EDM
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EDM is the mainstream umbrella for electronic dance music as it was marketed during the 2010s festival boom, especially in North America. In encyclopedia use it points less to all electronic dance music historically and more to the commercial era of big drops, DJ-producer stars, festival brands, pop collaborations, and streaming-ready club singles. The sound can be house, dubstep, electro, progressive, trap, or pop-dance, but the shared identity is a high-impact electronic record designed for mass dance audiences.
History
The term existed earlier, but it became culturally dominant when acts such as Skrillex, Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Zedd, and Martin Garrix crossed into pop charts and festival headline slots. Media coverage around SFX, Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, Beatport, and superstar DJ fees turned EDM into both a genre label and an industry shorthand. The brand cooled after overexpansion, but the umbrella still helps describe the 2010s moment when electronic production became core pop vocabulary.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Pitchfork EDM bubble timeline https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1086-popping-the-drop-a-timeline-of-how-edms-bubble-burst
- Spotify Avicii Levels listing https://open.spotify.com/track/6Xe9wT5xeZETPwtaP2ynUz
- Spotify Zedd Clarity listing https://open.spotify.com/track/60wwxj6Dd9NJlirf84wr2c
- MusicBrainz Chainsmokers Closer release-group data https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2c0acac5-36fe-4731-877c-c4812ad751d9