Mash-up

Electronic Dance Music and Millennials

Currently, EDM is one of the fastest growing music venues and is leaving hip-hop and rock in the dust. Millennials seek to make EDM their own, and they are fast becoming the most targeted marketing group for electronic music. The EDM phenomena is a bit confusing but when you think about it, electronic dance music created on computers and using software makes perfect sense to today’s computer savvy crowd.

What is electronic dance music?

Traditional music is produced using computer production software to tinker with the music, but EDM producers use computers from the start to the finish to create their songs or music. Consider the trademarks of EDM. The producer is termed a DJ and the artists in the booth are producers and DJs. Electronic dance music is very prolific due to the number of songs released, mixes, and EDM DJs playing each other’s productions. DJs refine, mix up and bring in unexpected content. Diverse sounds convey a new act to performances unavailable in other music genres.

Live performances are performed by deejaying, artists playing their own creations and the conceptions of other artists at events held at stadiums or club. The object is to play to large audiences and get them moving and dancing to the vibes. EDM performers do not play instruments or just sing songs, but control the crowd’s emotions through sound mixing and song selections.

Fresh energy and specific new space bring EDM to the attention of the Millennial generation. This generation lives online and so does EDM. Media platforms are the venues where Millennials listen to EDM. Sharing music from artist to fans can be simplified because of the computerized nature of EDM. The Millennial generation is all about a worldwide base both magical and full of content.

The Magic of EDM

With all the free or mostly free avenues to download music, how does the music industry survive? If you are a major label and have money behind you, it’s easy. You have the marketing tips and tricks to get artists to the market place. Independent labels, including EDM DJs rely on word of mouth and social media outlets. Artists with small budgets need to become very creative to produce a sound that can become an almost immediate hit on the dance scene. EDM is one of the newest styles of music and has gained a strong following with sales estimated at over $ $6 billion. Electronic dance music is here to stay. It is not a fad that will quickly go away. Infused electronic sounds with live sounds of lyrics, singing, and story-telling make the music more unique, exotic and soul-pounding.

Write songs for only one fan base and you limit your creativity. The trick is to write songs that translate into EDM. Pop artists, singers, big bands, and rockers have quickly discovered if they write for EDM, their songs live on and fan bases increase.

Individual elements in EDM are the simple four-beat bass drum. Drums give the listener the head-nodding, foot-tapping element. Not necessarily unique to EDM, the four-beat bass drum can also be heard and toe-tapped in new Wave, kraut rock and disco.

Now, add a high hat on the upbeat. Hi-hat gives you a “boom-chick-boom-chick sound. “Boom-chick-boom-chick” is the motion that drives you to get up and move. Add variety by varying your drum and high hat beats. Next element is a downbeat created using the high hat and clap sounds. Now the best part add a synthesizer.

DJs or the professionals who “know” EDM add other musicians’ music to create an experience. They often layer songs of the same tempo to add variety and excitement. Use bass to propel the song forward and built that energy and tension before the drop.

The final element: a very high-quality sound system. EDM’s lyrics are very subtle. You will not hear the nuances on standard speakers.

Listen to the kick, hi-hat, claps, synthesizer and then the bass. These layers interchange various sonic elements. Changes happen as the song moves on, and EDM songs are much longer than your typical three-four minute song. Usually EDM lasts longer than ten minutes and the ebb and flow of the different pieces of music creates the magic.

The appeal of EDM is the drop or the climax of the song. The premise is to build up the intensity and strip out the kick at some point in the music. There might be a sudden beat during which all the sounds stop and the bass drum enters. The effect is a resolution at a very high energy peak. It’s almost like taking a deep breath before continuing your intense activity or dance.

One song in EDM can go from dark and introspective to quirky, and energy-making EDM can also be optimistic to spiritual to dark and depressing. The music is ever-changing, and the DJs or producers are innovating. These producers might even be innovating on stage as they perform for a very hyped up audience.

Magic depends on your ability to listen and understand. The more you expose yourself to electronic music the more likely you will find a sound within the sound that fits who you are. Moods change during every performance and once you listen and enjoy this music you will understand the toe-tapping, body whipping, and almost addictive sound.

You will also have your naysayers; those who claim EDM is not new but only an imitation of music produced by other artists and jumbled up with electronics. Electric dance music producers, take heart! If you are being slammed, then you are creative. Different opinions drive change in music. Millennials take heart, this is your turn to overtake the world of music.