Country music is the best genre to listen to before bed, according to a new audio analysis from Alpine Hearing Protection. It scored 8.97 out of 10 on the brand’s Ideal Sleep Score, ahead of reggae and R&B.
The study examined 10 songs across 10 popular genres, scoring perceived loudness, sustained high energy, treble and bass, dynamic range, repetition and track length. Calmer, less stimulating traits were weighted more highly, with loudness counting for 25% of the final score.
Country performed strongly across several of those measures. The tracks analysed had a relatively low perceived loudness of -16.89, spent an average of just 25.49 seconds in high RMS sections, and had the lowest average dynamic range of any genre at 0.21, meaning fewer dramatic jumps between quiet and loud.
The genre also recorded relatively low treble, a treble to bass ratio of 1.69%, and an annoyance score of 3.92. Alpine says that mix of lower loudness, softer high frequencies and reduced sonic intensity makes country a particularly suitable choice for winding down, even if individual songs can vary a lot.
Reggae finished a close second with 8.87 out of 10. It was the quietest genre analysed, averaging -18.17, and had the lowest treble to bass ratio at 1.42%. It also had a relatively low dynamic range of 0.23 and moderate bass, though it spent longer in high RMS sections than country, averaging 40.02 seconds.
R&B completed the top three with 7.83. It had one of the lowest annoyance scores at 3.79, loudness of -15.74 and a treble to bass ratio of 1.49%. Higher moderate bass and longer high RMS stretches of 44.02 seconds dropped it behind country and reggae.
Pop ranked fourth with 7.17, helped by relatively short high energy sections of 29.67 seconds, though a louder sound and stronger bass made it more stimulating. Rock came fifth with 6.91. Its tracks were longer, averaging over 323 seconds, and contained more high energy and treble heavy passages.
K-Pop received the lowest score at 5.13. It had the loudest average profile at -11.96, the highest treble at 0.97 and the highest treble to bass ratio at 3.03%. EDM ranked ninth with 5.80, metal eighth with 6.11, hip-hop and rap seventh with 6.29, and disco sixth with 6.64.
| Genre | Loudness | High RMS (s) | Low treble | Treble bass ratio | Annoyance | Dynamic range | Moderate bass | Duration (s) | Sleep Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | -16.89 | 25.49 | 0.24 | 1.69% | 3.92 | 0.21 | 14.4 | 221.1 | 8.97 |
| Reggae | -18.17 | 40.02 | 0.22 | 1.42% | 4.02 | 0.23 | 15.58 | 214.52 | 8.87 |
| R&B | -15.74 | 44.02 | 0.3 | 1.49% | 3.79 | 0.32 | 19.76 | 225.55 | 7.83 |
| Pop | -13.72 | 29.67 | 0.54 | 1.81% | 4.06 | 0.36 | 29.79 | 223.69 | 7.17 |
| Rock | -14.6 | 41.9 | 0.52 | 2.25% | 4.11 | 0.23 | 23.03 | 323.27 | 6.91 |
| Disco | -16.84 | 47.46 | 0.42 | 2.62% | 4.14 | 0.26 | 16.18 | 286.34 | 6.64 |
| Hip-hop and rap | -12.65 | 43.47 | 0.6 | 1.80% | 3.78 | 0.43 | 33.36 | 303.1 | 6.29 |
| Metal | -12.72 | 19.59 | 0.74 | 2.52% | 4.26 | 0.24 | 29.42 | 328.34 | 6.11 |
| EDM | -13.29 | 45.32 | 0.61 | 2.23% | 4.08 | 0.39 | 27.28 | 291.44 | 5.80 |
| K-Pop | -11.96 | 28.18 | 0.97 | 3.03% | 4.15 | 0.4 | 32.11 | 235.33 | 5.13 |
Harm de Groot, Lead Product Marketing in Sleep at Alpine Hearing Protection, said: “These findings show that the music you choose before bed may have more to do with its sound characteristics than its genre alone. While everyone has their own personal taste, certain qualities, such as lower loudness, reduced high frequency intensity and fewer sustained periods of high energy, can contribute to a calmer overall listening experience.”
He added that country and reggae performed well because the tracks analysed had less intense sound profiles on average, while K-Pop and EDM tended to be brighter, louder and more stimulating. “Of course, there is no single genre that will work for everyone, and listening to music isn’t a guaranteed way to fall asleep. A favourite song that you find relaxing may still work better for you than a track from a genre that ranks highly overall.”
Alpine used its in-house audio tool and the Python library Librosa to extract the metrics, then aggregated them by genre into a Sleep Score using weighted percent rank. The findings are based on the selected sample tracks and do not prove that a particular genre will send anyone to sleep. The approach sits alongside the brand’s recent analysis of Reading & Leeds headliners, which scored songs for hearing fatigue using loudness, high RMS duration, dynamic range and treble to bass ratio.
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