Spotify's Monthly Listeners for Classical Composers

 As someone who often thinks about the current state of Western classical music, I wonder very much about listener habits and the exposure different composers and repertoires receive. Methods of measuring these things are numerous, and most seem like they come with their own limitations. For example, what do major orchestras' programming choices really tell us about listener tastes (as opposed to those of conductors and other performers)?  What could recording sales reveal, even if such data were findable? Do recording sales even matter anymore, given that we live in the Age of Streaming?

Multiple streaming services do keep statistics on songs and artists. But as of 2021 no such service had a majority share of their market. That said, Spotify comes closest and more than doubles the share enjoyed by its closest competitor, Apple Music. Perusing Spotify's "monthly listeners" numbers for different artists, defined as "how many unique people have listened to the artist's songs within the last 28 days," offers an interesting glimpse into just what classical music their audience spends time listening to. Granted, this data is imperfect, and we don't know who listens to what, why they do, or if some things are disproportionately benefitting from curated and/or algorithmic advantages. 

Nonetheless, I have compiled a list of 200 composers (who aren't also major recorded performers of other people's music) and their "monthly listeners" numbers as accessed by me on Spotify during 23 September 2024. Many of these figures will come as little surprise. But occasionally I was struck by composers getting monthly listener numbers that I would not have expected. Another note: this isn't a Top 200 list; it's just a list of 200 composers chosen by me somewhat arbitrarily. So without further ado, here is a nice chunk of names and their statistics (ordered from highest to lowest): 

1. Hans Zimmer (b. 1957): 12.5 million 
2. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): 7.8 million
3. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 7.7 million
4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): 7 million
5. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): 6.9 million 
6. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: (1840-1893): 6.4 million
7. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): 6.2 million 
8. John Williams (b. 1932): 5.7 million 
9. Claude Debussy (1862-1918): 5.5 million 
10. Erik Satie (1866-1925): 5 million 
11. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): 4.8 million
12. Thomas Newman (b. 1955): 4.8 million 
13. Camille Saint-Saëns (1831-1921): 4.7 million 
14. Howard Shore (b. 1946): 4 million
15. Danny Elfman (b. 1953): 3.8 million 
16. Franz Liszt (1811-1886): 3.5 million 
17. Ennio Morricone (1928-2020): 3.5 million 
18. John Powell (b. 1963): 3.4 million 
19. Robert Schumann (1810-1856): 3.4 million
20. Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): 3.3 million 
21. Franz Schubert (1797-1828): 3.3 million 
22. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): 3.1 million 
23. Alexandre Desplat (b. 1961): 3 million 
24. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): 2.8 million
25. James Horner (1953-2015): 2.7 million 
26. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): 2.6 million 
27. Georges Bizet (1838-1875): 2.5 million 
28. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): 2.5 million 
29. Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943): 2.5 million 
30. Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924): 2.4 million 
31. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): 2.4 million 
32. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): 2.4 million 
33. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): 2.3 million 
34. Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706): 2.1 million 
35. Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): 2.1 million 
36. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788): 2 million 
