Jan Hidders wrote:
If you want only the most popular 12 you put it under something like "list of 12 most popular songwriter per genre". Et cetera.
That's where the problems lie. There is no unanimity on just who belongs on that top 12 list.
Eclecticlogy
Here's a link to lists of classic science fiction, done pretty well. He uses several lists and by processing information from the lists arrives at a score for each work.
http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/
Some works appear near the top of all the lists and thus get a high score.
Even a long list is not an endless list.
Fred