Sometimes referred to as breaks or breakbeats, breakbeat music can refer to two distinct but related things: It is an electronic music genre, and it contains a distinct percussive rhythm from which this genre takes its name, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house, techno and trance). These rhythms may be characterized by their intensive use of syncopation and polyrhythms. Breakbeats are frequently used in the production of such diverse music genres as hiphop, jungle or drum and bass, hardcore, UK garage (including 2-step, breakstep and dubstep) and even pop and rock.

Associated Sub-Genres: Acid Breaks, Baltimore Club, Big Beat, Breakbeat Hardcore, Hardcore Breaks, Broken Beat, Nu Skool Breaks, Florida Breaks, Nu-Funk, 4-Beat

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakbeat#Break

Also known as chip music or 8-bit music, chiptune is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers, video game consoles, and arcade machines, as well as with other methods such as emulation.

Associated Sub-Genres: Bitpop, Game Boy Music, Nintendocore, Video Game Music, Yorkshire Bleeps And Bass, Bleep Techno, Skweee

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune

This music tended to layer soaring, often-reverberated vocals, which are often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and wah-pedaled "chicken-scratch" guitars. The rhythm is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines (with heavy use of octaves) played on the bass guitar and by drummers using a drum kit, African/Latin percussion, and electronic drums such as Simmons and Roland drum modules). Most disco songs have a steady four-on-the-floor beat, a quaver or semi-quaver hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line. It often involves syncopation, rarely occurring on the beat unless a synthesizer is used to replace the bass guitar.

Associated Sub-Genres: Cosmic Disco, Disco Polo, Europop, Euro Disco, Italo Disco, Nu-Disco, Space Disco

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco

Sometimes referred to as "chill out", "chill" or "downbeat", downtempo music is a type of electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove. Sometimes the beat can be restrained and/or simple. Sometimes the beats are more complicated and more featured instead of being in the background, but even then they are usually less intense than other kinds of electronic music like trance and house. The tempo is often slower than that of traditional electronic dance music. Due to the relaxing and often sensual or romantic feel of most downtempo music, it is a popular form of background music in 'chill out rooms' of dance parties, and many alternative cafes.

Associated Sub-Genres: Acid Jazz, Balearic Beat, Chill Out, Dub Music, Dubtronica, Ethnic Electronica, Moombahton, New Age Music, New Jazz, Trip Hop

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtempo

Also written as drum 'n' bass and commonly abbreviated to D&B, D+B or DnB, drum and bass is a type of electronic music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically between 160–180 beats per minute), with heavy bass and sub-bass lines. The sounds of drum and bass are extremely varied due to the range of influences behind the music. Of equal importance is the TR-808 kick drum, an artificially pitch-downed or elongated bass drum sound sampled from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, and a sound which has been subject to an enormous amount of experimentation over the years. The complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat, is another facet of production on which producers can spend a very large amount of time.

Associated Sub-Genres: Darkcore, Darkstep, Drill And Bass, Drumfunk, Drumstep, Hardstep, Intelligent Drum And Bass, Jazzstep, Jump-Up, Liquid Funk, Neurofunk, Oldschool Jungle, Darkside Jungle, Ragga-Jungle, Raggacore, Sambass, Techstep

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_and_bass

Dub went on to play a role in inspiring many genres of electronic music, such as dubstep and Oldschool jungle. The name "dubstep" originated from the common use of dub elements fused with 2-step garage and because both traditional dub and dubstep are often played at a similar tempo. Jungle, a related genre, originated in the early 1990s when producers of breakbeat hardcore began incorporating dub elements, such as reggae elements and deep basslines that ran at half the speed to the drum track. The more experimental releases of UK garage producers contributed to early dubstep, and sought to incorporate elements of dub reggae into the South London-based 2-step subgenre. Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often incorporate triplets and the One drop rhythm common to traditional reggae, a reference to the genre's Dub music influences. Most modern dubstep has strayed away from these dub and 2-step influences and now goes for a more aggressive and distorted sound taking more influence from Hip hop and Electronic dance music.

Associated Sub-Genres: Afro-Dub, Dubstep, Brostep, Funkstep, Glitchstep, Post-Dubstep, Trap, Wonky, Dubtronica

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dub_(music)

Short for either electro-funk, or electro-boogie, electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, and funk sampling. Records in the genre typically feature drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing.

