Across the world, there are likely thousands of sub-genres that have emerged, of which many will be hard to differentiate for the average listener. Having a good understanding of these categories can massively help when trying to discover new music, and with the ever-growing catalog of digital music, searching for a specific sub-genre will narrow the results to become more relevant.
On the Nex Artist platform, we have identified over 400 of the most popular sub-genres of music for artists to accurately label their tracks with. For ease of reading, we have split them into two sections; Standard and Electronic.
Standard Genres (Non-Electronic)
- Alternative
- Alternative Rock
- Art Punk
- Emotional Hardcore
- Experimental Rock
- Folk Punk
- Gothic Rock
- Grunge
- Hard Rock
- Hardcore Punk
- Lofi
- Post Punk
- Progressive Rock
- Asian
- C-Pop
- J-Pop
- K-Pop
- Pop
- Blues
- Acoustic Blues
- Chicago Blues
- Contemporary Blues
- Country Blues
- Delta Blues
- Detroit Blues
- Jazz Blues
- Piedmont Blues
- Punk Blues
- Soul Blues
- Children’s Music
- Lullabies
- Sing-Along
- Stories
- Classical
- Avant-Garde
- Ballet
- Baroque
- Chant
- Concerto
- Minimalism
- Opera
- Orchestral
- Symphony
- Country
- Alternative Country
- Americana
- Australian Country
- Bluegrass
- Blues Country
- Country Pop
- Country Rap
- Country Rock
- Country Soul
- Cowboy / Western
- Instrumental Country
- Nashville Sound
- Texas Country
- Traditional Country
- Easy Listening
- Background
- Bop
- Elevator
- Instrumental
- Lounge
- Folk Music
- American Folk
- British Folk
- Contemporary Folk
- Freak Folk
- German Folk
- Indie Folk
- Industrial Folk
- Progressive Folk
- Psychedelic Folk
- Hip-Hop/Rap
- Alternative Rap
- Christian Hip Hop
- Dirty South
- East Coast
- Freestyle Rap
- G-Funk
- Gangsta Rap
- Grime
- Hip Hop
- Jazz Rap
- Latin Rap
- Midwest Hip Hop
- Old School Rap
- Trap
- West Coast
- Jazz
- Acid Jazz
- Afro-Cuban Jazz
- Avant-Garde Jazz
- Bebop
- Big Band
- Blue Note
- Contemporary Jazz
- Crossover Jazz
- Ethno Jazz
- Latin Jazz
- Nu Jazz
- Orchestral Jazz
- Soul Jazz
- Swing Jazz
- West Coast Jazz
- Latin
- Criolla
- Alternativo & Rock Latino
- Argentine Tango
- Bachata
- Bolero
- Brazilian
- Chicha
- Contemporary Latin
- Cumbria
- Flamenco
- Mambo
- Mariachi
- Punta
- Reggaeton
- Soca
- Tejano
- Timba
- Vallenato
- Metal
- Death Metal
- Deathcore
- Doom Metal
- Drone
- Folk Metal
- Gothic Metal
- Heavy Metal
- Industrial Metal
- Metalcore
- Modern Metal
- Nu Metal
- Post Metal
- Power Metal
- Progressive Metal
- Sludge
- Speed Metal
- Thrash Metal
- New Age
- Environmental
- Healing
- Meditation
- Nature
- Relaxation
- Travel
- Pop
- Adult Contemporary
- Arab Pop
- Baroque
- Britpop
- Dance Pop
- Europop
- Indie Pop
- Orchestral Pop
- Pop Punk
- Psychedelic Pop
- Synthpop
- Teen Pop
- R&B/Soul
- Contemporary R&B
- Doo Wop
- Modern Soul
- Motown
- Neo-Soul
- Northern Soul
- Psychedelic Soul
- Soul
- Southern Soul
- Rap
- Reggae
- 2 Tone
- Dub
- Lovers Rock
- Raggamuffin
- Reggae Dancehall
- Reggae Fusion
- Roots Reggae
- Ska
- Spanish Reggae
- Rock
- Acid Rock
- Adult Alternative
- Afro Punk
- American Traditional Rock
- Blues Rock
- Glam Rock
- Indie Rock
- Post Rock
- Psychedelic Rock
- Punk Rock
- Roots Rock
- Singer/Songwriter
- Southern Rock
- Singer/Songwriter
