We pulled the US age and gender profile of Google searches for 10 genres people tend to call guilty pleasures. Yacht rock skews oldest (average searcher age 44.3, peaking at 45–54 and 55–64), followed by smooth jazz (39.6). At the other end, emo music (26.0) and nu metal (27.4) are dominated by 18–24-year-olds, and both lean male (female index 50 and 58 vs male 100). Hair metal (28.9) also skews young, which suggests a revival audience rather than original fans. Yacht rock and smooth jazz lean female.
Genre searches by age (US, past 12 months; oldest first)
| Genre | Age index 18–24 / 25–34 / 35–44 / 45–54 / 55–64 | Average age | Top band | Gender index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yacht Rock | 36 / 60 / 65 / 100 / 99 | 44.3 | 45-54 | F 100 / M 68 |
| Smooth Jazz | 67 / 61 / 69 / 100 / 44 | 39.6 | 45-54 | F 100 / M 91 |
| Soft Rock | 91 / 100 / 84 / 59 / 52 | 36.8 | 25-34 | F 100 / M 99 |
| Disco Music | 100 / 71 / 39 / 49 / 0 | 31.5 | 18-24 | F 88 / M 100 |
| Bubblegum Pop | 0 / 100 / 19 / 0 / 0 | 31.1 | 25-34 | F 100 / M 72 |
| K-pop | 100 / 65 / 32 / 17 / 7 | 29.6 | 18-24 | F 92 / M 100 |
| Hair Metal | 100 / 42 / 28 / 23 / 0 | 28.9 | 18-24 | F 99 / M 100 |
| Nu Metal | 100 / 52 / 15 / 16 / 0 | 27.4 | 18-24 | F 58 / M 100 |
| Emo Music | 100 / 50 / 24 / 0 / 0 | 26.0 | 18-24 | F 50 / M 100 |
| Polka Music | 100 / 59 / 19 / 0 / 0 | 25.8 | 18-24 | F 100 / M 77 |
What it means
Genre tastes move, but the urge to try one yourself does not. If you have a hook of your own, an AI song generator can turn it into a full track with vocals in a few minutes. For a soundtrack to your own day, an AI music generator can score it to whatever mood you need.
Method
- Google search age and gender data, US, past 12 months (Nov 2025–Oct 2026). Each keyword's top age band = 100, and each keyword's larger gender = 100; "average age" is the index-weighted mean of band midpoints (18–24 … 55–64).
- 10 genre terms chosen editorially.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). Guilty-pleasure genres parents still won't admit they search. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/guilty-pleasure-genres-parents-still-wont-admit-they-search
Use this data. Every table in this study as one spreadsheet-ready file.
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