Space music, also spelled spacemusic, is an umbrella term used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness. Space music can be found within a wide range of genres. It is particularly associated with ambient, New Age, and electronic music. Some claim that music from the western classical, world, Celtic, traditional, experimental and other idioms also falls within the definition of space music.
Space music ranges from simple to complex sonic textures, often (though not exclusively) lacking conventional melodic, rhythmic, or vocal components, typically evoking a "continuum of spatial imagery and emotion", beneficial introspection, attentiveness for deep listening, subtle trance effects called "spacey", (defined by the Compact Oxford Dictionary as "drifting and ethereal") and psychoacoustic spatial perceptions, particularly, sensations of flying, floating, cruising, gliding, or hovering.
Space music is used by some individuals for both background enhancement and foreground listening, often with headphones, to enable states of relaxation, contemplation, inspiration, and generally peaceful expansive moods; it may promote health through relaxation, atmospherics for bodywork therapies, and effectiveness of meditation. Space music appears in many film soundtracks and is commonly played in planetariums.
An eclectic form of music, produced almost exclusively by independent labels, space music occupies a small niche in the marketplace, supported and enjoyed by a relatively small audience of loyal enthusiastic listeners.
Within last.fm, this tag can also refer to music or non-music podcasts that discuss or relate to Outer Space (space beyond our planet). .
