We’ve learned that techno was found to be the least relaxing form of music, but a recent study has now uncovered what genres tend to inspire the happiest listeners.
The findings arrive from an independently conducted survey hosted by the OnBuy online marketplace. The in-depth language study analyzed over two million Reddit comments from 27 of the most popular subreddits for each music genre. They looked for mentions of both positive words and swear words to track if the genre evoked a sense of either happiness or aggression.
Trance music earned the highest spot out of the electronic music genres analyzed, coming in the 7th spot with 7,157 positive words out of 14,198 comments, which equates to 50 positive mentions per 100 comments. The aforementioned “unrelaxing” techno actually made the list, landing in the 17th spot. It ranked higher than EDM, house, dubstep, and drum & bass. Interestingly enough, the latter landed in the top three in terms of the least positive language used online.
It comes as no surprise that trance music would rank as high as it did on a list analyzing positivity. The genre champions uplifting song lyrics and feel-good melodies that unite fans across all walks of life. To find out how your favorite genre compares, check out the full study here.