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Genre
alternative rock
Parent Genre: rock

Alternative rock is a genre that emerged in the 1980s as a response to mainstream rock. It is characterized by its experimental and unconventional approach to music, often incorporating elements of punk, grunge, and indie rock. Alternative rock bands often prioritize raw emotion and authenticity over polished production values. This genre has produced some of the most influential and beloved bands of the past few decades, including those known for their energetic and funky sound, introspective and cerebral lyrics, and hard-hitting and melodic rock anthems.


Top artists of alternative rock genre

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alternative rock music timeline

Explore alternative rock history by listening to songs from every decade. Click on the decade to view songs.

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s

Similar Genres to alternative rock

Discover more related genres to alternative rock genre. This list is ordered by similarity from left to right.

indie rock rock lo-fi freak folk modern rock post-punk alternative metal pop rock gbvfi dance rock art rock dance-punk dream pop alternative pop post-hardcore grunge punk indie pop new wave anti-folk
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alternative rock playlist created by Chosic

Enjoy this playlist of popular alternative rock music. We made this playlist using an algorithm created by our team.

List of alternative rock artists

Here is a list of alternative rock artists on Spotify, ranked based on popularity, who exemplifies the alternative rock genre. You can find out what alternative rock genre sounds like where you can preview artists or sort them the way you want, just click the headers to sort.

