Adam Goryca
English 1020

Todd Breijak

November 11, 2014 

Project Three Rough Draft

            Some might say the rave scene has been declining since the late 1990s.  Even with the plethora of new DJs creating, and popularizing, their own sub-genres, people seem to believe there is a general decrease in the prevalence of the so-called “rave culture”.  This is a naïve way to look at the growing scene of Electronic Dance Music, or EDM.  Although it is no longer a completely underground movement, it still contains most of the elements that originally made the rave scene so appealing.  In this paper I will analyze different sub-genres of EDM and how their strengths and weaknesses might appear differently to different users.

            The most popular sub-genre of EDM is titled House music.  With the explosion of certain DJs careers, such as Avicii and David Guetta, House music found its way onto radio stations and even news broadcasts. This caused a movement out of the underground world and onto the main stage for many House artists; which, over time, had its advantages and disadvantages.  It brought along new wealth and fame that these artists had never experienced before.  With this surge of money, the appeal to become a DJ increased drastically: causing an influx in the number of these DJs being considered famous.  Using this fame to their advantage, DJs began to develop their own unique styles; unknowingly laying the groundwork for entirely new sub-genres within House music.  However, as the flocks of groupies, endorsement deals, and bank accounts began to grow, artists such as Avicii lost sight of the grassroots movement that originally sparked their career.  The very essence of “rave culture” stems from the ideology of being different, so this mainstream popularity deterred many of the die-hard ravers.  This loss in the original fan base seemed to have little effect on the careers of these DJs, as they continue to move away from the infamous underground EDM scene.

            A newer sub-genre of EDM that still remains entirely a part of the underground scene is called Moombahton.  It was developed, like so many others nowadays, by a progressive DJ, Dave Nada, who—in paying attention to his crowds reactions—noticed an increase in feedback during the slowed down portion of the beat.  Playing off of this, he began to take well-known EDM tracks and simply slow the beat down to create a more dance savvy environment.  Other artists caught on to his tactics, and shortly after the sub-genre of Moombahton was born: with this came much praise and criticism.  Before the implementation of Moombahton, most EDM tracks found themselves somewhere between 140 to 180 beats per minute.  However, this new sub-genre basis itself around the “sweet spot” of 110 BPM.  Many ravers welcomed Moombahton, because they enjoyed the change of pace it brought during a concert.  The obvious criticism that plagued Moombahton artists was its lack of originality.  Some say simply slowing down and already famous track does not constitute a new one: because of copyright infringement, this is entirely true.  Although that is exactly what David Nada did at local parties to discover this technique, it could not be considered it’s own sub-genre until there were new songs being produced that were considered to be Moombahton tracks.  Artists such as Dillon Francis and Munchi took this challenge head on when they created their songs Masta Blasta and Sandungueo, respectively.  While it still might be considered underground, Moombahton music is increasing in popularity as more and more DJs incorporate it into their live performances. 

            Of course you cannot discuss EDM without exploring its most classic form, disco.  Ever since the use of acetates to splice together magnetic tapes from either the same song, to extend certain parts, or different songs, to mix tracks together, a DJ’s world could never be the same.  This allowed them to decrease the number of turntables needed to produce the same sound.  The ability to put what used to be an entire, four-turntable show onto one disc gave DJ’s an unprecedented amount of freedom to do what they please with the other three turntables.  Now equipped with the power to mix four entirely separate shows together, DJ’s could bring completely different sounds together into one amazing live performance.  All of this analog editing had its limitations though, and this, along with other factors, caused the death of disco in the late 1970’s.  However, once the digital audio workstation was made affordable in the late 1980’s, DJ’s discovered a plethora of new techniques and strategies to mix and edit songs.  This generation’s fan base, however, was not looking for a revitalization of disco; they wanted something new.  Which lead to the creation of EDM and the underground rave scene.  A true disco revival did not occur until recently when artists like Madeon began to popularize nu-disco.  This is a sub-genre of EDM that implements real instruments, such as pianos, strings, and horns, to bring back that classic disco boogie.  Since it’s generally played at a slower place, nu-disco attracted many of the same ravers that moombahton had.  With an already existing pool of fans that enjoyed this change of pace, nu-disco DJ’s found it easy to gain support and popularize their sub-genre.  Ravers noticed they enjoyed a break in the usual high intensity pace of EDM, for a groovier, dance savvy environment.  This realization led to the explosion of nu-disco’s popularity, and its implementation into almost every EDM concert around the world.

            After analyzing different sub-genres of EDM and how their strengths and weaknesses seem different to various users, we’ve also acquired new knowledge about this underestimated genre of music.  People, such as Tammy Anderson, say that it is dying, but what we have discovered is that it is simply evolving: in accordance with the body language that innovative DJ’s like David Nada or Madeon read from their audiences’.  As some sub-genres may become mainstream, or others simply die off, EDM will never truly die: only transform.