Learn About Those Music Genres You May Not Have Heard Of
November 30, 2022This year, you ventured into the genre-verse—and your 2022 Wrapped experience captured your journey. Did you check out the number of musical styles you explored, and gaze at your favorite five genres? Maybe you were fascinated by a genre name you didn’t know before.
There are thousands of genres out there, including new ones that are created each year. The way we see it, coming up with new names or groupings for genres gives us loose categorizations to identify emerging genres or remodel familiar ones so they are more recognizable, representative, and holistic to our listeners and their communities.
Genres like those listed in your Spotify Wrapped allow you to better identify the types of music that get you moving, catch your feels, or enable you to focus—and then find more of the same. Since music is made up of infinite types of sounds, styles, instruments, and lyrics, you can use the constellation of genres to help identify and define the sounds you like most.
This year, we traveled the stars to identify some lesser-recognized genres that are starting to grow and pop globally. To introduce you, we’ve ranked three of their attributes on a scale of one to 10.
BOUNCINESS (B) measures the sonic density, or heaviness, of the music. Low bounciness (scores 1-3) allows you to experience the music more steadily, with sounds like choral music and atmospheric black metal. High bounciness (7-9) means choppy sounds with sharply defined beats, like reggae or hip-hop.
VALENCE (V) describes the musical “positiveness” conveyed by a track. Tracks with high valence (7-9) sound more happy, cheerful, or euphoric, while tracks with low valence (1-3) sound more sad, melancholy, or angry. But don’t be mistaken—the lyrics can differ substantially from the perceived acoustic mood.
DANCEABILITY (D) demonstrates how suitable a track is for dancing. The combination of musical elements that best characterize danceability (scores closer to 10) include tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity.
Further Reading
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