gross knowledge: this person knows a LOT about this artist for whatever reason, whether it'd be a special interest of theirs or they just research their favorite artists a lot or are really interested in music culture or something relating to that artist. so when you talk to them like they just know EVERYTHING about them and its kind of scary

a favorite: if you asked them what their favorite artists are this artist would be one of them. they listen to them regularly or have bought their albums and like to talk about them sometimes or show their art to people. they might also be familiar with the artists entire discography/background behind their songs. but they wouldn't consider themselves an EXPERT on this artist's lore.

likes overall: they might have one album they like and generally vibes with the genre of music, but they don't know a lot about the music besides that they like it and think the artist makes music that sounds good to their ears. they would NOT list them as a favorite artist and might even forget they like them sometimes. they don't listen to them ALL THE TIME but they would not mind hearing them or recommending them to friends.

likes one or two songs: they probably only know this artist's most popular songs or like one random song they got recommended on spotify, or are just very particular about the artist so they just listen to a few songs. 

appreciates but isn't their vibe: they think the artist sounds good and all, but wouldn't get out of their way to listen to them, and it's just not the kind of thing they're specifically into. they don't dislike them they just don't like them enough to listen to more than once or something.

doesn't fw them: exactly what it sounds like, not their genre, doesn't like the voice or instruments they use, or some other random gripe about them, or thinks they're overrated. whatever.

gross lack of knowledge (doesn't know they exist): also exactly what it sounds like, doesn't know this artist exists, whether thats bc they live under a rock or they don't listen to niche ass shit (in the case of the artist being niche ass shit) or they're super young. in the case of characters who live in worlds where the artist doesn't/might not exist, i just go with pretending they do lol

listens to them in secret: is super embarrassed they like this artist, or has some weird reason for being secretive about it, so nobody KNOWS if they like the artist for sure except themselves and maybe a few people they've confided in

that's enough explaining. now onto the actual picture and me explaining WHY i put each character where they are on the tierlist (from actually decent reasons to me just trying to put 2 and 2 together), as well as what i think their favorite songs and albums might be!

and if you think i'm WRONG which i definitely could not make accurate hcs as much as some other people for some of these characters, you can make your own version here which um. should work.

in order from top to bottom:

kurapika: in the dark continent arc, his secret passphrase was based around jpop groups, and he's not been to japan (or the japan equivalent, wherever feitan is from lmao), i don't feel like japanese music would get much airplay in the 90s-00s where he's been besides a few songs? (ofc i get togashi is prob referencing it bc he's japanese himself but yk), so i feel like he's very open-minded about the music he listens to, getting out of his way to listen to these artists, and also likes listening to female acts in general. he probably listens to mostly sadder music but these kinds of acts serve as a form of escapism in his free time from doing Mafia Shit and Dark Issues.

he might like to spend his free time learning a lot about the music he listens to so he can appreciate it more, and bc bjork is very interesting i feel like he would probably be very interested in her and appreciate a lot of her music. 90s-00s is kind of like bjorks peak of her career publicity-wise so he's DEFINITELY heard her music from the radio/word of mouth. 

i feel like he would fw i've seen it all from selmasongs bc i feel like he'd also like radiohead and think its cool that they're both each others favorite vocalists of the opposite gender (true!). his favorite albums would probably be the older albums too, specifically post and vespertine, but he likes stuff from all her albums.

jade harley: she probably was online and heard about volta through hearing declare independence somewhere and was like holy shit that bassline or whatever the fuck that is goes so hard!!!!!!! and then did a search and thought she sounded neat and then bought the volta cd. pretending humanity didn't explode after 2009 so we can then pretend she would get the privilege to hear everything afterwards, she'd love biophilia and utopia and i think jade's favorite parts about bjork would be how she incorporates science and biology into her music, her favorite albums would probably be biophilia, vulnicura and volta (since she bought it), and also probably really likes the song human behavior bc its about animals, lionsong, atom dance, cosmogony and earth intruders, and triumph of a heart JUST because there's a cat furry dude in the music video that i am mortally terrified of watching. 

kanaya maryam: jade DEFINITELY introduced kanaya to bjork through talking about music they like, and kanaya definitely feels like she'd be into very pretty music (i think of her themes), and likes the aesthetic and FOR SURE loves her sense of fashion. i think she'd like homogenic the most and vespertine the second. she probably likes human behavior and a bunch of songs focused on love like hyperballad or blissing me because they remind her of rose. i think she also appreciates the music in general for reminding her of nature and stuff, maybe nattura is also one of her favorites.

