Sounds of 2026 | MIDiA and Splice name Afro house as the sound of the year

MIDiA and Splice have teamed up once again to deliver a fresh round of insights and predictions for music in the coming year. In the Sounds of 2026 report, we dive deep into the trends behind the music producers are creating, using the data of today to identify the sounds of tomorrow.

While hundreds of genres found success in 2025, one outshone the rest to claim Sound of the Year: Afro house. Marked as a genre to watch in last year’s Sounds of 2025 report, Afro house followed through on the prediction with astronomical download growth of 778%, shooting from 760,355 downloads in 2024 to 6,674,943 in 2025. In doing so, it took the wider house genre from being the fifth most downloaded genre on Splice to second, zooming ahead of R&B, pop, and trap on its way up.

Success this large rarely comes overnight – and Afro house is no exception. Pioneered by the likes of Vinny Da Vinci, DJ Christos, and Black Coffee, the Afro house movement has been gaining steam for three decades, finding major global exposure in the last 10 years.The earliest version of the genre was born in 1990s South Africa. DJs and producers started to blend traditional house music with kwaito, deep house, and tribal house, laying the foundation for the subgenre through the incorporation of African percussion instruments, rhythms, and vocals. Over time, the genre has expanded and evolved to become a global phenomenon, with producer AMEME describing it as "something that you can’t really touch, but you feel it”.

The explosive growth of Afro house reflects the broader state of music creation and listening:

Organic elements

In a world dominated by technology, organic instrumentation and vocals are providing a welcome break. Testament to that is the success of the organic instruments and vocals sample pack ‘Vocal Afro House’, the fourth most downloaded pack released in 2025, garnering more than 1.4 million downloads.

Authentic culture

Producers are increasingly looking towards authentic cultural sounds for inspiration, with searches growing year over year for other regional subgenres like French house (102%) and Latin house (87%). This growth appears to come at the expense of subgenres less rooted in a specific region or culture, like tropical house, which saw a 14% drop in downloads.

Global stage

While Afro house is innately continental, it holds universal appeal. Alongside significant traction in North America, Europe, and Asia, Afro house has found a home in WANA, with Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and Dubai combining to form the biggest market outside of LA and New York. Afro house shows that in today's globalised world, fans are more open to international influence than ever before.

Sounds of 2026

2026 will be a year defined by transition, from heavyweight shifts at the metagenre level to microtrends punching above their weight. Explore the full Sounds of 2026 report to read about the path for hip hop beyond trap, the FOMO-inducing speed garage renaissance, the limitless possibilities of bedroom pop, and more.