25 sounds
Genres
Not sure what you are in the mood for? Start with the sound. BPM means beats per minute. Tempos are a guide; tracks and DJ sets can vary.
- HouseThe four-on-the-floor sound most club music grows from. It came out of Chicago's Black and queer underground clubs in the early 1980s, when DJs began reworking disco records into something more mechanical. Steady, repetitive and built for dancing.256 artists tracked
Usually 115–130 BPM
A steady dancefloor pulse. Subgenres and individual sets can sit outside this range.
- Deep HouseHouse at its warmest: a 1980s offshoot that folded jazz-funk chords and a touch of soul into the Chicago template. Larry Heard's early records are usually named as where it began.31 artists tracked
Usually 120–125 BPM
Unhurried, warm house grooves; swing and space can make the pace feel more relaxed.
- Tech HouseHouse grooves with techno's toughness in the drums and bass. The name started as record-shop shorthand, and a scene formed around it in England in the mid-to-late 1990s.53 artists tracked
Usually 125–128 BPM
Punchy house grooves. Faster tracks also appear: Native Instruments demonstrates one at 130 BPM.
- Progressive HouseA house offshoot that emerged in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, growing out of the American and European house of the late 1980s.31 artists tracked
Often around 125 BPM
A flowing house pace. The label also covers brighter festival tracks; production guides use 126–128 BPM for those.
- Afro HouseHouse developed mainly in South Africa from the 1990s, blending the house template with South African rhythms, instruments such as saxophone and piano, and vocals in African languages.8 artists tracked
Usually 110–125 BPM
Percussion-led house with room for the groove. 118–122 BPM is a common sweet spot; Afro Tech bookings can differ.
- Melodic House & TechnoOur label for house and techno built around long, emotive synth melodies. Our event source has no single tag for it, so this page lists the artists rather than the nights.32 artists tracked
Often 120–130 BPM
A guide to the techno side of this combined label, with long melodic builds. The house side and individual artists can vary.
- MinimalTechno stripped right back: few elements, plenty of repetition, changes that creep up on you. Usually traced to Detroit producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell in the early 1990s, then popularised in Germany in the 2000s by labels such as Kompakt and Perlon.19 artists tracked
Varies · house to techno
Sparse does not mean slow. For reference, minimal-house tutorials use 123–127 BPM; techno guides use 125–140 BPM.
- TechnoRhythm-first electronic music made to be mixed into one continuous DJ set: a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat from drum machines, sequencers and synthesizers, with everything else there to serve the rhythm.178 artists tracked
Usually 125–140 BPM
A driving, repeated pulse. This is a central range, not a ceiling: harder techno can go well above it.
- Hard TechnoTechno pushed faster and harder, with heavier, more distorted kick drums. Nights our event source tags Industrial are filed here too.22 artists tracked
Often 140–160 BPM or faster
Fast, forceful kicks. Contemporary harder styles can push beyond 160 BPM; Industrial tags do not guarantee one speed.
- AcidHouse built around the squelch of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer, first heard from Chicago artists around 1986. Within a few years it had crossed to the United Kingdom and into the rave scene.3 artists tracked
Varies · acid house to techno
The squelchy sound does not fix the speed. Acid-house examples use 122 BPM; harder acid-electro examples reach 160 BPM.
- TranceGrew out of Frankfurt's techno scene around the turn of the 1990s and spread across Europe. Repeating melodic phrases build tension over a track toward one or two big peaks.27 artists tracked
Usually 125–150 BPM
Melodic, rising energy. Uplifting production guides often focus on 130–150 BPM; slower progressive tracks also fit.
- PsytranceA trance offshoot built on fast, layered riffs and rhythms, which grew out of Goa trance. It covers a lot of ground, from full-on to darker and progressive strains.10 artists tracked
Varies · fast trance pulse
Rolling bass at a brisk pace: guides give around 138 BPM, while faster strains reach 150–160 BPM. These are examples, not limits.
- Drum & BassFast breakbeats over heavy bass and sub-bass. It came out of the UK jungle scene in the early 1990s, drawing on reggae, dub, hip-hop, techno and house. Nights tagged Jungle are filed here too.45 artists tracked
Often around 170–175 BPM
Fast drums and heavy bass; 174 BPM is a common reference point. The main pulse can feel half as fast, and jungle tracks vary.
