Could Electronic Dance Music Be The Next Rock?

DJ Skrillex. (Photo: Brennan Schnell)

For years, electronic dance music or EDM has been the province of clubs and music festivals. But with artists like Los Angeles D.J. Skrillex winning three Grammys this past February, and pop acts like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Ke$ha incorporating EDM sound into their hits, electronic dance music is moving into the mainstream.

Jonathan Bogart, a music writer from Phoenix Arizona tells Here & Now‘s Robin Young that much of this music isn’t available on CD, but through online videos and YouTube. And that’s part of the draw, especially for young listeners , who appreciate the intensity and immediacy of the style. “[They] experience the world in a very fast, hyper-connected and online way,” Bogart said.

Here and Now intern Joseph DeNatale, who has attended EDM festivals, describes the appeal.

“The crowd became almost tribal…you look out into the crowd and just see this sea of people, you know, moving and dancing in sync,” he said. “It’s quite an experience.”

The Atlantic: Why Electronic Dance Music Could Be Next Rock

Music From This Segment

1. Skrillex,”Rock ‘N’ Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain)”
2. Skream, “Midnight Request Line”
3. Rusko: “Hold On” (subfocus remix)
4. Avicii, “Levels”
5. Dada Life “Rolling Stones T-Shirt”
6. Minnesota, “Hold Up”

Guests:

Jonathan Bogart, Music writer from Phoenix Arizona
Joseph DeNatale, Here and Now intern

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

Stevehall829

As a DJ and EDM lover, I am greatly anticipating this conversation!
Kelly James

I was very excited to hear this segment! I love EDM and have listened for years. Hearing little bits spring up in new pop offerings has been interesting. Thanks for shining some light on a poorly understood segment of electronic music.
BHA_in_Vermont

Trying to lose your audience Robin? My volume just went to MUTE!
- Ctoth666
  
  Listen to Deadmau5′ complete single Strobe and report back.
5thcolumnist

Funny thing… when I was a youngster back in the ’60s, I imagined what popular music would be in the future, and my prediction was that it would be ROBOTS! Robot noises, and robotic performers. I guess it has come true. This stuff is simply awful – and this from someone who loves Karlheinz Stockhausen, Edgar Varese, Morton Subotnick, and John Cage, among many other modern composers who embraced electronics and “prepared” instruments. In this techno-dance stuff there are no nuances, or dynamics. Just noise. Sadly. This won’t EVER replace rock’n'roll, Mr. Bogart – and I (and others) won’t simply “turn it down” – we’ll turn it OFF.
- Psychosubmariner
  
  There is lots of nuance, you just have to listen for it. Can I sugest listening to Deadmau5 ‘The Velt’. It’s a beautiful song and can be found on youtube for free. Also Deadmau5 ’4×4=12′ is a concept album which reminds me of Dark Side of the Moon in it’s flow and tempo change. The nuance is extra0rdinary, and that’s why I love it.
  - Schroedbot
    
    Thank you for the suggestions! I’ve been a musician my whole life, in indie/rock and acoustic folk groups. I’m becoming increasingly fascinated with electronic music and it’s influence is making it’s mark on my own work as of late. I’ve been told to check out Modeselektor, Skrillex, and Dr. Luke, but Deadmau5 is a name that certainly keeps popping up. I’m always looking for new music to get inspired by, and while I can’t imagine reinventing myself as an EDM artist completely , I can certainly see myself incorporating elements of this genre into my “indie-rock” band.
    
    I grew up a disciple of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles (not necessarily in that order) so thank you for speaking my language, haha! *I believe if these groups were still active today they’d all likely be exploring EDM too as bands like Radiohead, Muse, and others have done. Truly, I believe there’s a place for all music in the world and the more I can be inspired by the better.
Keyestones

I am 27 and happen to have a Rolling stones t-shirt and recently came to love Electronic Dance Music, especially after discovering the amazing work of Portland, Oregon based Phutureprimitive! When people finally get tired of Whompwhomp music his work will rise to the top!
- CostaDelSol
  
