Terminology
The term "Italo", a generic prefix meaning Italian, had been used on pop music compilation albums in Germany as early as 1980, such as Italo Top Hits on the K-Tel label and the first volume of Italo Super Hits on the Ariola label.
There's no documentation of where the term "Italo-Disco" first appeared, but its origins are generally traced to Italian and other European disco recordings released in the German market. Examples include the phrase "Original Italo-Disco" on the sleeve of the German edition of "Girl On Me" by Amin-Peck in 1982, and the inclusion of "Italo-Disco" in the title of the 1983 compilation album The Best of Italo-Disco. These records, along with the Italo Boot Mix megamix, were released by Bernhard Mikulski on his relatively widely distributed ZYX label. The Best of and Boot Mix compilations each became a 16-volume series that culminated in 1991. Both series primarily featured disco music of Italian origin, often licensed from independent Italian labels which had limited distribution outside of Italy, but they also frequently included songs in a similar style by German and other European artists.
The presenters of the Italian music show Discoring (produced by RAI) usually referred to Italo disco tracks as "rock elettronico" (electronic rock) or "balli da discoteca" (disco dance) before the term "Italo disco" came into existence.
A related term is "Euro disco", referring to all European disco or subsets thereof, especially that which markedly differs from American disco music from the same era.
Read more about this topic: Italo Disco