EDM’s increasing popularity reshapes music culture

Before electronic dance music (EDM) became more mainstream, it was generally associated with jackhammers and an amalgamation of jarring sounds that compete for the listener’s attention. But recently, EDM has become much more compelling.

EDM is a style of music heavily focused on rhythm and beat as opposed to lyrics. According to EDMsauce.com, EDM contains a wide variety of genres such as House, Techno and Dubstep. Each has different origins. For instance, House originated in Chicago and Dubstep in South London.

But since their creation, these genres have increased exponentially in popularity. Many EDM songs are appearing in the top 100 charts, such as “Lean On” by Major Lazer and DJ Snake, which reached number four on Billboard Top 100 chart, and “Summer” by Calvin Harris, which peaked at No. 7.

Junior Julius Woods, an aspiring DJ, said that EDM has evolved substantially since he started listening to it in 2007. He said that it has now become a more involved community, especially because raves bring the genre’s fans together.

The style of EDM has also changed drastically. When Woods  began listening to EDM, most of the songs belonged to just one genre: techno rave. Moreover, there were only a few popular EDM artists at that time, such as DJ Mangoo and DJ Splash.

“EDM was not big since people were not interested in creating music like that,” Woods said. “They were mainly focused on pop songs.”

Gradually, more and more people gained appreciation for the sounds of EDM. This has led to the rise in popularity of EDM music festivals, such as Ultra and Tomorrowland. Ultra, which takes place every March, had 330,000 people in attendance during a two-day period this past last year, while Tomorrowland drew 400,000 people last July. Both of these music festivals included nearly 30 different artists exhibiting their own unique sounds.

“Those EDM festivals really show how much EDM has grown as a whole,” Woods said.

Woods also said that EDM has influenced other popular songs. Many popular songs now include some sort of drop, a musical technique where the rhythm or bass dramatically changes.

With Woods’ extensive experience as a DJ, he believes that EDM will not be a temporary trend.

“EDM has become such a big part of music that people will have to be inclined to like it,” Woods said. “Even if people don't necessary like the music, EDM will not go away anytime soon.”

Another avid EDM listener, junior Theo Luan focuses more on Future bass, a subtype of Trap music, which is a less prominent form of EDM. Trap is usually more experimental, and unlike other EDM songs, do not have to follow a certain style.

Luan enjoys listening to this type of music because it is so different than popular pop music.

“This type of music focuses more on production,” Luan said. “It focuses more on the sound quality unlike pop music [where] lyrics encompass the song.”

Luan said that EDM is an evolved form of music since most of the songs can be made on computers. He also said that since EDM is made on computers, it is easier to produce.

“Since more people can make these songs, EDM can provide us with with a diverse range of different sounds that can also branch out to modern music,” Luan said. “EDM will only move up in the music culture.”