#namePopularity instrumentalnessdanceabilityenergyacousticnessHappinesstempofollowers
1 82 4 54 77 6 52 117 19683757
2 81 35 38 54 33 29 119 8206718
3 79 8 44 79 8 40 136 10953891
4 77 2 47 84 7 36 135 6984570
5 76 34 51 74 9 58 132 4994629
6 75 7 39 74 16 36 130 8219466
7 74 22 49 79 15 41 121 2789567
8 73 2 50 76 4 52 123 3101703
9 73 49 45 61 11 34 121 4510415
10 73 8 46 70 16 57 131 4017935
11 72 7 39 75 10 33 118 4545096
12 72 10 44 66 35 41 113 2851290
13 72 1 45 86 5 47 121 5436037
14 71 13 49 72 23 51 118 3865464
15 71 16 70 74 14 59 120 2513324
16 71 15 49 70 5 54 125 2543652
17 71 15 42 78 15 45 134 3233050
18 70 4 56 78 9 71 139 2523658
19 69 10 69 70 15 81 121 2147408
20 69 7 53 76 10 43 130 3064277
21 69 1 42 77 5 42 114 4128840
22 69 10 51 74 14 55 124 2871655
23 68 4 51 81 3 48 137 1412301
24 68 18 39 80 3 36 130 3999366
25 67 5 51 77 9 58 125 2438460
26 67 7 42 79 11 44 138 3222686
27 66 19 46 76 7 34 134 1771921
28 66 5 47 88 6 73 155 2434048
29 66 16 49 79 13 37 127 1218143
30 66 19 58 60 28 49 120 1435196
31 66 48 54 66 22 34 123 2314411
32 65 50 40 85 3 41 122 1557335
33 65 17 46 71 18 41 123 2201857
34 64 48 50 73 6 56 130 2135093
35 64 10 52 70 20 55 124 1382670
36 64 15 52 33 47 35 121 930419
37 64 12 55 59 33 47 117 1471583
38 63 12 50 79 11 56 125 1483597
39 63 33 39 64 16 38 127 739686
40 63 11 46 83 5 43 125 1685868
41 63 6 54 65 23 54 126 1153802
42 63 16 49 50 37 56 117 1721436
43 62 5 63 62 15 77 117 1067568
44 62 7 44 46 39 36 118 1275936
45 62 28 46 71 10 25 129 1704340
46 62 3 42 71 9 30 131 1733680
47 61 2 41 91 7 56 140 717364
48 61 23 53 51 29 27 106 1765935
49 61 1 44 65 25 59 123 1114337
50 61 15 50 82 2 45 141 1077132
51 61 3 56 74 8 56 126 1012824
52 60 1 46 59 30 34 123 1996349
53 60 74 30 50 29 22 120 725529
54 60 16 55 58 34 51 115 700021
55 60 8 37 80 4 45 134 896971
56 60 7 35 75 7 42 135 1001815
57 59 4 35 70 4 33 127 1156321
58 59 10 48 80 13 43 126 896893
59 59 0 52 84 6 68 117 603469
60 59 18 43 71 19 38 128 740601
61 59 6 52 92 5 54 122 896015
62 59 11 68 68 26 68 126 617206
63 59 11 53 74 5 45 119 1097982
64 59 3 42 66 11 47 129 831102
65 58 35 67 78 5 67 131 1027012
66 58 27 41 72 11 41 134 547625
67 58 33 58 85 7 61 125 1044255
68 58 18 56 59 27 57 126 383672
69 58 4 42 70 9 38 131 855704
70 58 46 36 78 16 28 135 1016319
71 58 14 51 47 37 43 125 955102
72 58 22 43 64 11 41 126 500827
73 57 81 27 72 10 33 121 733958
74 57 4 52 60 30 58 128 622766
75 57 0 59 57 29 74 112 639659
76 57 69 45 44 57 24 117 933866
77 57 3 54 79 13 73 127 567389
78 57 17 57 50 46 44 124 433643
79 56 8 42 80 10 38 120 1319053
80 56 14 49 74 13 37 131 586181
81 56 4 51 78 11 62 126 808438
82 56 47 52 75 5 54 128 299276
83 56 10 48 82 2 56 131 329356
84 56 47 43 69 9 45 126 469334
85 56 17 33 54 29 29 122 639860
86 56 1 39 74 10 47 127 1154143
87 56 4 50 60 30 48 128 1308474
88 56 44 50 67 33 52 111 485935
89 56 5 30 92 5 38 144 1651487
90 55 5 57 60 19 52 125 391278
91 55 0 51 65 24 52 126 37720
92 55 61 48 49 54 44 119 475031
93 55 19 62 70 13 71 141 503673
94 55 29 50 79 1 28 132 489898
95 55 6 31 93 13 49 137 736585
96 55 0 51 70 6 47 128 569095
97 55 16 50 76 5 37 131 608962
98 55 27 45 51 43 30 113 844642
99 54 27 49 77 6 48 123 466236
100 54 56 45 73 4 44 115 329466
101 54 3 46 76 14 53 135 265317
102 54 15 37 92 0 32 149 1426791
103 54 13 50 62 12 44 131 703062
104 54 0 44 78 3 38 128 815752
105 54 4 51 78 20 41 139 462501
106 53 40 50 48 20 47 122 399699
107 53 41 43 77 5 43 124 423634
108 53 5 57 92 19 62 134 516827
109 52 23 42 79 15 39 120 530734
110 51 11 28 84 9 41 134 480917
111 51 9 50 65 20 60 126 238125
112 51 21 42 77 6 43 116 310234
113 51 15 40 72 30 37 125 511624
114 51 19 53 60 57 62 116 206383
115 51 27 39 87 5 45 133 567878
116 51 34 53 77 21 68 132 267479
117 51 18 40 85 4 39 119 273557
118 51 21 41 76 24 47 122 157658
119 51 41 45 62 15 53 129 275174
120 51 8 53 70 8 44 129 272674
121 51 8 33 87 2 55 134 392595
122 50 34 41 68 8 38 125 349373
123 50 23 37 62 15 34 122 555273
124 50 53 40 74 14 45 120 370280
125 50 33 36 67 6 51 123 278944
126 49 12 36 89 2 44 138 532905
127 49 19 36 73 24 31 118 555810
128 49 41 45 63 15 38 132 348663
129 49 21 54 69 29 61 128 179202
130 48 20 37 76 7 49 126 306982
131 48 15 66 74 2 69 133 211220
132 48 8 52 59 45 54 123 161787
133 48 11 49 65 11 48 128 92752
134 47 36 45 84 0 61 132 282376
135 47 25 55 72 7 71 130 143509
136 47 55 36 38 63 18 108 169615
137 47 1 51 71 2 65 128 56007
138 47 41 55 56 21 38 116 146487
139 46 2 51 81 0 60 123 238076
140 46 32 47 69 11 62 127 257653
141 46 23 44 74 9 52 125 187257
142 46 12 30 86 0 41 135 300221
143 46 12 53 55 38 51 118 83878
144 45 21 32 86 1 47 133 258426
145 45 17 55 64 16 61 119 334814
146 45 7 50 84 6 48 124 202170
147 45 31 48 39 74 52 109 268405
148 45 23 51 68 5 61 126 271598
149 45 21 46 47 29 26 110 147972
150 44 29 49 79 12 61 135 181421
151 44 49 36 81 2 38 128 204140
152 44 0 43 59 13 31 119 324131
153 44 0 57 81 1 55 123 37152
154 44 10 43 85 11 57 139 236454
155 44 1 43 42 46 38 118 143135
156 44 17 31 89 4 41 137 213958
157 43 31 31 55 33 23 125 230812
158 43 75 20 84 0 14 186 210292
159 43 2 55 67 5 59 118 182604
160 43 31 44 72 5 59 119 129913
161 43 4 56 65 16 67 130 163149
162 43 6 45 84 9 38 116 406809
163 42 30 44 60 15 39 114 266936
164 41 64 42 77 4 55 122 83633
165 41 26 35 62 23 26 124 112681
166 41 22 42 64 21 38 127 104560
167 41 13 61 58 15 46 124 114645
168 41 55 41 42 16 22 132 168638
169 40 4 53 76 12 62 123 103758
170 40 46 35 63 17 33 118 148344
171 40 55 49 60 11 50 140 153159
172 39 22 42 76 7 44 117 109023
173 38 0 46 86 8 40 133 203155
174 38 56 50 73 15 61 128 62358
175 36 9 36 82 24 56 136 66076
176 35 31 43 76 14 56 127 48819
177 35 26 52 60 20 47 125 64929
178 35 19 47 69 9 58 119 68393
179 34 25 30 85 0 52 146 65271
180 34 10 41 48 59 40 124 73985
181 34 20 47 73 18 62 144 39970
182 34 26 51 56 30 46 122 67623
183 33 38 50 77 36 64 131 48835
184 33 12 34 92 2 47 141 71437
185 33 35 36 96 2 37 144 64592
186 33 40 45 75 0 62 120 81346
187 31 58 44 69 15 36 135 85190
188 31 0 33 86 2 42 139 38387
189 31 12 42 87 3 46 143 69624
190 27 4 42 79 1 52 127 17469
191 21 30 56 82 0 29 118 12611
192 2 12 35 93 0 22 162 70047