Broad category of electronic music
Electronic dance music (EDM) is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for5️⃣ nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a5️⃣ DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or5️⃣ festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide5️⃣ range of subgenres.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radio, PartyCrews, underground festivals and5️⃣ an upsurge of interest in club culture, EDM achieved mainstream popularity in Europe. However, rave culture was not as broadly5️⃣ popular in the United States; it was not typically seen outside of the regional scenes in New York City, Florida,5️⃣ the Midwest, and California. Although both electro and Chicago house music were influential both in Europe and the United States,5️⃣ mainstream media outlets and the record industry remained openly hostile to it. There was also a perceived association between EDM5️⃣ and drug culture, which led governments at state and city levels to enact laws and policies intended to halt the5️⃣ spread of rave culture.[3]
Subsequently, in the new millennium, the popularity of EDM increased globally, particularly in the United States and5️⃣ Australia. By the early 2010s, the term "electronic dance music" and the initialism "EDM" was being pushed by the American5️⃣ music industry and music press in an effort to rebrand American rave culture.[3] Despite the industry's attempt to create a5️⃣ specific EDM brand, the acronym remains in use as an umbrella term for multiple genres, including dance-pop, house, techno, electro5️⃣ and trance, as well as their respective subgenres.[4][5][6]
History [ edit ]
Various EDM genres have evolved over the last 40 years,5️⃣ for example; house, techno, drum and bass, dance-pop etc. Stylistic variation within an established EDM genre can lead to the5️⃣ emergence of what is called a subgenre. Hybridization, where elements of two or more genres are combined, can lead to5️⃣ the emergence of an entirely new genre of EDM.[4]
Precursors [ edit ]
In the late 1960s bands such as Silver Apples5️⃣ created electronic music intended for dancing.[7] Other early examples of music that influenced later electronic dance music include Jamaican dub5️⃣ music during the late 1960s to 1970s,[6] the synthesizer-based disco music of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder in the late 1970s,5️⃣ and the electropop of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra in the mid-to-late 1970s.[5]
Dub [ edit ]
Author Michael Veal considers dub5️⃣ music, a Jamaican music stemming from roots reggae and sound system culture that flourished between 1968 and 1985, to be5️⃣ one of the important precursors to contemporary electronic dance music.[8] Dub productions were remixed reggae tracks that emphasized rhythm, fragmented5️⃣ lyrical and melodic elements, and reverberant textures.[9] The music was pioneered by studio engineers, such as Sylvan Morris, King Tubby,5️⃣ Errol Thompson, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Scientist.[8] Their productions included forms of tape editing and sound processing that Veal considers5️⃣ comparable to techniques used in musique concrète. Dub producers made improvised deconstructions of existing multi-track reggae mixes by using the5️⃣ studio mixing board as a performance instrument. They also foregrounded spatial effects such as reverb and delay by using auxiliary5️⃣ send routings creatively.[8] The Roland Space Echo, manufactured by Roland Corporation, was widely used by dub producers in the 1970s5️⃣ to produce echo and delay effects.[10]
Despite the limited electronic equipment available to dub pioneers such as King Tubby and Lee5️⃣ "Scratch" Perry, their experiments in remix culture were musically cutting-edge.[11] Ambient dub was pioneered by King Tubby and other Jamaican5️⃣ sound artists, using DJ-inspired ambient electronics, complete with drop-outs, echo, equalization and psychedelic electronic effects. It featured layering techniques and5️⃣ incorporated elements of world music, deep bass lines and harmonic sounds.[12] Techniques such as a long echo delay were also5️⃣ used.[13]
Hip hop [ edit ]
Hip hop music has had some influence in the development of electronic dance music since the5️⃣ 1970s.[14] Inspired by Jamaican sound system culture Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc introduced large bass heavy speaker rigs to the Bronx.[15]5️⃣ His parties are credited with having kick-started the New York City hip-hop movement in 1973.[15] A technique developed by DJ5️⃣ Kool Herc that became popular in hip hop culture was playing two copies of the same record on two turntables,5️⃣ in alternation, and at the point where a track featured a break. This technique was further used to manually loop5️⃣ a purely percussive break, leading to what was later called a break beat.[16]
Turntablism has origins in the invention of the5️⃣ direct-drive turntable,[17] by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now Panasonic).[18] In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10,[19] the5️⃣ first direct-drive turntable on the market,[20] and the first in their influential Technics series of turntables.[19] The most influential turntable5️⃣ was the Technics SL-1200,[21] which was developed in 1971 by a team led by Shuichi Obata at Matsushita, which then5️⃣ released it onto the market in 1972.[17] In the 1980s and 1990s hip-hop DJs used turntables as musical instruments in5️⃣ their own right and virtuosic use developed into a creative practice called turntablism.[21]
Disco [ edit ]
In 1974, George McCrae's early5️⃣ disco hit "Rock Your Baby" was one of the first records to use a drum machine,[22] an early Roland rhythm5️⃣ machine.[23] The use of drum machines in disco production was influenced by Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair" (1971),5️⃣ with its rhythm echoed in McCrae's "Rock Your Baby",[24] and Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together" (1972).[25][23][24] Disco producer5️⃣ Biddu used synthesizers in several disco songs from 1976 to 1977, including "Bionic Boogie" from Rain Forest (1976),[26] "Soul Coaxing"5️⃣ (1977),[27] and Eastern Man and Futuristic Journey[28][29] (recorded from 1976 to 1977).[30]
Acts like Donna Summer, Chic, Earth, Wind, and Fire,5️⃣ Heatwave, and the Village People helped define the late 1970s disco sound. Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced "I Feel5️⃣ Love" for Donna Summer in 1977. It became the first well-known disco hit to have a completely synthesized backing track.5️⃣ Other disco producers, most famously American producer Tom Moulton, grabbed ideas and techniques from dub music (which came with the5️⃣ increased Jamaican migration to New York City in the 1970s) to provide alternatives to the four-on-the-floor style that dominated.[31][32] During5️⃣ the early 1980s, the popularity of disco music sharply declined in the United States, abandoned by major US record labels5️⃣ and producers. Euro disco continued evolving within the broad mainstream pop music scene.[33]
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop[35][36])5️⃣ is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical5️⃣ instrument.[37] It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art5️⃣ rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the5️⃣ United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s.
Early synth-pop pioneers included5️⃣ Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra, and British bands Ultravox, the Human League and Berlin Blondes[citation needed]. The Human League used5️⃣ monophonic synthesizers to produce music with a simple and austere sound. After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK5️⃣ Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s,5️⃣ including late-1970s debutants like Japan and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and newcomers such as Depeche Mode and Eurythmics. In5️⃣ Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra's success opened the way for synth-pop bands such as P-Model, Plastics, and Hikashu. The development of5️⃣ inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible5️⃣ sound for synth-pop. This, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of5️⃣ MTV, led to success for large numbers of British synth-pop acts (including Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet) in the United5️⃣ States.