37. Léo Delibes (1836-1891): 2 million 
38. Edward Elgar (1857-1934): 1.7 million
39. Harry Gregson-Williams (b. 1961): 1.7 million  
40. Philip Glass (b. 1937): 1.5 million 
41. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): 1.5 million 
42. Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840): 1.3 million 
43. Nino Rota (1911-1979): 1.3 million 
44. Karl Jenkins (b. 1944): 1.2 million
45. Johann Strauss II (1825-1899): 1.2 million 
46. Samuel Barber (1910-1981): 1.1 million 
47. John Barry (1933-2011): 1.1 million
48. Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714-1787): 1.1 million 
49. Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): 1.1 million 
50. Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880): 1.1 million 
51. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908): 1.1 million 
52. Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868): 1.1 million 
53. Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884): 1.1 million 
54. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): 1 million 
55. Jules Massenet (1842-1912): 1 million 
56. Richard Wagner (1813-1883): 1 million 
57. Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936): 993.7 thousand 
58. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764): 990.8 thousand 
59. Henry Purcell (1659-1695): 989.6 thousand 
60. Gustav Holst (1874-1934): 971.2 thousand
61. Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915): 937.9 thousand 
62. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): 897.5 thousand
63. Nobuo Uematsu (b. 1959): 857.4 thousand 
64. Charles Gounod (1818-1893): 840.5 thousand 
65. Carl Orff (1895-1982): 832.6 thousand 
66. Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): 831.7 thousand  
67. William Walton (1902-1983): 802.6 thousand 
68. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): 801 thousand
69. Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751): 792.6 thousand 
70. Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945): 774.2 thousand 
71. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826): 751.6 thousand 
72. Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): 745.6 thousand
73. Richard Strauss (1864-1949): 742.1 thousand 
74. Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): 721.8 thousand 
75. Michael Nyman (b. 1944): 662.5 thousand 
76. Rachel Portman (b. 1960): 655 thousand 
77. Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): 647.2 thousand
78. Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687): 630.2 thousand
79. Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805): 620.5 thousand 
80. Frederick Delius (1862-1934): 618.4 thousand 
81. Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): 597.8 thousand
82. George Gershwin (1898-1937): 596.1 thousand
83. Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): 581.9 thousand
84. Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909): 566 thousand 
85. Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999): 564.5 thousand 
86. Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004): 543.9 thousand
87. Béla Bartók (1881-1945): 526.6 thousand
88. Clara Schumann (1819-1896): 519.7 thousand 
89. Hildur Guðnadóttir (b. 1982): 468.2 thousand
90. Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): 450.7 thousand 
91. Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): 430.6 thousand 
92. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): 427.8 thousand
93. Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848): 414 thousand
94. Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975): 403.4 thousand  
95. Koji Kondo (b. 1961): 402.6 thousand 
96. Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924): 388.3 thousand
97. César Franck (1822-1890): 384.8 thousand 
98. François Couperin (1668-1733): 349.1 thousand 
99. Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936): 344.9 thousand
100. Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835): 344.4 thousand  
101. Aaron Copland (1900-1990): 336 thousand 
     
102. Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847): 333.8 thousand
103. Max Bruch (1838-1920): 328 thousand 
104. Manuel de Falla (1876-1946): 318.5 thousand 
105. Leoš Janáček (1854-1928): 315.9 thousand 
106. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): 308.3 thousand 
107. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736): 279.3 thousand 
108. Muzio Clementi (1752-1832): 278.9 thousand 
109. Hildegard von Bingen (ca. 1098-1179): 270.2 thousand 
110. Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004): 263.7 thousand 
111. Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652): 260 thousand 
112. Maurice Jarre (1924-2009): 245.7 thousand 
113. Enrique Granados (1867-1916): 240.9 thousand
114. Eric Whitacre (b. 1970): 239.2 thousand
115. Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): 239.1 thousand
116. Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886): 232.9 thousand 
117. Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919): 230.3 thousand 
118. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): 228.7 thousand 
119. Gerald Finzi (1901-1956): 221 thousand 
120. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): 214.9 thousand 
121. Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): 208.9 thousand 
122. Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764): 205.8 thousand
123. Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857): 165.6 thousand 
124. Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020): 159.7 thousand 
125. Paul Dukas (1865-1935): 156.4 thousand
126. Steve Reich (b. 1936): 151.3 thousand 
127. Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943): 149.6 thousand 
128. Giulio Caccini (1551-1618): 149.2 thousand 
129. Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937): 147 thousand 
130. Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782): 141.6 thousand
131. John Adams (b. 1947): 140 thousand 
132. Carl Czerny (1791-1857): 138.2 thousand
133. John Dowland (ca. 1563-1626): 130.4 thousand 
134. Arturo Márquez (b. 1950): 128.4 thousand 
135. Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837): 125.1 thousand
136. Franz Lehár (1870-1948): 119.8 thousand
137. John Tavener (1944-2013): 119.7 thousand  
138. John Cage (1912-1992): 110 thousand
139. Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): 108.7 thousand 
140. Henryk Górecki (1933-2010): 105.2 thousand 
141. Kurt Weill (1900-1950): 103.1 thousand 
142. William Byrd (1543-1623): 102.9 thousand
143. Frank Bridge (1879-1941): 101.8 thousand 
144. Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842): 101.8 thousand 
145. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525-1594): 101.8 thousand
146. Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864): 90.3 thousand 
147. Hubert Parry (1848-1918): 90.1 thousand 
148. Percy Grainger (1882-1961): 89.9 thousand 
149. Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704): 87.3 thousand 
150. Carl Nielsen (1865-1931): 83.6 thousand 
151. Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505-1585): 82.2 thousand 
152. Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998): 76.3 thousand
153. Antonio Salieri (1750-1825): 75.8 thousand 
154. Tan Dun (b. 1957): 75.4 thousand
155. Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): 75.2 thousand 
156. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611): 74.2 thousand 
157. György Ligeti (1923-2006): 72.4 thousand 
158. Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006): 68.7 thousand 
159. Josquin des Prez (ca. 1440-1521): 67.8 thousand
160. Orlando di Lasso (ca. 1532-1594): 66.5 thousand 
161. Édouard Lalo (1823-1892): 66 thousand 
162. Max Steiner (1888-1971): 65.8 thousand 
163. Franz von Suppé (1819-1895): 64.9 thousand 
164. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): 62.8 thousand 
165. Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900): 62.2 thousand 
166. Thomas Adès (b. 1971): 59.7 thousand
167. Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880): 57.9 thousand 
168. Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924): 52.1 thousand 
169. Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996): 51.1 thousand 
170. Louis Spohr (1784-1859): 49.3 thousand 
171. Guillaume Dufay (ca. 1400-1474): 46.9 thousand 
172. Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967): 42 thousand
173. Christian Sinding (1856-1941): 41.4 thousand 
174. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): 37.5 thousand 
175. Anton Webern (1883-1945): 37.2 thousand 
176. Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941): 34.6 thousand 
177. Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377): 32.5 thousand 
178. Carlo Gesualdo (1561-1613): 32.3 thousand 
179. Debbie Wiseman (b. 1963): 32 thousand 
180. Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937): 31.1 thousand 
181. Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959): 29.2 thousand
182. Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016): 27.5 thousand 
183. Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672): 26.8 thousand 
184. Charles Ives (1874-1954): 26.4 thousand
185. Alban Berg (1885-1935): 26.2 thousand 
186. Ernest Chausson (1855-1899): 25.3 thousand
187. Giovanni Gabrieli (ca. 1554-1612): 22.3 thousand 
188. Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007): 21.8 thousand 
189. Franz Waxman (1906-1967): 20.2 thousand 
190. Mily Balakirev (1837-1910): 14.4 thousand 
191. Hugo Wolf (1860-1903): 13.2 thousand 
192. Arthur Honegger (1892-1955): 11.8 thousand 
193. Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994): 9.6 thousand 
194. Michael Tippett (1905-1998): 7.2 thousand 
195. Franz Berwald (1796-1868): 5.1 thousand 
196. Elliot Carter (1908-2012): 3.5 thousand 
197. Hanz Werner Henze (1926-2012): 2.7 thousand 
198. Milton Babbit (1916-2011): 884 
199. Harrison Birtwistle (1934-2022): 826
200. Roy Harris (1898-1979): 525

I take several things away from this list: 

1. Early music looks like it remains a hard sell. But not as hard a sell as late-20th-century avant-garde music. 

2. Geeks' tastes aren't necessarily everyone else's tastes. (Conductors and committed hobbyists seem to like Bruckner more than anyone else.)

3. A given composer having had a "hit," even just one big one, drives plenty of these numbers. 

4. The implication here is that popular media scores are the primary way in which classical music remains a vibrant part of contemporary culture. People are also thirsty to listen to new classical music that they actually enjoy.

What do you think?