The most comprehensive list of genres of music available on the Internet
About This Event
Music comes in many different types and styles ranging from traditional rock music to world pop, easy listening, and bluegrass. Many genres have a rich history or geographical significance, a cult following or music roots that go far beyond the 20th century.
The Music Genres List site covers many of the most popular styles of music, the site is becoming the definitive list of music genres on the Internet – thanks to you – and if you feel any music genres are missing (we’re sure there are many!) please send an email to add @ music genres list dot com and we’ll add to get closer to completing the music list of genres.
And a big thank you to the folks who have already sent in suggestions. We haven’t added them all as some are not easily verified or differentiated from our current list (and we get many music genres suggestions that are duplicates), however all the genres we can research and confirm as valid or derivatives or existing genres or music types, we’ve added and have attributed by way of thanks.
LIST OF TYPE OF MUSIC, MUSIC GENRES
Alternative
- Art Punk
- Alternative Rock
- Britpunk
- College Rock
- Crossover Thrash (thx Kevin G)
- Crust Punk (thx Haug)
- Emotional Hardcore (emo / emocore) – (Thanks Timothy)
- Experimental Rock
- Folk Punk
- Goth / Gothic Rock
- Grunge
- Hardcore Punk
- Hard Rock
- Indie Rock
- Lo-fi (hat tip to Ben Vee Bedlamite)
- Musique Concrète
- New Wave
- Progressive Rock
- Punk
- Shoegaze (with thx to Jackie Herrera)
- Steampunk (with thx to Christopher Schaeffer)
Anime
Blues
- Acoustic Blues
- African Blues
- Blues Rock
- Blues Shouter
- British Blues
- Canadian Blues
- Chicago Blues
- Classic Blues
- Classic Female Blues
- Contemporary Blues
- Contemporary R&B
- Country Blues
- Delta Blues
- Detroit Blues
- Electric Blues
- Folk Blues
- Gospel Blues
- Harmonica Blues
- Hill Country Blues
- Hokum Blues
- Jazz Blues
- Jump Blues
- Kansas City Blues
- Louisiana Blues
- Memphis Blues
- Modern Blues
- New Orlean Blues
- NY Blues
- Piano Blues
- Piedmont Blues
- Punk Blues
- Ragtime Blues (cheers GFS)
- Rhythm Blues
- Soul Blues
- St. Louis Blues
- Soul Blues
- Swamp Blues
- Texas Blues
- Urban Blues
- Vandeville
- West Coast Blues
- Zydeco (thx Naomi McElynn – also under ‘World’ genre)
Children’s Music
- Lullabies
- Sing-Along
- Stories
Classical
- Avant-Garde
- Ballet
- Baroque
- Cantata
- Chamber Music
- String Quartet
- Chant
- Choral
- Classical Crossover
- Concerto
- Concerto Grosso
- Contemporary Classical (thx Julien Palliere)
- Early Music
- Expressionist (thx Mr. Palliere)
- High Classical
- Impressionist
- Mass Requiem
- Medieval
- Minimalism
- Modern Composition
- Modern Classical
- Opera
- Oratorio
- Orchestral
- Organum
- Renaissance
- Romantic (early period)
- Romantic (later period)
- Sonata
- Symphonic
- Symphony
- Wedding Music
Comedy
- Novelty
- Parody Music (Weird Al!)