Associated Sub-Genres: Crunk, Electro Backbeat, Electro-Grime, Electropop, Freestyle Music

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_music

Includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities. Unlike electronic dance music not all examples of electronica are necessarily made for dancing. Electronica includes danceable grooves to music for headphones and chillout areas. Electronica has grown to influence mainstream crossover recordings. Electronic sounds began to form the basis of a wide array of popular music in the late 1970s, and became key to the mainstream pop and rock sounds of the 1980s. Since the adoption of "electronica" in the 1990s to refer to more underground music with an electronic aesthetic, elements of modern electronica have been adopted by many popular artists in mainstream music.

Associated Sub-Genres: Berlin School, Chillwave, Electronic Art Music, Electronic Dance Music, Folktronica, Freestyle Music, IDM, Glitch, Laptronica, Livetronica, Rave Breaks, Skweee, Sound Art, Synthcore

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronica

Also commonly referred to as synthrock, electrorock or digital rock, is rock music generated with electronic instruments. It has been highly dependent on technological developments, particularly the invention and refinement of the synthesizer, the development of the MIDI digital format and computer technology.

Associated Sub-Genres: Alternative Dance, Baggy, Madchester, Coldwave, Dance-Punk, Dance-Rock, Electroclash, Electropunk, Ethereal Wave, Indietronica, New Rave, Space Rock, Synthpop, Synthpunk, Trip Rock, Krautrock, Electronicore, Nu-Gaze

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_rock

Sometimes known as Euro-NRG or shortened as Euro, eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from house, Hi-NRG, as well as Eurodisco. Eurodance production continues to evolve with a more modernized style that incorporates elements from trance and techno music. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the utilization of rich melodic vocals, either exclusively by itself or inclusively with rapped verses. This, combined with cutting-edge synthesizer, strong bass rhythm and melodic hooks establishes the core foundation of Eurodance music. Eurodance is nightclub-orientated music that is usually produced somewhere in Europe and sounds commercial enough to be played by radio stations and music television.

Associated Sub-Genres: Bubblegum Dance, Eurotrance, J-Pop, Italodance, Turbofolk

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurodance

Hardcore is a type of electronic dance music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples. The tempo of various kinds of hardcore ranges from about 95 beats per minute (Belgian "New Beat" and rave/techno), to over 300 bpm ("speedcore"), with the more popular styles ranging from about 150 bpm to 200 bpm. Hard Dance (Hardstyle) typically consists of a deep, hard-sounding kick drum, intense faded or reversed basslines accompanying the beat, a synth playing a melody, and detuned and distorted sounds.

Associated Sub-Genres: 4-Beat, Breakbeat Hardcore, Bouncy House, Breakcore, Darkcore, Digital Hardcore, Doomcore, Freeform Hardcore, Gabber, Happy Hardcore, Hardcore Breaks, Hardstyle, Jumpstyle, Makina, Rave, Speedcore, Terrorcore, Trancecore, UK Hardcore, Complexcore, Hard House, Hard NRG, Nu-NRG, Dubstyle, Lento Violento

Source 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_techno
Source 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_dance

A style of uptempo disco or electronic dance music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom during the late 1970s. The genre is characterized by such elements as a four-on-the-floor rhythm and reverberated vocals. Hi-NRG and electrofunk have influenced the evolution of house music since the late 1980s. In the 1980s "Hi-NRG" referred not just to any high-tempo disco/dance music, but to a specific genre, only somewhat disco-like. Hi-NRG is, however, typified by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or/and where the bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record. There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines.

Associated Sub-Genres: Eurobeat, Hard NRG, New Beat, Eurodance, Bubblegum Dance, Happy House, Italodance

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-NRG

A genre of electronic dance music that originated in the American city of Chicago in the early 1980s. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide. Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic, and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. House music today, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house to the more minimalistic microhouse.

Associated Sub-Genres: Acid House, Balearic Beat, Chicago House, Deep House, Diva House, Dutch House, Detroit House, Disco House, Handbag House, Hardbag, Electro House, French House, Freestyle House, Electroclash, Funky House, Ghetto House, Hip House, Italo House, Latin House, Minimal House, Mircohouse, Progressive House, Rave Music, Swing House, Tribal House, Tech House, UK Hard House, US Garage, Vocal House, Complextro, Fidget House, Moombahton, Moombahcore, Euro House, Garage House, Kwaito, New Beat

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_music

A form of electronic music that emerged in the early 1990s. It was originally influenced by developments in underground dance music such as Detroit Techno and various breakbeat styles that were emerging in the UK at that time. Stylistically, IDM tended to rely upon individualistic experimentation rather than adhering to musical characteristics associated with specific genres of dance music.

