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Gothic Music is a relatively confusing term, in that its usage varies from country to country with the usage of the words goth and gothic. This often makes it necessary to distinguish it as used to mean goth music and semi-related term gothic music in some countrys, while in others the two terms are used in a co-opted fashion that often lends to its own confusions and arguments.

Goth Music

The term Goth music is used to mean a selection of genres encompassing mainly gothic rock, darkwave, Industrial, EBM, synth pop and deathrock.

Bands under this term are often across genres, and hold little to any connection to each other musically. Commonly, bands are linked by their association with goth subculture, many of the bands integral fan base being goths and often marketing products associated with goths.

Gothic Rock

Gothic rock is part of goth music due to, in part, it being the signature icon of goths. This genre is also the mother of the term goth music due to its abbreviated name goth rock. Bands within this genre typically play for goths, and often feature fashion, ideals and sounds appealing to this audience.

Deathrock

Deathrock is considered a subgenre of Punk. The term was often used interchangeably with earlier goth rock bands, even spawning a similar movement in the UK, at the Batcave club. Fans of this movement along with the goth rock scene are sometimes known as "Old School Goths". Deathrock bands typically play at clubs or at events (like the Drop Dead Festival) which specifically cater to those in Deathrock, Psychobilly, Horror Punk and Post-Punk scenes as well as Goths who enjoy earlier Gothic Rock.

Darkwave

Darkwave holds significant influences from Gothic rock bands, although they tend to incorporate elements that later affected the movement not found in Gothic rock bands. The genre is common with Goths, for a variety of reasons, though it is possible that this is mostly due to the bands heavu involvement in the Goth scene.

Industrial

Bands in this form are often associated with goth music by a large quantity of their fan base. Most bands of this form do not emphasise this fact, some even despise it. Some people foreign to the goth subculture also misinterpret the Industrial subgenre Industrial rock as being “goth rock”.

Synth pop

Synth pop migrated into Goth clubs near the end of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and has been common place from there on in. Some goths were not fond of the shift away from the scenes rock based roots, leaving the scene completely because of it. Many adopted synth pop quite casually however, and since its inclusion it has become a staple of goth music.

EBM

This genre shares the same reason as Industrial for its defination as goth music.

Gothic Music

Gothic Music is a distinct term referring to music that fits within the classic meaning of the word gothic, rather than holding any connection to the modern day goth subculture.

This term refers to far fewer genres than its sister term, goth music. Bands in this genre usually have one or more traits that is inclusive wholey or partially of the meaning of the word gothic. This includes several forms of heavy metal music, rock music, and electronic music. This term however, is mostly used for specific forms of music that centralise on having these traits, and as such consists soley of gothic rock, darkwave and gothic metal. Notable is that goths dissascoiate themselfs with gothic metal or the term gothic music due to its association with gothic metal.

Gothic rock

Gothic rock fits in as being gothic music due to its imagery. Bands of this form often use gothic imagery akin to gothic art/literature, with the music often being designed to reflect the events depicted in the lyrics.

Darkwave

Darkwave shares the same reasoning as gothic rock as to its gothic defination.

Gothic metal

Gothic metal gets its definition as gothic music due to its heavy enrichment of gothic elements. Gothic Literature themed Lyrics, beauty and the beast Vocals and medieval gothic Atmospheres are all focuses of the genre. Bands also tend to lend towards fashions typical of medieval gothic era's, and make use of heavy sub-romantic themes that are often considered gothic.

Common Arguments

Gothic vs Goth

Some people, most commonly goths, attest that, though not all music that meets the traditional meaning of the word gothic is considered to be goth music, all bands that form under the reference of goth music are gothic. This is an oxymoron in itself, as bands and artists under the label of goth music normally have little to nothing to do with the dictionary meaning of the word gothic. This oxymoron often causes great debate and confusion amongst goth and non-goth groups, and often leads to the smudging of the terms together.

Gothic Metal vs Goth Metal

The figurehead genre of the term 'gothic music is considered to be gothic metal. This genre is considered gothic by its usage of themes akin to the traditional meaning of gothic, and as such gets its name from that.

The genre also suffers confusion with the term goth metal. This term implies that gothic metal as a whole is associated with goths, when the genre has little to no connection to them at all, except through the genres subform gothic-doom. This subform takes its roots in Gothic Rock, Doom Metal and Gothic Metal, and so often bands blur the line of metal and goth influences, often fetching the name goth metal for themselfs.

Some argue however, that the Doom Metal subgenre doom-death and gothic-doom are forms of gothic metal, and that due to bands in either form taking influence from gothic rock bands, that inheritantly makes such bands as these goth metal. This argument goes on to then relagate bands of the gothic metal genre into distant, non-existant genres, later going on to claim that Gothic Metal doesnt exist. This again, is fuelled mostly by the usage of the terms goth metal and gothic metal between scenes.

See also

• List of non-goth musical artists popular within goth subculture

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