- Acoustic
- Alternative
- Contemporary
- Indie
- Traditional Folk
- Vocal
- A capella
- Chant
- Vocal Jazz
- Vocal Pop
- Yodel
- World
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia
- Calypso
- Caribbean
- Celtic
- Europe
- North America
- South Africa
- South America
- Worldbeat
Electronic Genres
- Ambient
- Ambient Breaks
- Ambient Dub
- Ambient Garage
- Ambient House
- Ambient Jungle
- Ambient Noise
- Ambient Techno
- Dark Ambient
- New Age
- Breakbeat
- Acid Breaks
- Big Beat
- Breakbeat Hardcore
- Breakstep
- Broken Beat
- Dark Breaks
- Dub Breaks
- Progressive Breaks
- Psybreaks
- Synth Breaks
- Disco
- Afro-cosmic
- Disco House
- Electro Disco
- Eurodisco
- Nu-disco
- Post-disco
- Downtempo
- Acid Jazz
- Balearic Beat
- Lounge Music
- Nu Jazz
- Trip Hop
- Drum and Bass
- Breakcore
- Dancefloor
- Darkcore
- Drumstep
- Funkstep
- Halftime
- Industrial Jazz Step
- Jump-Up
- Jungle
- Liquid
- Minimal/Deep
- Neurofunk
- Ragga Jungle
- Sambass
- Techstep
- Dub
- Afro-Dub
- Dub Poetry
- Dub Raggae
- Dubtronica
- Dubstep
- Brostep
- Chillstep
- Classic Dubsteip
- Deathstep
- Drumstep
- Filthstep
- Glitchstep
- Hardstep
- Neurostep
- Post-Dubstep
- Robostep
- Substep
- Techstep
- Wobblestep
- Electro
- “Detroit Electro
- Electro Bass
- Electro Bounce
- Electro Breaks
- Electro Funk
- Electro Hop
- Electro Soul
- Electro Trance
- Elektro
- Future Electro
- Glitch Electro
- Hard Electro
- Melbourne Bounce
- Minimal Electro
- Moombahton
- Electronic Pop
- African Dance
- Bubblegum Pop
- Caribbean
- Dance Pop
- Dancehall
- Electro Pop
- Electrodance
- Euro Pop
- Future Pop
- South African Dance
- Synth Pop
- Electronic Rock
- Dance-Rock
- Electro Punk
- Electronic Metal
- Indietronica
- Indie Dance
- New Wave
- Post-Punk
- Post-Rock
- Progressive Rock
- Psychedelic Rock
- Space Rock
- Electronica
- Ethno Electronica
- Folktronica
- Glitch
- Progressive
- Worldbeat
- Experimental
- Fitness & Workout
- Garage
- 2 Step Garage
- Baseline
- Breakstep
- Dark Garage
- Deep Garage
- Future Garage
- UK Funky
- UK Garage
- US Garage
- Hardcore
- Acidcore
- Breakstep
- Doomcore
- Gabber
- Happy Hardcore
- Industrial Hardcore
- Speedcore
- Trancecore
- Hardstyle
- Euphoric Hardstyle
- Jumpstyle
- Rawstyle
- Substyle
- Trapstyle
- House
- Acid House
- Afro House
- Bass House
- Big Room House
- Chicago House
- Classic House
- Deep House
- Deep Tech / Minimal House
- Disco House
- Electro House
- French House
- Future House
- Ghetto House
- Jackin’ House
- Jazz House
- Latin House
- Melodic House
- Progressive House
- Tech House
- Tropical House
- Vocal House
- Techno
- Acid Techno
- Berlin Techno
- Cinematic Techno
- Dark Techno
- Deep Techno
- Detroit Techno
- Driving Techno
- Dub Techno
- Hard Techno
- Industrial Techno
- Melodic Techno
- Minimal Techno
- Tribal Techno
- Trance
- Acid Trance
- Deep Trance
- Electro Trance
- Future Trance
- Goa Trance
- Hard Trance
- Melodic Trance
- Progressive Trance
- Psychedelic Trance
- Tech Trance
- Uplifting Trance
- Vocal Trance
If you believe there is a popular sub-genre not mentioned in this list, we’d love to hear about it. Please send your comments to [email protected] for us to read.
This list was last updated on 29/12/2022 and may not mirror the sub-genres currently available on our platform.