Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is unquestionably surging to the forefront of mainstream tastes. If you turn on the radio, TV or if you happen to have attended a music festival in the last few years, in all likelihood you have noticed DJs and producers flooding the market. Acts like Skrillex, Deadmau5, Avicii, Tiesto, Axwell and David Guetta among others have emerged from the “EDM” movement and achieved international popularity on an unprecedented level.
The genre has recently stepped into the spotlight. It however is not as young as most of us make it out to be. It began as an underground movement in the 1980’s. Similar to how hip-hop crossed over into the mainstream in the late 1990’s and 2000’s, EDM has now come of age. A generation of music fans have begun shifting their musical gaze from the hip-hop driven popular music that dominated the 2000’s, to the polished sounds of house, techno, trance, dubstep, glitch, breaks, and the dozens of other sub-genres that fall under the humongous umbrella of electronic music.
EDM’s influence in Pop Music
The rise of EDM has influenced pop music to a marked extent and an increasing number of stars have been turning towards electronic music to add an extra zing to their tracks. Producer David Guetta, a pioneer in the practice of uniting EDM with pop, cultivated mainstream success by collaborating with stars including Nicki Minaj, Akon, Kid Cudi, and Fergie. Beyonce’s 2011 “Run the World (Girls)” incorporates samples from both Diplo’s projects and Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor”. Other examples include the dubstep influenced breakdown of Britney Spears’s track, “Hold It Against Me”.
According to Forbes magazine, “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, in effect, easing into EDM through a genre they are already familiar and comfortable with. A symbiotic relationship has developed such that EDM artists gain access to a wider fan base while pop artists feed off the fresh hype surrounding EDM.
Application of social media and technology in EDM
The role of social media in catalyzing the growth of EDM is also extremely important. For a genre so inherently tied to technology, the Internet acts a natural marketing platform. Tech-savvy producers and DJs unsurprisingly flourish in the online space. Danny Whittle, brand director of global nightclub chain Pacha said recently, “Our musical genre embraced the Internet, all other genres fought it”. As the digital music space continues to expand, EDM arguably has harnessed the internet’s potential more effectively than other genres.
DJs were early adopters of the free music model, recognizing that their low cost of touring made live appearances the more lucrative revenue stream. As a result they won the hearts of legions of fans that most likely would have pirated their music anyways. The strength of the EDM online culture has even led to one of the very few successful alternatives, albeit genre-specific, to iTunes: Beatport, which is a popular music portal that provides digital music formats and music discovery tools.
The Business of EDM
The tremendous attention surrounding the business aspect of EDM demonstrates the current power of the genre and the direction in which a number of people are reckoning it will go. The trend has attracted the attention of entertainment moguls and entrepreneurs from across the world.
One company to jump aboard is the ticketing agency, Eventbrite. Filling a void in the market, Eventbrite caters to much of the live EDM scene. Grossing more than $1 billion since its inception in 2006, the company provides an alternative to giants like Ticketmaster. “EDM is really an international movement, so we’ve got a localized site, localized payments that expand throughout the globe, and we’re seeing great traction”, said Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite.
Another media mogul, Robert Sillerman, placed his bet squarely behind EDM several months ago, announcing his intention to spend $1 billion buying electronic concert promoters. Sillerman initially made his mark on the industry by amassing the consortium of promoters that would ultimately become Live Nation. His foray into electronic music marks a significant milestone for the mass popularization of the genre. His acquisitions already include Dayglow and Donnie Disco Presents. In early August, Billboard reported that he was in “negotiations with up to 50 other companies, with tentative agreements in place with around 15 of them”.
Industry executives also seem to agree with Sillerman. Flocking to Las Vegas for the inaugural EDMbiz conference in June of this year. Event host, Jason Bentely, acknowledged the significance of EDM today as well as the conference’s purpose: “The EDM lifestyle touches all corners of pop culture today and it is definitely in the interest of this music scene to create a place for music professionals to get inspired, network, and have fun”. EDM has already cultivated a massively powerful scene, and if the forward thinking executives at EDMbiz have their way, it may well be this decade’s defining genre.
EDM, the Fastest Growing Genre in the US
If you needed any more reaffirmation that electronic music is booming, all you have to do is take a look at the Ibiza International Summit Report released back in May. Peculiarly overlooked by many publications, this report takes you in depth concerning a flurry of data, whether it be social media or brand sponsorships.
What is of more interest though is their section dedicated to the growth in digital sales year over year (YoY). In the graph below you can see that dance music effectively witnessed a growth of 36% in 2012, far outpacing its closest competitor, Country, which stood at 13%.
