[ { "scene": "Sound systems", "place": "Kingston, Jamaica", "years": "1940s onward (start date disputed)", "rooms": "Street dances in neighborhoods with no dancehalls or concert spaces", "sound": "Truck-borne rigs with generators and wardrobe-sized speaker cabinets; a selector on the records, a DJ toasting, and one-off dubplates as the draw.", "credit": "Working-class Kingston crews, among them Tom the Great Sebastian (Tom Wong), Duke Reid's Trojan, Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat and King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_system_(Jamaican)" }, { "scene": "Notting Hill Carnival sound systems", "place": "London, UK", "years": "1959 onward; static systems from the 1970s", "rooms": "Carnival street corners, such as Channel One's at Leamington Road Villas since 1983", "sound": "Static sound systems played in the street, which the 1973 organizer Leslie Palmer called \"the voice of the youth\".", "credit": "London's Caribbean community: Claudia Jones, Rhaune Laslett and Leslie Palmer as organizers, Linett Kamala as carnival's first female DJ, and Mellotone as its first all-female sound system.", "source_url": "https://londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/origins-notting-hill-carnival" }, { "scene": "Disco and the private club", "place": "New York, US", "years": "1970-1987", "rooms": "The Loft, Paradise Garage", "sound": "Sound designed first: Alex Rosner at the Loft, Richard Long with Larry Levan at the Garage; no alcohol, so parties ran until noon.", "credit": "Black and Latino, largely gay dancers; David Mancuso, Larry Levan and the Garage's members, a crowd the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project describes as \"primarily African-American gay men\".", "source_url": "https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/paradise-garage/" }, { "scene": "House", "place": "Chicago, US", "years": "1977 to the late 1980s", "rooms": "The Warehouse, the Music Box, the Power Plant", "sound": "A Richard Long system you could hear from the street, the booth on the loading dock, a dark room with fog, then cheap Roland drum machines and WBMX radio mixes.", "credit": "Black gay men and women and Latino dancers first; Robert Williams, Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, the Hot Mix 5 and producers such as Phuture.", "source_url": "https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/The_Warehouse_Report.pdf" }, { "scene": "Techno", "place": "Detroit, US", "years": "1981 onward", "rooms": "High-school \"prep\" party circuit, the Music Institute at 1315 Broadway", "sound": "Machine-made tracks on artist-run labels such as Metroplex, later with Underground Resistance's anonymity and anti-corporate stance.", "credit": "Young Black musicians from the Detroit area, led by Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, then \"Mad\" Mike Banks and Jeff Mills.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_techno" }, { "scene": "Acid house and orbital raves", "place": "London and the M25, UK", "years": "1987-1989", "rooms": "Shoom, Future, Spectrum, The Trip, then warehouses and fields", "sound": "Warehouse and field parties promoted by flyer, word of mouth and pager, playing Chicago and Detroit records.", "credit": "Danny and Jenni Rampling, Paul Oakenfold, Nicky Holloway and Johnny Walker after hearing Alfredo on Ibiza, and raves such as Sunrise, Energy and Biology.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Summer_of_Love" }, { "scene": "Free parties", "place": "England, UK", "years": "Early 1990s, peaking in May 1992", "rooms": "Commons and fields, most famously Castlemorton Common", "sound": "Collective-run sound systems at multi-day unlicensed gatherings.", "credit": "Sound system collectives including Spiral Tribe, Bedlam, Circus Warp and DiY.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlemorton_Common_Festival" }, { "scene": "Jungle and drum and bass", "place": "London, UK", "years": "About 1990-1998", "rooms": "AWOL, Roast, Telepathy; pirate station Kool FM", "sound": "Breakbeats under ragga basslines and sound system samples, carried by MCs, pirates and sub-bass rigs.", "credit": "Black British sound system culture and the scene's DJs, MCs and pirate broadcasters.