The problem with EDM

Don’t worry I’m not here to bash an entire music genre and criticise a generation that enjoys it – after all I am among the growing number of people who listens to an array of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) but I’m also not blind to the problems surrounding it. My main worry is that it’s taking over other genres of music that are a labour of love; hours and years spent learning an instrument and training your voice, playing small gigs to intimate crowds who aren’t afraid to tell you what they really think.

Now I’m not saying that EDM takes no talent to create, if you put the average Joe, or myself in front of a pair of decks I would have no idea how to even turn them on – but I can’t help but also think that dance music is becoming the repetitive use of the same demos and samples “remixed” and sold to a crowd too high to pay attention and too scared to speak up, go against the grain and demand something different.

Something unnerving I’ve noticed about the new wave of diehard EDM fanatics is their reluctance to listen to, or enjoy other types of music. Countless times I’ve been in the company of avid deep house and drum and bass listeners who hog the aux cord and shoot me a scornful look when I finally get the chance to play something different.

But I’m not tarring every fan of this genre with the same brush as I know many people, including my group of friends who love Hardwell just as much as Fleetwood Mac, I just hope 2015 sets a higher bar for Electronic Dance Music and it’s followers demand more from the genre whilst broadening their musical horizons and opening their mind to the many different types of artists set to make a storm this year.

Start by buying Spotify Premium for just 99p for the first 3 months! Head to spotify.com/holiday now to snatch up this amazing deal and look out for  music by Sunset Sons, Years & Years and James Bay.

By Talia Maguire