We already knew that metal fans were the most loyal, and that hip-hop is the world’s most popular genre, but now a new study has ranked the top 10 musical genres in terms of the “open-mindedness” of their fans. And the results are going to come as a bit of a blow for Lady Gaga.
Pop music has ranked dead last in the research conducted by McMaster University’s Digital Music Lab, which defines a fans’ level of “open-mindedness” according to their tendency to listen to music outside the bounds of their favourite genre.
In news that’s sure to make the hipsters living among us feel even more smug in their intrinsic hipsterdom, indie music came out on top as the genre with the most musically eclectic fanbase.
Rock and metal ranked at 6 and 7, respectively, on the 10-genre list, with EDM fans the second-least likely to branch out.
As Alt Press reports, the findings were deduced after researchers studied roughly a billion song downloads over the past two years.
“Some genres are very exclusive,” explains professor Matthew Woolhouse, the man who headed up the study. “That says something about the type of person who likes that type of music. We think it relates to personality.”
“It has to do with more complex sociological reasons that we’re currently exploring,” he continues. “We’re trying to get a handle on what features about a musical style make it more attractive to people who are exclusive.”
Check out the full list of genres, ranked by fan open-mindedness, below, and see if you agree:
1. Indie
2. Jazz
3. Folk
4. Country
5. Classical
6. Rock
7. Metal
8. Rap
9. Dance
10. Pop
