90 Examples of a Music Genre

John Spacey, updated on January 06, 2024

A music genre is a category of music based on a shared tradition or scene whereby artists have influenced each other. This can produce great value as artists build upon the traditions of a genre and this becomes a shared resource for future artists. In many cases, audiences who like a genre of music participate in the culture surrounding it. As such, a genre can go beyond the music itself to describe a music scene that can include things like fashion, symbols, share meaning, values and norms. The following are common examples of a music genre.

Alternative Dance	Alternative Rock
Ambient	Arena Rock
Bachata	Bebop
Big Band	Black Metal
Bollywood	Bossa Nova
Chamber Music	Christian Metal
Christian Rock	Classical Music
Country	Country Rock
Dance Pop	Dancehall
Death Metal	Disco
Dixieland	Dream Pop
Drum & Bass	Dubstep
Easy Listening	Electronic Body Music (EBM)
Electronic Dance Music (EDM)	Electronica
Electropop	Emo
Flamenco	Folk
Funk	Gangsta Rap
Garage Rock	Glam
Glitch	Gospel
Goth	Grunge
Hard Rock	Hardbass
Hardcore Punk	Heavy Metal
Hip-hop	House
Indie	Industrial
Jazz	Jpop
Kpop	Latin
Lounge	Mambo
Mashup	Math Rock
Minimalism	New Wave
Nightcore	Noise Pop
Opera	Polka
Pop	Pop Punk
Progressive Rock	Psychedelic Rock
Punk Rock	R&B
Ragtime	Rap
Reggae	Reggaeton
Rock & Roll	Rockabilly
Salsa	Samba
Ska	Soft Rock
Soul	Speed Metal
Surf Rock	Swing
Synthpop	Tango
Techno	Trance
Trap	Trash Metal
Tropical House	Turntablism

The audiences that are interested in each genre may have a refined sense of musical taste. Artists in each genre compete for the attention of this audience. This combination of intensive competition and well-attuned audiences makes it difficult to succeed in most genres but pushes artists to produce great works.

Genres greatly influence each other and it is common for each artist to be influenced by multiple genres.

In some cases a music genre has few fans but is significant as a source of influence for artists. In other words, it is common for a genre to be well known to musicians but not particularly popular amongst audiences.

There are also numerous music genres associated with nations, regions and languages.