Heavy Metal Passes Pop Music in Global Streaming Popularity

If you've ever met a headbanger, you know they are among the most loyal music fans on the planet. It's one thing to like a song or band, it's another thing to tattoo their logo on your skull. Even though fans of pop music vastly outnumber metalheads, when it comes to mobile music streaming services, heavy metal is the most listened to genre of music in the world.

According to recently released figures from the popular music streaming site Spotify, the loyalty of metal fans outpaces pop, folk, country, rock, hip hop, reggae, jazz, classical and blues. While more people listen to other genres, headbangers listen more...and longer. Enough to claim the top spot for total listening worldwide.

And metal's popularity isn't limited to other countries. Sure, metal is more popular per capita in Norway than it is here. But even in the United States, metal remains among the most popular genres of music.