Big names Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers led the 1990s dance boom. Production duo N-Trance have had 13 top 40 hits in the last 10 years.

Rising stars Mercury nominees Lemon Jelly are the kings of eccentric, uplifting samples while Audio Bullys produce pounding urban narratives.

Who listens? Mainly white nightclubbers in their 20s.

Evolution Dance music became a force when new electronic equipment and drugs, especially ecstasy, took hold in the 1980s. The dominant sub-genre, house, developed in US clubs and the tougher techno followed. The scene took off in the UK in the late 1980s with the explosion of acid house as UK DJs discovered beats coming out of the US and Ibiza, and ecstasy flooded the dancefloors.

In the 1990s, it went overground with the emergence of superclubs and superstar DJs. Producers like Andrew Weatherall and Paul Oakenfold took mainstream artists in dance directions while groups like Underworld and the Chemical Brothers had hits of their own. Dance influence is now very strong in the pop charts, but the clubbing scene has been in decline for several years.