Crime and the Nuns were first, followed by Chrome, the Mutants, the Units, the Contractions, Angst, the Sleepers, Pop-O-Pies, Frightwig, Crucifix, Negative Trend, the Avengers, Toiling Midgets, Flipper and Romeo Void. The Walker Brothers, formed in Los Angeles in 1964, achieved success in the United Kingdom during the British Invasion.

20th century avant garde composer John Cage was born in Los Angeles. Herndon studied electronic music at Mills College in Oakland. San Jose's most famous hardcore band was the Faction, who played with local bands such as Los Olvidados. In San Francisco, Carlos Troyer published compositions like Apache Chief Geronimo's Own Medicine song, with a piano accompaniment by Troyer.

In 1988, Dr. Dre, along with Eazy-E and Ice Cube, released Straight Outta Compton under the name N.W.A The album took many hip hop fans by surprise, as it single-handedly placed West Coast hip hop on the map and quickly moved gangsta rap into the mainstream. The 2000s brought the emergence of Ariel Pink, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Or, the Whale, the Aislers Set, the Botticellis, Scissors for Lefty, Deerhoof, the Dodos, the Quails, the Curtains, I the Mighty, La Plebe, Erase Errata, the Phantom Limbs, the Donnas, Hunx and His Punx, Shannon and the Clams, Sic Alps, and the Union Trade from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Quarter After, Scarling., Best Coast, Warpaint, Autolux, Two Tears, Giant Drag, Brian Jonestown Massacre, HEALTH, Fool's Gold, No Age, Foot Village, the Warlocks, Silver Daggers, Tearist, Mika Miko, and Ty Segall from Los Angeles. Fusing reggaeton with hip hop music has ensured the genre's popularity among both young and old aficionados of Latin music. The Los Angeles scene of this period also produced the Go-Go's and the Motels. In the mid-90s, Shakur and his rival Notorious B.I.G. Jefferson Airplane became the first San Francisco psychedelic band signed to a major label, followed soon after by Sopwith Camel. Their hard rock sound – which was often described as desert rock – contains elements of psychedelia, blues, heavy metal and other genres, such as hardcore, as well as distinctive repetitive drum beats; typically performed with electric guitar, bass guitar, and a drum kit. A revival of swing and big band music was led by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the 1990s. In the 1990s Ice Cube released six albums and the first five albums all went platinum, and the last one, War & Peace, went gold. The main gangsta rap and west coast hip hop cities were Long Beach, San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo, Pittsburg, California Sacramento, Richmond, California, East Palo Alto, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Compton, and Inglewood. Thirty Seconds to Mars is a popular alternative rock band, originating from Los Angeles. The Bay Area's thriving underground rap scene has produced literally hundreds of artists, some of the better known being Andre Nickatina, the Coup, Michael Franti, the Conscious Daughters, Paris, Blackalicious, Ya Boy, San Quinn, and Emcee Lynx. The Palm Desert Scene is also notable for producing stoner rock pioneers Kyuss.

Hardcore bands Unbroken, Swing Kids, Some Girls, and Over My Dead Body also formed in San Diego during this period. The San Francisco Tape Music Center was founded in 1962 by composers Morton Subotnick, born in Los Angeles, and Ramon Sender.

Johnny Otis was born in Vallejo. She Wants Revenge formed in the San Fernando Valley. California was at the forefront for the emergence of these two genres in the 1990s with nu metal bands such as Korn, Linkin Park, Papa Roach and P.O.D all coming from California along with alternative metal bands such as Faith No More, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Deftones, and System of a Down. In the Los Angeles South Bay, American hardcore punk was born with bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Minutemen and Youth Brigade, who formed in the mid-1970s to early 1980s. Madlib and brother Oh No were born in Oxnard. The Donkey Show was a ska band that saw some notoriety during the late 1980s, helping to establish the genre known as third wave ska.

Glam metal arose along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in the 1980s with bands like Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, and later Pennsylvania immigrants Poison and quickly became known for anthemic hard rock and power ballads, as well as band members' distinctively feminine make-up, hair, and clothing in spite of the scene's macho posturing. Mac Dre was one of the notable innovators.

Composer Jody Diamond, of Pasadena, founded the American Gamelan Institute in Berkeley in 1981.

The Byrds went on to become a major folk-rock act, helping to popularize some of Bob Dylan's compositions and eventually launching the careers of folk-rockers like David Crosby and country-rock fusionist Gram Parsons.

Queercore bands Tribe 8, Pansy Division, Cypher in the Snow, the Little Deaths, and Sta-Prest formed in San Francisco in the 1990s and recorded for local label Outpunk among others. The Paisley Underground scene would arise out of Los Angeles in the mid-1980s around Redd Kross, The Three O'Clock (originally The Salvation Army), the Bangles, the Dream Syndicate, the Long Ryders, Rain Parade, Opal, Mazzy Star, and others. In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. The area had a big hand in the third wave ska scene with this region giving rise to Save Ferris, Reel Big Fish, and the scenes' most well-known act the Gwen Stefani-fronted No Doubt who would go on to pop super-stardom.