What the Genre!? vs Spotify: why Spotify will not tell you a song's genre

Spotify is where you listen. It does not show a song's genre, and the genres it keeps belong to artists. What the Genre!? is where you find the song's own subgenre.

Genres in Spotify's data are attached to the artist, so every song by one artist shares them.[1] Listeners have asked Spotify for years to show a song's genre in the app.[2]

The artist genres themselves have thinned. Since March 2025 developers report the Spotify API returning fewer genres, or none, for many artists, with sub-genres removed.[3][4]

One page per song with its genre path and subgenre: Stupid Song by Olivia Rodrigo, for one.

Listeners vote, no account needed, and the reasons stay in the discussion under the track.

Tracks link to Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp or SoundCloud when we have the link, so you can listen while you argue.

Listening: Spotify. Knowing what you are listening to: search for it here. More options are in how to find a song's genre without Spotify.