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Characteristics
Tejano music reflects "larger social, economic, political, and generational issues throughout much of the twentieth century."

Tejano music is based on "older musical traditions from both Europe and Africa.". It is characterized as a music genre performed or recorded

Origins
Tejano music can be traced back during the Moorish occupation of Spain (711–1492 AD). Much of the Iberian Peninsula were under the control of Muslims of North Africa for eight hundred years. Under Moorish occupation, Spain incorporated a variety of North African traditions, including language borrowing, the handclaps and dance movements of North African nomadic tribes, art, architecture, and cusisine of Islamic cultures. The Moors influenced the way in which the Spanish carried out their exploration and colonization in the Americas. The Spanish were the first Europeans to settle in modern-day Texas in the 16th century. Their arrival marked a period during the peak of native culture diversification and simple and complex societies that included developed agricultural tribes and hunter gatherers. In 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, along with Fernal Pérez, a royal musician who entertained King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Pérez entertained Columbus and his crew members during Columbus' first voyage with music originating from Spanish and Arabic traditions. The Spanish established military, political, cultural, and religious superiority over the Native Americans. Spanish culture began to flourish long before the French, English, Germans, Portuguese, and Dutch, began arriving, and before the West African slave trade, who interbred musical influences of European music. Franciscan missionaries tried to convince native tribes to embrace the Spanish-language and culture, especially christianity.

The Spanish encouraged natives to engage in musical rituals in the church and taught them European music and how to build and play European instruments. The Spanish's efforts to influence the native population in music were successful, and by 1561 the number of indian musicians performing in colonial Mexico lead to the restrictions of indian musicians set by King Philip II. Native Americans retained many of their folk traditions, despite the success of Spanish's mission in changing their culture. Author Gary Hartman writes, "Native Americans selectively assimilated into more mainstream culture, embraced those customs that suited their needs, and rejected others that did not." Spanish men intermarried with indian women, which gave rise to a mestizo population that eventually outnumbered Spaniards. The mestizo population "altered the long-term ethnic makeup of the Spanish colonies" and influence the "blending of European, African, and Native American musical cultures". Tejano music originated as a result of intercrossings of musical influences from cultures who settled in the southwest of the United States. It was created by the Tejano population—an ethnic group of Mexican Americans or Texans of Mexican descent—with a combination of traditional music of their ancestors that hybridized with those of other ethnic cultures that constructed a specific Texas Mexican musical idiom.

Development: 19th century
The early development of Tejano music was constructed on the importance of music in everyday life in the Spanish settlements of the southwest United States. By the turn of the 19th century, large numbers of music institutions were erected with various types of music that were performed in different locations. Musical taste were defined by class and socioeconomic status; colonial Mexico's middle and upper classes preferred symphonic or chamber orchestras, while the working class enjoyed smaller string instrumental groups. These differing tastes were constructed by economic power as prosperous classmen could afford larger more elaborate orchestras, while the poorer communities were left with whatever available local entertainer was around. Because of affluence imbalances among Mexican communities, poorer societies had fewer musicians, whom were constantly innovating and had to find ways to be more efficient than their orchestral counterparts. Their innovative nature introduced the accordion and other versatile musical instruments, which were beneficial at creating more music without the need of multiple players. Their sound later adopted other styles and techniques and constantly "modified them to suit their own musical tastes and needs." which came about from their ability to innovate and adapt to remain relevant.

Music was an important aspect of an array of events in Mexican society, including religious music at festivals, funerals, baptisms, and weddings, while catinas (a bar), public plazas, theaters, opera houses, and private homes, featured various secular music. Though middle and working class musicians often held their performances separately, they occasionally shared venues and sporadically embraced each other's musical customs; for example, working class musicians often borrowed popular middle-class operettas and intermixed them into their corridos or folk ballads, while middle classmen composers adopted Native American and working class folk music into their operas. Additionally, Mexicans irregardless of social class, incorporated the most popular dance genres that flourished European music in the 19th century, including waltzes, polkas, schottisches, and minuets, among other popular dance steps. Mexicans created musical hybrids such as mariachi, which included both brass and stringed instruments, and was associated with weddings, while its name was derived from mariage, from the French word for marriage.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican government permitted English-language settlers in Tejas to increase their southwest population. This move accelerated the diversification of Tejas and weakened Mexico's power over the southwest. In 1836, the Texas Revolution helped gained the growing population independence from Mexico, and became the state of Texas, which attracted Anglos, Irish, Germans, Czechs, French, and Polish communities to the state. As a result of the influx of various ethnic groups, Tejanos had become a marginalized minority and faced a decline in legal, political, social, and economic status. With the rise of Anglo Americans, the community enacted a series of discriminatory laws that deprived Mexican Americans and African Americans from property and basic civil rights. Tejanos took to music "as both their voice through which they could articulate their collective sense of frustration and alienation and a symbol of ethnic pride and cultural defiance against the increasing dominant Anglo majority."

