Electronic dance music
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Electronic dance music (EDM) is a broad set of percussive music genres that largely inherit from 1970s disco music and, to some extent, the experimental pop music of Kraftwerk. Such music was originally borne of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s. It is constructed by means of electronic instruments such as synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers, and generally emphasizes the unique sounds of those instruments, even when mimicking traditional acoustic instrumentation. It sometimes encompasses music not primarily meant for dancing, but derived from the dance-oriented styles.
Notable artists and DJs
With the explosive growth of computers music technology and consequent reduction in the cost of equipment in the late 1990s, the number of artists and DJs working within electronic music is overwhelming. With the advent of hard disk recording systems, it is possible for any home computer user to become a musician, and hence the rise in the number of "bedroom bands", often consisting of a single person. Nevertheless notable artists can still be identified. Influential musicians in industrial, synth pop and later electronic dance styles include New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle (both now defunct), the Human League and Kraftwerk. In house, techno and drum and bass pioneers such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Goldie, A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem and Frankie Bones are still active as of 2007. Commercially successful artists working under the "electronica" rubric such as Fatboy Slim, Faithless, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, The Crystal Method, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Orbital, Propellerheads, Underworld and Moby continue to release albums and perform regularly (sometimes in stadium-sized arenas, such has the popularity of electronic dance music grown). Some DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Sasha, Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, and Tijs Verwest (aka Tiësto) have reached true superstar status and can command five-figure salaries for a single performance. They perform for hours on end. Some DJs have world wide radio, and internet, broadcasted shows that air weekly, such as A State of Trance, a show mixed by Armin van Buuren.
