According to Wikipedia, Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, James Pennington and Robert Hood.
Early musical influences include: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Bootsy, Parliament, Prince, Depeche Mode, and The B-52's.
The explosion of interest in electronic dance music during the late 1980s provided a context for the development of techno as an identifiable genre. The first wave of Detroit techno had peaked in 1988–89, with the popularity of artists like Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, and Chez Damier, and clubs like St. Andrews Hall, Majestic Theater, The Shelter, and the Music Institute. At the same time, Detroit techno benefited from the growth of the European rave scene and various licensing deals with labels in the UK, including Kool Kat Records.
By the early 1990s a second wave of Detroit artists started to break through, including, among others, Carl Craig, Underground Resistance (featuring Mike Banks, Jeff Mills, and Robert Hood), K. Hand, Jay Denham, and Octave One.
On Memorial Day weekend of 2000, electronic music fans from around the globe made a pilgrimage to Hart Plaza on the banks of the Detroit River and experienced the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival. In 2003, the festival management changed the name to Movement, then Fuse-In (2005), and most recently, Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival (2007). The festival is a showcase for DJs and performers across all genres of electronic music, takes course over a period of three days, and is considered to be the best underground electronic music festival in the United States.
Today, the underground scene is healthy, with an abundance of artist and labels such as: Kyle Hall, Norm Talley, DJ Minx, Wild Oats, Planet E Communications, Upstairs Asylum Recordings & T. Hill leading the way. Local record stores, like Abrodos Music (Detroit/Plymouth), People’s Records (Detroit) Detroit Threads (Hamtramck) and Hello Records (Detroit), benefit from the pilgrimage of international visitors. For those unable to make it in for the festival, take advantage of mail-order opportunities here: abrodosmusic.com