Emo is a style of rock music which describes several independent variations of music with common stylistic roots. As such, use of the term has been the subject of much debate. In the mid-1980s, the term emo described a subgenre of hardcore punk which originated in the Washington, DC music scene of the mid-1980s. In later years, the term emocore, short for “emotive hardcore”[1][2] or sometimes “emotional hardcore”, was also used to describe the emotional performances of bands in the Washington DC scene and some of the offshoot regional scenes such as Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Gray Matter, Fire Party, and later, Moss Icon.[citation needed]

Starting in the mid-1990s, the term emo began to refer to the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason had a more indie rock style of emo, more melodic and less chaotic. The so-called “indie emo” scene survived until the late 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted to mainstream styles. As the remaining indie emo bands entered the mainstream, newer bands began to emulate the mainstream style. As a result, the term “emo” became a vaguely defined identifier rather than a specific genre of music.

Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. Originally bands from the genre were referred to as positive-punk[1] by the music press and had strong ties to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk styles.

The genre itself was defined as a separate movement from punk rock during the early 1980s. Some gothic rock bands were more art and introspectively based than punk rock. Gothic rock dealt with dark themes and intellectual movements such as gothic horror, Romanticism, existential philosophy, and nihilism. Notable gothic rock bands include Bauhaus, The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission.

Largely separate from other genres of alternative rock of the 1980s, gothic rock gave rise to a broader goth subculture that includes goth clubs, goth fashions, and goth-oriented magazines.