What is EDM?
Electronic Dance Music (EDM), also known as dance music or club music, is a wide range of percussive electronic music genres made for nightclubs, raves, and music festivals. It is produced for playback by DJ’s who create tons of tracks, called a DJ mix, by transitioning from one recording to another. EDM also offers a wide variety of music genres such as techno, dubstep, house, future bass, disco, drum n’ bass, deep house, etc. In EDM music, synthesizers and drum machines are common instruments in EDM songs, and they are mostly instrumental.
Origins
EDM has been around since the 1970’s and in the 1980s it became popular worldwide, such as in Europe, but it was the most popular in the United States, where genres like house came from Chicago and techno from Detroit. It’s cited that there is no “first” EDM song since the genre has evolved from various artists since the late 1970s and early 1980s. While the “first” song that had an electronic feel to it was from 1948, created by Pierre Schaeffer called “Etude aux chemins de fer”, which translates to “Study at the Railways”. The first band that made EDM more recognized in the 1970s was a German band called “Kraftwerk”.
Artists who made EDM more popular
Now there are many EDM artists who have made a huge impact on the EDM genre, but I’ll be going over the ones I currently know.
From the early 2000s, Daft Punk, a French electronic duo that formed in 1993, started to gain popularity with their album “Discovery,” with their top song being “One More Time,” which gave EDM some recognition. In 2021, the duo split up, but to this day, their music is still being played.
In the late 2000s, Deadmau5 released his 2008 album “Random Album Title” and the song “I Remember” became popular, which led to the song “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” released in 2009, which reached number one on Billboard’s Dance/Mix, becoming their most popular song. Deadmau5 is still making music today, with their latest song being “Ameonna”.
In the mid-2010s is where EDM got popular with artists like Marshmallow releasing “Alone” and “Happier”, Major Lazer releasing “Lean On”, and The Chainsmokers releasing “Closer”. These songs would be heard on the radio, which gained popularity; the 2010s were a great decade for EDM artists/music.
How EDM impacted me
I’ve tried to interview students who listen to the EDM genre, but I haven’t found anyone. I’m surprised that students don’t really listen to EDM here at PHS. But since the article is supposed to relate/connect to the students, I’ll just be talking about my experiences with EDM since I’m a student.
To me, EDM has helped a lot, such as it helps improve my mood when I’m feeling down, it helps me focus on my work since it’s a repetitive groove that plays in the background, and it helps me reduce my stress since EDM music is usually just upbeat or an energetic type of music.
I remember the first time I listened to a EDM song and that back in 5th grade in elementary school when a friend of mine introduced to the song was called “Around the World” by Daft Punk, it had no “lyrics” the only thing that would be said again and again is “around the world” 144 times (yeah, I counted.) I have an amazing uncle that we call “Luey”, and he is all about EDM. He introduced me to the artist Deadmau5, and he likes going to EDM raves/music festivals.
Conclusion
Sometimes EDM is not considered “real” music since it’s just repetitive, and it doesn’t really require any “real” talent. I would disagree, but that’s a topic for another day. I hope that when people listen to EDM music that they feel the same way I feel: upbeat and energetic. If you’re trying to get into the genre, I would recommend listening to Daft Punk!
