When people think of France, they often picture the Eiffel Tower, French cuisine, fashion, or romantic city streets. But for many around the world, France is also closely associated with electronic music through a sound and movement known as French Touch that has travelled far beyond the country’s borders.

French Touch refers to a distinctly French approach to electronic music linked to artists such as Daft Punk, Justice, Air, Cassius, Phoenix, Étienne de Crécy, M83, and Alan Braxe. Their records introduced a sound that reached international audiences and continues to influence electronic music producers and listeners today.

The French Ministry of Culture has officially registered electronic music as part of the country’s cultural heritage. This recognition opens the possibility that electronic music could later be considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list.

UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage programme allows countries to submit cultural practices that communities consider part of their identity, including music, crafts, food, traditional games, and sports, with the aim of preserving and passing them on to future generations.

Rachida Dati, France’s Minister of Culture, said that electronic music has a rightful place within the country’s cultural heritage and noted that clubs and party spaces function as creative environments where artists express themselves and people come together through music.

One of the early figures referenced in this recognition is Jean-Michel Jarre, whose 1976 album Oxygène used early synthesiser technology and contained no vocals. The album is often cited as an early reference point for what later became known as French Touch and remains influential among electronic music artists.

Jarre has served as a UNESCO cultural ambassador since 1993 and received France’s highest state honour in 2021. He described the recognition as an important moment for electronic music following more than three decades of public advocacy for the culture.

French President Emmanuel Macron has previously described France as one of the pioneering countries in electronic music and said that French Touch reflects an important part of the country’s cultural identity.

UNESCO has already added musical traditions such as Jamaican reggae, Mexican mariachi, Cuban rumba, and Berlin techno to its intangible cultural heritage list. The recognition of electronic music in France places it alongside those traditions and frames electronic music as a cultural form, not only a club-based practice.