Genres that debuted or were popular in the 1930s:
Musicians
- The Andrews Sisters: Recorded first singles in the late 1930s.
- Louis Armstrong. Became famous during the 1920s, but still active during the 1930s.
- Gene Autry: A singing cowboy who released his first records early in the decade
- Lead Belly: Blues and Folk singer who began making records during this decade.
- Ella Fitzgerald started during this decade.
- Béla Bartók: Composed "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta"" (1936).
- Cab Calloway. Professional music career started in 1930. First major hit in 1931.
- John Cage
- Charlie Christian: "The genius of the electric guitar", Christian joined Benny Goodman's band in 1939 and had a brief run of stardom before his untimely death.
- Nat King Cole
- Bing Crosby
- Duke Ellington. Still active during the 1930s.
- Woody Guthrie
- Billie Holiday. Made her first recordings.
- The Ink Spots
- Robert Johnson. All of his known recordings took place in 1936 and 1937.
- The Complete Recordings (released in 1990, but compiles all his work from the 1930s)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold
- Glenn Miller
- Alfred Newman
- Lionel Newman
- Les Paul. The early guitar hero began his career in 1928 and started to perform on the radio in 1934.
- Cole Porter
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Jimmie Rodgers
- Django Reinhardt. Made his first recordings during this decade.
- Rodgers and Hammerstein
- Roy Rogers. First few singles were released late in the decade.
- Ravi Shankar: Began performing a child singer and dancer in a musical ensemble that travelled the world.
- Dmitri Shostakovich
- Frank Sinatra. First commercial record in 1939.
- Igor Stravinsky. Composed neoclassical works during this decade.
- Sun Ra: Started performing in 1934.
- Art Tatum: First recordings in 1933.
- Edgard Varèse
- Sarah Vaughan
- Muddy Waters.
- Kurt Weill. Still working in collaboration with Bertolt Brecht.