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_music" }, { "scene": "Grime", "place": "East London, UK", "years": "Early 2000s onward", "rooms": "Pirate stations such as Rinse FM and Deja Vu", "sound": "MCs and pirate radio, working under pressure from the police risk-assessment Form 696.", "credit": "East London MCs and producers, with Dizzee Rascal's Mercury Prize in 2003.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime_music" }, { "scene": "Dubstep", "place": "London, UK", "years": "2001 onward", "rooms": "FWD>> at the Velvet Rooms and Plastic People; DMZ in Brixton", "sound": "Sub-bass weight traced to the Jamaican sound system party scene.", "credit": "FWD>>, Croydon's Big Apple Records, Digital Mystikz and Loefah.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep" }, { "scene": "Berlin techno", "place": "Berlin, Germany", "years": "1988 onward", "rooms": "Ufo, Tresor, Ostgut, Berghain", "sound": "Repurposed vaults and power plants, phone and photo policies as atmosphere, and close ties to Detroit through Tresor Records.", "credit": "Dimitri Hegemann and the Tresor team, Detroit artists on the label, and the queer fetish party culture behind Berghain.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tresor_(club)" }, { "scene": "Balearic", "place": "Ibiza, Spain", "years": "1983 onward", "rooms": "Amnesia, Pacha, Space", "sound": "Open-air terrace clubs and eclectic all-night sets mixing house with disco, rock, jazz, funk, soul and synth pop.", "credit": "Alfredo Fiorito, born in Rosario, Argentina, the resident who defined Balearic beat.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Fiorito" }, { "scene": "Goa trance and psytrance", "place": "Goa, India, then worldwide", "years": "1980s onward; Goa trance from about 1991", "rooms": "Beach and forest parties; later Boom in Portugal", "sound": "Two tape decks, then DAT, at outdoor parties; later decor-led, multi-day stages with sunrise sets and harm-reduction spaces.", "credit": "DJs such as Goa Gil, Fred Disko and Laurent, then London nights such as Return to the Source.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa_trance" }, { "scene": "New beat", "place": "Antwerp and Belgium", "years": "1987 onward", "rooms": "Clubs including the Ancienne Belgique and Boccaccio, depending on the account", "sound": "Records slowed down on the deck, by the usual story a 45 played at 33 rpm with the pitch at +8.", "credit": "Belgian club DJs; accounts credit Dikke Ronny or Marc Grouls, and the origin story is unverified.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_beat" }, { "scene": "Gabber", "place": "Rotterdam, Netherlands", "years": "Early 1990s onward", "rooms": "Hardcore parties in Rotterdam", "sound": "Hardcore records with an explicit anti-racist stance against far-right attempts to claim the scene.", "credit": "Rotterdam's hardcore scene, including Paul Elstak, DJ Chosen Few and Party Animals.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabber" }, { "scene": "The US EDM era", "place": "United States", "years": "About 2010-2016", "rooms": "Stadium-scale festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival", "sound": "Rave-derived festivals repackaged as rock-style shows with a pop-oriented, big-room sound.", "credit": "The US music industry and festival promoters, building on decades of earlier scenes.", "source_url": "https://cambridgeblog.org/2026/03/the-cambridge-companion-to-electronic-dance-music/" }, { "scene": "Amapiano", "place": "Gauteng, South Africa", "years": "Mid-2010s onward", "rooms": "Township and Pretoria parties (origin disputed)", "sound": "The log drum, linked to the kwaito pioneer M'du Masilela.", "credit": "Gauteng's DJs and producers, with no single founder.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amapiano" }, { "scene": "Sonideros", "place": "Mexico City, then the US", "years": "Mid-20th century onward", "rooms": "Neighborhood parties in areas such as Tepito", "sound": "Sound systems playing cumbia, salsa and guaracha while the sonidero sends saludos over the music.", "credit": "Mexico City's sonidero crews and the migrant communities who carried the culture north.", "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonidero" } ]