Electronic dance music

Not to be confused with Electro dance.

A DJ performing a mix.

Electronic dance music (EDM) is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment. The music is largely created for use by disc jockeys and is produced with the intention of it being heard in the context of a continuous DJ set; wherein the DJ progresses from one record to the next via a synchronized segue or "mix".

The term emerged in America in the early 2000s and describes a set of percussive music genres that largely stem from the production methods of disco music, techno music, house music, and trance music. Such music was popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s, the warehouse party scene of the late 1980s, and the early rave scene of the acid house movement in the late 1980s. However, even in the later half of the 1970s the Disco music dance scene began to shift away from its traditional orchestration (acoustic orchestras) on its recordings. By 1977 producer Giorgio Moroder worked with Donna Summer to release I Feel Love. The song was a dance/discotheque hit, that was made using synthesizers and drum machines. They would later collaborate and release the Donna Summer's Bad Girls Album in which tracks like Sunset People used similar techniques during production. This sound would wind up being the norm for Disco in the late 1970s through to the 1980s. By the mid 1990s, the presence of electronic dance music in contemporary culture was noted widely and its role in society began to be explored in published historical, cultural and social science academic studies. It was originally constructed by means of electronic instruments such as synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers, and generally emphasizes the unique sounds of those instruments, even when mimicking traditional acoustic instrumentation. Currently the music is now mostly made using software that that contains the contains sequencing sampling and synthesizers, as well as effect abilities all in one. Now the ability to produce and create has become much easier economically and physically since producers no longer need to buy large amounts of equipment. It sometimes encompasses music not primarily meant for dancing, but derived from the dance-oriented styles.

Synonyms

Since around the mid-1980s, dance music has enjoyed popularity in many nightclubs, and is the predominant type of music played in discothèques as well as the rave scene in the late 1980s. As such, the related term club music, while broadly referring to whichever music genres are currently in vogue and associated with nightclubs, has become synonymous with all electronic dance music, or just those genres—or some subset thereof—that are typically played at mainstream discothèques. It is sometimes used more broadly to encompass non-electronic music played at such venues, or electronic music that is not normally played at clubs but that shares attributes with music that is. What is widely considered to be club music changes over time, includes different genres depending on the region and who's making the reference, and may not always encompass electronic dance music. Similarly, electronic dance music sometimes means different things to different people. Both terms vaguely encompass multiple genres, and sometimes are used as if they were genres themselves. The distinction is that club music is ultimately based on what's popular, whereas electronic dance music is based on attributes of the music itself.

Genres

Main article: List of electronic music genres

Electronic dance music is categorized by music journalists and fans alike as an ever-evolving plethora of named genres, styles and sub-styles. The presence of vocals and pattern of drum beats help differentiate genres of electronic dance music.

Production technology

In the 1970s many genres of popular electronic music exploited the use of MIDI protocol; a technological development that expanded interactivity and synchronized functionality across a range of music related technologies. In the 1990s, following the growth of personal computing, EDM creation began migrating to computer based production systems.

Some of the most widely used synthesizers in EDM music include the Yamaha DX7, Korg M1, and Roland's Jupiter and SH-101. In addition, the most widely used bass synthesizer is the Roland TB-303, while the most widely used drum machines are Roland's TR-808 and TR-909.

Venues and Performances

While in most modern music where the artist/producers will perform in front of the audiences, EDM artist would be heard mostly through DJ's at dance clubs. The clubs them selves from the 70-90's would on occasion hire the artist/produce to perform live but most nights when people went to dance venues they would be listening to a DJ. Night clubs and Disco such as Paradise Garage and Studio 54 in New York City, or The Wharehouse in Chicago would employ DJ for every night they were open, and have the sound system prepped more for DJs than for a live act. By the late 80's-early 90's this would cause a popularity among the DJs' them selves. Night club attendees began to enjoy the abilities of the DJ in how well the DJ could keep the crowd dancing and the groove going. DJs while not necessarily producers began to produce more of there own material while trying to match the groove or beat already set by what they where playing. This lead to DJs making remixes. These remixes made it possible for DJs to extend songs or make a previous non dance song danceable. This would lead to DJ begin to experiment with artist and singers to create material. Susan Vega's Tom's Dinner remix by the DJ duo DNA(dance music band) and DJ Jellybean Benitez working with very early Madonna demos are a prime example of this. All of this would create a popularity for the DJ that would elevate them to the status of a performer or producer. EDM performers (disc jockeys and producers), by the 90's would start to perform on both indoor and out door dance music festivals called "Raves". As the 90's drew to a close more and more DJ and performers/producers would branch out and perform on traditional music festivals either "spinning" a DJ set, or actually perform live.

