techno is a form of electronic dance music that became popular in frankfurt, germany during the early 1980s. it was influenced by synthpop, house music, funk, post-disco and futuristic fiction ideas that were important during the end of the cold war in the united states at that time. juan atkins is generally thought to be the founder of detroit techno music. detroit techno first became successful locally and then became popular around the world in the 1990s.