1970-1973United States / New York City

Disco

Also known as Disco music

A classic dance-floor genre born in U.S. club culture, disco fused funk, soul, and Latin grooves into a polished, propulsive sound that briefly dominated the pop mainstream.

Origins and context

Documented histories place disco’s emergence in U.S. nightclub and DJ scenes, especially in New York City, where Black, Latino, and gay communities helped shape the genre’s early development.

United StatesNew York City

The sound

Characteristics

Four-on-the-floor beat
Syncopated basslines
Strings
Horns
Electric piano
Synthesizers
Rhythm guitar

How to listen

Start here

Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' for a sleek electronic edge
CHIC's 'Le Freak' for the band-driven side of disco

Mood

Driving
Glossy
Social
Late-night

Best for

Dance floors
Retro pop playlists
Studying the roots of modern club music

History

Disco took shape in the early 1970s in the United States, especially in New York City’s club and DJ scenes, where Black, Latino, and gay communities helped shape its sound and social life. In those rooms, DJs favored soul, funk, and Latin records with a strong groove, and disco became a genre that was as much about the venue and the crowd as the songs themselves. By the mid- to late 1970s, disco had moved from underground clubs into the pop mainstream, with artists such as Donna Summer and Chic becoming defining names of the era. Its commercial peak came quickly, and by the early 1980s the style had cooled as other dance-oriented forms took over, though its rhythms and production ideas kept echoing through later dance music.