The use of digital sampling and looping in popular music was pioneered by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra5️⃣ (YMO).[38][39][40][41] Their approach to sampling was a precursor to the contemporary approach of constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds5️⃣ and looping them using computer technology.[40] "Computer Game/Firecracker" (1978) interpolated a Martin Denny melody,[42] and sampled Space Invaders[43] video game5️⃣ sounds.[42] Technodelic (1981) introduced the use of digital sampling in popular music, as the first album consisting of mostly samples5️⃣ and loops.[39][41] The album was produced using Toshiba-EMI's LMD-649 digital PCM sampler, which engineer Kenji Murata custom-built for YMO.[41][better source5️⃣ needed] The LMD-649 was also used for sampling by other Japanese synthpop artists in the early 1980s, including YMO-associated acts5️⃣ such as Chiemi Manabe[44] and Logic System.[45]
Dance music in the 1980s [ edit ]
The emergence of electronic dance music in5️⃣ the 1980s was shaped by the development of several new electronic musical instruments, particularly those from the Japanese Roland Corporation.5️⃣ The Roland TR-808 (often abbreviated as the "808") notably played an important role in the evolution of dance music,[46] after5️⃣ Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982), made it very popular on dancefloors.[47] The track, which also featured the melody line from5️⃣ Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express, informed the development of electronic dance music,[48] and subgenres including Miami bass and Detroit techno, and popularized5️⃣ the 808 as a "fundamental element of futuristic sound".[49] According to Slate, "Planet Rock" "didn't so much put the 8085️⃣ on the map so much as reorient an entire world of post-disco dance music around it".[50] The Roland TR-909, TB-3035️⃣ and Juno-60 similarly influenced electronic dance music such as techno, house and acid.[51][52][53]
During the post-disco era that followed the backlash5️⃣ against "disco" which began in the mid to late 1979, which in the United States lead to civil unrest and5️⃣ a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night,[13] an underground movement of "stripped-down" disco inspired music featuring "radically5️⃣ different sounds"[14] started to emerge on the East Coast.[15] [Note 1] This new scene was seen primarily in the New5️⃣ York metropolitan area and was initially led by the urban contemporary artists that were responding to the over-commercialization and subsequent5️⃣ demise of disco culture. The sound that emerged originated from P-Funk[18] the electronic side of disco, dub music, and other5️⃣ genres. Much of the music produced during this time was, like disco, catering to a singles-driven market.[14] At this time5️⃣ creative control started shifting to independent record companies, less established producers, and club DJs.[14] Other dance styles that began to5️⃣ become popular during the post-disco era include dance-pop,[19] [20] boogie,[14] electro, Hi-NRG, Italo disco, house,[19] [21] [22] [23] and techno.[22]5️⃣ [24] [25] [26] [27]
Electro [ edit ]
The instrument that provided electro's synthesized programmed drum beats, the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
In5️⃣ the early 1980s, electro (short for "electro-funk") emerged as a fusion of synth-pop, funk, and boogie. Also called electro-funk or5️⃣ electro-boogie, but later shortened to electro, cited pioneers include Ryuichi Sakamoto, Afrika Bambaataa,[54] Zapp,[55] D.Train,[56] and Sinnamon.[56] Early hip hop5️⃣ and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra inspired the birth of5️⃣ electro.[57] As the electronic sound developed, instruments such as the bass guitar and drums were replaced by synthesizers and most5️⃣ notably by iconic drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808 and the Yamaha DX7.[58] Early uses of the TR-808 include several5️⃣ Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks in 1980–1981, the 1982 track "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa, and the 1982 song "Sexual Healing"5️⃣ by Marvin Gaye.[59] In 1982, producer Arthur Baker, with Afrika Bambaataa, released the seminal "Planet Rock", which was influenced by5️⃣ Yellow Magic Orchestra, used Kraftwerk samples, and had drum beats supplied by the TR-808. Planet Rock was followed later that5️⃣ year by another breakthrough electro record, "Nunk" by Warp 9. In 1983, Hashim created an electro-funk sound with "Al-Naafyish (The5️⃣ Soul)"[54] that influenced Herbie Hancock, resulting in his hit single "Rockit" the same year. The early 1980s were electro's mainstream5️⃣ peak. According to author Steve Taylor,[60] Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock serves as a "template for all interesting dance music since".[60]
House5️⃣ music [ edit ]
In the early 1980s, Chicago radio jocks The Hot Mix 5 and club DJs Ron Hardy and5️⃣ Frankie Knuckles played various styles of dance music, including older disco records (mostly Philly disco and Salsoul[61] tracks), electro funk5️⃣ tracks by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa,[62] newer Italo disco, B-Boy hip hop music by Man Parrish, Jellybean Benitez, Arthur5️⃣ Baker, and John Robie, and electronic pop music by Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Some made and played their own5️⃣ edits of their favorite songs on reel-to-reel tape, and sometimes mixed in effects, drum machines, and other rhythmic electronic instrumentation.5️⃣ The hypnotic electronic dance song "On and On", produced in 1984 by Chicago DJ Jesse Saunders and co-written by Vince5️⃣ Lawrence, had elements that became staples of the early house sound, such as the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer and minimal5️⃣ vocals as well as a Roland (specifically TR-808) drum machine and Korg (specifically Poly-61) synthesizer.
"On and On" is sometimes cited5️⃣ as the 'first house record',[63][64] though other examples from around that time, such as J.M. Silk's "Music is the Key"5️⃣ (1985), have also been cited.[65] House music quickly spread to American cities including New York City, and Newark, and Detroit—all5️⃣ of which developed their own regional scenes. In the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as5️⃣ major cities in South America, and Australia.[66] Chicago House experienced some commercial success in Europe with releases such as "House5️⃣ Nation" by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987). Following this, a number of house inspired releases5️⃣ such as "Pump Up The Volume" by M|A|R|R|S (1987), "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express (1988), and "Doctorin' the House" by5️⃣ Coldcut (1988) entered the pop charts.
