Futurepop is an

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

genre that has been characterized as a blend of

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

, EBM and dance beats, based on

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

and

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2003, , p. 230.Axel Schmidt, Klaus Neumann-Braun: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'' 2004, . p. 273. It developed in Western Europe as an outgrowth of both EBM and

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound w ...

music cultures and it began to emerge in the late 1990s with artists like

VNV Nation VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads ...

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

, and

Apoptygma Berzerk Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian musical group. They have achieved success with a brand of synth-pop, and ballads backed with electronic rhythms, commonly known within the scene and referring to themselve ...

. Other leading genre artists were

Assemblage 23 Assemblage 23 is an electronic act from the United States, currently based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1988 by Tom Shear who writes the music and lyrics and does the recording himself. Live performances are supported by Paul ...

Icon of Coil Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 (now Moonitor and Zombie Girl) bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release ...

Neuroticfish Neuroticfish is a German musical project whose styles are borrowed from electronic body music, futurepop, and synthpop, as well as other types of electronic music. It has released music on the Dancing Ferret Discs record label. On July 20, 2012 ...

, and

Rotersand Rotersand is a German electronic music act, formed in September 2002 by musician/producer Gun and singer Rascal with dance music producer/DJ Krischan J.E. Wesenberg joining them shortly after. Rotersand's music can generally be described as fut ...

.Isabella van Elferen: ''Gothic Music: The Sounds of the Uncanny'', University of Wales Press, 2012, , p. 165.'' Futurepop is mostly associated with the cybergoth subculture. It has become popular in alternative dance clubs, particularly in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Music festivals that feature futurepop bands include

Infest Infest may refer to: *Infest, wild animal overpopulation, much in the same way that cockroaches do * ''Infest'' (album), a 2000 hard rock album by Papa Roach *Infest (band), American hardcore band *Infest (festival), an alternative electronic mu ...

Amphi festival The Amphi Festival is a music festival that has been taking place since 2005 featuring a wide-ranging program for a heterogeneous audience, albeit primarily fans of alternative, electronic music, and dark music. The number of visitors to the ev ...

Wave Gotik Treffen The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, Electronic body music, EBM, Industrial music, industr ...

and

M'era Luna The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Ge ...

Characteristics

Futurepop is mainly characterized by its "technoid" and "dance-oriented"

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

structures, catchy melodies, the "pervasive use of trance beats" ), and an absence of vocal modification. The genre is distinguished from regular trance music by "retaining the lyrical and vocal structure of synthpop". Its "transparent sounds" and "smooth production" style have been considered as being " chart-compatible" and "designed for music clubs".Alexander Nym: ''Schillerndes Dunkel: Geschichte, Entwicklung und Themen der Gothic-Szene.'' Plöttner Verlag, 2010, , p. 199.
"In der Szene ist Neon das neue Schwarz. Der Sound dazu nennt sich Future Pop, Cybergoth oder Hellectro und ist von billigem Techno oft kaum mehr zu unterscheiden. (Stefan Gnad).
("Within the dark scene neon is the new black. The sound connected to it is called futurepop, cybergoth or hellectro. The music shows almsost no difference to mediocrely produced techno music.").

Tom Shear Tom Shear is an American musician and music producer, and is the sole member of the electronic act Assemblage 23. He was born on November 12, 1971 in State College, Pennsylvania, where he lived until he was about age six. After that, he live ...

of Assemblage 23 described the style ironically as "mostly people who can't sing over '90s era trance patches".S. Alexander Reed: ''Assimilate. A Critical History of Industrial Music.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, , p. 297.

Etymology

Ronan Harris Ronan Harris (born 14 June 1967) is the founding member of the electronic music project VNV Nation. He is credited with the songwriting, production, lyrical and vocal aspects of the band's music. In the years preceding VNV Nation's debut album ...

of VNV Nation credited himself with the term "futurepop" during a discussion with Apoptygma Berzerk vocalist

Stephan Groth Stephan Groth (born 10 August 1971) is a Danish-Norwegian singer. He is the man behind Apoptygma Berzerk, an electronic body music act that plays in styles such as synthpop and futurepop. Groth was born in Odense but relocated with his family ...

to describe the sounds of their music and similar groups at the time. According to ''Sorted Magazine'' writer "Girl the Bourgeois Individualist":

References

{{Electronica Electropop Electronic body music Trance music Electronic dance music genres