If you’re a fan of electronic dance music, then you must have been wondering when this music genre started developing. Even though it is not easy to pinpoint the exact moment when this music appeared, we can at least say that the first signs of it appeared in the 1970s. However, the initial music was actually disco that later on developed into what we have today as electronic dance music and all its varieties.
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A closer look at the electronic dance music
This music emerged with the intention to entertain the dancers, so it included electronic dance music, trap, dubstep, drum and bass, trance music, house music, techno, synthpop and disco music. The range of sounds is very wide and even though they differ greatly, they are all part of the electronic dance music in general. The style defers greatly from the beginning forms of this music that the listeners could hear when it originally appeared 40 years ago. Today it evolved into a more modern sound.
The disco music that is the beginning form of electronic music was made with the intention of giving the dancers what they need to stay on the floor the whole night. Later on, synthpop was developed after the disco era.
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This music became much better with the development of technology when the producers got their chance to be creative even more. For this period, synthesizers and drum machines were used more than before. Later on, when the computers started being used more, electronic music took a whole other form. Basically, anyone who had a computer and music experience could create music. If you are interested in making music and sell it, we recommend a ghost production platform like edmwarriors.com.
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The electronic dance music that we are recognizing as such today started emerging in the ’90s, particularly in Europe. The fact that various subgenres started appearing, electronic dance music became part of the industry and it gained numerous fans around the world. The rave scene started evolving and the number of night clubs suddenly exploded. The Detroit scene became increasingly important, pushing the techno into the spotlight. One of the songs that are considered to be classic techno and a classic record is “Strings of life”.
The development in the last decade
The popularity of electronic music grew significantly because of the music producers and DJs that were internationally known. Madonna and her album Ray of Light was a first album that combined elements of techno and pop and it was published in 1998. That was perhaps the breaking point that later on led to the greater popularization of this type of music.
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David Guetta, Tiësto and Daft Punk are the artists that made this genre internationally known and popular. Even people who don’t like this type of music know at least a song or two from them. Dubstep also got its moment under the spotlight with the help of Skrillex – the artist who has been awarded 8 Grammy awards so far. Today’s electronic dance music scene is mostly about the remixes made by DJs such as Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki and The Chainsmokers.
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The elements of electronic dance music are used in the music of many pop artists such as Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and many others.
The main scene
Chicago and Detroit are the two cities where the main ” chefs” made this music. Frankie Knuckles was the DJ from Chicago who started editing music to keep the atmosphere in the clubs alive. Together with Steve Hurley, Farley Funk and Ron Hardy he made a mark on electronic dance music by adding a drum machine, which is the essential formula for making house music.
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Also, Detroit has numerous pioneers of electronic dance music, but the main ones are Juan Atkins, Rik Davis, Kavin Saunderson, and Derrick May. From this fruitful period, the Detroit scene got very interesting music.
The reputation that electronic dance music has is that it is a “drug music”. This belief started because the DJ Alfredo from Argentina made an Ibiza party back in 1987 and mixed up tracks from Detroit techno and Chicago house, where the visitors used ecstasy and realized that the music sounds much better.
The Shoom was a party organized weekly in London where Danny Rampling was known for the acid sound made by a bass synthesizer. It was a phenomenon among youth, which soon resulted in organizing parties everywhere. The characteristic of this period were the baggy clothes and candy-colored esthetics. Raves were very popular at that time.
Berlin and London were also in the middle of the scene where acid-house ruled. The producers from Britain fused techno and house with dancehall from Jamaica and reggae. The style that emerged from this was drum & bass, also known as the jungle. The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy slim were the main representatives of this time. Berlin embraced electronic dance music very fast.
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Parties were organized pretty much everywhere and the main club during that time was Tresor. It was previously a bank vault. Ten years ago, the dance scene started becoming smaller, especially in the U.S., so Berlin took over the role of the center of techno music and attracted the DJs from around the world and the fans pretty quickly. Besides Berlin, Frankfurt was the center for trance. “The Age of Love” from 1992 was very popular and initiated many other collaborations and remixes.
We hope we managed to shed a little light on the way electronic music evolved. The songs such as “Don’t you worry child” by Swedish House Mafia, “Wake me up” by Avicii, “Don’t let me down” by Chainsmokers, “Cinema” by Benny Benassi, “We found love” by Rihanna are just a few examples of the huge hits that pulled the right strings and gained popularity across the globe.
It is certainly worth the admiration and attention, because somehow every time we hear them, even though they may be old, we still feel the vibe and start moving. It is good, positive, inspiring and upbeat, so it will definitely continue to exist and to evolve even more.