The electronic instrumentation and minimal arrangement of Charanjit Singh's Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco5️⃣ Beat (1982), an album of Indian ragas performed in a disco style, anticipated the sounds of acid house music, but5️⃣ it is not known to have had any influence on the genre prior to the album's rediscovery in the 21st5️⃣ century.[67][68][69]
Techno, acid house, rave [ edit ]
In the mid-1980s house music thrived on the small Balearic Island of Ibiza, Spain.5️⃣ The Balearic sound was the spirit of the music emerging from the island at that time; the combination of old5️⃣ vinyl rock, pop, reggae, and disco records paired with an "anything goes" attitude made Ibiza a hub of drug-induced musical5️⃣ experimentation.[70] A club called Amnesia, whose resident DJ, Alfredo Fiorito, pioneered Balearic house, was the center of the scene.[71] Amnesia5️⃣ became known across Europe and by the mid to late 1980s it was drawing people from all over the continent.[72]
By5️⃣ 1988, house music had become the most popular form of club music in Europe, with acid house developing as a5️⃣ notable trend in the United Kingdom and Germany in the same year. In the UK an established warehouse party subculture,5️⃣ centered on the British African-Caribbean sound system scene fueled underground after-parties that featured dance music exclusively. Also in 1988, the5️⃣ Balearic party vibe associated with Ibiza's DJ Alfredo was transported to London, when Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold opened the5️⃣ clubs Shoom and Spectrum, respectively. Both places became synonymous with acid house, and it was during this period that MDMA5️⃣ gained prominence as a party drug. Other important UK clubs included Back to Basics in Leeds, Sheffield's Leadmill and Music5️⃣ Factory, and The Haçienda in Manchester, where Mike Pickering and Graeme Park's spot, Nude, was an important proving ground for5️⃣ American underground dance music.[Note 1] The success of house and acid house paved the way for Detroit Techno, a style5️⃣ that was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with Detroit5️⃣ clubs catching up later. The term Techno first came into use after a release of a 10 Records/Virgin Records compilation5️⃣ titled Techno: The Dance Sound of Detroit in 1988.[76]
One of the first Detroit productions to receive wider attention was Derrick5️⃣ May's "Strings of Life" (1987), which, together with May's previous release, "Nude Photo" (1987), helped raise techno's profile in Europe,5️⃣ especially the UK and Germany, during the 1987–1988 house music boom (see Second Summer of Love).[77] It became May's best-known5️⃣ track, which, according to Frankie Knuckles, "just exploded. It was like something you can't imagine, the kind of power and5️⃣ energy people got off that record when it was first heard. Mike Dunn says he has no idea how people5️⃣ can accept a record that doesn't have a bassline."[78] According to British DJ Mark Moore, "Strings of Life" led London5️⃣ club-goers to accept house: "because most people hated house music and it was all rare groove and hip hop...I'd play5️⃣ 'Strings of Life' at the Mudd Club and clear the floor".[Note 2] By the late 1980s interest in house, acid5️⃣ house and techno escalated in the club scene and MDMA-fueled club-goers, who were faced with a 2 a.m. closing time5️⃣ in the UK, started to seek after-hours refuge at all-night warehouse parties. Within a year, in summer 1989, up to5️⃣ 25,000 people at a time were attending commercially organised underground parties called raves.
Dance music in the 1990s [ edit ]
Trance5️⃣ [ edit ]
Trance emerged from the rave scene in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and developed further during5️⃣ the early 1990s in Germany before spreading throughout the rest of Europe, as a more melodic offshoot from techno and5️⃣ house.[citation needed] At the same time trance music was developing in Europe, the genre was also gathering a following in5️⃣ the Indian state of Goa.[81] Trance is mostly instrumental, although vocals can be mixed in: typically they are performed by5️⃣ mezzo-soprano to soprano female soloists, often without a traditional verse/chorus structure. Structured vocal form in trance music forms the basis5️⃣ of the vocal trance subgenre, which has been described as "grand, soaring, and operatic" and "ethereal female leads floating amongst5️⃣ the synths".[82][83] Trance music is broken into a number of subgenres including acid trance, classic trance, hard trance, progressive trance,[84]5️⃣ and uplifting trance.[84][citation needed] Uplifting trance is also known as "anthem trance", "epic trance",[84] "commercial trance", "stadium trance", or "euphoric5️⃣ trance",[85] and has been strongly influenced by classical music in the 1990s[84] and 2000s by leading artists such as Ferry5️⃣ Corsten, Armin Van Buuren, Tiësto, Push, Rank 1 and at present with the development of the subgenre "orchestral uplifting trance"5️⃣ or "uplifting trance with symphonic orchestra" by such artists as Andy Blueman, Ciro Visone, Soundlift, Arctic Moon, Sergey Nevone&Simon O'Shine5️⃣ etc. Closely related to Uplifting Trance is Euro-trance, which has become a general term for a wide variety of highly5️⃣ commercialized European dance music. Several subgenres are crossovers with other major genres of electronic music. For instance, Tech trance is5️⃣ a mixture of trance and techno, and Vocal trance "combines [trance's] progressive elements with pop music".[84] The dream trance genre5️⃣ originated in the mid-1990s, with its popularity then led by Robert Miles.
AllMusic states on progressive trance: "the progressive wing of5️⃣ the trance crowd led directly to a more commercial, chart-oriented sound since trance had never enjoyed much chart action in5️⃣ the first place. Emphasizing the smoother sound of Eurodance or house (and occasionally more reminiscent of Jean-Michel Jarre than Basement5️⃣ Jaxx), Progressive Trance became the sound of the world's dance floors by the end of the millennium. Critics ridiculed its5️⃣ focus on predictable breakdowns and relative lack of skill to beat-mix, but progressive trance was caned by the hottest DJ."[86]
Breakbeat5️⃣ hardcore, jungle, drum and bass [ edit ]
By the early 1990s, a style of music developed within the rave scene5️⃣ that had an identity distinct from American house and techno. This music, much like hip-hop before it, combined sampled syncopated5️⃣ beats or breakbeats, other samples from a wide range of different musical genres, and, occasionally, samples of music, dialogue, and5️⃣ effects from films and television programmes. Relative to earlier styles of dance music such as house and techno, so-called 'rave5️⃣ music' tended to emphasise bass sounds and use faster tempos, or beats per minute (BPM). This subgenre was known as5️⃣ "hardcore" rave, but from as early as 1991, some musical tracks made up of these high-tempo breakbeats, with heavy basslines5️⃣ and samples of older Jamaican music, were referred to as "jungle techno", a genre influenced by Jack Smooth and Basement5️⃣ Records, and later just "jungle", which became recognized as a separate musical genre popular at raves and on pirate radio5️⃣ in Britain. It is important to note when discussing the history of drum & bass that prior to jungle, rave5️⃣ music was getting faster and more experimental.
