Chill-out – There is no exact definition of chill-out music.The term, which has evolved throughout the decades, generally refers to anything that might be identified as a modern type of easy listening.
Some of the genres associated with “chill” include downtempo, classical, dance, jazz, hip hop, world, pop, lounge, and ambient. Chill-out typically has slow rhythms, sampling, a “trance-like nature”, “drop-out beats”, and a mixture of electronic instruments with acoustic instruments.
In the “Ambient/Chill Out” chapter of Rick Snoman’s 2013 book Dance Music Manual, he writes, “it could be said that as long as the tempo remains below 120 BPM and it employs a laid-back groove, it could be classed as chill out.