Pre-early Tejano music: early 20th century
Tejano music at the beginning of the 20th century "had evolved to reflect the unique circumstances in which Texas Mexican society found itself." Tejano music became one of the most popular genre for Mexican Americans living in the southwest as it provided them a mediator to reflect their exasperation of being discriminated against, as well as preserving their cultural heritage. Besides the differences of Mexican Americans and Anglos, the lyrical content of Tejano music assimilated positive events, such as life, love, family, friends, and community. During the early stages of Tejano music, Mexican Americans were pressured "from both inside and outside their own community" to absorb and integrate into mainstream society, despite many Mexican Americans unwillingness to abandon their Mexican heritage. Author Gary Hartman writes, "just as it had been for all other ethnic groups, this bicultural balancing act of assimilation would not be easy for Tejanos, and the experience had an unmistakable impact on the development of Texas Mexican culture, including [Tejano music]." Mexican Americans shifted from a rural agricultural society to an urban industrial community in the early 20th century. This led to "dramatic changes in the way Tejanos lived" as it deracinated many Mexican American families who relied on the farming industry. The Great Depression of the 1930s "brought additional hardship to many Tejano communities that had been already struggling economically." After the Great Depression, World War II ushered an economic boom for Mexican Americans which brought social and economic advancement that helped Tejanos move from working class to middle class citizens.

The proximity of Texas and Mexico uninterrupted Tejanos from their ancestral homeland, as the country maintained a steady flow of people, products, and culture to the state. Tejano music remained largely divided by social and economic status in the early 20th century; wealthier citizens hired larger orquestas and poorer societies used "smaller, less expensive ensembles." which were called conjunto. Tejano orquesta music originated from string orchestras of the 19th century and included a diverse collection of violins, guitars, contrabass, mandolins, horns, and drums. The genre often included an conductor and played "more complex musical arrangements and covered a broader range of musical styles." The core repertoire of Tejano orquesta was traditional Mexican music, including canciones, rancheras, cumbias, and bolero music. Other popular music genres, including "the latest pop", jazz, blues, and swing, were often performed by musicians. These styles were the result of "the assimilation [of Mexican Americans] into mainstream American society." Tejano orquestas included music from Spanish and Mexican traditions, as well as mainstream styles, without alienating their roots. The genre became a popular attraction from middle class Mexican Americans who "could reconcile its increasingly bicultural heritage without discarding its deeply rooted ethnic traditions or jeopardizing its quest for greater economic, educational, social, and political integration into American society." In contrast, Tejano conjunto included smaller ensembles of working class Mexican Americans of the 20th century. Conjunto included an accordion as the genre's core instrument, though if the musician had monetary advances, the genre would include a guitar, contrabass, and a tambora de rancho (medium-sized drum) into its repertoire. By the 1930s, conjunto musicians introduced the bajo sexto that supplemented, or in some cases, replaced the guitar "altogether as a rhythm instrument."

Middle and upper class musicians hosted more formal bailes, or balls. While working class musicians held less formal dances called fandangos and often were paid by taking up collections from patrons. Conjunto music remained deeply rooted in Mexican folk music and "shunned many of the newer, more mainstream styles." Though in some reports in the early 20th century, some conjunto musicians would perform music that was unconventional to the Texas Mexican community, including polkas, waltzes, and schottisches. Tejano music and its musicians took advantage of exchanges of "musical ideas and traditions with other ethnic groups in the southwest." The dance step schottische, which is German for Scottish, is an adaptation of the Scottish Highland Fling and was brought to Mexico and Texas in the mid 19th century. The dance routine is "similar to a slow polka, in which participants often dance in a large rotating circle". The schottische was intermixed with conjunto in the early 20th century, and became a popular dance step in the genre. Other music genres, including country music adopted it as a dance hall standard "by adding fiddles and steel drums." Polkas were introduced by the Germans and became a fundamental standard in folk music of Tejano, Anglos, and French Texan music.

