What BPM is indie?
The most common tempo for indie is 120 to 130 BPM. Across 31,640 indie songs with verified tempo in the TempoTunes library, the median is 117 BPM and half of all songs fall between 95 and 133 BPM.
- Most common
- 120 to 130BPM
- Median
- 117BPM
- Songs
- 31,640verified tempo
Indie songs across the tempo scale
Songs per 10 BPM. Orange marks the busiest stretch.
Indie is spread wide. Even its busiest stretch, 120 to 130 BPM, holds only 18% of the songs, so you can find indie at almost any pace.
One caution when you read any tempo chart: the same groove can be counted at half or double time, so a indie song at 117 BPM can also read as 59 BPM. That is why many genres show a second, smaller hump.
The busiest indie tempos
Chill indie: 60 to 90 BPM
5,664 indie songs at this pace: wind-downs, slow burns, and late-night listening.
When the Sun Goes Down
Arctic Monkeys
86 BPM (2005)
Making Enemies
Snow Patrol
81 BPM (2001)
Young and Lovely
Blur
89 BPM (1993)
Killing Me
The Kooks
81 BPM (2011)
The Adults Are Talking
The Strokes
82 BPM (2020)
Pinch Roller
Kasabian
89 BPM (2004)
Coming Up for Air
Kaiser Chiefs
78 BPM (2011)
A Little Death
The Neighbourhood
88 BPM (2012)
Steady indie: 90 to 120 BPM
11,151 indie songs at this pace: head-nod grooves and walking pace.
Dance Little Liar
Arctic Monkeys
100 BPM (2009)
Into Another
Blur
118 BPM (1993)
One Way Trigger
The Strokes
96 BPM (2013)
Goodbye Lovers and Friends
Franz Ferdinand
93 BPM (2013)
Chocolate
Snow Patrol
118 BPM (2005)
Burning Bridges, Breaking Hearts
Arcade Fire
112 BPM
Fire
Kasabian
117 BPM (2009)
Mr. Nice Guy
The Kooks
119 BPM (2011)
Drive indie: 120 to 150 BPM
12,815 indie songs at this pace: dance-floor and workout energy.
The Bakery
Arctic Monkeys
120 BPM (2007)
Jubilee
Blur
130 BPM (1994)
Gratisfaction
The Strokes
136 BPM (2011)
Lucid Dreams
Franz Ferdinand
121 BPM (2014)
W.D.Y.W.F.M?
The Neighbourhood
148 BPM (2013)
Chasing Cars
Snow Patrol
134 BPM (2006)
It Was London
The Kooks
122 BPM (2014)
Old Flame
Arcade Fire
132 BPM (2002)
Fast indie: 150 to 200 BPM
2,010 indie songs at this pace: running cadence and full-sprint songs.
Everybody’s Watching Me
The Neighbourhood
150 BPM (2013)
Ooh La
The Kooks
152 BPM (2006)
Inertia
Blur
150 BPM (1991)
Bones
Editors
152 BPM (2007)
Too Much Too Young
Kasabian
150 BPM (2007)
Summer Years
Death Cab for Cutie
152 BPM (2018)
Astronauts ’n’ All
Foals
150 BPM (2007)
Barbarians
The Libertines
152 BPM (2015)
Other genres by BPM
Build a indie playlist at your pace in seconds
Set the tempo, pick genres and artists, and TempoTunes builds the playlist from 2 million tracks with verified BPM. Save it to Apple Music, Tidal, or YouTube Music (Spotify once we reach 250k monthly listeners). Playlists that match your Pace.