[1][2] It developed in Western Europe as an outgrowth of both the EBM and electro-industrial music cultures and it began to emerge in the late 1990s with artists like VNV Nation, Covenant, and Apoptygma Berzerk.
[2] Futurepop is mainly characterized by its "technoid"[2] and "dance-oriented"[2] pop music structures,[1] catchy melodies,[2] the "pervasive use of trance beats",[3][2] and an absence of vocal modification.
[4] Ronan Harris of VNV Nation credited himself with the term "futurepop" during a discussion with Apoptygma Berzerk vocalist Stephan Groth to describe the sounds of their music and similar groups at the time.
[3] 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.