Early modern Tejano music: 1930—1950
German and Czech immigrants brought the accordion to Texas in the 1840s, which became "the centerpiece of the conjunto band." In working class communities, the accordion "was the ideal instrument", finding it to be cost effective, affordable, and easy to transport. The instrument was able to yield a melody, bass line, and rhythm "with enough volume to fill a large room or dance hall." The first musicians to popularize the accordion in Tejano music were Bruno Villareal, Jose Rodriguez, and Jesus Casiano, who are considered to have "[laid] the foundation for the early conjunto style." Despite their pioneering works, Narciso Martínez and Santiago "El Flaco" Jiménez, Sr. are credited for the early advancement of conjunto music of the 1930s and 1940s. Bajo sexto player Santiago Almeida, joined Martínez in 1935 and began recording songs for Bluebird Records. Their polka "La Chicharronera" (1936), became the first commercially successful conjunto song ever produced. The song's popularity and that of Martínez, further cemented the accordion and bajo sexto as core instruments of conjunto music. Jiménez was taught how to play the accordion from his musician-father, Patricio. Patricio would often take Jiménez to see Texas German bands perform polkas and oompah music when he was a teenager. By 1936, Jiménez began recording songs for Decca Records as well as other local recording companies in Texas and California. The singer also hosted his own radio show, though never made enough money from these institutions. Jiménez became and "remains one of the most influential and prolific conjunto musicians of the [mid-20th century]". Jiménez received posthumous recognition for his song "Soy de San Luis" from the Grammy Awards in 1990, which was re-recorded by his eldest son Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez of the Texas Tornados.

Conjunto music became the most popular genre for the working class Mexican Americans in the early 20th century. It is a folk music genre with "accordion-fueled polka songs" that are "simple, but happy, dancing music." Conjunto music's lyrical content often reflect the campesinos' "experiences of romance and passion, loss and desolation, struggle and survival." Its music was often associated with poorer or uneducated communities in rural settings that provided insufficient funds and no respect. Conjunto musicians were paid $10 (early 20th century USD) for a ten-track album by recording labels, and often recorded their music "in crude studios, with no royalties; and the music's image as strictly cantina (a bar or saloon) music." Documentation for women in conjunto music in the early 20th century were scarce. The "best-known pioneers and proponents" of conjunto music mostly have been men, though women were instrumental in the genre as singers, songwriters, and instrumentalists. In the early 20th century, popular forms of Mexican music, included a female vocalist accompanied by a guitar as a result of economic imbalances and the affordability of certain instruments.

Tejano music in the 1930s through 1950s were made up of polka, pop, rock, ranchera, cumbia, bolero, mariachi and conjunto styles. Tejano music carried a cultural significance and reflected their sensibilities; instruments, dances, and styles. It also reflected their unique historical experiences. Lydia Mendoza, Narciso Martinez, and Gaytan Cantu were the most popular Tejano musicians during this time. Mendoza was one of the early Tejano musicians and is considered as the genre's first queen of Tejano music. She was the first icon of Mexican American pop culture. At the age of seven she was already familiar with the playing of the guitar and at the age of ten, she was able to play the mandolin. Mendoza rose to fame in the 1930s; in 1934 she recorded her first solo, The Tango, "Mal Hombre". Her style of Tejano was different from what was sung by highly trained or theatrical performers. She sang in vernacular, the people's way of singing. Although she retired during the 1940s, she came back in 1947 and continued recording and touring many places, popularizing Tejano music. She was backed by a Mexican orchestra creating a richer Tejano sound that appealed to America's Spanish speaking population.