- Stand-up Comedy
- Vaudeville (cheers Ben Vee Bedlamite)
Commercial (thank you Sheldon Reynolds)
- Jingles
- TV Themes
Country
- Alternative Country
- Americana
- Australian Country
- Bakersfield Sound
- Bluegrass
- Progressive Bluegrass
- Reactionary Bluegrass
- Blues Country
- Cajun Fiddle Tunes
- Christian Country
- Classic Country
- Close Harmony
- Contemporary Bluegrass
- Contemporary Country
- Country Gospel
- Country Pop (thanks Sarah Johnson)
- Country Rap
- Country Rock
- Country Soul
- Cowboy / Western
- Cowpunk
- Dansband
- Honky Tonk
- Franco-Country
- Gulf and Western
- Hellbilly Music
- Honky Tonk
- Instrumental Country
- Lubbock Sound
- Nashville Sound
- Neotraditional Country
- Outlaw Country
- Progressive
- Psychobilly / Punkabilly
- Red Dirt
- Sertanejo
- Texas County
- Traditional Bluegrass
- Traditional Country
- Truck-Driving Country
- Urban Cowboy
- Western Swing
- Zydeco
Dance (EDM – Electronic Dance Music – see Electronic below – with thx to Eric Shaffer-Whiting & Drew :-))
- Club / Club Dance (thx Luke Allfree)
- Breakcore
- Breakbeat / Breakstep
- 4-Beat
- Acid Breaks
- Baltimore Club
- Big Beat
- Breakbeat Hardcore
- Broken Beat
- Florida Breaks
- Nu Skool Breaks
- Brostep (cheers Tom Berckley)
- Chillstep (thx Matt)
- Deep House (cheers Venus Pang)
- Dubstep
- Electro House (thx Luke Allfree)
- Electroswing
- Exercise
- Future Garage (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Garage
- Glitch Hop (cheers Tom Berckley)
- Glitch Pop (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Grime (thx Ran’dom Haug / Matthew H)
- Hardcore
- Bouncy House
- Bouncy Techno
- Breakcore
- Digital Hardcore
- Doomcore
- Dubstyle
- Gabber
- Happy Hardcore
- Hardstyle
- Jumpstyle
- Makina
- Speedcore
- Terrorcore
- Uk Hardcore
- Hard Dance
- Hi-NRG / Eurodance
- Horrorcore (thx Matt)
- House
- Acid House
- Chicago House
- Deep House
- Diva House
- Dutch House
- Electro House
- Freestyle House
- French House
- Funky House
- Ghetto House
- Hardbag
- Hip House
- Italo House
- Latin House
- Minimal House
- Progressive House
- Rave Music
- Swing House
- Tech HouseTribal House
- UK Hard House
- US Garage
- Vocal House
- Jackin House (with thx to Jermaine Benjamin Dale Bruce)
- Jungle / Drum’n’bass
- Liquid Dub(thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Regstep (thanks to ‘Melia G)
- Speedcore (cheers Matt)
- Techno
- Acid Techno
- Detroit Techno
- Free Tekno
- Ghettotech
- Minimal
- Nortec
- Schranz
- Techno-Dnb
- Technopop
- Tecno Brega
- Toytown Techno
- Trance
- Acid Trance
- Classic Trance
- Dream Trance
- Goa Trance
- Dark Psytrance
- Full on
- Psybreaks
- Psyprog
- Suomisaundi
- Hard Trance
- Tech Trance
- Uplifting Trance
- Orchestral Uplifting
- Vocal Trance
- Trap (thx Luke Allfree)
- Disney
- Easy Listening
- Background
- Bop
- Elevator
- Furniture
- Lounge
- Middle of the Road
- Swing
- Electronic
- 2-Step (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- 8bit – aka 8-bit, Bitpop and Chiptune – (thx Marcel Borchert)
- Ambient
- Ambient Dub
- Ambient House
- Ambient Techno
- Dark Ambient
- Drone Music
- Illbient
- Isolationism
- Lowercase
- Asian Underground
- Bassline (thx Leon Oliver)
- Chillwave(thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Chiptune (kudos to Dominik Landahl)
- Bitpop
- Game Boy
- Nintendocore
- Video Game Music
- Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass
- Crunk (with thx to Jillian Edwards)
- Downtempo
- Acid Jazz
- Balearic Beat
- Chill Out
