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EDM drops into mainstream

EDM_jaredroberts web.jpg

Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is beginning to surge to the frontlines of the music industries as the sounds of synthesizers and bass are taking over the music charts.Acts like Kaskade (who, according to ldsliving.com, is an active church member), Deadmau5 and Hardwell have come forth out of the EDM movement as world-renowned artists and have achieved international adoration on groundbreaking and revolutionary levels, according to DJmag.BYU-Hawaii student Fabrizio Botalla, an undeclared sophomore from Italy said, “The music is really popular where I’m from. Kids start listening to it as young as about 13. People are always blasting it in their cars too. It’s normal.” However, EDM has only recently began to achieve the mainstream tag. The genre, in its entirety, is anything but new. It began as an underground movement in the 1980s, according to The Huffington Post, similarly to how hip-hop crossed over into the mainstream in the late 1990s and early 2000s.“It’s a popular genre, but not my style. I know a lot of people who do listen to it, and I respect it as it’s own genre,” said Reed Segura, a junior from California studying political science.EDM has dozens of sub-genres such as the polished sounds of trance, dubstep, glitch, break, hardstyle, bigroom and house.Festivals are another part of the EDM scene. Events like Electric Daisy Carnival, Global Dance Festival, Decadence and Tomorrowland are a few successful festivals that can bring over 500,000 people together. Tickets for events like these can range from an average of $200 to $350. EDM artist Tiësto reportedly makes over $250,000 per show, according to Forbes.“The experience of Electronic Daisy Carnival is truly something unique. Everyone is just so happy and in love with the music. I think everyone needs to at least experience one day,” said Alanna Norwood, a junior from California studying biochemistry who has attended the Electronic Daisy Carnival multiple times.Although EDM is a genre on it’s own, it has influenced the pop charts as well. Producers like David Guetta and Zedd have found success by joining forces with pop sensations such as Nicki Minaj, Akon, Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande.Forbes magazine wrote “dance music’s convergence with pop music has made it more accepted as well as opened up the genre to a host of new listeners.” Pop fans are slowly opening themselves up to the EDM genre through what they already deem as familiar.Whether or not the general public will accept this new emergence of music, it is clear that EDM is here to stay. The music industry is beginning to brace itself for what EDMbiz coined as an exploding genre.EDM has already created a massive scene for itself and, at the rate it’s growing, it may be this decade’s definitive genre.Uploaded Jan. 29 2015
Writer: Jared Roberts