How Old Electronic Dance Music Shaped Today’s Scene

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Contents

From the warehouse parties of the ’80s and ’90s to the mainstream explosion of the early 2000s, electronic dance music has come a long way. Here’s how it all started.

Origins of Electronic Dance Music

Electronic Dance Music has its origins in various subcultures in the United States, Europe, and Asia during the 1970s and 1980s. These subcultures included the punk subculture, the gay subculture, and the black subculture.

Early electronic music pioneers

Some of the earliest electronic music pioneers include composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Schaeffer. These artists were part of the musique concrète movement, which explored the use of recorded sounds and found objects in composition. They paved the way for electronic music as we know it today.

Other early electronic music pioneers include Giorgio Moroder, who is credited with creating disco music, and Kraftwerk, who were one of the first electronic bands to achieve mainstream success. These artists laid the foundation for today’s electronic dance music scene.

The birth of disco

Today, electronic dance music is one of the most popular genres in the world. But where did it all begin?

The roots of electronic dance music can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when DJs started experimenting with new ways of creating and playing music. At first, they used natural sounds like bird calls and percussion instruments, but soon they began incorporating synthesizers and other electronic devices into their sets.

The first disco hits were released in the mid-1970s, and the genre quickly gained popularity thanks to its catchy melodies and pulsing rhythms. Disco was oftenassociated with nightclubs, where people would dress up in flashy clothes and dance the night away.

By the early 1980s, disco had started to fall out of favor, but many of its elements would go on to shape the sound of electronic dance music as we know it today.

The Rise of House Music

It’s hard to believe that electronic dance music has only been around since the 1970s. In such a short time, it has evolved and changed so much. One of the most influential genres of electronic dance music is house music. House music was created in the 1980s and it is still popular today. It has shaped the electronic dance music scene in a number of ways.

The Chicago house sound

In the late seventies and early eighties, a new kind of music was being made in the city of Chicago. Using little more than a drum machine and a synthesizer, DJs and producers created a sound that would come to be known as house music.

House music was born in the underground clubs of Chicago, where DJs would play all night long sets filled with new, cutting-edge electronic dance music. The sound quickly caught on, and within a few years house music had spread to other cities and countries. By the early 1990s, house music was one of the most popular genres in the world.

Today, house music is still going strong. Thanks to its origins in underground clubs, it has retained its rebellious spirit and continues to evolve, keeping dance floors packed all over the world.

The UK house scene

In the late 1980s, a new style of electronic music known as house began to emerge in the clubs of Chicago. House music was a stark departure from the disco that had dominated dance floors for years; it was sparer, more minimal, and focused on the DJ as the star of the show. House quickly spread to other US cities like New York and Detroit, and then to Europe, where it took on a life of its own.

In the UK, house music found a natural home in the underground rave scene that was developing in response to the country’s Thatcher-era policies. Raves were often held in remote locations (like warehouses or fields) and advertised only by word of mouth; they were illegal, but that only added to their allure. The UK’s house scene was defined by its DIY sensibility and its focus on dancing all night long; it gave birth to some of the country’s most iconic club nights, like Shoom and Danny Rampling’s Love Groove Dance Party.

Today, house music is more popular than ever; it’s one of the most ubiquitous genres in clubbing culture, with a global reach that extends far beyond its humble beginnings in Chicago. And while some purists might lament the genre’s current mainstream status, there’s no denying that house music has come a long way from its underground roots.

The Impact of Electronic Dance Music

Electronic dance music has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1970s. What started as a niche genre of music has now become one of the most popular genres in the world. electronic dance music has shaped today’s music scene in a number of ways. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable ways that electronic dance music has shaped today’s music scene.

The popularity of EDM

Since the 2010s, electronic dance music (EDM) has been increasingly popular in the United States. According to a report by the EDM industry trade magazine Billboard, EDM sales grew by 26% between 2011 and 2012. In 2013, EDM sales totaled $6.9 billion, and by 2014, they had increased to $7.1 billion. The popularity of EDM has continued to grow in recent years; in 2018, EDM was worth an estimated $8.5 billion.

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the popularity of EDM. One is the increasing accessibility of electronic music production software and hardware, which has made it possible for anyone with a computer to create their own music. Another is the growth of social media platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube, which have made it easier for artists to share their music with a wider audience. Finally, the rise of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have made it easier for people to listen to EDM on demand.

The popularity of EDM has had a significant impact on the music industry as a whole. For example, in 2017, three of the top five selling albums in the United States were by EDM artists: The Chainsmokers’ Memories… Do Not Open, Calvin Harris’ Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, and Zedd’s True Colors. Additionally, EDM festivals like Ultra Music Festival and Electric Daisy Carnival have become some of the largest and most popular music festivals in the world; in 2018, Ultra sold out its tickets within minutes of going on sale.

As EDM continues to grow in popularity, it is likely that its impact on the music industry will continue to increase as well.

The influence of EDM

The electronic dance music scene has come a long way since its early days in the underground clubs of Europe. Today, EDM is a global phenomenon, with massive festivals and concerts drawing in crowds of hundreds of thousands of people. But where did it all start?

EDM can trace its roots back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when pioneering DJs and producers began experimenting with new ways of making music using electronic equipment. This new style of music soon caught on with clubgoers, who loved the energy and excitement of the tunes.

As EDM continued to evolve, it began to take on different forms, including house music, techno and trance. Each subgenre developed its own sound and followers, and today there are literally hundreds of different EDM styles out there.

Despite its growth and popularity, EDM still retains its underground sensibilities. The best way to experience it is still in small clubs or at huge festivals where you can really lose yourself in the music. So if you’re looking to get your feet wet in the world of electronic dance music, there’s no better place to start than at one of these events!

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