Once-thriving jazz is now the least popular genre in the U.S. (2024)

Jazz is the least popular genre of music in the United States.

Once very popular in American cities, including Omaha, jazz began to lose its place on the music industry in the 1960s. Rock ’n’ roll became the new thing. Elvis and the Beatles and every other rock act were selling so many records that a new designation, platinum, was created for singles and albums that sold more than 1 million copies.

Meanwhile, jazz artists were doing well. Just not quite that well.

The best-selling jazz album of all time is Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue.” It has moved more than 4 million copies, but most of those sales didn’t come until after Davis’ death in 1991. It didn’t even reach certified gold status — 500,000 sold — until 1993.

These days, jazz ranks below Latin music. Below children’s music. Way down the list from rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, which tracks music sales and streams, jazz and classical music each accounted for just 1 percent of the music industry in 2017, the most recent year numbers are available.

Jazz is fourth to last in physical album sales (2.3 percent), tied for last in streaming (0.6 percent) and dead last in video streams (0.3 percent).