Show Tunes
Show tunes are songs written for musicals, especially the stage shows of Broadway and London's West End.
They are made to move a story along or reveal a character, so the lyrics are clear and the singing is strong and theatrical, backed by a pit orchestra or band. The classic style comes from the American musical of the 1920s to the 1960s, and many of those songs became standards recorded by pop and jazz singers. Newer shows add rock, pop and hip hop. Show tunes differ from ordinary pop in being tied to a plot and a character.
Artists it is known for: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
- Family
- Classical & Soundtrack
- On Spotify
- No longer returned by Spotify’s API
- What it is
- A use, not a style
- From
- New York, early 20th century
- Also called
- showtunes, broadway
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 3%
About 2,700 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have show tunes among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Show Tunes artists
Leslie Odom Jr.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Phillipa Soo
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Jonathan Groff
Christopher Jackson
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Hugh Jackman
SIX
Eva Noblezada
The show tunes artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.