Notable artists, producers and DJs

In the 1970s, producers like Brian Eno and Giorgio Moroder were pushing the boundaries for synthesizers and drum machines. While Eno would go off and be one of the innovators of Ambient Music, Moroder would score his second dance hit (first being "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer) and Academy Award for best score with the song Chase which was the theme song for the film Midnight Express. By the 1980s, bands like Yello and artists like Gary Numan would go on to produce Electronic Dance Music hits even before the commercial advent of MIDI. MIDI (which allows for digital/electronic instruments to communicate with each other) would be the catalyst which would allow new electronic dance musicians and genres to flourish by the mid to late 80's such as Front 242 and Meat Beat Manifesto.

With the explosive growth of computer music technology and consequent reduction in the cost of equipment in the late 1990s, the number of artists and DJs working in electronic music was overwhelming. With the advent of hard disk recording systems, it became possible for any home computer user to produce music, and hence the rise in the number of "bedroom bands", often consisting of a single person. Nevertheless notable artists can still be identified.

Influential musicians in industrial, synth pop and later electronic dance styles include Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), The Human League, Silver Apples, A-ha, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Cut La Roc, Depeche Mode, New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, and Throbbing Gristle, Daft Punk

Musicians, producers and DJs such as Diplo, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Tijs Verwest (aka Tiësto), ATB, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold, Showtek, John Digweed, Sasha, Markus Schulz, Kaskade and Ferry Corsten have reached true superstar status, can command five-figure salaries for a single performance and regularly perform for hours on end. Some DJs have world wide radio, and internet broadcasted shows that air weekly, such as VONYC Sessions, a show mixed by Paul Van Dyk; Trance Around the World, a show mixed by Above & Beyond; A State of Trance, a show mixed by Armin van Buuren, Tiësto's Club Life mixed weekly by Tiësto.

In House, Techno, and Drum and Bass, pioneers such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Charanjit Singh, Jesse Saunders, Larry Heard, Goldie, A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem, Joey Beltram and Frankie Bones are still active as of 2008. The only electronic music album to reach number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart is The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land. In contrast to the American charts, many dance albums have reached number 1 in the UK and european charts including Scooter, Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy, 2 Unlimited and more recently Pendulum and Example.

Mainstream appeal in the United States

Electronic dance music achieved limited popular exposure when it was marketed as electronica in America during the mid 1990s. At that time a wave of dance music acts from the UK, including the The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Underworld, had been prematurely associated with an "American electronica revolution." But, instead of EDM finding wider mainstream success, it was relegated to the margins of the industry. Despite the domestic music media interest in "electronica" during the latter half of the 1990s American house and techno producers were still forced to travel abroad if they wanted to establish their careers as DJs and producers.

Some 15 years later, in 2011, Spin magazine reported that the American dance music scene had finally reached critical mass with a "new rave generation" of mainstream consumers having emerged. Both domestic and foreign artists no longer viewed America as the "final frontier" when it came to EDM and the market was now wide open. Today it has become common for established Top 40 artists and producers to infuse elements of popular EDM styles in their music. According to Time Out Chicago, EDM has "become the driving beat behind pop music and product sales, the soundtrack of choice for a new generation." In 2012, for the first time, the Grammy Awards telecast included EDM.

The Electric Daisy Carnival, a touring rave event (dance festival), inspired by the underground rave parties of the 1990s, is drawing tens of thousands, and 100,000 people are expected to attend the festival at Met Life Stadium in New York.Other festivals including Lollapalooza and Coachella have increased the number of EDM acts represented. Lollapalooza's organizer Perry Farrell, and Rawley Bornstein, an MTV music and talent programmer, have described EDM as the new rock and roll.Ray Waddell, touring editor at Billboard magazine, noted that festival promoters have done an excellent job at branding.

The increased popularity of electronic dance music styles in America has served to fill a void resulting from a decline in music industry based artistic development. There has also been speculation that EDM based entertainment provides an escape from the poor economic climate many consumers in their 20s now face.

See also

• Dance music
• Electronica
• List of electronic musicians
• List of electronic dance music record labels

Further reading

• Hewitt, Michael. Music Theory for Computer Musicians. 1st Ed. U.S. Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 139781598635034
• Electronic dance music glossary by Moby for USA Today published December 13, 2011