Futurepop

Futurepop is an electronic music genre, an outgrowth of EBM, that evolved in the late 1990s with groups like VNV Nation, Covenant, and Apoptygma Berzerk.[1] It is characterized by the heavy use of sampling and an absence of vocal modification that is popular in many other forms of electronic music, such as Aggrotech.[2]

Ronan Harris of VNV Nation credited himself with the term "futurepop" during a discussion with Apoptygma Berzerk lead singer Stephan Groth to describe the sounds of their music and similar groups at the time: According to Sorted Magazine writer "Girl the Bourgeois Individualist":

He says he came up with it during a conversation with Apop's Stefan Groth when they were discussing the arrogant attitude the press had towards the scene, dismissing it as simply an '80s revival. There was also the problem with the terms that were around, they regarded electro as encompassing too many things, while EBM is not what it used to be and the idea of the whole dark scene gives the impression that everyone is hanging out in crypts and listening to Sopor Aeternus. Ronan sees their sound as coming from the '80s scene, the Front 242/Nitzer Ebb scene, but bringing in a broad range of elements.[1]

As of 2009, other leading artists of the genre were Assemblage 23 and Neuroticfish.[3]