yi: i think he'd probably just like her music, like that disc you get at some point in nine sols that he's grossly educated about, if she existed in his universe he'd have definitely heard of her and i feel like he'd appreciate her music and artistic direction and consider her talented and worth his attention. probably likes something weird like virus he heard like a long ass time ago

andre the painter: yeah idk he kind of just feels like he would listen to her and appreciate her use of color and occasionally bombastic sound. really digs the post album art like dude just LOVES that album cover i bet he's more interested in the album covers than the actual music

mothra: mothra would definitely appreciate bjork because mothra is beautiful and awesome and well genuinely i feel like the people who handle mothra in the movies are like weird little nerds who would like bjork so yeah

wv: dude appreciates her music a lot. i dont feel like he'd have a favorite album or anything cuz i dont think he'd get out of his way to even know about them, but jade or kanaya have played her stuff out loud so he knows about her. he'd probably like debut and post a lot, like, it's oh so quiet, or big time sensuality lmao, does a little jig or something. actually i dont think he could hate any music that much either anyways he is just such an appreciator of Song.

roxy lalonde: she kind of just seems like the person who would like her music, and the specific genre of music, and experimental weird stuff in general. also triumph of a heart again. jade would definitely show roxy that video cuz of the cats and she'd LOVE IT and the song probably unironically

ralsei: i dont think she's the genre ralsei would usually listen to but he definitely is listening to some camp stuff. have not played deltarune if im being so real with you guys but i really want to so i cant be super specific. but i feel like ralsei would probably just like her older stuff since its more accessible

stolas: probably heard possibly maybe or some song from that era watching a drag race show and one of the queens just brought up that song or they played it or whatever and it reminds him of stolas so he likes it

leorio: this would be going off of him in a modern context, he would definitely hear pagan poetry from those horse shitposts on instagram reels, but he's probably heard like army of me and thinks its pretty good. he probably hasn't talked with kurapika about it yet otherwise he'd probably be studying up hard as hell

cheadle: probably bought a post cd a long time ago and kind of forgot she did it but remembers maybe 1 or 2 songs from that album

noelle holiday: i feel like dess would show her her music collection and so she's heard a lot of her music bc i feel like dess would have some pretty cool and wide-ranging music taste. not really noelle's vibe for the most part but vespertine definitely sticks with her and likes frosti and aurora a lot because they remind her of home and christmas and stuff

beleth: probably listens to like, the strangest combination of kids bop and ayesha erotica and dumbass shit i don't think they're listening to her stuff but they probably don't think she sucks

lily: definitely feels like more of a folk rock girl but she also likes pop so she wouldn't mind hearing bjork's more radio-friendly stuff

kris: dgaf is probably listening to something like hyperpop or something susie showed them, i feel like ralsei would maybe bring her up once and they're like ok this is cool but it's not clicking for me.

rouge: more of a soul and rnb gal

terezi pyrope: thinks the volta cd case tastes delicious >:] . and the music is really weird and all, she doesn't mind it or anything it's just not something she'd seek out i think

whisper: feels like more a neoclassical or quieter music person, would appreciate vespertine but again, not seeking it out

blitz: would NOT like her, prefers rock and metal

charthur: would rather listen to hip hop

vi: would rather listen to rock and punk and um is imagine dragons canon in arcane guys i hope vi doesn't like imagine dragons that'd be so sad

susie: rock and punk girl and whatever kris shows her she is definitely listening to that

surge: metal and punk maybe she'd appreciate that klone army of me cover

lanolin: more into folk and soul and hip hop stuff

meenah peixes: "what the glub is this"

kareena: i feel like she lives in such a weird bubble living in her tribe and then in oat, i feel like her and vagus, leo, mycaelis, they're just socially isolated from so much media they definitely live under a rock

tangle: tangle feels like she would have a lack of knowledge about pop culture in the best and cutest way possible she probably doesn't know a bunch of stuff "bohemian rhapsody??? have i heard that one??"

azi: i don't think she lives under a rock or anything, i just feel like in the specific context of her earth, that she doesn't know about her or if she's heard her music she doesn't know its by her. like if you asked if she knew her she'd be like "maybe???? idk"

dave strider: when jade was showing him he was like haha this is lame and then he finds himself humming stuff and songs playing in his head and he's so embarrassed about it because he doesn't think it lines up with his cool guy persona or whatever he wouldnt tell anybody not even karkat or john but he WOULD tell wv because wv is awesome 

shadow: army of me or play dead on a secret playlist he is not telling ANYONE about he is trying to remain mysterious

ok guys the end. this took me an hour to make and then an hour before that to make this tierlist for the first time  i hope you liked it

- bali (they/them)