Electronica is a term that covers a wide range of electronic or electronic-influenced music. The term has been defined by some to mean modern electronic music that is not necessarily designed for the dance-floor, but rather for home listening. In the mid-1990s electronica began to be used by MTV and major record labels to describe mainstream electronic dance music made by such artists as The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, although even at this stage it was not a particularly incisive term.

A focus on "songs", a fusion of styles and a combination of traditional and electronic instruments often sets apart musicians working in electronic-styles over more straight-ahead styles of house, techno and trance. This genre is also noted for far higher production values than others, featuring more layers, more original samples and fewer "presets", and more complex rhythm programming.
In the United States and other countries like Australia, electronic (and the other attendant dance music genres) remains popular, although largely underground, while in Europe it has arguably become the dominant form of popular music.

Typical instruments: Synthesizer - Drum machine - Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler (traditional instrumentation such as guitar, bass, drums often featured more regularly than other electronic genres)

Electronica music styles: Acid House | Ambient | Ambient Breakbeat | Ambient Dub | Ambient House | Ambient Techno | Big Beat | Dark Ambient | Dark Wave | Downbeat | Downtempo | Drill'n'bass | Drum N Bass | Electro-Acoustic | Electro-Techno | Electronic | Experimental Techno | Funky Beats | Funky Breaks | Glitch | Goa Trance | Hard Trance | Hardcore Techno | IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) | Indie Electronic | Jungle/Drum 'N Bass | Neo-Electro | Progressive Electronic | Progressive House | Progressive Trance | Psy-Trance | Rave | Techno | Trance | Trip-Hop |

Electronica music artists: