Intelligent dance music (commonly abbreviated as IDM) is a form of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, which was regarded as "cerebral" and better suited to "home listening" than dancing. Emerging from electronic and rave music styles such as Detroit techno, acid house, ambient music, and breakbeat, IDM tended to rely upon individualistic experimentation rather than adhering to characteristics associated with specific genres. Prominent artists associated with the genre include Aphex Twin, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Orb, the Future Sound of London, Autechre, Luke Vibert, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares and Boards of Canada.
The term "intelligent dance music" has been widely criticised and dismissed by most artists associated with the term, including Aphex Twin, Autechre, and µ-Ziq. The term was likely inspired by the 1992 Warp compilation Artificial Intelligence and is said to have originated in the US in 1993 with the formation of the "IDM list", an electronic mailing list originally chartered for the discussion of English artists appearing on compilation. In 2014, music critic Sasha Frere-Jones observed that the term "is widely reviled but still commonly used".
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