Electronic music added to France's Intangible Cultural Heritage list

Electronic music has been added to France’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, following calls from the country’s president Emmanuel Macron for UNESCO to recognise the French touch with cultural heritage status. The move comes a year on from techno in Berlin being officially added to the UNESCO cultural heritage list. 

French touch, a style of house music defined by geography more than sound, and popularised by artists like Daft Punk, Cassius, Justice, and Modjo, was described by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati as having, “a rightful place in our national intangible heritage.” Macron himself told Fréquence Gaie, when comparing the genre with techno in Berlin, that “we don’t have to take lessons from anyone. We are the inventors of electro. We have that French touch." 

Justice at Accor Arena in Paris, December 2024

The news brings electronic music a step closer to receiving UNESCO heritage status. Intangible Cultural Heritage lists allow signatory states of the UNESCO Convention to register “practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities recognise as part of their cultural heritage” – everything from music and craftsmanship to culinary skills, traditional games and sports. Electronic music is one of fourteen new items of French intangible heritage, with other items including Parisian haute couture, Corsican jousting, and the agricultural fairs of Doubs. 

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