France Recognizes Electronic Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage

Electronic music in all its forms (experimental and instrumental music, house, dance, electro, old school disco, jazz, pop, etc.) has been added to the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, recognizing that this art form is shaping France’s artistic identity.

David Guetta, Bob Sinclair, Air, Cassius, Daft Punk, Justice, and the great Jean-Michel Jarre, among many others, are now considered pillars of French culture.

“I am delighted to see that electronic music has finally taken its place in world heritage, especially after more than three decades of commitment as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and spokesperson for intangible culture,” declared Jean-Michel Jarre in a social media post.

“Electronic music has a legitimate place in our national intangible heritage,” stated French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, following the ministry’s designation of clubs and discos as “places of artistic expression and celebration.”

France may have been the birthplace of the electronic music movement almost 100 years ago. It was the French inventor Maurice Martenot who, in 1928, presented the Ondes Martenot, one of the first electronic instruments still used in music today.