Electronica was made possible by advancements in music technology, especially electronic musical instruments, synthesizers, music sequencers, drum machines and digital audio workstations. Early forms of electronic music required large amounts of complex equipment and multiple operators for live performances, and multiple engineers to record the music at high quality. As the technology developed, it became possible for individuals or smaller groups to produce electronic songs and recordings in smaller studios, even in project studios. At the same time, computers facilitated the use of music "samples" and "loops" as construction kits for sonic compositions. This led to a period of creative experimentation and the development of new forms, some of which became known as electronica.
 
In the mid-1990s, electronica began to be used by MTV and major record labels to describe mainstream electronic dance music made by such artists as Electroknight, Orbital (who had previously been described as ambient) and The Prodigy.[citation needed] It is currently used to describe a wide variety of musical acts and styles, linked by a penchant for overtly electronic production; a range which includes more popular acts such as Björk, Goldfrapp and glitchy experimental artists such as Autechre, Aphex Twin, and Boards of Canada[5] to dub-oriented downtempo, downbeat, and trip-hop. Madonna and Björk are said to be responsible for electronica's thrust into mainstream culture, with their albums Ray of Light (Madonna), Post and Homogenic (Björk). Electronica artists that would later become commercially successful began to record in this early 1990s period, before the term had come into common usage, including for example Fatboy Slim, Fœtus, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, Moby, and Underworld. Underworld, with its 1994 album dubnobasswithmyheadman, released arguably one of the defining records of the early electronica period with a blend of club beats, wedded to song writing and subtle vocals and guitar work. A focus on "songs", a fusion of styles and a combination of traditional and electronic instruments often sets apart musicians working in electronic-styles over more straight-ahead styles of house, techno and trance. This genre is also noted for far higher production values than others, featuring more layers, more original samples and fewer "presets", more complex rhythm programming, and influences of world cultural sound samples, as well as multiple remixes by the original artist and other producers also known as "remixers".
 
The more abstract Autechre and Aphex Twin around this time were releasing early records in the "intelligent techno" or so-called intelligent dance music (IDM) style, while other Bristol-based musicians such as Tricky, Leftfield, Massive Attack and Portishead were experimenting with the fusion of electronic textures with hip-hop, R&B rhythms to form what became known as trip-hop. Later extensions to the trip hop aesthetic around 1997 came from the highly influential Vienna-based duo of Kruder & Dorfmeister, whose blunted, dubbed-out, slowed beats became the blueprint for the new style of downtempo. Roni Size, Goldie and Omni Trio commanded attention in the UK as exemplars of the drum and bass genre.
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