New data suggests that alt-rock is growing in popularity

There’s been much discussion about the death of rock over the last couple of decades, but despite all the eulogies, the genre just won’t go away. In fact, it might actually been getting stronger.

I take a quick glance at radio station ratings in markets across the US every day and I’ve noticed that classic rock, active rock, and even alt-rock are showing up in the top five more and more. And now comes this from MRC Data, the company that tracks all things music across North America. I quote from Broadcast Dialogue:

“MRC Data says the Alt Rock genre continues to grow with the support of its hardcore fans. MRC says 30% of U.S. music listeners tune into Alt Rock monthly with a majority of those listeners considering themselves fans (listening at least weekly).

“In addition to growth in streaming, they’re also buying the genre more (+20% vs. 2020). The uptick in genre consumption has led to Alt Rock album success on the Billboard 200 with albums like ‘OK Orchestra’ by AJR, ‘Scaled and Icy’ by Twenty One pilots, ‘Delta Kream’ by The Black Keys, ‘Chemtrails Over the Country’ by Lana Del Rey, and ‘Medicine at Midnight’ by Foo Fighters, debuting in the Top 10.”

Yay!