The Apple Music 100 Best Albums is a list of the best albums in history created by the streaming service Apple Music based upon an opinion survey and curated music ranking. Its team crafted the list alongside a group of artists that included Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Maren Morris, and Charli XCX.[1] The list is an editorial statement, rather than being data-based, and does not take into account any streaming figures on Apple Music or any other streaming service.[2] [3]
They named the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the best album, followed by Michael Jackson's Thriller and then the Beatles' Abbey Road.
The lowest 10 placements (#91–100) of the list were announced on May 13, 2024, via a press release by Apple. It was also revealed that the whole list would be released as a countdown revealing 10 albums each day for the next 9 days.[4] To accompany the list, Apple Music unveiled a dedicated microsite to analyze and discuss the albums.[2]
The list received mixed reviews from fans and critics. Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "The selection sharply contrasts with the traditional rankings by legacy music publications, such as Rolling Stone."[5] Ben Cohen of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the list "was clearly a stunt to get attention and sell subscriptions to Apple Music", with its ultimate goal being to "get people to actually engage with these albums", while Chris Willman of Variety wrote that the list "exists almost expressly to make you mad". Multiple critics cited recency bias, with the list overrepresenting newly released albums.[6] [7]
Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian called the list "certainly baffling in places", noting the absence of artists such as Johnny Cash, Diana Ross, The Supremes, and The Who, as well as the list's underrepresentation of country music.[8] Ryan Teague Beckwith of MSNBC commented that the list generously represents rock and hip hop, while only including "token nods" to jazz, folk, reggae, and punk, and neglecting to include blues, gospel, or world music albums.[9] Many fans criticized the list's placement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift at number 18, topping highly-regarded pop albums such as Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, with Cohen calling the placement "absurd".[10] [11] [12]
Several critics commended Apple Music's unorthodox placement of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the greatest album of all time.[13] In response to the placement, Lauryn Hill said, "I appreciate the acknowledgement, I really do, but I’d be remiss not to also acknowledge all of the music and artists who informed and inspired me ... The leaders of community and movements that sparked me, the social dynamics and music scenes, both older and current at the time, that intrigued and inspired me to contribute."[14]
The following table lists the genres of the albums included on the list, which are based on Apple Music's assigned genre.
| - ! Genre | Number of albums | Percentage | - | 21 | 21% | - | Rock | 18 | 18% | - | Pop | 16 | 16% | - | Alternative | 14 | 14% | - | R&B/Soul | 11 | 11% | - | 4 | 4% | - | 3 | 3% | - | 3 | 3% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motown | 2 | 2% | - | Punk | 2 | 2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singer-Songwriter | 2 | 2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | 1 | 1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latin | 1 | 1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal | 1 | 1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 1% |
| - ! Decade | Number of albums | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1 | 1% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960s | 10 | 10% | - | 1970s | 18 | 18% | - | 1980s | 17 | 17% | - | 1990s | 23 | 23% | - | 2000s | 11 | 11% | - | 2010s | 17 | 17% | - | 2020s | 3 | 3% |
The following table lists the artists who have two albums included on the list.
| Artist | Top | Low | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Beatles | 3 | 21 | One album in the top 10 | |
| Prince | 4 | 51 | One album in the top 10; includes one album credited to Prince and the Revolution | |
| Stevie Wonder | 6 | 44 | One album in the top 10 | |
| Beyoncé | 10 | 36 | One album in the top 10; only woman with 2 albums on the list | |
| Radiohead | 12 | 33 | One album in the top 20 | |
| Dr. Dre | 19 | 70 | One album in the top 20; count includes one album credited to N.W.A |
The following table lists the record labels who have multiple albums included on the list. This is based on the labels under which each album was released originally, not the current copyright holders.
| - ! Label | Parent | Number of albums | Notes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Music Group | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre in 1996 | ||||||||||||||
| Def Jam Recordings | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | - | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Roc-A-Fella Records | 2 | Defunct American hip hop label founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. | |||||||||||||
| Columbia Records | Sony Music Entertainment | 13 | - | Epic Records | 6 | - | 4 | - | 4 | ||||||
| Reprise Records | Warner Music Group | 4 | Founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Also known as Warner Bros. Records. | ||||||||||||||
| Atlantic Records | 3 | - | Elektra Records | 3 | |||||||||||
| Parlophone | 2 | Label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. | |||||||||||||
| 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Independent Labels | 3 | Founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. | - | 2 | Independent label based in London, England. Formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis. | ||||||||||
| 2 | Founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. | ||||||||||||||
| Parkwood Entertainment Records | Parkwood Entertainment | 2 | American label founded by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in 2010. |
| Country | Number of albums |
|---|---|
| 63 | |
| 22 | |
| 4 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |