The Rise of Electronic Dance Music š§
The Euro 2020 opening ceremony this weekend, featuring Martin Garrix and U2 goes to show how far EDM has come. Today, we help track the multi-decade rise of the genre.
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Hi Everyone!
The UEFA Euro 2020, finally gets underway this weekend, after being postponed for more than a year due to the global pandemic.
As part of the festivities, the opening ceremony will feature Martin Garrix, Bono, and Edge (U2 Members) perform their single āWe are the Peopleā, which is also the official song of the tournament.
Sounds like a weird collaboration right? Martin Garrix is one of the biggest DJās on the planet and U2 is well U2, they really need no introduction. So how did this come along?
Electronic Dance Music or EDM has truly seeped into the mainstream Pop culture, to the extent that DJs now command one of the biggest celebrity statuses when it comes to artists around the world.
In general, āEDMā is the umbrella term for the wide range of sub-genres that contributed to the formation of āElectronic Dance Musicā as we know it today.
I consider myself no expert when it comes to this, but hard-core EDM fans swear by their favorite sub-genresšš»
So how did this entire movement which was once strictly restricted to rave parties and fitness classes, with a strong association to recreational drug culture get integrated into mainstream Pop?
Letās get into it šš»
In the 80s, EDM was often played at illegal underground rave parties held in secret locations, for example, warehouses, abandoned aircraft hangars, and fields. By the 90s, politicians like then-Senator Joe Biden were particularly resistant to dance-music events that were perceived as havens for illicit drug use.
EDMās first breakthrough into the main music industry was in the 2000s, when aspects of the underground rave culture of the 1980s and early 1990s began to evolve into legitimate, organized EDM concerts and festivals.
This period also coincided with the rise of the Internet and the popularity of P2P song-sharing platforms such as Napster. Traditional music players such as Radio and Record Labels were not a fan of the electronic sounds produced by these artists.
Hence, they took it upon themselves to share their art with people through the internet. Even today, The Internet and EDM remain joined at the hip, with social media being the primary ticket sales channel for EDM festivals, concerts, and club nights.
SoundCloud- a similar Internet application, was another factor in the rising success of EDM. It allows users to upload original content, and became a platform for independent artists to perfect their craft as well as a hub for music aficionados to explore a variety of subgenres.
If it werenāt for SoundCloud, the world may have never seen the meteoric success of big-time, best-selling EDM artists like Marshmello and Skrillex.
By the mid-2000s, Dutch producer Tiƫsto was bringing worldwide popular attention to EDM after providing a soundtrack to the entry of athletes during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
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After its initial rise, artists like Daft Punk and Skrillex completely changed the game around EDM as they gave birth to conceptualization art surrounding light which is incorporated in the EDM festivals to this date.
Daft Punkās performance at Coachella in 2006 was considered by many as the ātipping pointā for EDM as it introduced the duo to a new generation of ā rock kidsā
The use of LEDs, strobe lights, fast-paced music, and yes, substance use became an integral part of the EDM culture. This set the tone for the rise of Dance Music as we know it.
Check out Daft Punkās illuminating 2007 set āAliveā now š
The genre quickly molded into mainstream pop as artists like Avicii, Major Lazer, Skrillex, DJ Snake, and David Guetta started collaborating with Pop artists like Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Katy Perry among many others.
The collaborations such as ā We Found Loveā, by Rihanna and Calvin Harris and ā Wolves by Selena Gomez, and Marshmello' are some of the examples that explain the hold EDM artists have on the Industry.
The Song ā Turn down for whatā by DJ Snake and Lil Jon was also included in the multi-million dollar movie franchise, ā Fast And Furiousā šš»
But what makes EDM addictive and easy to listen to?
The attention span of this generation has fallen short due to information overload, and to make the most of it, songs have become shorter.
Spotifyās rule which only counts a stream if the listener streamed the song beyond 30 seconds, means the trend of choruses starting 15 seconds into the song rose from 10% to 40% in 2018.
This technique has helped EDM and Pop artists make their art engaging and addictive as interesting hooks and beats are introduced to the listener in the first 30 seconds itself, which helps hook the listener to break the time barrier and listen to the whole song.
This phenomenon is also popularly known as:
āDonāt Bore Us, Give Us the Chorusā
Although being a DJ is not that easy, this clip from the film,ā We are your Friendsā, where actor Zac Efron explains model Emily Ratajkowksi, is a perfect example of how complex the process of engaging an audience actually is:
Our Take on EDM?
The electronic dance music or EDM industry was always frowned upon by purists who believed that the genre was nothing but loud sounds which are rendered enjoyable with heavy substance use. But to the people who liked it, it was much more than that.
āIt was something that was meant for our generationā.
I believe the phrase is true since most of the music that has been handed to us is a different generationās music. I mean, I love Eric Clapton, Queen, or Led Zeppelin as much as the next guy but with EDM, it was like our generationās breakthrough into the music scene with something innovative.
The EDM industry was predicted to be valued at $3.3 billion, a fall of 56% from $7.3 billion in the year 2019 but more recent predictions suggest that it is to be valued at around $9 billion by 2022.
The traditional form is slowly fading but due to its hold on a global scale, it has paved the way for new genres to thrive, free from the scrutiny of music purists which is keeping the spirit of EDM alive.
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Originally published at https://incentify.substack.com.
