I have been playing records in Seoul for more than 25 years, and I still get asked the same question at the bar. Where did this sound come from? This dance music timeline is my answer. Every card marks the year a sound first took shape, where it happened, what it feels like on a dancefloor and one official track you can play right here. Start anywhere, or press Start here for a ten card path. Follow a family line forward. You will find the roots of the music you love, and a few surprises.
All 127 genres as a plain list
1940s
Cumbia (1940)
1950s
Bossa Nova (1958)
1960s
1970s
Old School Hip Hop (1973), Disco (1974), Cosmic Disco (1979), Dancehall (1979), Post-Disco (1979)
1980s
Boogie (1980), EBM (1981), Hi-NRG (1981), Electro (1982), Garage House (1982), Italo Disco (1983), Latin Freestyle (1983), Chicago House (1984), Latin House (1985), Miami Bass (1985), Miami Latin Pop (1985), Deep House (1986), Jackin' House (1986), Acid House (1987), Balearic Beat (1987), Detroit Techno (1987), Golden Age Hip Hop (1987), Gospel House (1987), New Beat (1987), Italo House (1988), Ambient House (1989), Baile Funk (1989)
1990s
Breakbeat Hardcore (1990), Eurodance (1990), Trance (1990), Vocal House (1990), Baltimore Club (1991), Makina (1991), Trip Hop (1991), Acid Techno (1992), G-Funk (1992), Gabber (1992), Handbag House (1992), Jungle (1992), Progressive House (1992), Dub Techno (1993), Ghetto House (1993), Goa Trance (1993), Happy Hardcore (1993), Hard Trance (1993), Kwaito (1993), Minimal Techno (1993), Soulful House (1993), Tribal House (1993), Big Beat (1994), Drum and Bass (1994), Reggaeton (1994), Tech House (1994), Ghettotech (1995), Hard House (1995), Jump Up (1995), Neo Soul (1995), Progressive Trance (1995), UK Garage (1995), French House (1996), Hard Groove (1996), Kuduro (1996), Nu Skool Breaks (1996), Speed Garage (1996), Uplifting Trance (1996), 2-Step Garage (1997), Bassline (1997), Crunk (1997), Neurofunk (1997), Breakcore (1998), Dark Psytrance (1998), Psybient (1998), Afro House (1999), Forest Psytrance (1999), Freeform Hardcore (1999), Funky House (1999), Liquid Funk (1999), Microhouse (1999), Urban Bachata (1999), Vocal Trance (1999)
2000s
Full-On (2000), Hardstyle (2000), Jersey Club (2000), Progressive Psy (2000), Dubstep (2001), Electroclash (2001), Donk (2002), Electro House (2002), Grime (2002), UK Hardcore (2002), Footwork (2003), Nu-Disco (2003), Trap (2003), Afrobeats (2004), Electro Swing (2006), Synthwave (2006), UK Funky (2006), Moombahton (2009)
2010s
Brostep (2010), Organic House (2011), Big Room House (2012), EDM Trap (2012), Future Bass (2012), Gqom (2012), Phonk (2012), UK Drill (2012), Future House (2013), Industrial Techno (2013), Tropical House (2013), Deconstructed Club (2014), Amapiano (2015), Bass House (2015), K-pop House (2015), Latin Trap (2016), Lo-Fi House (2016), Melodic Techno (2016), Reggaeton Pop Crossover (2017), Slap House (2018), Corridos Tumbados (2019), Hyperpop (2019)
2020s
Hard Techno Revival (2021), 3-Step (2023), Brazilian Phonk (2023)
Dance Music Timeline FAQ
When did EDM start?
Electronic dance music grew out of disco in the late 1970s, when producers like Giorgio Moroder built hits almost entirely from synthesizers. House took shape in Chicago in the mid 1980s and techno in Detroit a few years later. The label “EDM” is much newer. The American music industry pushed it in the early 2010s as a name for rave culture going mainstream.
What was the first electronic dance song?
Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” (1977), produced by Giorgio Moroder, is usually named as the first big disco hit with a fully synthesized backing track. Earlier electronic records existed, but this is the one that changed dancefloors. Follow the disco line on the timeline to see what grew out of it.
How many dance music genres are there?
No one agrees. Wikipedia lists more than a hundred electronic genres, and Musicmap maps 234 genres across all popular music. This timeline covers 127 dance and club genres, keeping the ones with a documented scene, a place of origin and records you can hear.
What is the difference between house and techno?
House came from Chicago in the mid 1980s and kept disco’s soul: warm chords, vocals and a groove around 120 to 128 BPM. Techno came from Detroit a few years later and leaned into the machines, with harder, more repetitive and often wordless tracks that usually run faster. On the timeline they sit in separate families that keep borrowing from each other.
Why can I not hear some genres?
Every play button uses an official upload from the artist, the label or a licensed channel, checked against who posted it. Where no official upload exists, the card names a track to look up instead of linking to a copy.
Years mark when a sound took shape, not a single release. Spot something wrong, or a scene we missed? Tell me. Last checked September 2026.