned above? 😉
D 🙂
Hi Dana,
I’d have to listen to opera for more than say, a half-hour without turning it off before I’d consider actually going to one, but who knows. I didn’t think I would like visiting the Met Museum of Art and the MOMA but I loved it and have been to both of them twice, plus the Whitney as well, and I can say when I was younger I wasn’t such a fan of jazz either, and now of course….. My mother liked Nessum Dorma, but her favorite opera was La Traviata and of course she liked Pavorotti. Bye for now.
The Met is an incredible museum, and my personal favorite, glad you got to experience, and enjoy it.
D 🙂
Opera hurts my ears, rap isn’t music, and today’s country music sucks! Other than that, I listen to everything, everything from the roaring 20’s, to the awesome 80’s! Some 90’s, early 2000’s, but really nothing from today, with a few exceptions, like Ghost. IMO, opera is torture, I don’t know how anybody can listen to it and stay sane, painful! But, once again like we always say, to each their own.
Don Giovanni, now there’s a METAL Opera…Donnnnn…Giiovvanniii! \mm/
Oh just heard Dana the metal god gonna be on that motorcycle show on AMC tonight Ride with Norman Reddus
Charles,
Thank you, I see it is on (living) after midnight in NYC. If I cannot stay awake, I will definitely watch it On Demand.
D 🙂