Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that had its early beginnings in Western Europe in the late 1970s[citation needed] and later developed and established as a genre in Detroit, Michigan during the 1980s. It was influenced by Chicago house, electro, New Wave, funk and futuristic fiction themes that were prevalent and relative to modern culture during the end of the Cold War in industrial America at that time. Following the initial success of Detroit techno as a musical culture — at the very least on a regional level — an expanded and related subset of genres in the 1990s emerged globally. The popularity of techno in Europe peaked in this decade. Today the popularity of techno is widespread. It may be the most popular genre in Central Europe and Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Germany and Russia.

The term "techno" is derived from the word technology. Music journalists and fans of the genre are generally selective in their use of the term, careful not to conflate it with related but distinct genres, such as house, trance and hardcore. At the same time, "techno" is commonly confused with general terms such as electronic music and dance music. Electronic dance music has many forms, one of which is techno.