A form of Jamaican music which evolved out of reggae in the 1960s. The dub sound is mostly instrumental and is accomplished by removing the vocals from an existing music piece and adding extensive echo and reverb effects, with occasional snippets of lyrics from the original vocal version.

Dub music is characterised as a 'version' of an existing song, often using B sides of 45rpm records. The sound typically emphasises the drums and bass and is drenched in sound processing effects such as echo, reverb, part vocal and extra percussion, with most of the lead instruments and vocals dropping in and out of the mix. Another hallmark of the dub sound is the massive low bass. The music sometimes features processed sound effects and other noises, such as birds singing, thunder and lightning, water flowing and producers shouting instructions at the musicians. It can be further augmented by live DJs.

Often these tracks are used for 'toasters' rapping heavily-rhymed and alliterative lyrics. These are called 'DeeJay versions' (unlike hip hop terminology, in reggae music the person with the microphone is called the DJ or DeeJay rather than the MC). Additionally in reggae, the person choosing the music and operating the turntables is the Selector (elsewhere called the DJ).

A major reason for producing multiple versions was economic, increasing the revenue from a single studio session. Version was also an opportunity for creative experimentation.

In the 1970s, whole albums of dub tracks were produced, often simply the dub version of an existing vocal LP, but sometimes a selection of dubbed up instrumental tracks for which no vocals existed.

By 1973, instrumental reggae versions from various studios had evolved into dub as a subgenre of reggae. No single person can claim all the credit for the origination of dub as a genre, although Lee 'Scratch' Perry's release of Blackboard Jungle Dub in the spring of 1973 is considered a landmark recording of this genre. In 1975, King Tubby became internationally recognised as the premier dub artist/innovator/producer.

Dub has continued to progress, although its popularity waxes and wanes with changes in musical fashion. Almost all reggae singles still carry an instrumental version on the B-side and these are still used by the sound systems as a blank canvas for live singers and DJs.

In the 1980s, Britain became a new centre for dub production, while Scientist became the main champion of Jamaican dub. Many of the bands characterised as post-punk were heavily influenced by dub, with more well-known bands such as the Police and UB40 helping to popularise the genre.

In the 1990s and beyond, dub has been influenced by and in turn influenced techno, jungle, dubstep, drum and bass, house music, trip hop, ambient music and hip hop, with many electronic dub or dubtronica tracks produced by non-traditional musicians from these other genres. Artists such as Massive Attack, the Orb, Underworld, Gorillaz and others demonstrate clear dub influences in their respective genres, and their innovations have in turn influenced the mainstream of the dub genre.