By 1994, jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity, and fans of the music5️⃣ (often referred to as junglists) became a more recognisable part of youth subculture. The genre further developed, incorporating and fusing5️⃣ elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly5️⃣ complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Despite the affiliation with the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene, Jungle also inherited some associations with violence5️⃣ and criminal activity, both from the gang culture that had affected the UK's hip-hop scene and as a consequence of5️⃣ jungle's often aggressive or menacing sound and themes of violence (usually reflected in the choice of samples). However, this developed5️⃣ in tandem with the often positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene and dance hall-based5️⃣ Jamaican music culture prevalent in London. By 1995, whether as a reaction to, or independently of this cultural schism, some5️⃣ jungle producers began to move away from the ragga-influenced style and create what would become collectively labelled, for convenience, as5️⃣ drum and bass.[87]
Dance music in the 21st century [ edit ]
Dubstep [ edit ]
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance5️⃣ music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with5️⃣ bass lines that contain prominent sub-bass frequencies. The style emerged as an offshoot of UK garage, drawing on a lineage5️⃣ of related styles such as 2-step, dub reggae, jungle, broken beat, and grime.[88][89] In the United Kingdom, the origins of5️⃣ the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.[89][90]
The5️⃣ earliest known dubstep releases date back to 1998, and were usually featured as B-sides of 2-step garage single releases. These5️⃣ tracks were darker, more experimental remixes with less emphasis on vocals, and attempted to incorporate elements of breakbeat and drum5️⃣ and bass into 2-step. In 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted5️⃣ at London's nightclub Plastic People, at the "Forward" night (sometimes stylised as FWD>>), which went on to be considered influential5️⃣ to the development of dubstep. The term "dubstep" in reference to a genre of music began to be used around5️⃣ 2002 by labels such as Big Apple, Ammunition, and Tempa, by which time stylistic trends used in creating these remixes5️⃣ started to become more noticeable and distinct from 2-step and grime.[91]
Electro house [ edit ]
Electro house is a form of5️⃣ house music characterized by a prominent bassline or kick drum and a tempo between 125 and 135 beats per minute,5️⃣ usually 128.[92][93][94] Its origins were influenced by electro.[citation needed] The term has been used to describe the music of many5️⃣ DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Skrillex,[95][96] and Steve Aoki.[97] Italian DJ Benny Benassi,5️⃣ with his track "Satisfaction" released in 2002, is seen as the forerunner of electro-house who brought it to the mainstream.[98]5️⃣ By the mid-2000s, electro-house saw an increase in popularity, with hits such as the Tom Neville remix of Studio B's5️⃣ "I See Girls" in 2005 (UK #11). In November 2006, electro-house tracks "Put Your Hands Up for Detroit" by Fedde5️⃣ Le Grand and the D. Ramirez remix of "Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana held the number one and number5️⃣ two spots, respectively, on the UK top 40 singles chart.[99] Since then, electro-house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party,5️⃣ The M Machine, Porter Robinson, Yasutaka Nakata[100] and Dada Life have emerged.
Trap music [ edit ]
Trap music originated from techno,5️⃣ dub, and Dutch house, but also from Southern hip hop in the late 2000s and early 2010s. This form of5️⃣ trap music can be simplified by these three features: "1/3 hip hop (tempo and song structure are similar, most tracks5️⃣ are usually between 70–110 bpm) – with vocals sometimes being pitched down, 1/3 dance music – high-pitched Dutch synth work,5️⃣ hardstyle sampling, as well as a plethora of trap remixes of popular EDM songs, and 1/3 dub (low-frequency focus and5️⃣ strong emphasis on repetitiveness throughout a song)".[101] Some of the artists that popularized this genre, along with several others, are5️⃣ producers such as RL Grime with the tracks "Core" and "Scylla" released in 2014, Flosstradamus with their Hdynation Radio album5️⃣ released in 2024 and Carnage with his track "Turn Up" released in 2012.[101] Trap music in this connotation was characterized5️⃣ by "soulful synths, 808s, the pan flute, sharp snares and long, syrup-slurred vowels" which created dirty and aggressive beats resulting5️⃣ in "dark melodies". Trap is now mainly used to create remixes of already existing songs.[102][101]
Terminology [ edit ]
In 1980 English5️⃣ producer Richard James Burgess, and his band Landscape, used the term on the sleeve of the single "European Man": "Electronic5️⃣ Dance Music... EDM; computer programmed to perfection for your listening pleasure." In response to a question about being credited with5️⃣ coining the term New Romantic Burgess has stated that: "Initially I was using three terms – Futurist, Electronic Dance Music5️⃣ (the Landscape singles have EDM printed on them) and New Romantic."[103][104]
Writing in The Guardian, journalist Simon Reynolds noted that the5️⃣ American music industry's adoption of the term EDM in the late 2000s was an attempt to re-brand US "rave culture"5️⃣ and differentiate it from the 1990s rave scene. It has been described as an era of electronic music, being described5️⃣ in a MixMag article as being "the drop-heavy, stadium-filling, fist-pumping, chart-topping, massively commercial main stage sound that conquered America...possibly somewhere5️⃣ between electro and progressive house, directed by Michael Bay, and like many music genres, trying to pin it down exactly5️⃣ is like trying to grab a fistful of water".[105] In the UK, "dance music" or "dance" are more common terms5️⃣ for EDM.[4] What is widely perceived to be "club music" has changed over time; it now includes different genres and5️⃣ may not always encompass EDM. Similarly, "electronic dance music" can mean different things to different people. Both "club music" and5️⃣ "EDM" seem vague, but the terms are sometimes used to refer to distinct and unrelated genres (club music is defined5️⃣ by what is popular, whereas EDM is distinguished by musical attributes).[96] Though Billboard debuted a "dance" chart in 1974, the5️⃣ larger US music industry did not create music charts until the late 1990s.[93] In July 1995, Nervous Records and Project5️⃣ X Magazine hosted the first awards ceremony, calling it the "Electronic Dance Music Awards".[Note 4]
Production [ edit ]
A typical home5️⃣ studio setup for EDM production with computer, audio interface and various MIDI instruments.