There is a variety of instruments that were used to play Tejano music during the early 20th century. These instruments included accordions, congas, drums, guitars, pitos/horns, and synthesizers. In particular, the accordion was adopted into Tejano folk music during the early 1900s and it was used by amateur musicians in Texas and northern Mexico. Martinez was the pioneer of accordion; during the 1930s he adopted the button row accordion. Martinez later formed a group with Almeida, a bajo sexto player. Santiago and Martinez formed a new music style, conjunto and soon this type of Tejano music became popular among the working class Tejanos. Other popular conjunto artists were Pedro Ayala and Bruno Villarreal. Another group of Tejano music is the Chicano country bands. These bands comprised of four to six people and they used incorporated the violin and a steel guitar. They played traditional Tejano music in their own style. The earliest recording of country music by a Tejano artist is in 1949.

Recording of Tejano music began in the 1930s and this increased the popularity of conjunto music. Before the recording era, the genre was produced on commercial records by Victor, Brunswick, Columbia, and Okeh (beginning of the middle 1920s). The popularity of Tejano music rose during the mid-1930s because of the widespread use of the jukebox to play recorded music. Recording companies continued to increase the number of recorded Tejano music. The 1940s was challenging especially to Tejano music because of World War II that led to the shortage of materials especially shellac. This increased the demand for regional artists and music; it led to the success of home grown record companies like IDEAL. In 1946, IDEAL was launched to record Tejano music. Other recording companies included Disco Falcon that significantly caused the increase in the number of Tejano artists. Another milestone for Tejano music was during the 1940s, Valerio Longoria introduced lyrics to conjunto music establishing the Tejano claim to this new sound. Apart from this, Tejano music retained its European styles, polka, waltz, and dancing (around in circles).

La Onda Chicana: 1960s-1980s
After decades of struggles, Tejano music had a significant improvement in the 1960s and 1970s. This was largely due to the nationwide political activism and federal civil rights legislation. In the 1960s, a new subgenre was introduced into Tejano music, La Onda Chicana (the Chicano Wave), which had early roots in Tejano orquesta music. It included music influences similar to Tejano orquesta, including Mexican folk, blues, R&B, country, and rock & roll. The genre also included similar influences of Tejano conjunto, including the use of the accordion with Spanish-language lyrics. La Onda Chicana, became part of the political Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s from young college educated Mexican Americans who wished to "honor older Mexican traditions". These musicians rallied the community to take on an active role in combating for greater legal, political, and economic rights.

The inaugural Tejano Music Awards commenced in 1981 "to recognize and celebrate the rising tide." The earliest honorees were Roberto Pulido, Jimmy Edward, La Mafia, and Lisa Lopez. Teen singer Selena began dominating The Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year beginning in 1986, while Ram Herrera, David Marez, and Joe Lopez dominated the awards.

Golden age of Tejano music: 1990s
Tejano music entered an era of prosperity and became a marketable gold mine for record companies searching to expand their presence in the Latin music market. It became the fastest-growing music genre in the United States, that generated "a few million dollars" prior to 1990, to reaching $120 million dollars by 1995. It was led by "a new generation of heroes and fueled by a massive, youthful audience". The golden age of Tejano music began after the explosion of interest generated by record labels in 1990 and ended at the turn of the 21st century, lasting only a decade of unprecedented mainstream success and growth, while the genre enjoyed a five year growth period from 1990 to 1995, before the genre began to suffer. The golden age is defined by a number of musicians who helped spearheaded the genre's renaissance era, including Little Joe, Mazz, La Mafia, Patsy Torres, Laura Canales, Emilio Navaira, Selena, and Luis Silva. The 1990s golden age of Tejano was the second of such success the genre enjoyed during its modern era (1950–present). Before the 1990s golden age, the genre was primarily limited as a regional music scene for working class Mexican Americans in the southwestern United States. It eventually merged traditional Mexican music with synth experimental cumbia music, ballads, and pop. Musicologists found the era to be "a new Tejano aesthetic" with fewer ranchera songs, while others called it "non-Tejano". Music critics questioned if Tejano music traveled outside "from its earthy folk roots [and] into the pop field." On January 10, 1990, EMI Latin bought Bob Grever's Cara Records for an estimated $5 million, and their entire catalogue of recordings as well as their recording artists, including Selena, La Mafia, Mazz, David Lee Garza, Emilio Navaira, and Ram Herrera. The acquisition was brought on by the growing popularity of Tejano music from the late 1980s, and the commericial successes of Los Lobos' "La Bamba" (1987) and Linda Ronstadt's album Canciones de Mi Padre (1987). EMI Latin implemented a strong foothold over distributing their Tejano recording artists through EMI Music Distribution (EMD), which expanded the sales of albums recorded by Tejano singers of the company in Anglo American markets. Within weeks of EMI Latin buying Cara Records, Sony Discos signed La Mafia, David Marez, record producer Manny Guerra, and record promoter and songwriter Luis Silva to combact EMI Latin, despite the two former owing albums to Cara Records. EMI Records and Sony Music "had dug in for what was quickly unraveling as a protracted record war" in a genre "that had previously been thought of by the major lables as too small-time to bother." The absorbent of Cara Records marked "the sale [of] the most desireable roster of artists, composers, producers, and arrangers" in the Tejano market. EMI Latin was financially capable of selling Tejano albums to Latinos in the United States, a market that was unfeasible for independent Tejano record companies like Cara Records, whose artists competed within the state of Texas alone.

