The next time you’re bopping along to Royskopp or Einmusik and your dad (or anyone) tries to tell you that’s not music, you can refer them to no less an authority than the German federal court, which ruled that Techno totally IS music.

Techno clubs in Germany wanted to be taxed a the same rate as concert halls, but had been paying well over twice as much (19 percent for clubs as opposed to 7 percent for concert venues) and so they sought to be classified in the same way.

The court found that “the average visitor” at a techno or house club was there primarily for the music and the DJs, making club nights “similar to concerts”, regardless of whether there were singers or musicians playing instruments.

In other words, fans are there for the music, and what is playing is techno, hence techno is music. And it’s not just background noise; the court ruled that DJs are artists, saying  “they perform their own new pieces of music using instruments in the broader sense, to create new sound sequences that have their own character.”

The ruling even declares that turntables, mixers and other DJ gear are musical instruments. Germany’s clubs could use some good news, as they have been shut down for over six months due to the pandemic. Not all venues are expected to survive until it ends.

Germany has a legendary love for techno. In late May, about 100 people held a floating party on Berlin’s Spree River in support of closed clubs. It swelled into a techno party with several hundred additional rubber boats and reached more than 1,500 participants when Berlin police broke it up. 

Who is your favorite techno artist? Let us know in the comments.