House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in discothèques catering to gay and mixed audiences. It began to influence popular music in Europe. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats and rhythms centered around drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic, and the structured music's focus around a repetitive rhythm was more important than the song itself. House music today, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house, to the more minimalistic microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as Euro house and tech house.