At the helm of the Tejano music explosion of the 1990s was Selena, who became the most popular and most important Tejano singer of all-time, became the first recording artist to sign with EMI Latin in early 1989. The singer eventually led the genre's revival and made it marketable for the first time. Former A&M Records and Sony Discos president, Jose Behar led the charge of the 1990s Tejano explosion after becoming president of EMI Latin in 1989. Behar believed that musicians who sing in Spanish could be as big as acts singing in English and believed that achieving that goal was to "groom" and market them as their pop counterparts. Behar did not believe in concert attendance in determining a musician's potential but only album sales. He further stressed that he wanted Tejano musicians to break out of the regional area and into the national scene. Behar was impressed by the total album units generated by Cara Records' artists in Texas and signed Selena after he attended the 1989 Tejano Music Awards and watched her perform. He immediately contacted his superior that he believed he found "the next Gloria Estefan" for which his super called him illogical finding that Behar only been in Texas less than a week. He later signed Roberto Pulido and Mazz before Sony Music Latin got the chance to contact Mazz for a recording contract. With the formation of EMI Latin and with the assimilation of Cara Records, the Tejano market "enjoyed an unprecedented boom led by EMI Latin's unparalleled array of stars." Other major record companies including SBK Records, Warner Music Group, CBS Records, and Sony Music began signing Tejano artists to compete in the Latin music market.

Local Tejano music executives, such as Freddie Martinez, Manny Guerra, Joey Lopez, and Roland Garcia, suffered under the appealing five-figure recording contracts with recording and video budgets, and marketing campaigns that the major record companies were offering to their Tejano musicians. The aforementioned executives had tighter budgets, advances, and expenses than the major record companies who had financial gains and signed recording artists "without flinching" in terms of their recording contracts and offerings. Mom-and-pop stores were displeased of the major labels in San Antonio who felt that after being the "backbone of the regional scene" were "coopted and swept out of the way". Prior to the 1990s explosion, Tejano recordings were stocked by small businesses, following the rush, the recordings were stocked at retail giants like Target, Walmart, Blockbuster Video, and Tower Records. Small businesses felt that the major labels were only signing Tejano musicians after discovering that the genre could be marketable. San Antonio was being billed as the Tejano capital of the world. At the time of the interest that was generated with Tejano, music critics and musicologists questioned whether a Tejano musician was capable of crossing over into the American pop market and catapult Tejano into the mainstream market. At the time of the acquisition, La Mafia owed two albums to Grever and was in the process of signing a recording contract with rival Sony Music Latin. The group, lead by Oscar de la Rosa, wanted to break into Mexico; a market that no Tejano musician ever achieved. The band had faith in the Mexican music market and wanted to expand their fan base there. During the golden age, La Mafia incorporated more elaborated lighting and high-end sound systems, fog, and explosions on stage. Their stage presence were equalled to an "MTV effect" and had a reputation of being "a top show band with an inspiring stage performance." The band was able to attract interest from young bilingual Mexican Americans "who otherwise might have abandoned their Mexican American heritage for English pop, rock, and country." They adopted a new sound in Tejano in the 1990s, recording more cumbia songs with influences of the Carribean as well as ballads and fewer ranchera songs. La Mafia had influenced other Tejano musicians to venture into Mexico after the group were headliners in the country by 1993, including Mazz who were not as successful as La Mafia. At the same time, Navaria became the genre's most "promising crossover artist" after moving into country music. Herrera and David Marez were considered "too old and too stylistically entrenched" for Nashville success.