Associated Sub-Genres: Glitch

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_dance_music

A genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from other genres, including breakbeat hardcore and reggae/dub/dancehall. The fast tempos (150 to 170 bpm), breakbeats and other heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples and synthesized effects make up the easily recognizable form of jungle. Long pitch-shifted snare rolls are common in oldschool jungle. The terms "jungle" and "drum and bass" are often used interchangeably. Jungle producers incorporated classic Jamaican/Caribbean sound-system culture production-methods. The slow, deep basslines and simple melodies (reminiscent of those found in dub, reggae and dancehall) accentuated the overall production, giving jungle its "rolling" quality.

Associated Sub-Genres: Darkcore Jungle, Hardcore Jungle, Raggacore, Ragga-Jungle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldschool_jungle

Sometimes called club music or dance, post-disco refers to a disco music movement characterized by the heavy use of keyboard instruments, and more specifically, to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s. The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven, increasingly electronic and experimental side of disco, and were typified by the styles of dance-pop, boogie, Italo disco and the early alternative dance. Techno and house music are both rooted in post-disco. Unlike disco music, post-disco usually lacked the typical shuffling hi-hat driven beat, walking basslines and/or string orchestration; it more featured drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers and 4/4 time signature commonly found in rock and pop music. Soulful female vocals, however, remained an essence of post-disco. The main force in post-disco were mainly one-hit wonders and short-lived collaborations, while record producers played a significant role in post-disco in general. The music that mostly catered to dance and urban audiences later managed to influence more popular and mainstream acts like Madonna, New Order or Pet Shop Boys.

Associated Sub-Genres: Boogie, Dance-Pop, Dance-Rock

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-disco

A form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid-to-late 1980s. The initial take on techno arose from the melding of electronic music, in the style of artists such as Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Yellow Magic Orchestra, with African American music styles, including funk, electro, Chicago house and electric jazz. Added to this is the influence of futuristic and fictional themes relevant to life in American late capitalist society. Stylistically, techno is generally repetitive instrumental music, oftentimes produced for use in a continuous DJ set. The central rhythmic component is most often in common time (4/4), where time is marked with a bass drum on each quarter note pulse, a backbeat played by snare or clap on the second and fourth pulses of the bar, and an open hi-hat sounding every second eighth note. The tempo tends to vary between approximately 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm), depending on the style of techno. The creative use of music production technology, such as drum machines, synthesizers, and digital audio workstations, is viewed as an important aspect of the music's aesthetic. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro technology are popular among techno producers.

Associated Sub-Genres: Acid Techno, Detroit Techno, Free Tekno, Ghettotech, Hardtechno, Minimal Techno, Nortec, Rotterdam Techno, Schranz, Symphonic Techno, Tecno Brega, Techno-DNB, Techstep, Toytown Techno

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techno_music

A genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s in Germany. It is characterized by a tempo of between 110 and 150 beats per minute, repeating melodic phrases, and a musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. Trance is more melodic and harmonic than any other dance music. It refers to an induced emotional feeling, high, euphoria, chills, and uplifting rush listeners experience. Trance employs aural dynamics to a great degree, a characteristic of virtually all trance songs is the soft mid-song breakdown, beginning with and occurring after the orchestration is broken down and the rhythm tracks fade out rapidly, leaving the melody, atmospherics, or both to stand alone for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Another common characteristic would be the use of vocals often sung by a female who ranges from mezzo-soprano to soprano. Less often, the female vocals may be in a grand, soaring, or operatic style, which has been described as "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths".

Associated Sub-Genres: Acid Trance, Dark Trance, Dream Trance, Euro Trance, Goa Trance, Hard Trance, Ibiza Trance, Nitzhonot, Psychedelic Trance, Dark Psytrance, Full On, Progressive Psytrance, Psybreaks, Suomisaundi, Progressive Trance, Tech Trance, Uplifting Trance, Vocal Trance, Psyprog, Psybient

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_music