- Dub Music
- Dubtronica
- Ethnic Electronica
- Moombahton
- Nu Jazz
- Trip Hop
- Drum & Bass (thx Luke Allfree)
- Darkcore
- Darkstep
- Drumfunk
- Drumstep
- Hardstep
- Intelligent Drum and Bass
- Jump-Up
- Liquid Funk
- Neurofunk
- Oldschool Jungle:
- Darkside Jungle
- Ragga Jungle
- Raggacore
- Sambass
- Techstep
- Electro
- Crunk
- Electro Backbeat
- Electro-Grime
- Electropop
- Electro-swing (thank you Daniel Forthofer)
- Electroacoustic
- Acousmatic Music
- Computer Music
- Electroacoustic Improvisation
- Field Recording
- Live Coding
- Live Electronics
- Soundscape Composition
- Tape Music
- Electronica
- Berlin School
- Chillwave
- Electronic Art Music
- Electronic Dance Music
- Folktronica
- Freestyle Music
- Glitch
- Idm
- Laptronica
- Skweee
- Sound Art
- Synthcore
- Electronic Rock
- Alternative Dance
- Baggy
- Madchester
- Dance-Punk
- Dance-Rock
- Dark Wave
- Electroclash
- Electronicore
- Electropunk
- Ethereal Wave
- Indietronica
- New Rave
- Space Rock
- Synthpop
- Synthpunk
- Eurodance
- Bubblegum Dance
- Italo Dance
- Turbofolk
- Hardstyle (kudos to Dominik Landahl)
- Hi-Nrg
- Eurobeat
- Hard Nrg
- New Beat
- IDM/Experimental
- Industrial
- Trip Hop (thank you Michael Tait Tafoya)
- UK Garage
- 2-Step
- 4×4
- Bassline
- Grime
- Speed Garage
- Enka
- French Pop
- Folk Music (also under various other categories)
- American Folk Revival
- Anti-Folk
- British Folk Revival
- Contemporary Folk
- Filk Music
- Freak Folk
- Indie Folk
- Industrial Folk
- Neofolk
- Progressive Folk
- Psychedelic Folk
- Sung Poetry
- Techno-Folk
- German Folk
- German Pop
- Fitness & Workout
- Hip-Hop/Rap
- Alternative Rap
- Avant-Garde
- Bounce
- Chap Hop
- Christian Hip Hop
- Conscious Hip Hop
- Country-Rap
- Crunkcore
- Cumbia Rap
- Dirty South
- East Coast
- Brick City Club
- Hardcore Hip Hop
- Mafioso Rap
- New Jersey Hip Hop
- Freestyle Rap
- G-Funk
- Gangsta Rap
- Golden Age
- Hardcore Rap
- Hip-Hop
- Hip Pop
- Hyphy
- Industrial Hip Hop
- Instrumental Hip Hop
- Jazz Rap
- Latin Rap
- Low Bap
- Lyrical Hip Hop
- Merenrap
- Midwest Hip Hop
- Chicago Hip Hop
- Detroit Hip Hop
- Horrorcore
- St. Louis Hip Hop
- Twin Cities Hip Hop
- Motswako
- Nerdcore
- New Jack Swing
- New School Hip Hop
- Old School Rap
- Rap
- Turntablism (thank you Luke Allfree)
- Underground Rap
- West Coast Rap
- Holiday
- Chanukah
- Christmas
- Christmas: Children’s
- Christmas: Classic
- Christmas: Classical
- Christmas: Comedy
- Christmas: Jazz
- Christmas: Modern
- Christmas: Pop
- Christmas: R&B
- Christmas: Religious
- Christmas: Rock
- Easter
- Halloween
- Holiday: Other
- Thanksgiving
- Indie Pop
- Industrial
- Aggrotech
- Coldwave
- Cybergrind
- Dark Electro
- Death Industrial
- Electro-Industrial
- Electronic Body Music
- Futurepop
- Industrial Metal
- Neue Deutsche Härte
- Industrial Rock
- Noise
- Japanoise
- Power Electronics
- Power Noise
- Witch House
Inspirational – Christian & Gospel
- CCM
- Christian Metal
- Christian Pop
- Christian Rap
- Christian Rock
- Classic Christian
- Contemporary Gospel
- Gospel
- Christian & Gospel
- Praise & Worship
- Qawwali (with thx to Jillian Edwards)
- Southern Gospel
- Traditional Gospel
Instrumental
- March (Marching Band)
- J-Pop (also under ‘Asian’)
J-Rock
- J-Synth
- J-Ska
- J-Punk
Jazz
- Acid Jazz (with thx to Hunter Nelson)
- Avant-Garde Jazz
- Bebop (thx Mwinogo1)
- Big Band
- Blue Note (with thx to Jillian Edwards)
- Contemporary Jazz
- Cool
- Crossover Jazz
- Dixieland
- Ethio-jazz (with thx to Jillian Edwards)
