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The Groove

The greatest ambient artists of all time

120 artists ranked by the Groove — music.nw’s own measure of renown. Not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. Why?

No. 1

Brian Eno

United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1948– · ambient
30.609
Why this number?
The full board
2 Pink Floyd United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1965–2014 · progressive rock 15.199
3 Aphex Twin United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1971– · idm 12.441
4 Boards of Canada United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1986– · electronic 10.840
5 Enya Ireland flagIreland · 1961– · new age 9.887
6 C418 Germany flagGermany · 1989– · ambient 9.334
7 Jean‐Michel Jarre France flagFrance · 1948– · electronic 8.196
8 Nine Inch Nails United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1988– · industrial 8.001
9 David Bowie United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1947–2016 · rock 7.903
10 Moby United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1965– · electronic 7.179
11 Sadistic Divine Iran flagIran · 2015– · post-rock 7.032
12 Sigur Rós Iceland flagIceland · 1994– · post-rock 6.576
13 Mike Oldfield United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1953– · progressive rock 5.253
14 Enigma Germany flagGermany · 1990– · new age 4.925
15 Björk Iceland flagIceland · 1965– · electronic 4.918
16 Tangerine Dream Germany flagGermany · 1967– · electronic 4.660
17 Fripp & Eno United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1972– · ambient 4.440
18 Harold Budd United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1936–2020 · ambient 4.350
19 Autechre United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1991– · idm 3.901
20 Godspeed You! Black Emperor Canada flagCanada · 1994– · post-rock 3.487
21 Air France flagFrance · 1995– · downtempo 3.288
22 Gas Germany flagGermany · 1961– · ambient 3.183
23 Tomáš Dvořák Czechia flagCzechia · 1978– · ambient 3.067
24 Steve Roach United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1955– · ambient 2.940
25 Vangelis Greece flagGreece · 1943–2022 · electronic 2.869
26 Biosphere Norway flagNorway · 1962– · ambient 2.667
27 The Future Sound of London United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1988– · electronic 2.465
28 植松伸夫 Japan flagJapan · 1959– · ambient 2.400
29 坂本龍一 Japan flagJapan · 1952–2023 · ambient 2.338
30 Ulver Norway flagNorway · 1992– · black metal 2.337
31 Burzum Norway flagNorway · 1991– · black metal 2.262
32 Carbon Based Lifeforms Sweden flagSweden · 1996– · ambient 2.250
33 Coldplay United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1996– · alternative rock 2.159
34 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia flagAustralia · 1983– · alternative rock 2.087
35 Tim Hecker Canada flagCanada · 1974– · ambient 1.964
36 Boris Japan flagJapan · 1992– · drone 1.914
37 川井憲次 Japan flagJapan · 1957– · electronic 1.800
38 Clint Mansell United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1963– · electronic 1.779
39 Akira Yamaoka Japan flagJapan · 1968– · electronic 1.716
40 Aperture Science Psychoacoustic Laboratories United States of America flagUnited States of America · electronic 1.710
41 Swans United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1982– · experimental rock 1.701
42 Coil United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1982–2004 · experimental 1.600
43 光田康典 Japan flagJapan · 1972– · ambient 1.588
44 The Caretaker United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1974– · ambient 1.580
45 Michael Jackson United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1958–2009 · pop 1.575
46 Bohren & der Club of Gore Germany flagGermany · 1992– · dark jazz 1.571
47 Depeche Mode United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1980– · electronic 1.539
48 The Beatles United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1960–1970 · rock 1.498