Electronic dance music is generally composed and produced5️⃣ in a recording studio with specialized equipment such as samplers, synthesizers, effects units and MIDI controllers all set up to5️⃣ interact with one another using the MIDI protocol. In the genre's early days, hardware electronic musical instruments were used and5️⃣ the focus in production was mainly on manipulating MIDI data as opposed to manipulating audio signals. Since the late 1990s,5️⃣ the use of software has increased. A modern electronic music production studio generally consists of a computer running a digital5️⃣ audio workstation (DAW), with various plug-ins installed such as software synthesizers and effects units, which are controlled with a MIDI5️⃣ controller such as a MIDI keyboard. This setup is generally sufficient to complete entire productions, which are then ready for5️⃣ mastering.[106]
Ghost production [ edit ]
A ghost producer is a hired music producer in a business arrangement who produces a song5️⃣ for another DJ/artist that releases it as their own,[107] typically under a contract which prevents them from identifying themselves as5️⃣ a personnel of the song.[108] Ghost producers receive a simple fee or royalty payments for their work and are often5️⃣ able to work in their preference of not having the intense pressure of fame and the lifestyle of an internationally5️⃣ recognized DJ.[107] A ghost producer may increase their notability in the music industry by acquainting with established "big name" DJs5️⃣ and producers.[107] Producers like Martin Garrix and Porter Robinson are often noted for their ghost production work for other producers5️⃣ while David Guetta and Steve Aoki are noted for their usage of ghost producers in their songs whereas DJs like5️⃣ Tiësto have been openly crediting their producers in an attempt to avoid censure and for transparency.[109]
Many ghost producers sign agreements5️⃣ that prevent them from working for anyone else or establishing themselves as a solo artist.[110] Such non-disclosure agreements are often5️⃣ noted as predatory because ghost producers, especially teenage producers, do not have an understanding of the music industry.[110] London producer5️⃣ Mat Zo has alleged that DJs who hire ghost producers "have pretended to make their own music and [left] us5️⃣ actual producers to struggle".[111]
Bedroom production [ edit ]
A bedroom producer is an independent musician who creates electronic music on their5️⃣ laptop or in a home studio. Unlike in traditional recording studios, bedroom producers typically use low-cost, accessible software and equipment5️⃣ which can lead to music being created completely "in the box," with no external hardware.[112]
Popularization [ edit ]
United States [5️⃣ edit ]
Initially, the popularization of electronic dance music was associated with European rave and club culture and it achieved limited5️⃣ popular exposure in the United States. By the mid-to-late 1990s this began to change as the American music industry made5️⃣ efforts to market a range of dance genres as "electronica".[113] At the time, a wave of electronic music bands from5️⃣ the United Kingdom, including The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Underworld, had been prematurely associated with an "American5️⃣ electronica revolution".[114][115] But rather than finding mainstream success, many established EDM acts were relegated to the margins of the US5️⃣ industry.[114] In 1998, Madonna's album Ray of Light—heavily influenced by club music trends and produced with British producer William Orbit—brought5️⃣ dance music to the attention of popular music listeners.[116][117] In the late 1990s, despite US media interest in dance music5️⃣ re-branded as electronica, American house and techno producers continued to travel abroad to establish their careers as DJs and producers.[114]5️⃣ According to New York Times journalist Kelefa Sanneh, Aaliyah's 2000 single "Try Again" "helped smuggle the innovative techniques of electronic5️⃣ dance music onto the American pop charts"[118]
By the mid-2000s, Dutch producer Tiësto was bringing worldwide popular attention to EDM after5️⃣ providing a soundtrack to the entry of athletes during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics — an event5️⃣ which The Guardian deemed as one of the 50 most important events in dance music.[119] In 2003, the influence of5️⃣ dance music on American radio resulted in Billboard creating the first-ever Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.[120] By 2005, the prominence of5️⃣ dance music in North American popular culture had markedly increased. According to Spin, Daft Punk's performance at Coachella in 20065️⃣ was the "tipping point" for EDM—it introduced the duo to a new generation of "rock kids".[114] As noted by Entertainment5️⃣ Weekly, Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" helped introduce EDM sounds to top 40 radio, as it brought together variations of electronic dance5️⃣ music with the singer's R&B sounds.[121][122] In 2009, French house musician David Guetta began to gain prominence in mainstream pop5️⃣ music thanks to several crossover hits on Top 40 charts such as "When Love Takes Over" with Kelly Rowland,[123] as5️⃣ well as his collaborations with US pop and hip hop acts such as Akon ("Sexy Bitch") and The Black Eyed5️⃣ Peas ("I Gotta Feeling").[124] The music sharing website SoundCloud, as well as the video sharing website YouTube, also helped fuel5️⃣ interest in electronic music. Dubstep producer Skrillex popularized a harsher sound dubbed "Brostep", which had drawn comparisons to the aggression5️⃣ and tone of heavy metal.[3][125][126][127]
With the increasing popularity of electronic dance music, promoters and venues realized that DJs could generate5️⃣ larger profits than traditional musicians; Diplo explained that "a band plays [for] 45 minutes; DJs can play for four hours.5️⃣ Rock bands—there's a few headliner dudes that can play 3,000–4,000-capacity venues, but DJs play the same venues, they turn the5️⃣ crowd over two times, people buy drinks all night long at higher prices—it's a win-win."[114] Electronic music festivals, such as5️⃣ Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas and Ultra Music Festival in Miami also grew in size, placing an increased5️⃣ emphasis on visual experiences, and DJs who had begun to attain a celebrity status.[3][125] Other major acts that gained prominence,5️⃣ including Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, toured major venues such as arenas and stadiums rather than playing clubs; in December5️⃣ 2011, Swedish House Mafia became the first electronic music act to sell out New York City's Madison Square Garden.[125]
In 2011,5️⃣ Spin declared a "new rave generation" led by acts like David Guetta, Deadmau5, and Skrillex.[114] In January 2013, Billboard introduced5️⃣ a new EDM-focused Dance/Electronic Songs chart, tracking the top 50 electronic songs based on sales, radio airplay, club play, and5️⃣ online streaming.[128] According to Eventbrite, EDM fans are more likely to use social media to discover and share events or5️⃣ gigs. They also discovered that 78% of fans say they are more likely to attend an event if their peers5️⃣ do, compared to 43% of fans in general. EDM has many young and social fans.[129] By late 2011, Music Trades5️⃣ was describing electronic dance music as the fastest-growing genre in the world.[130] Elements of electronic music also became increasingly prominent5️⃣ in pop music.[114] Radio and television also contributed to dance music's mainstream acceptance.[131]
US corporate interest [ edit ]
