EDM has never been a consistent genre of music, meaning it’s never stayed in the same direction or carried the same sound for too long. So many artists since the invention of the genre have joined in and invented their own signature sound. Artists ranging from Daft punk, Avicii and David Guetta, these are just a couple of the people who have popularized EDM and made it the modernized genre it is today, producing their own music and blending ideas to create on huge masterpiece is what these people are best at.
Created in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s, EDM was first a mix of original disco tracks blended with new found electronic sounding instruments, artists like Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk being essential pioneers to the genre. The 80’s marks the official birth of EDM. The Roland TR-808 drum machine and other electronic instruments allowed creators to produce and make music that bands couldn’t replicate. Then in the 90’s, acid house and rave culture exploded, particularly in the UK and Germany, giving birth to clubs like Berghain and Ministry of Sound and taking the music to a bigger audience. Fast forward to the 2000’s and today, the term “EDM” has gained massive popularity in the U.S. in the early 2010’s, transforming into a mainstream, festival-driven industry featuring artists like Skrillex and Calvin Harris.
If we’re covering EDM, we can’t just ignore house music in its entirety. The genre originated in 1980’s Chicago during a time where anti-disco music movements, more often than not being fueled by racism and homophobia, targeted music by black and LGBTQ+ artists. As a lot of minority groups were actively being pushed out of general public clubs and music scenes, it became clear that they weren’t wanted there. Luckily, underground clubs and venues provided safe spaces, particularly for black gay men,. The most famous club being The Warehouse, ran by openly gay DJ Frankie Knuckles. The Warehouse was where Knuckles began to mix disco and soul with drum machines and extended samples to create a more energetic and overall danceable sound. His style became known as “warehouse music”, later shortened to “house” in record stores nationwide. Decades later, artists like Fred again… and Peggy Gou continue pushing original house forward.
It’s hard to describe how the sound of EDM has changed over the years. At its very start, specifically in the late 80’s – 90’s, it pretty much all sounded the same. Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Fatboy Slim and more all carried the same sound: mellow, softer tunes with some bass and an electronic background here and there. “I was introduced to a lot of this kind of music at a very young age cause of my dad. During his time DJ’ing in like, late 90’s to like, early 2000’s made him a pro at like, house and EDM so when I was younger that was pretty much all I listened to. And of course music taste does evolve over the years and now I listen to a lot of other stuff cause I think that’s one major perk of having a dad like mine is you’re introduced to all this kind of art and music at such a young age that it kinda just sticks with you all throughout your life.” Says senior Stephney Segura, sharing her background in EDM and house.
The 2000’s was considered the breakthrough into mainstream for EDM. Artists like Daft Punk, Tiësto, deadmau5 and more created the high optimism sound for the genre. Then in later 2000’s – the 2010’s, people like Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Mike Posner and Avicii carried that specific key into 2016. There, we had original Coachella playing EDM classics like The Chainsmokers’ Don’t Let Me Down and Closer and Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha’s In The Name Of Love which is definitely having its own resurgence.
Fast forward to today, EDM is coming back and undoubtedly stronger than ever. We have genuine artists like Frost Children, Tiffany Day, Ninajirachi and legitimately so many more coming forward and adding their music to the list. This decade’s theme for EDM has seemingly been blending techno to make a way more upbeat, almost a rave scene type of sound with techno becoming a little more mainstream with the success of Charli xcx’s 2024 brat, everyone has been hopping on the rave train lately, making it Gen Z’s favorite sound. Senior Isabella Ramos shares her admiration for new EDM, saying “I think that new EDM artists are good at keeping old nostalgic sounds but also adding their own twist to it. In a sense of them like, not being afraid of using samples from older EDM artists or sampling from other genres because before EDM artists weren’t really known for using samples because people would say it’s not original, but I would argue the opposite, that using an older sample to reinvent and create a new sound is the most original thing an artist can do.”
As of now, the new wave of EDM really has no end in sight. New artists are literally taking over your phones on TikTok and Instagram, making you hear them whether you know it or not. With more artists on the rise, especially around the time of Los Angeles’s most famous EDM festival Hard Summer, with huge names playing like Shygirl, Underscores, MCR-T, DJ Snake and so many more. Hard Summer is mainly where underground EDM artists get their recognition, so this festival is a pretty big deal in the genres world, making the cycle of new sounds continue on every so often.
One thing music will never be is stagnant. Music is changing by the hour, artists are coming up with different ideas and sounds are always evolving, but one thing about EDM and house is that it will never be something rebranded to fit different ethnic or majority groups. We learn that everything, especially music, is inherently political. So when we give all these different artists and genres their very well deserved flowers, we must remember to thank the pioneers that came before us, particularly minority groups for literally inventing EDM and house.
