What is Electronic Dance Music?

Electronic dance music
Ambient
Drum and bass
EBM
Electronica
Breakbeat
Big beat
Downbeat
House
Techno
Trance
Euro Disco
Eurodance
Italo Disco
Hi-NRG
Industrial
IDM
Synthpop

Electronic dance music (EDM), is a broad set of percussive music genres that largely inherit from 1970s disco music and, to some extent, the experimental pop music of Kraftwerk. Such music was originally borne of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s. It is 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. It sometimes encompasses music not primarily meant for dancing, but derived from the dance-oriented styles.

Electronic dance music experienced a boom after the proliferation of personal computers in the 1980s, many music genres that made use of electronic instruments developed into contemporary styles mainly thanks to the MIDI protocol, which enabled computers, synthesizers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another and achieve the full synchronization of sounds. Electronic dance music is typically composed using computers and synthesizers, and rarely has any physical instruments. Instead, this is replaced by digital/electronic sounds, with a 4/4 beat. Dance music typically ranges from 120bpm, up to 200bpm, with techno, trance, and house being the most widespread.

Synonyms

Since around the mid-1980s, electronic dance music has enjoyed popularity in many nightclubs, and, as of 2006, is the predominant type of music played in discothèques as well as the rave scene. As such, the related term club music, while broadly referring to whatever music genres are currently in vogue and associated with nightclubs, has, for some, 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. For example, as of 2006, hip hop music, being widely played in clubs, is one form of "club music" to many, but a smaller percentage would describe it as being a form of 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 dance 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. Some genres, such as techno, house, trance, electro, breakbeat, drum and bass, Italo disco, and Eurobeat (closely related to Italo disco) are primarily intended to promote dancing. Others, such as IDM, glitch and trip-hop, are more experimental and tend to be associated more with listening than dancing.

Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy set out a categorization of electronic dance music genres based on beats per minute (bpm)^[1]:

• 60–90 bpm — hip hop and dub
• 90–120 bpm — faster hip hop and big beats/trip hop
• 120–135 bpm — house
• 135–155 bpm — techno
• 130-180 bpm — Trance
• 155–180 bpm — drum and bass / jungle
• 180 + bpm — hardcore gabber and beyond

Notable artists and DJs

With the explosive growth of computers music technology and consequent reduction in the cost of equipment in the late 1990s, the number of artists and DJs working within electronic music is overwhelming. With the advent of hard disk recording systems, it is possible for any home computer user to become a musician, 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 Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle (both now defunct), the Human League and Kraftwerk. In house, techno and drum and bass pioneers such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Goldie, A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem and Frankie Bones are still active as of 2007. Commercially successful artists working under the "electronica" rubric such as Fatboy Slim, Faithless, Fluke, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, The Crystal Method, Chloe Day, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Orbital, Propellerheads, Scooter, Underworld, Überzone, Björk and Moby continue to release albums and perform regularly (sometimes in stadium-sized arenas, such has the popularity of electronic dance music grown). Some DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Sasha, Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, and Tijs Verwest (aka Tiësto) have reached true superstar status and can command five-figure salaries for a single performance. They perform for hours on end mixing their music into pre-recorded singles. Some DJs have world wide radio, and internet, broadcasted shows that air weekly, such as A State of Trance, a show mixed by Armin van Buuren. The critically acclaimed Autechre and Aphex Twin continue to put out challenging records of (mostly) home-listening music.

Notable record labels

Until the 1980s, there were virtually no record labels that exclusively promoted electronic dance music. Because of this dearth of outlets, many of the early techno pioneers started their own. For example, techno pioneer Juan Atkins started Metroplex Records, and Richie Hawtin started his hugely influential Plus 8 imprint. In the United Kingdom, Warp Records emerged in the 1990s as one of the pre-eminent sources of home-listening and experimental music. Later arrivals include Astralwerks, Ninja Tune, and Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto record label.

References