Artists such as Selena, who took on attire influences from Madonna, and dance moves from Michael and Janet Jackson, was able to resonate and bridged young Mexican Americans with a genre that was stigmatized as being "a genre for the old folks" and popularized it among a younger and wider audience. Other musicians such as Navaria, brought on influences from American country music singers such as Garth Brooks. Navaria introduced modern vaquero and cowboy attire, though before his introduction into the genre, conjunto and Chicano rock musicians often wore similar fashions that were recalled as looking "old-fashioned". Along with Grupo Rio, Navaria updated the look with stetson hats, wrangler jeans, "solid-colored western shirts with button-down collards", and varied colored ropers. Navaria's updated look "reminded the youth that Mexican Americans were the original vaqueros of Texas." The singer popularized the fashion among the younger generation, and in urban areas "had an additional reason to be proud of their music". Navaria's popularity "affected the fashions of other Tejano groups and their fans", adding a new distinct style to a genre that historically "had no particular style of dressing." Musically, Navaira kept "the traditional Tejano aesthetic of rancheras and polkas" and added American rock and country western into his repertoire. He debuted in the Tejano market replacing Ram Herrera as part of David Lee Garza y Los Musicales in 1983, the singer established a "down-home [and] husky, somewhat nasalized" tenor voice that "fit readily into [conjunto music]". The singer switched from Tejano to country western and began recording as a solo artist. The 1991 single "South of the Border", became Navaira's debut in country music, while his studio effort Unsung Highways (1992) included more "rock flavored" tracks, such as "Naciste Para Mi", which was "guitar-inspired". The singer removed his last name from his albums and became known as Emilio, this was due to the racism in country music where radio programmers dismissed country recordings from singers with a Hispanic surname. Navaira, hailed as the King of Tejano music, continued to record "traditional Tejano" recordings with roots from the 1950s and 1960s similar to his contemporaries Jaime Y Los Chamacos, La Tropa F, Mingo Saldivar, and Michael Salgado, before his short-lived venture into mainstream English country music.

Once Selena signed with EMI Latin in 1989, her popularity in the genre was called as being a "meteoric rise". Unlike her independent recording labels, EMI Latin worked with radio programmers to promote and push Selena y Los Dinos onto radio. Her studio album, Ven Conmigo (1990), became the first Tejano album by a female singer to reach sales of 50,000 units. The singer was "transformed from the barrio girl-next-door into a merchant of sexuality." According to musicologist Manuel Peña, Selena became a "full-blown commodity" signing with Coca-Cola, and had a voice "that could growl ferociously, do a bedroom croon, or sound sweet, fragile, and totally wild all at once." which "impressed [an editor of The New York Times]" while her stage presence received critical acclaim. Her following recordings, Entre a Mi Mundo (1992), which became her breakthrough album and marked the singer's entrance in Mexico; a market where Tejanos were looked down on by citizens, and her 1994 "blockbuster album" Amor Prohibido, brought Tejano music into territories unfamiliar with the genre. She was considered the Queen of Tejano music around this time. Tejano radio stations jumped from being "a rarity" in the 1980s, to over 150 stations across Brownsville, Texas to Los Angeles, while a dozen were erected throughout Mexico. Women in Tejano music became a growing trend in the 1990s mostly due to Selena's rise in popularity. Recording companies began signing more women, including Stefani Montiel, Connexxion's Mary Lee Ocha, Stephanie Lynn, Elsa Garcia, Lynda V., New Variety Band's Agnes Torres, Delia y Culturas, Annette y Axxion, Esmi Talamantes, Noemy Esparza y Metal, and Shelly Lares. Lares was nominated for a Tejano Music Award every year from 1984 to 1996 but lost to Selena. Lares recorded several albums for Manny Records before landing a recording contract with Sony Music Latin in 1996. The singer "had high hopes" to crossover into country music, but her career stalled by the late 1990s and was dropped from Sony after sales of her albums declined. After releasing six albums from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s and producing no hit singles, Elsa Garcia was taken notice after her 1991 single "Ya Te Vi" was a regional success. Garcia tried to build upon her 1991 success but faded in popularity by the late 1990s.

