Article about the rise of EDM in America

Man I hope that EDM defines the 2010’s decade. I am so burnt out on the 2000’s music generation. Though there are gems, a vast amount of mainstream stuff was just crap (And I’m talking about my own generation here). I grew up listening to a way different style of music (ELO, Queen, Def Leppard, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, and much more). My favorite song when I was two was Pump it Up, and when I was four it was Sweet Dreams. I may be only Twenty years old, but I got a good education on music as a whole. I listen to everything, classical, big band, jazz, rock, bluegrass, rap, hip hop, and even some country, but I’m very picky about it. To get back to the point, I like almost everything I hear, but music as a whole over the last decade seemed to be getting rather bland. It was generic, unoriginal, and uninspiring with a few exceptions. However, EDM has given me faith in modern music and modern music listeners. I was at a Rave at a Convention a few years back, and the song that rocked the house the most wasn’t a modern remix or anything like that, it was a wicked awesome remix of Thriller, and that made my night. We had the entire crowd of Ravers doing the Thriller dance. And I also hope that we get some seriously awesome Middle Eastern EDM as well, that would make my decade man. 😎

I love hearing it on the radio. But I hate what it’s done to the raves. I also hate what LMFAO has done to shuffling. I think the more “hardcore” genres will stay true to the EDM scene. At least in the USA, i can’t speak for anywhere else. Trance, hardstyle, techno, I don’t see them being adopted by the masses. Trance is too repetitive for people, hardstyle is too obnoxious and repetitive, same with techno. Dubstep is gonna burn itself out within a few years or so I think. It’s burning too bright and too fast, once that “Im the only one who listens to this” vibe wears off, I see it falling back into the shadows.
I’m not too excited about losing house to the masses, but what can ya do. I’m not sure if it’s going to make getting DJ gigs easier or harder. There will be more EDM friendly gigs, but there’ll also be more EDM DJs. I just hope it doesn’t become saturated like rock bands. When you tell someone you’re a DJ, they don’t disregard that as a ridiculous dream job. You can actually make money doing it. When you tell someone you’re in a band nobody thinks you’ll ever get anywhere and honestly you probably won’t.

I bought the issue on Zinio…lots to read in it. Will get back to you all on this.

OK, I read the two articles but skipped the explanation of what dubstep is.

The first one (the one EEngenious posted) is mainly about Skrillex and his sudden success, but the author is also displaying how the rise and mainstay of these yearly fests like EDC have made dance “mainstream”. I get a kick out of how the author has taken pot shots at the new pop dance craze, but I still think that music has a place. You turn on the radio and you hear a lot of dancey stuff now. Many will be content to just listen to Ke$ha, BEP, Guetta, etc…but others will see more. This is nothing new, and it’s what makes rave CULTURE grow.

I remember back when epic trance exploded on the scene in the late 90s/early 00s, I’d see loads of people who used to just go to trendy clubs and bars suddenly want to see more. They went down the rabbit hole. A year or two later they were dismissing trance and talking in-depth about progressive house and techno. It’s amazing how many trendy folk will go to DEMF over WMC even.

I don’t agree with the logic that “dance music was at a lull” the way some do. 2000-2010 IMHO was loaded with EDM. We had the rise and fall of trance, then electro house, and even the explosion of “new remixes”, covers, mashups, and loads of home-made remixer/producers. The clubs were going nuts over those ten years and I have not seen anything change.

The only big changes I see now is the death of the illegal raves. I know there are many who vehemently believe that it’s not a “rave” unless it’s illegal and full of drugs, but the promoters themselves know they can’t build success like they have if they stay “outlaw”. Europe seemingly knew it had to go legal years ago…which is why we had Creamfields and Global Gathering. I don’t think these new events are losing their “underground flair” simply because I don’t see them booking BEP or Britney Spears. They’re trying to stay true to the current cutting-edge sounds and aren’t going to waver. However, I do think it’s cool the authorities are now trying to find a happy balance as opposed to outlawing it all.

The other big change…and I know some of you will hate me for saying this…is the death of the “decks”. Look at these new headliners — Skrillex, Deadmau5, Daft Punk etc. They’re on computers, laptops, and controllers. No turntables…no CDJs. Even their sets are not intermixed tracks the way we traditionally did, but more taking on the spirit of Live PA that we’ve seen out of past acts like Orbital, Prodigy, and the Crystal Method.

It seems production and live performance have come together so well that the future headliners will be solid producers and nothing more. I’m not saying traditional DJing will become totally obsolete, but you might walk into EDC or Ultra in 10 years and barely ever see a turntable or CDJ appear.

Sign of the times.