Intelligent dance music

Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the early 1990s. Its creation was influenced by developments in underground dance music such as Detroit techno and various breakbeat styles that were emerging in the UK at that time. Stylistically, IDM tended to rely upon individualistic experimentation rather than adhering to musical characteristics associated with specific genres of dance music. The range of post-techno styles to emerge in the early 1990s were described variously as "art techno", "ambient techno", "intelligent techno", and "electronica". In the United States, the latter is often used as a catchall term to describe not only downtempo or downbeat/non-dance electronic music but also electronic dance music (EDM).