On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar after a dispute over disappearing funds. Her death marked the end of the golden age of Tejano music as the market suffered and its popularity waned. Due to the media attention attributed to the death of Selena, Tejano music enjoyed 18 months of growth before the genre declined. Major record companies began abandoning their Tejano artists after 1995. While Selena's posthumous albums continued to appear on the Billboard 200 chart, other Tejano musicians album sales began to decline. Navaira's debut English country album, Life is Good (1995), sold 500,000 units, while his second It's On the House (1997), had flopped. Tejano music sales from 1995 to 1997 "was on par with Tejano's growth since 1990", though music executives found that most of these sales were generated by Selena. The Tejano music market tried to search for "the next Selena", someone who had crossover potential. La Mafia and Mazz did not have immediate crossover plans for their careers and wanted to expand their fanbase in the Latin music market. In 1998, Mazz disbanded and faded in popularity, and in 1999, Sony dropped La Mafia from their recording label. Record companies remained hopeful in the Tejano music market as Latin pop singers Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias had "phenomenal success" in the late 1990s. After years of consecutive growth, Tejano music began to decline in 1997, only generating $15 million from $120 million at the time of Selena's death in 1995. La Mafia's progressive conjunto sound influenced Bobby Pulido and Elida Reyna, who became the genre's most popular musicians of the late 1990s. Reyna's manager, Nikki Sandoval, recalled how sexism was still prevalent in 1996, finding that music promoters refused to communicate with Sandoval because she was a women. In an attempt to combat Tejano music's fading popularity, Pulido and Intocable followed previous Tejano musicians who ventured into Mexico. Tejano music stations reached their peak by November 1994 when KXTN-FM became the number one ranking radio station in San Antonio, regardless of genre. Tejano music's dwindling popularity led to the rise of regional Mexican music on radio by 1998. Radio stations in the United States that played Tejano music switched to regional Mexican music, and by 1997, KQQK was the only radio station playing non-stop Tejano music.

Decline of Tejano music: late 1990s—present
At the turn of the 21st century, Tejano recordings became "more pop-oriented" in comparison to its depression-era. As Tejano music faded in popularity, norteño music rose along with regional Mexican music on radio stations that switched from playing Tejano music by 1998. Latin pop replaced Tejano as the most popular Latin music genre in the United States following the death of Selena. Music historians believed that the late 1990s Latin music explosion had originated following the death of Selena, who "open[ed] the doors" to other Latin music musicians such as Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and Shakira. Norteño recording artists outsold Tejano musicians and were dominating music charts. John Lannert of Billboard magazine, believed that Tejano music was undergoing a "cyclical decline" in 1998, similar to the decline of Tejano music in the 1980s following a rise of album sales from the 1965 and 1975 of Hispanic baby boomers. Music critics shared Lannert's predictions and believed the genre would restabilize by the year 2000. When it failed to do so; music critics believed veteran Tejano artists such as Navaira, Selena, Mazz, Michael Salgado, and Pulido dominated the airwaves in the US and old-school singers were not able to compete. The genre was criticized by music critics as being "dead", despite musicians disproving critics and defending that genre "is still alive." Tejano musicians believe that the genre could make a return through the younger generation. Ramiro Burr who wrote in his music guide to Tejano music, faulted musicians for lack of creativity, finding that they "performed the same songs" that did not generate interest. By the end of the 1990s, Tejano musicians who sparked interest during the genre's golden age, including La Fiebre, Mazz, Xelencia, Tierra Tejano, and La Sombra, faded in popularity, while "the rest" either died, disbanded, or were dropped from their recording labels.

