Word similar to well-read but in the context of songs

Question

He is well-read in romantic literature and his brother is ....... in blues songs.

Is there a word that can be used to convey the same idea as "well-read" but in the context of songs? In other words, what is one word for "someone who has heard a lot of songs and knows each of them very well". I am looking for a word that is specific to songs like "well-read" is for books. I know well-versed, knowledgeable, etc. are usable words here but they are not what I am looking for.

Ideally, I would like to say, "He is well-read and his brother is well-<...>." The sentence should convey that "he" reads while "his brother" listens to songs.

Answer 1

Aficionado is an apt term to define the person within the context and it gives the emphasis on having the knowledge in a particular subject, and is often used in musical context and with music genres. Here is a very similar example to yours:

A music lover by age 3, Boyd listened to his Vienna-trained grandmother play Brahms on the piano. Then, with Princeton pal Geoff Muldaur, he became a teenage aficionado of blues and jazz records.

seattletimes.com

Collins definition:

If someone is an aficionado of something, they like it and know a lot about it.
I happen to be an aficionado of the opera, and I love art museums.
...a jazz aficionado.

You could also use music aficionado in your last example:

He is well-read and his brother is a music aficionado.

I don't believe there is a specific term for songs or even music like well-read, at least not in common usage (Musical is too broad and not a good fit for your examples, and you've rightly eliminated it before). Well-listened comes to mind but it looks like it didn't become an established word and it is not defined in any dictionary, although I've found some examples with relevant usage. Here is an example from a credible source, Princeton Alumni Weekly, Princeton University:

There is no doubt that Steinberg has read extensively about music and listened extensively to music, making him both well read and well listened; in fact, it is unlikely that anyone in the field, past or present (and that includes the great Donald Francis Tovey, who is one of Steinberg's acknowledged role models as a critic and annotator), was, or is, better read or better listened.

princeton.edu

You've mentioned that you already know well-versed and you are not looking for it; however it is well-worth of consideration as it is commonly used in musical context. Here is an example I've found, specifically used with "songs":

Krall also boasts an extensive knowledge of the great Tin Pan Alley standards of the twenties, thirties and forties, as well as being uncommonly well-versed in songs from the sixties onwards.

manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Answer 2

melomaniac

He is well-read and his brother is a bred-in-the-bone, unrepentant melomaniac.

melomaniac: a person with a great enthusiasm for music.

Source: Collins Dictionary

Answer 3

The generic word is "conversant". One may be an aficionado without being conversant. For example, I am an aficionado of Metallica, but I could never remember the title of their songs, or their lyrics (if there is much of any).

e.g., He is conversant with the works of Mozart.

A country music lyric specialist is one who is conversant with the lyrical formula of writing country music lyrics, and therefore would be conversant with the collection of lyrics in country music.

Perhaps we could redundantly reiterate the proficiency by using the term "conversant specialist".

con·ver·sant (kən-vûr′sənt, kŏn′vər-)

adj. Familiar or knowledgeable, as by study or experience: conversant with medieval history.
[Middle English conversaunt, associated with, from Old French conversant, present participle of converser, to associate with, from Latin conversārī; see converse1.]
con·ver′sant·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Answer 4

I like "audio-intellectual." It certainly covers the bases you described, and then some. Hope it works for you.