- Fusion
- Gypsy Jazz (kudos to Mike Tait Tafoya)
- Hard Bop
- Latin Jazz
- Mainstream Jazz
- Ragtime
- Smooth Jazz
- Trad Jazz
- K-Pop (also under ‘Asian’)
- Karaoke
- Kayokyoku
- Latin
- Alternativo & Rock Latino
- Argentine tango (gracias P. Moth & Sandra Sanders)
- Bachata
- Baithak Gana
- Baladas y Boleros
- Bolero
- Bossa Nova (with thx to Marcos José Sant’Anna Magalhães & Alex Ede for the reclassification)
- Brazilian
- Axé
- Bossa Nova
- Brazilian Rock
- Brega
- Choro
- Forró
- Frevo
- Funk Carioca
- Lambada
- Maracatu
- Música Popular Brasileira
- Música Sertaneja
- Pagode
- Samba
- Samba Rock
- Tecnobrega
- Tropicalia
- Zouk-Lambada
- Chicha
- Criolla
- Contemporary Latin
- Cumbia (gracias Richard Kemp)
- Flamenco / Spanish Flamenco (thank you Michael Tait Tafoya & Sandra Sanders)
- Huayno
- Latin Jazz
- Mariachi
- Nuevo Flamenco (and again Michael Tafoya)
- Pop Latino
- Portuguese fado (and again Sandra Sanders)
- Punta
- Punta Rock
- Ranchera
- Raíces
- Raison
- Reggaeton y Hip-Hop
- Regional Mexicano
- Salsa y Tropical
- Soca
- Son
- Tejano
- Timba
- Twoubadou
- Zouk
- New Age
- Environmental
- Healing
- Meditation
- Nature
- Relaxation
- Travel
- Opera
- Pop
- Adult Contemporary
- Arab Pop
- Baroque
- Britpop
- Bubblegum Pop (thx Haug & John Maher)
- Chamber Pop (thx Haug)
- Chanson
- Christian Pop
- Classical Crossover
- Europop
- Austropop
- Balkan Pop
- French Pop
- Latin Pop
- Laïkó
- Nederpop
- Russian Pop
- Dance Pop
- Dream Pop (thx Haug)
- Electro Pop (thx Haug)
- Iranian Pop
- Jangle Pop
- Latin Ballad
- Levenslied
- Louisiana Swamp Pop
- Mexican Pop
- Motorpop
- New Romanticism
- Orchestral Pop (thx Haug)
- Pop Rap
- Popera
- Pop/Rock
- Pop Punk (thx Makenzie)
- Power Pop (thx Haug)
- Psychedelic Pop
- Schlager
- Soft Rock
- Sophisti-Pop
- Space Age Pop
- Sunshine Pop
- Surf Pop
- Synthpop (thx Haug)
- Teen Pop
- Traditional Pop Music
- Turkish Pop
- Vispop
- Wonky Pop
- Post-Disco
- Boogie
- Dance-pop
- Progressive
- Progressive House / Trance
- Disco House
- Dream House
- Space House
- Progressive Breaks
- Progressive Drum & Bass
- Progressive Techno
- R&B/Soul
- Contemporary R&B
- Disco (not a top level genre Sheldon Reynolds!)
- Doo Wop
- Funk
- Modern Soul (Cheers Nik)
- Motown
- Neo-Soul
- Northern Soul (Cheers Nik & John Maher)
- Psychedelic Soul (thank you John Maher)
- Quiet Storm
- Soul
- Soul Blues (Cheers Nik)
- Southern Soul (Cheers Nik)
- Reggae
- 2-Tone (thx GFS)
- Dancehall
- Dub
- Roots Reggae
- Reggae Fusion
- Reggae en Español
- Spanish Reggae
- Reggae 110
- Reggae Bultrón
- Romantic Flow
- Lovers Rock
- Raggamuffin
- Ragga
- Dancehall
- Ska
- 2 Tone
- Dub
- Rocksteady
- Rock
- Acid Rock (with thanks to Alex Antonio)
- Adult-Oriented Rock (thanks to John Maher)
- Afro Punk
- Adult Alternative
- Alternative Rock (thx Caleb Browning)
- American Traditional Rock
- Anatolian Rock
- Arena Rock
- Art Rock
- Blues-Rock
- British Invasion
- Cock Rock
- Death Metal / Black Metal
- Doom Metal (thx Kevin G)
- Glam Rock
- Gothic Metal (fits here Sam DeRenzis – thx)
- Grind Core
- Hair Metal
- Hard Rock
- Math Metal (cheers Kevin)
- Math Rock (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Metal
- Metal Core (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Noise Rock (genre – Japanoise – thx Dominik Landahl)
- Jam Bands
- Post Punk (thx Ben Vee Bedlamite)
- Prog-Rock/Art Rock
- Progressive Metal (thx Ran’dom Haug)
- Psychedelic
- Rock & Roll
- Rockabilly (it’s here Mark Murdock!)