  Wow I really like Phutureprimitive, very laid back and intelligently produced, thanks for the suggestion! I’m 23 and I’ve been a fan of EDM since I attended the Halloween Monster Massive festival in 2007. Since a little before that year, the lull that dance music was going through ended when the large dance festivals started popping up across North America. Now the large festivals are 100,000+ strong and it’s really incredible to see so many people in one place. I’ve been watching the culture grow and thrive over the past 6 years and the music has changed quite a bit. I think that you guys might be underestimating the effect that dubstep has had upon electronic music because it broke the boring “four-to-the-floor” paradigm that was holding it back and now producers are more conscious of using varied beats and subspace in their songs. So much has changed, drum and bass has evolved to liquid D&B, progressive house and trance has grown out of classic trance and house, electro-house has exploded, the list goes on and on, there’s so many new subgenres and new sounds that are continually evolving. I rather enjoy dubstep and the various forms it has splintered into, it’s kind of a rude genre but many of the styles that have emerged from it are very interesting. I feel like you guys might be upset with dubstep because it isn’t melodic but that’s because it was just a baby, now many producers have found ways of melding the wobble bass into melodies and cleverly arranging drops. I would suggest listening to Seven Lions for that sort of sound and if you’d like to hear some of the new genres try listening to Kill The Noise who is an Electro house/dubstep artist, Dillon Francis who pioneered Mombahton/Mombacore, Diplo, Datsik, Flux Pavilion. I mean those are all pretty popular artists but they’ve got catchy music and they’re not bad.
Bostonsteve123

As a 50-something my roots are firmly in the rock generation, but this is the music my firstborn (currently a student at Northeastern) listens to. Now I get to break the news to him that EDM is officially no longer cool and underground, since Skrillex and Deadmau5 have been mentioned on NPR. ;-)
YourzTruly

Nice intro to current popular EDM and influences. As a fan of new wave and techno music from the 80′s and 90′s up to more the current (diverse artists like Burial, Flylo and Amon Tobin), I would love to hear more coverage of the diverse electronic music sub genres and artists that influence so much of popular music. I buy the hype because this music is about making people move!
Paul B

None of this music is current… this story could have been aired a couple years ago.

Techno has moved past Dubstep and into sounds that appeal to people other than 19 year-olds with subwoofers in their cars.

Despite incorrectly classifying Deadmau5 and Avicii into “dubstep,” they, along with Skrillex, are already on the downside, and whose music annoys most at the bar scene.

There are so many more artists out there who are progressing the genre WAY more than the artists featured in this story (see Nicole Moudaber, Josh Wink, Joris Voorn, Jay Lumen…the list goes on). Jonathan talks about “post-Dubstep,” but that will never happen. Dubstep is a momentary trend that will die soon. Not all of EDM (very little, in fact) is associated with anything that sounds like Dubstep.

And this industry does not, by any means, “end run the brick-and-mortar music industry – go right around it.” In the first place, music put on YouTube by these artists is not intended for users to download. That would be illegal. As a control on this, music artists usually put new music up that has a low bitrate, or low quality, so that people aren’t as enticed to rip it. This is why there are sites like Beatport.com where most, if not all, EDM artists exclusively release their music first (with the exception of mainstream artists like Skrillex or Deadmau5 who release on iTunes). The label industry within this genre is unlike any other and is the key to its success. But while it s unique, it’s still selling a product, whether it be a CD of one artist, a compilation of artists under the same label, or simply a single.

Techno has moved past Dubstep and into sounds that appeal to people other than 19 year-olds with subwoofers in their cars.

Please, report something current and give an accurate account of the industry (the Deadmau5 and Skream songs you played are FOUR (4) years old). Consult an expert… Jonathan Bogart is amateur if what I’m hearing is his actual understanding of EDM.
- Psychosubmariner
  
  You sound like a fan of Plato. Little boxes, black and white, put every little thing neatly in a box. Music evolves… It flows naturally, without seam, from one form to another.
  - Paul B
    
    Not that I don’t totally disagree, because I do, but I think you’re missing the point. This story’s not current and the “expert” gave a very inaccurate picture of the industry. If NPR called me right now to talk about this subject, I would run train on Bogart.
    - 2KooL4SkooL
      
