Is EDM Dead Already?
My personal thoughts about the fall of electronic dance music era.
Electronic Dance Music, also known as EDM, can be described as a big umbrella of many electronic music subgenres. The term EDM itself emerged in the mid-1980s. There are many different EDM subgenres, the difference of these subgenres can be identified in the sounds, tempo, and its mood.
As we know, the year 2010–2016 is the prime time of EDM, especially in this decade. One of the most popular EDM subgenres is progressive house. Artists like Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, and Alesso are some big EDM artists adopting progressive house as their main genre. The big questions are, where did their music go? Is it dead already?
As an EDM producer and listener, my short answer is no. Here is why:
1. EDM Has Its Own Market.
If you see EDM as that one party anthem music, then you’re not wrong. The popular images of EDM are usually connected to artists such as Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Steve Aoki, etc. Not everyone is a fan of this party music. You can’t just chill after a long productive day with that loud-noisy music. Because of those charasteristics, I can clearly say that EDM is not for everyone, but it always has its own market in the industry.
2. EDM Is Evoluting
As a genre, EDM is evoluting. These big variety of subgenres is the outcome of EDM evolution. Like other artists, EDM artists explores their creativity, their explorations create new subgenres, and it occurs overtime. Many EDM artists nowadays also combine dance music elements with contemporary pop music. Artists like Galantis, The Chainsmokers, and Zedd are some big Pop-EDM producer I can mention.
3. The Musical Cycle.
Like many other musical genres, EDM is going through this so-called musical cycle. The simplest way to describe the musical cycle is a dynamic phenomenon of the ups and downs of musical genres. As we know, disco as an EDM subgenre has its prime time in the 80s. This is what happened with the rise of EDM in the year 2010–2016. It may seems dead now, but i’m pretty sure it will make it to the top of music charts soon, maybe in a new form or packages.
Well, I don’t know exactly where and how the EDM evolution will be in the future. But, the needs of dance music will always be exist as an attempt of humans seeking happines.
Electronic music was this super cool thing to me my whole life.
-Porter Robinson