Burr found that newer Tejano musicians tried "desperately to emulate the new sounds of [Salgado] and Grupo Limite." Teen Jennifer Peña had troubles outgrowing her "Selena tag", Fama and Eddie Gonzalez had internal conflicts, while newer bands failed to achieve any success as a result of poor management. Pulido released his sixth studio album Siempre Pensando en Ti (2001), which became his last recording to impact a music chart. Peña became "one of Latin music's most promising female singers" by Billboard magazine. She was signed to Behar's Univision Music Group in 2002, her album Libre (2002) sold 145,000 units in the United States, while its single "El Dolor de Tu Presencia" peaked atop the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eight consecutive weeks. After her follow-up album Seducción (2004) flopped, Peña retired from music, though she returned in 2011 and began recording Christian music. In 1999, Kumbia Kings—created by Cruz Martinez and Selena's brother-producer A.B. Quintanilla—emerged with their debut album Amor, Familia y Respeto which sold 500,000 copies by February 2001. A.B. said how he wanted to create an urban group instead of one that recorded cumbias, a genre which he heavily produced on Selena's recordings, believing that the latter was what was popular. The group became one of the most successful groups in Latin music by 2005. In 2004, veteran Tejano singers Little Joe, Ruben Ramos, Ramiro Herrera, Jay Perez, and David Lee Garza returned to genre. During MySpace.com's move into music, the site added regional Mexican music to its list of music genres and included Tejano singers La Mafia, Kumbia Kings, and Ramon Ayala as the sites most popular Tejano musicians. Musicians began focusing on Internet sales and promotion by 2006. With the rise of music streaming and digital downloading, fans of Tejano music spoke out about the decline of the genre saying it "is not dead, just changed." and said how they get Tejano music through the Internet. In June 2006, digital retailer misrolas.com signed with Tejano labels to distribute their recordings for digital downloading. The annual Tejano Music Awards (TMAs) was once held at the 65,000-seat Alamodome during "Selena's day" and by 2005 the awards were hosted at the 5,000-seat Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Complex in San Antonio. As of 2016, the Tejano Music Awards are annually hosted at the 800-seat Tobin Center in San Antonio. Enrique Lopetegui of the San Antonio Current, spoke about the 2016 Tejano Music Awards saying it was his best TMA he had attended since 2004. He cited the show's "perfect venue, [it was] smoothly organized, [and] good sound, no long waits. More than half of the venue was packed, and Tejano seems to be alive and well." He criticised the show for nominating "the same" musicians "year after year", finding that newer musicians are unable to compete as a result of consecutive nominations. Lopetegui wrote how musicians are "paying more attention to wardrobe than musical evolution." and found that there were "no-shows" from musicians who were not even touring at the time of the event.

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences eliminated 31 categories at the Grammy Awards in 2011, one of them being Tejano. Los TexManicas were the last San Antonio Tejano band to win the award in 2009, the last Tejano act to win was Little Joe for Recuerdos in 2011. Saldana called it "fittingly enough" translating the album as "memories" when it was announced that the Grammy Awards was eliminating the Tejano category. On August 6, 2016, Siggno's album Yo Te Esperar debuted atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, the second Tejano/norteno musicians to do so since Intocable a month earlier. Siggno's debut at number one was called "a rarity" by Joey Guerra for a Texas band. While the last Tejano artist to have a number one album was Selena's posthumous Enamorada de Ti in April 2012. Siggno performed at the 2017 Go Tejano Day along with Banda El Recodo in Houston, the same city where they won their first Latin Grammy Award for Best Norteno Album in 2008. For the past several years fans have organized unsuccessful protests and boycotts in response to the lack of Tejano recording artists at Go Tejano Day with the last Tejano act to make an appearance was Navaira in 2007. In 2015, Pulido released his first singer-songwriter album, Hoy. The singer wanted to release Hoy as a strategic plan to "help fight the war" on physical music consumption; he is against the digital age of downloading and music streaming in the popular market. Warner Music Nashville's president Scott Hendricks signed The Last Bandoleros—consisting of Navaira's son Emilio Navaira III and Diego Navaira, guitarist Derek James and Jerry Fuentes—and released their debut country single "Where Do You Go?", which peaked at number 49 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart in 2016. In a July 2017 meeting, Austin, Texas Tejano musicians felt that they are often "overlooked by the city". Leonard Davila spoke about the matter to the Austin Latin Music Community (AMC) that the city "doesn't recognize Tejano music enough" nor provide any support to Tejano musicians. Davila stressed over the lack of Tejano music on radio stations in Austin, saying that "people say [the market] is dead" and added that "it was just turned off for a bit".

Cultural impact
Tejano music has "played a major role in the overall musical development of the southwest."

In retrospect, Chris Peréz said in 2015 about the golden age of Tejano music as being "a magical time, like we could do no wrong."