Corporate consolidation in5️⃣ the EDM industry began in 2012—especially in terms of live events. In June 2012, media executive Robert F. X. Sillerman—founder5️⃣ of what is now Live Nation—re-launched SFX Entertainment as an EDM conglomerate, and announced his plan to investR$1 billion to5️⃣ acquire EDM businesses. His acquisitions included regional promoters and festivals (including ID&T, which organises Tomorrowland), two nightclub operators in Miami,5️⃣ and Beatport, an online music store which focuses on electronic music.[132][133] Live Nation also acquired Cream Holdings and Hard Events,5️⃣ and announced a "creative partnership" with EDC organizers Insomniac Events in 2013 that would allow it to access its resources5️⃣ whilst remaining an independent company;[134] Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino described EDM as the "[new] rock 'n' roll".[113][135][136]
US radio conglomerate5️⃣ iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Media and Entertainment) also made efforts to align itself with EDM. In January 2014 It5️⃣ hired noted British DJ and BBC Radio 1 personality Pete Tong to produce programming for its "Evolution" dance radio brand,[137]5️⃣ and announced a partnership with SFX to co-produce live concerts and EDM-oriented original programming for its top 40 radio stations.5️⃣ iHeartMedia president John Sykes explained that he wanted his company's properties to be the "best destination [for EDM]".[138][139]
Major brands have5️⃣ also used the EDM phenomena as a means of targeting millennials[140][141][142][143] and EDM songs and artists have increasingly been featured5️⃣ in television commercials and programs.[144] Avicii's manager Ash Pournouri compared these practices to the commercialization of hip-hop in the early5️⃣ 2000s.[144] Heineken has a marketing relationship with the Ultra Music Festival, and has incorporated Dutch producers Armin van Buuren and5️⃣ Tiësto into its ad campaigns. Anheuser-Busch has a similar relationship as beer sponsor of SFX Entertainment events.[144] In 2014, 75️⃣ Up launched "7x7Up"—a multi-platform EDM-based campaign that included digital content, advertising featuring producers, and branded stages at both Ultra and5️⃣ Electric Daisy Carnival.[140][145][146] Wireless carrier T-Mobile US entered into an agreement with SFX to become the official wireless sponsor of5️⃣ its events, and partnered with Above & Beyond to sponsor its 2024 tour.[141]
In August 2024, SFX began to experience declines5️⃣ in its value,[147] and a failed bid by CEO Sillerman to take the company private. The company began looking into5️⃣ strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company.[148][149] In October 2024, Forbes declared the possibility of5️⃣ an EDM "bubble", in the wake of the declines at SFX Entertainment, slowing growth in revenue, the increasing costs of5️⃣ organizing festivals and booking talent, as well as an oversaturation of festivals in the eastern and western United States. Insomniac5️⃣ CEO Pasquale Rotella felt that the industry would weather the financial uncertainty of the overall market by focusing on "innovation"5️⃣ and entering into new markets.[150] Despite forecasts that interest in popular EDM would wane, in 2024 it was estimated to5️⃣ be a £5.5bn industry in the US, up by 60% compared to 2012 estimates.[151]
SFX emerged from bankruptcy in December 20245️⃣ as LiveStyle, under the leadership of Randy Phillips, a former executive of AEG Live.[152][153] The company began to slowly divest5️⃣ its live music assets in 2024, including selling its stakes in Rock in Rio (which it had bought as part5️⃣ of an attempted Las Vegas edition of the festival),[154][155] and later other SFX-owned promoters such as ID&T[156][157] and React Presents.[158]5️⃣ Phillips stepped down as CEO in 2024 to pursue other projects.[159]
Criticism of over-commercialization [ edit ]
Following the popularization of EDM5️⃣ in America a number of producers and DJs, including Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, and Markus Schulz, raised concerns that the5️⃣ perceived over-commercialisation of dance music had impacted the art of DJing. Cox saw the "press-play" approach taken by newer EDM5️⃣ DJs as unrepresentative of what he called a "DJ ethos".[125] Writing in Mixmag, DJ Tim Sheridan argued that "push-button DJs"5️⃣ who use auto-sync and play pre-recorded sets of "obvious hits" resulted in a situation overtaken by "the spectacle, money and5️⃣ the showbiz".[160]
Some house producers openly admitted that "commercial" EDM needed further differentiation and creativity. Avicii, whose 2013 album True featured5️⃣ songs incorporating elements of bluegrass, such as lead single "Wake Me Up", stated that most EDM lacked "longevity".[161] Deadmau5 criticized5️⃣ the homogenization of popular EDM, and suggested that it "all sounds the same". During the 2014 Ultra Music Festival, Deadmau55️⃣ made critical comments about up-and-coming EDM artist Martin Garrix and later played an edited version of Garrix's "Animals" remixed to5️⃣ the melody of "Old McDonald Had a Farm". Afterwards, Tiësto criticized Deadmau5 on Twitter for "sarcastically" mixing Avicii's "Levels" with5️⃣ his own "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (in reference to being a last-minute substitution for Avicii on the festival schedule due to5️⃣ a medical issue), to which Deadmau5 asked whether playing a song "sarcastically" involved "sneer[ing] while hitting the sync button".[162][163][164][165]
In May5️⃣ 2014, the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live parodied the stereotypes of EDM culture and push-button DJs in a Digital5️⃣ Short titled When Will the Bass Drop?. It featured a DJ who goes about performing everyday activities—playing a computer game,5️⃣ frying eggs, collecting money—who then presses a giant "BASS" button, which explodes the heads of concertgoers.[166][167][168]
After years of rapid growth,5️⃣ the American popular EDM market started to wane in 2024 when a number of artists famous for producing so-called 'big5️⃣ room' electro-house started to diversify stylistically. This development was directly referenced by two such DJs – David Guetta and Showtek5️⃣ – in a techno-influenced single released in April 2024 titled 'The Death of EDM'.[169] By the end of the 2010s,5️⃣ EDM's position as the dominant force in mainstream popular music began to plateau as it became displaced by other styles.[105][170]
International5️⃣ [ edit ]
In May 2024, the International Music Summit's Business Report estimated that the global electronic music industry had reached5️⃣ nearlyR$6.9 billion in value; the count included music sales, events revenue (including nightclubs and festivals), the sale of DJ equipment5️⃣ and software, and other sources of revenue. The report also identified several emerging markets for electronic dance music, including East5️⃣ Asia, India, and South Africa, credited primarily to investment by domestic, as well as American and European interests. A number5️⃣ of major festivals also began expanding into Latin America.[171]
In Ghana, West Africa, an artist named Djsky introduced EDM in 2024–present5️⃣ and organised successful festivals and events such as Hey Ibiza, Sunset music Festival, Sky show and more.[172][173][174][175] In an interview5️⃣ with WatsUp TV, Djsky revealed he was the first to introduce Electronic Music Dance into Ghana music.[176][177]
In Ethiopia EDM has5️⃣ become part of mainstream music after the 2024 breakthrough of a young artist named Rophnan which incorporated EDM sound with5️⃣ traditional rhythms and melodies.[178] In his shows, tens of thousands of youth were packing stadiums across the country and radios5️⃣ started to play the emerging genre.[179][180]
China is a market where EDM had initially made relatively few inroads; although promoters believed5️⃣ that the mostly instrumental music would remove a metaphorical language barrier, the growth of EDM in China was hampered by5️⃣ the lack of a prominent rave culture in the country as in other regions, as well as the popularity of5️⃣ domestic Chinese pop over foreign artists. Former Universal Music executive Eric Zho, inspired by the US growth, made the first5️⃣ significant investments in electronic music in China, including the organisation of Shanghai's inaugural Storm festival in 2013, the reaching of5️⃣ a title sponsorship deal for the festival with Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand, a local talent search, and organising collaborations between EDM5️⃣ producers and Chinese singers, such as Avicii and Wang Leehom's "Lose Myself". In the years following, a larger number of5️⃣ EDM events began to appear in China, and Storm itself was also preceded by a larger number of pre-parties in5️⃣ 2014 than its inaugural year. A new report released during the inaugural International Music Summit China in October 2024 revealed5️⃣ that the Chinese EDM industry was experiencing modest gains, citing the larger number of events (including new major festival brands5️⃣ such as Modern Sky and YinYang), a 6% increase in the sales of electronic music in the country, and the5️⃣ significant size of the overall market. Zho also believed that the country's "hands-on" political climate, as well as investments by5️⃣ China into cultural events, helped in "encouraging" the growth of EDM in the country.[181][182]
Social impact [ edit ]
Festivals [ edit5️⃣ ]
An EDM festival in 2013 in Plainfeld, Austria with over 100,000 attendees,[183] exhibiting the large crowds and dramatic lighting common5️⃣ at such events since the early 2000s.[3]
In the 1980s, electronic dance music was often played at illegal underground rave parties5️⃣ held in secret locations, for example, warehouses, abandoned aircraft hangars, fields and any other large, open areas. In the 1990s5️⃣ and 2000s, aspects of the underground rave culture of the 1980s and early 1990s began to evolve into legitimate, organized5️⃣ EDM concerts and festivals. Major festivals often feature a large number of acts representing various EDM genres spread across multiple5️⃣ stages. Festivals have placed a larger emphasis on visual spectacles as part of their overall experiences, including elaborate stage designs5️⃣ with underlying thematics, complex lighting systems, laser shows, and pyrotechnics. Rave fashion also evolved among attendees, which The Guardian described5️⃣ as having progressed from the 1990s "kandi raver" to "[a] slick and sexified yet also kitschy-surreal image midway between Venice5️⃣ Beach and Cirque du Soleil, Willy Wonka and a gay pride parade".[3][125][145] These events differed from underground raves by their5️⃣ organized nature, often taking place at major venues, and with measures to ensure the health and safety of attendees.[184] MTV's5️⃣ Rawley Bornstein described electronic music as "the new rock and roll",[185] as has Lollapalooza organizer Perry Farrell.[186]
Spectrum Dance Music Festival,5️⃣ 2024
Ray Waddell of Billboard noted that festival promoters have done an excellent job at branding.[185] Larger festivals have been shown5️⃣ to have positive economic impacts on their host cities[184] the 2014 Ultra Music Festival brought 165,000 attendees—and overR$223 million—to the5️⃣ Miami/South Florida region's economy.[146] The inaugural edition of TomorrowWorld—a U.S.-based version of Belgium's Tomorrowland festival, broughtR$85.1 million to the Atlanta5️⃣ area—as much revenue as its hosting of the NCAA Final Four (the semi-final and national championship games of the NCAA5️⃣ Division I men's basketball tournament) earlier in the year.[187] EDC Las Vegas boosted the Clark County economy byR$350.3 million in5️⃣ 2024 alone, with over 405,000 attendees across three days (June 19–21).[188]
The popularity of EDM and festivals also led some multi-genre5️⃣ festivals not strongly associated with electronic music, such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, to add more electronic acts to their lineup.5️⃣ They often play EDM-specific stages, but major acts such as Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Subtronics have made overall headlining appearances5️⃣ on the main stages of Lollapalooza and Coachella respectively—placements that are typically associated with rock and alternative acts.[189][190] Russell Smith5️⃣ of The Globe and Mail felt that the commercial festival industry was an antithesis to the original principles of the5️⃣ rave subculture, citing "the expensive tickets, the giant corporate sponsors, the crass bro culture—shirtless muscle boys who cruise the stadiums,5️⃣ tiny popular girls in bikinis who ride on their shoulders – not to mention the sappy music itself."[191] Drug-related incidents,5️⃣ as well as other complaints surrounding the behaviour of their attendees, have contributed to negative perceptions and opposition to electronic5️⃣ music events by local authorities.[191][192]
After Ultra Music Festival 2014, where a crowd of gatecrashers trampled a security guard on its5️⃣ first day, Miami's city commissioners considered banning the festival from being held in the city, citing the trampling incident, lewd5️⃣ behavior, and complaints by downtown residents of being harassed by attendees. The commissioners voted to allow Ultra to continue being5️⃣ held in Miami due to its positive economic effects, under the condition that its organizers address security, drug usage and5️⃣ lewd behavior by attendees.[193][194][195] In 2024, after continued concerns, the commissioners voted to bar the festival from being held in5️⃣ Bayfront Park and downtown Miami,[196][197][198] but subsequently approved a proposal to move the event to one of Miami's barrier islands,5️⃣ Virginia Key.[199] Following the festival, which was impacted by transportation issues (as there is only one vehicular link between Virginia5️⃣ Key and mainland Miami) and other problems, Ultra pulled out of the agreement, and negotiated an agreement to return to5️⃣ Bayfront Park.[200][201] The UK Jungle and Drum and Bass focused record label, Hospital Records, runs a festival called Hospitality[202] in5️⃣ clubs and other locations scattered around the UK and other countries with big EDM influence. These events are usually concerts5️⃣ from artists on the record's roster of musicians.
COVID-19 Impact [ edit ]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cancellation of festivals, accompanied5️⃣ by the restrictions on social distancing has negatively impacted economic activity of festivals and the music industry.[203] Festivals are required5️⃣ to have regulations on health and safety, as well as deal with crisis and risk management, since they are at5️⃣ high risk due to the mass of people that attend. As a result, it has become normal for festivals or5️⃣ performances to be streamed online.[203]
During 2024, all large EDM music festivals were postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.5️⃣ On March 4, 2024, Ultra Miami was the first electronic dance music festival to cancel an event since the event5️⃣ could not conform to the state's capacity rules and county's safety protocols and regulations.[204] On April 21, 2024, Electric Forest5️⃣ music festival in Rothbury, Michigan rescheduled their event on June 25–27, 2024 to June 2024 due to health concerns.[205] On5️⃣ July 9, 2024, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided that all sizeable events will be suspended through September5️⃣ 30.[206] As a result, Electric Zoo 2024, which takes place on Randall's Island in New York City during Labor Day5️⃣ Weekend, fully canceled their 2024 event.
Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas (EDC), the biggest dance music festival in North America, was5️⃣ scheduled to happen on May 15–17, 2024. In April, EDC postponed their May event to October 2–4, 2024, and later5️⃣ declared on August 2 that EDC Las Vegas 2024 would be officially canceled.[207] Instead, EDC CEO Pasquale Rotella announced the5️⃣ celebration of EDC's 25th anniversary on May 21–23, 2024.[208] On April 9, 2024, EDC had not yet released their lineup5️⃣ and COVID-19 safety protocols for the event happening in May 2024.[209] On April 20, 2024, Rotella postponed the festival to5️⃣ October 22–24, 2024.[210]
The cancellations of these events economically hurt the music industry and the companies that run these events. EDC5️⃣ 2024 originally sold out of the 200,000 tickets for their first event, but offered full returns for those who could5️⃣ not make it to new dates.[211] Electric Zoo included an incentive for customers to keep their ticket by providing an5️⃣ extraR$50 for General Admission tickets andR$100 for VIP tickets to spend on merchandise and food on festival grounds.[212] Most music5️⃣ festival companies offered to rollover the ticket to their next event or give full refunds to those who could not5️⃣ attend, but ultimately lost a lot of customers due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.[203]
Association with recreational drug use [ edit5️⃣ ]
Dance music has a long association with recreational drug use,[213] particularly with a wide range of drugs that have been5️⃣ categorized under the name "club drugs". Russell Smith noted that the association of drugs and music subcultures was by no5️⃣ means exclusive to electronic music, citing previous examples of music genres that were associated with certain drugs, such as psychedelic5️⃣ rock and LSD, disco music and cocaine, and punk music and heroin.[191]
Pictured above is what the drug ecstasy commonly looks5️⃣ like, though there are many different shapes and forms.
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy, "E", or "Molly", is often considered5️⃣ the drug of choice within the rave culture and is also used at clubs, festivals and house parties.[214] In the5️⃣ rave environment, the sensory effects from the music and lighting are often highly synergistic with the drug. The psychedelic amphetamine5️⃣ quality of MDMA offers multiple reasons for its appeals to users in the "rave" setting. Some users enjoy the feeling5️⃣ of mass communion from the inhibition-reducing effects of the drug, while others use it as party fuel because of the5️⃣ drug's stimulatory effects.[215] Another drug para-Methoxyamphetamine (4-MA) also known as pink ecstasy, PMA, "Death" or "Dr. Death", it is similar5️⃣ to MDMA but they can take up to an hour to produce effects, which can result in hyperthermia and subsequently,5️⃣ organ failure. People who take PMA are often mistaken for it being identified as MDMA.[216][217]
MDMA is occasionally known for being5️⃣ taken in conjunction with psychedelic drugs. The more common combinations include MDMA combined with LSD, MDMA combined with DMT, MDMA5️⃣ with psilocybin mushrooms, and MDMA with the dissociative drug ketamine. Many users use mentholated products while taking MDMA for its5️⃣ cooling sensation while experiencing the drug's effects. Examples include menthol cigarettes, Vicks VapoRub, NyQuil,[218] and lozenges.
The incidence of nonmedical ketamine5️⃣ has increased in the context of raves and other parties.[219] However, its emergence as a club drug differs from other5️⃣ club drugs (e.g. MDMA) due to its anesthetic properties (e.g., slurred speech, immobilization) at higher doses; in addition, there are5️⃣ reports of ketamine being sold as "ecstasy".[221] The use of ketamine as part of a "postclubbing experience" has also been5️⃣ documented.[222] Ketamine's rise in the dance culture was rapid in Hong Kong by the end of the 1990s. Before becoming5️⃣ a federally controlled substance in the United States in 1999, ketamine was available as diverted pharmaceutical preparations and as a5️⃣ pure powder sold in bulk quantities from domestic chemical supply companies.[223] Much of the current ketamine diverted for nonmedical use5️⃣ originates in China and India.[223]
Drug-related deaths at electronic dance music events [ edit ]
A number of deaths attributed to apparent5️⃣ drug use have occurred at major electronic music concerts and festivals. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum blacklisted Insomniac Events after5️⃣ an underaged attendee died from "complications of ischemic encephalopathy due to methylenedioxymethamphetamine intoxication" during Electric Daisy Carnival 2010; as a5️⃣ result, the event was re-located to Las Vegas the following year.[224][184][225][226][227] Drug-related deaths during Electric Zoo 2013 in New York5️⃣ City, United States, and Future Music Festival Asia 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, prompted the final day of both events5️⃣ to be cancelled,[226][228] while Life in Color cancelled a planned event in Malaysia out of concern for the incident, and5️⃣ other drug-related deaths that occurred at the A State of Trance 650 concerts in Jakarta, Indonesia.[229][230][231]
In September 2024, the city5️⃣ of Buenos Aires, Argentina banned all electronic music events, pending future legislation, after five drug-related deaths and four injuries at5️⃣ a Time Warp Festival event in the city in April 2024. The ban forced electronic band Kraftwerk to cancel a5️⃣ planned concert in the city, despite arguing that there were dissimilarities between a festival and their concerts.[232][233]
Industry awards [ edit5️⃣ ]
See also [ edit ]
(alphabetical)
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^ Fikentscher (2000) , p. 5, in discussing the definition of underground dance5️⃣ music as it relates to post-disco music in America, states that: "The prefix 'underground' does not merely serve to explain5️⃣ that the associated type of music—and its cultural context—are familiar only to a small number of informed persons. Underground also5️⃣ points to the sociological function of the music, framing it as one type of music that to have meaning and5️⃣ continuity is kept away, to a large degree, from mainstream society, mass media, and those empowered to enforce prevalent moral5️⃣ and aesthetic codes and values." ^ "Although it can now be heard in Detroit's leading clubs, the local area has5️⃣ shown a marked reluctance to get behind the music. It has been in clubs like the Powerplant (Chicago), The World5️⃣ (New York), The Hacienda (Manchester), Rock City (Nottingham), and Downbeat (Leeds) where the techno sound has found most support. Ironically,5️⃣ the only Detroit club which really championed the sound was a peripatetic party night called Visage, which unromantically shared its5️⃣ name with one of Britain's oldest new romantic groups".
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