Techno music first emerged in Detroit in the 1980’s at roughly the same time as House music was coming to life in Chicago.  The Belleville Three of Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May almost single handedly brought the genre into being but the relatively low level of interest in Techno in America saw the three producers spend an increasing amount of time in Europe.

Also at this time a distinctly European take on Techno was emerging, particularly in Germany and to some extent in Holland, with artists like Sven Vath and Westbam at the fore.

Techno remains one of the most organic and least commercial genres of electronic dance music.