      You must be pretty cool! Being all ahead of the curve and all.
Captaindaisyedc

As a 27 year old die hard classic rock fan, I was happy to hear Dub Step on NPR. Your story did a good job of explaining the music to other generations than my own, but I would like to have heard more about the festivals. They go far beyond ‘fancy light shows’ and ‘loud music’ but incorperate massive art instalations, extravagant costumes, and an organized community of motivated youth seeking to spread ideals of love, peace and unit throughout thier communities. For many these festivals are a much needed catharsis and an escape from the mundane 9-5 jobs so many of us have. I spend all year making light up costumes for various events I attend and having this artistic outlet allows me to stay sane the rest of the week! Thank you for the insightful story though!
MPL

Dubstep is like the dissonant sounds discussed on Radiolab’s “Musical Language”:�
http://www.radiolab.org/2007/sep/24/

Like the crowd that rioted in 1913 after the premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet, the “Rite of Spring”, we too will come around to these new sounds.
I listen to Deadmau5′s “4×4=12″ at least once a week, mostly as I’m doing work around the house, doing research, or typing briefs. It helps get me into a fast-paced groove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9IBbMW2o_o&feature=related
nmelo

Joe was spectacular. Very informative article. The question is: why is this music becoming so popular? As someone in their twenties as well, this type of music is ALL I’ve come to listen to. Literally. It’s reflective of a fast-paced, intense world as Jonathan described, yes, but there’s a sense of “electronic escape” that one feels with this music – just as people feel escape when they’re living their “online lives” via social media etc.
Guest

What is the DeadMau5 song played in this segment? …around 4.5~ minutes in?
- Ctoth666
  
  Ghosts N’ Stuff. That song blew my mind in 2008. I guess I didn’t know music like that existed at the time. Deadmau5 is really a different genre of music from these artists mentioned in this segment. Yes he is an electronic artist, but he doesn’t really produce true EDM or Dubstep which I’m personally not a fan of. In fact he has never officially released a Dubstep song. I describe his music as a hybrid of trance and electro-house, and it really is unique. I think a lot of the older generation and really the general population might not be turned onto his music because they might associate it with crap like Skrillex, but even so he has an enormous following. Deadmau5 originally signed Skrillex to his label, which was and still is unforgivable.
  
  Anyway, I’m rambling. But Deadmau5 FTW.
mtnrunner62

My girlfriend and I travel the Northeast and Canada to see our favorite EDM artists including Deadmau5, Bassnectar, Tiesto, Kaskade and Infested Mushroom along with mainstays like Fat Boy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. What is unusual is the reception we get from the other concert goers. We are both in our 50′s and we absolutely love to go wild with the dancing at these shows. The kids love to see someone their parent’s age ‘getting their music’ and my own kids, 15 and 18, love that we share the same taste in EDM. When the concert staff give us funny looks we just tell them, “we were told that there would be fiddles.”
http://www.ryansullivan.co.za/ Ryan Sullivan

Are you kidding me? Not much available on CD? Where have you been?
It could only have snuck up on you if your eyes and ears were stapled closed. This music has comes out of countries the world over, including America, but in the USA the music was literally considered “too black and too gay”. A large group even set a huge pile of dance records up in flames many years ago.

For more than 2 decades this music has been around and evolving and what you’re referring to now is actually an amalgamation of the electronic genres in their most vile and mainstream form to date. So the US practically bans this music, then years later, re-hashes a watered down pop oriented version and suddenly it’s an amzing, new phenomenon?
The champions and pioneers of the electronic dance music world are in their 50′s and 60′s already. Where have you all been? Haha *shakes head

Here’s another article I read about why the true EDM scene doesn’t even need to retaliate to this modern pop rendering of the genre. The so called “underground” will always flourish as the true nature of the movement is to explore and experiment:

http://triplefiremusic.com/the-uncommercialization-dance-music/
- http://www.facebook.com/jack.plissken.75 Jack Plissken
  
  Get over yourself.
  - http://twitter.com/RyanSullivanSA Ryan Sullivan
    
    It’s not about me mate, it’s about the music.
  - Aznjoel
    
    please die
Michael Wells

And just like rock, somethign that was once cool ,rebellious and unique becomes mainstream music for lame bandwagon jumping posers.
Gina

I’m 19 and I have a rolling stones T shirt! lol