Music and gaming are highly intertwined. In fact, according to Luminate Insights, gamers over-index in consumption for all top 10 US music genres, compared to general population benchmarks, reinforcing their deep connection to both worlds.
As these industries continue to evolve and shape each other in unexpected ways, audience insights from Luminate highlight two key trends:
- How genre preferences shift among gamers.
- How different genre listeners gravitate toward specific game types.
But what are gamers telling us they listen to, and where are the opportunities for more music of a certain genre? Today, we look at how gaming and music intersect – how gamers’ favourite music differs from the most popular genres and how their music taste influences the games they love.
First, let’s level-set by taking a look at the top audio streaming genres in the US by volume. According to Luminate’s 2024 Year-End Report, R&B/hip hop, rock and pop are the top three core genres in the US based on ranked streaming volume. Country and Latin follow in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Do these volumes hold steady in the gaming community? Now, let’s look into what gamers are listening to – and how they listen.
Audience insights: How top genres change when you zoom into gamers
Gamers are not just listening to more music – their choices demonstrate variability as well. Certain genres see a major boost in gaming communities compared to the general population when analyzing consumer research:
- 52% of gamers listen to rock (vs. 41% gen pop)
- 40% of gamers listen to hip hop (vs. 28% gen pop)
Rock and hip hop dominate among gamers, shaping the culture in ways mainstream trends don’t always reflect. This gap between gamers and the general population for rock and hip hop highlights a strong demand for these genres within gaming communities.
How different genre listeners affect the types of games they play
Music preferences don’t just shape what gamers listen to – they’re also tied to what they play. Genre preferences align with distinct gaming styles, showing a clear correlation between musical identity and in-game behaviour.
Rock fans → Shooter games
22% play shooter games (vs. 16% gen pop)
Pop fans → Puzzle games
30% play puzzle games (vs. 19% gen pop)
Hip hop fans → Action-adventure
27% play action-adventure games (vs. 15% gen pop)
Country fans → Board/trivia games
17% play board/trivia games (vs. 12% gen pop)
EDM fans → Role playing games
37% of EDM fans play role playing games (vs. 12% gen pop)
It’s clear that genre matters when it comes to both music listening and gaming choices.
Music and gaming’s evolving relationship
The fusion of music and gaming is more pronounced than ever, with genre preferences among gamers differing from the average U.S. consumer. So what have we learned?
- Gamers’ music tastes differ from the general population.
- Rock, hip hop and R&B over-index among gamers.
- Genre preference among gamers is varied, but specific types of games over-index for certain genre listeners.
- Gamers aren’t just passive listeners — they’re shaping the future of music consumption, proving that music drives gaming engagement and is an essential part of the equation for gaming companies’ success.
Erik Zambrano is senior enterprise account executive at Luminate Data. This article was adapted from Luminate Insights’ Tuesday Takeaway newsletter.
