EDM, or Electronic Dance Music, is pop music’s funkiest and trendiest acronym! It has already become a rage amongst most of the youth and that is due to the never ending volts of energy it brings with it and the euphoria it creates. You enter a whole new realm when you play it and listen to it. The bass just makes you move your feet and raise your hands HIGH! (Dope it is!)
“You have a new generation every eight to ten years that finds its own music, its own sound, and for this generation, dance music is the biggest new thing,” says Dutch DJ Afrojack
(Image courtesy: Google images)
Where it all began:
EDM’s origin can be traced to the 1980s when it was known as ‘Electronica’. It wasn’t too popular back then and people included it in the genre of ‘Rock’. But then came the EDM tsunami, primarily due to the efforts of DJ Tiesto and David Guetta who remixed previous hits and organised live concerts. The logic is simple, Electronica and Pop had a baby whose name is EDM. Organisers of music concerts then realised the value of DJs. A rock band or any other genre’s band could perform for only an hour or so but a DJ could go on and perform for hours, spinning the bass, keeping the audience intrigued and mesmerised.
EDM’s categories:
The combination of pop and EDM has taken the former to another level. Many pop artists notably Akon, Sia, Rihanna and Florence have successfully launched their albums with DJs like David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Zedd and Hardwell.
EDM contains various sub categories too. They are-
1) Trap- Characterised by aggressive lyrics and sound (the music that you get when you combine Honey Singh’s hippy beats and Rahman’s melody).
2) House- It Contains repetitive bass drops and beats. This is also known as the powerhouse of EDM (aka mitochondria).
3) Dubstep- Purely electronic sound and a lower bass. (That kind of music on which you’ll dance if you were a robot… not that you won’t dance on it now!)
A pop song could be remixed into several of these sub categories and then could match the tastes of many people. Moreover, the art of mixing songs needs a software that could even be used at home. This has resulted in minimal cost of producing songs. Dutch DJ sensation Martin Garrix, who is just 19, created his famous track- ‘Animals’ at home. (I am 19 and trust me, I am not happy about this either).
According to Last.fm, EDM as total genre increased from 92,000 tracks in 2012 to 266,000 tracks in July 2013, a 190% increase. These stats are examples of the power EDM contains. Bye Bye haters!
Top Ten Tracks of 2014:
- Waves, by Mr Probz
- Heroes, by Alesso
- Blame, by Calvin Harris
- Outside, by Calvin Harris
- Tremor, by Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike
- Rather Be, by Clean Bandit
- A Sky Full of Stars, by Coldplay
- Summer, by Calvin Harris
- Dangerous, by David Guetta
- Breakfree, by Zedd and Ariana Grande
Top Ten Artists/DJ of 2014 :
- DJ Hardwell
- Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike
- Armin Van Buuren
- Martin Garrix
- Tiesto
- Avicii
- David Guetta
- Nicky Romero
- Skrillex
- Steve Aoki
EDM Festivals:
Yes, these are festivals, where DJs are the gods, EDM the medium through which these gods communicate and the worshippers want just one thing- madness, absolute madness! There are many EDM festivals that attract huge attention around the globe. Some of them are: Tomorrowland ,The Ultra Music Festival (UMF) and The Sunburn. The energy, the people, the music, all come together as one! People are willing to pay as ‘HIGH’ as 550 dollars for the 3 day festivals. (Getting high and EDM have a symbiotic relationship, just saying!)
EDM = LOVE
When you ask an EDM lover on why he likes it, the answer is simple, when the bass drops, so do the problems!!
You become a madman, one who doesn’t realise what he is doing, and just raises his hands high, with the heart thumping along with the bass! They all believe- ‘Yesterday is history, today is a gift, and tomorrow is a mystery…’
(Image courtesy: google images)
http://youtu.be/EFkoOBeW480
By Yash Jain