- Roots Rock
- Singer/Songwriter
- Southern Rock
- Spazzcore (thx Haug)
- Stoner Metal (duuuude)
- Surf
- Technical Death Metal (cheers Pierre)
- Tex-Mex
- Thrash Metal (thanks to Pierre A)
- Time Lord Rock (Trock) ~ (thanks to ‘Melia G)
- Trip-hop (Ta Will)
- Singer/Songwriter
- Alternative Folk
- Contemporary Folk
- Contemporary Singer/Songwriter
- Indie Folk (with thanks to Andrew Barrett)
- Folk-Rock
- Love Song (Chanson – merci Marcel Borchert)
- New Acoustic
- Traditional Folk
- Soundtrack
- Foreign Cinema
- Movie Soundtrack (thanks Julien)
- Musicals
- Original Score
- Soundtrack
- TV Soundtrack
- Spoken Word
- Tex-Mex / Tejano (with thx to Israel Lopez)
- Chicano
- Classic
- Conjunto
- Conjunto Progressive
- New Mex
- Tex-Mex
- Vocal
- A cappella (with kudos to Sheldon Reynolds)
- Barbershop (with thx to Kelly Chism)
- Cantique (sacred vocal)
- Doo-wop (with thx to Bradley Thompson)
- Gregorian Chant (hat tip to Deborah Knight-Nikifortchuk)
- Standards
- Traditional Pop
- Vocal Jazz
- Vocal Pop
World
- Africa
- African Heavy Metal
- African Hip Hop
- Afro-Beat
- Afro-Pop
- Apala
- Benga
- Bikutsi
- Bongo Flava
- Cape Jazz
- Chimurenga
- Coupé-Décalé
- Fuji Music
- Genge
- Highlife
- Hiplife
- Isicathamiya
- Jit
- Jùjú
- Kapuka
- Kizomba
- Kuduro
- Kwaito
- Kwela
- Makossa
- Maloya
- Marrabenta
- Mbalax
- Mbaqanga
- Mbube
- Morna
- Museve
- Palm-Wine
- Raï
- Sakara
- Sega
- Seggae
- Semba
- Soukous
- Taarab
- Zouglou
- Asia
- Anison
- C-Pop
- Cantopop
- Enka
- Hong Kong English Pop
- Fann At-Tanbura
- Fijiri
- J-Pop
- Japanese Pop
- K-Pop
- Khaliji
- Kayōkyoku
- Korean Pop
- Liwa
- Mandopop
- Onkyokei
- Taiwanese Pop
- Sawt
Australia
Cajun
Calypso (thx Gerald John)
Caribbean
- Chutney
- Chutney Soca
- Compas
- Mambo
- Merengue
- Méringue
- Carnatic (Karnataka Sanghetha – thx Abhijith)
- Celtic
- Celtic Folk
- Contemporary Celtic
- Coupé-décalé (thx Samy) – Congo
- Dangdut (thank you Achmad Ivanny)
- Drinking Songs
- Drone (with thx to Robert Conrod)
- Europe
- France
- Hawaii
- Japan
- Klezmer
- Mbalax (thank you Samy) – Senegal
- Middle East
- North America
- Ode (thank you Sheldon Reynolds)
- Piphat (cheers Samy B) – Thailand
- Polka
- Soca (thx Gerald John)
- South Africa
- South America
- South / Southeast Asia
- Baila
- Bhangra
- Bhojpuri
- Dangdut
- Filmi
- Indian Pop
- Hindustani (thank you Abhijith)
- Indian Ghazal (thank you Gitika Thakur)
- Lavani
- Luk Thung
- Luk Krung
- Manila Sound
- Morlam
- Pinoy Pop
- Pop Sunda
- Ragini
- Thai Pop
- Traditional Celtic
- Worldbeat
- Zydeco