Balearic Beat

Balearic Beat is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the late 1980s, primarily in clubs on the Spanish island of Ibiza. It is characterized by creative electronic repetition, often using samples and rhythm machines like the Roland 808 and 303.1

This genre was influenced by Chicago house and New York garage music, as well as early electronic music from Germany. Balearic Beat became a global phenomenon, influencing the development of genres such as techno, trance, and trip-hop. The focus was on the skill of the DJ in mixing tracks seamlessly, making the DJ a star in their own right. While disco, a similar dance music style from the 1970s, faded after 1980, its influence on sequenced electronic beats can still be heard in pop music today.12