- HardstyleEmerged in the late 1990s from the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, mixing techno and hardcore: overdriven kick drums, an offbeat "reverse bass" and, in its modern form, big synthesizer melodies.19 artists tracked
Usually 150–160 BPM
Big, driving kicks and melodies. Around 150 BPM is a familiar starting point; subgenres and artists can differ.
- HardcoreThe fast, distorted end of dance music, from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the early 1990s. Recognisable by its distorted kick drum, and the parent of gabber.8 artists tracked
Often 160+ BPM
Rapid, distorted kicks. Around 180 BPM is one common reference; the wider hardcore family has no single upper limit.
- UK GarageEnglish, from the early-to-mid 1990s: shuffled, syncopated drums — either a house-style kick or the skippier "2-step" pattern — under chopped and pitch-shifted vocal samples.27 artists tracked
Often around 130 BPM
A shuffled, skipping pulse. Production references also span roughly 130–140 BPM; swing matters as much as speed.
- BassA UK catch-all from the mid-2000s for music that blurs house, grime, dubstep and garage while keeping percussion and the low end up front.38 artists tracked
Varies · garage to dubstep
A broad label: garage often sits near 130 BPM; dubstep near 140 BPM with a 70 BPM feel. Check the artist for the pace.
- DubstepBegan in South London in the early 2000s as an offshoot of UK garage: syncopated rhythms, sparse dub-influenced production, prominent basslines and a dark mood.7 artists tracked
Often around 140 BPM
Usually felt as a slower 70 BPM pulse: the space between the main drum hits gives it that half-time sway.
- DiscoOn a club listing this mostly means the modern disco revival: dance music that reaches back to late-1970s disco and the synthesizer-heavy European styles of the 1980s. Nights tagged Italo Disco are filed here too.34 artists tracked
Varies · disco to nu-disco
A danceable four-beat groove: nu-disco guides use 100–120 BPM, while disco/house references use 120–130 BPM. Italo bookings can differ.
- ElectroEarly-1980s machine funk: Roland TR-808 drums, robotic textures and vocoder vocals, drawing on early hip-hop and funk.21 artists tracked
Often around 128 BPM · can be faster
Machine-funk with a broken beat. Demonstrations range from 125 BPM classic electro to 160 BPM acid-electro; 128 is not a limit.
- ElectronicaA broad family of electronic music made as much for listening as for dancing. Nights tagged Electronica, IDM, Ambient or Experimental are grouped here.48 artists tracked
Varies · sometimes beatless
Listening music spans slow grooves, intricate fast rhythms and ambient pieces with no regular beat. A single BPM range would mislead.
- BreakbeatElectronic music built on drum breaks, often sampled from old funk, jazz and R&B records. The same idea runs through jungle, drum & bass and UK garage.4 artists tracked
Varies · broken-beat grooves
Club breaks can sit around 120–130 BPM; breakbeat-techno demonstrations use 136–140 BPM. The drum pattern matters more than one speed.
- EDMStrictly, the umbrella term for electronic music made for clubs, raves and festivals. We use it for the big-stage, festival-headline end of the spectrum. Our event source has no tag for it, so this page lists the artists rather than the nights.63 artists tracked
Varies · festival-sized sounds
An umbrella, not one speed. Big-room house often uses 128–130 BPM; hardstyle often runs at 150–160 BPM. Preview the billed artists.
- Big RoomThe festival main-stage end of EDM: huge, simple builds and drops written for a crowd of thousands. Our event source has no tag for it, so this page lists the artists rather than the nights; the Big room filter on each city's calendar finds the nights these artists play.8 artists tracked
Usually 128–130 BPM
Festival house with large builds and drops. This describes the classic big-room house sound, not every main-stage set.
- ClubA tag our event source puts on some nights without naming a specific sound. We keep it as it is rather than guess.6 artists tracked
Tempo depends on the lineup
Our general event tag does not specify a sound or speed. Check the billed artists' genres and preview a set to know what to expect.