Confession: I’m a Senior Citizen Who Likes Electronic Dance Music

Although I’m a senior citizen now, I like a lot of the same music younger people enjoy, including electronic dance music (EDM).

If you’ve ever come across EDM, either by just listening to it on your favorite device or by being at a nightclub where a DJ is playing it, I’m pretty sure the music has made some kind of strong impression on you. Most people either like it or hate it, depending on whether they’re partial to a loud, pulsating, repetitive beat or not. As for me, I like EDM a lot.

Let’s discuss a little about EDM, so you have the proper background and framework. EDM belongs to a part of electronic music genres that were created primarily for use at festivals, raves, and nightclubs. Generally, EDM is produced by DJs who put together a selection of tracks that make up something called a mix. The DJ weaves together the EDM choices seamlessly so that one recording after another plays. Producers of EDM also perform their music live in a festival setting or at a concert.

EDM became widely popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Europe when raves emerged, and there was an increase in interest in club culture. However, dance culture wasn’t universally accepted at that time; in fact, there was open hostility toward EDM by both the record industry and mainstream media outlets, which hindered its growth in popularity.

Also, because of what was sometimes happening at rave concerts, there was a perception that EDM and the drug culture were closely linked. This perception led some city and state governments to put in place policies and laws intended to stop the spread of rave culture.

EDM overcame all that and is now highly popular, especially among the younger generations. However, as I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, young folks are not the only ones who enjoy listening to EDM. I, as a senior citizen, am a fan of EDM as well. Why do I like it? I’m fond of the pulsating, repetitive beat. It sounds excellent when you’re wearing a good set of headphones, but don’t turn the sound up too loud, or you could damage your hearing.

I’ve only heard EDM played live at dance clubs a couple of times because I just don’t get out to those places these days. My legs are shot, anyway. So dancing to EDM, at least in any kind of vigorous manner, is a no-go for me now. But that’s okay; I’m fine with just listening and nodding my head to the beat.

If you want to sample EDM music for yourself, check out this YouTube video of EDM Mixes of Popular Songs 2020.

NOTE:

“Electronic dance music (EDM), also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radios, and an upsurge of interest in club culture, EDM achieved widespread mainstream popularity in Europe. In the United States at that time, acceptance of dance culture was not universal outside of New York City; although both electro and Chicago house music were influential both in Europe and the United States, mainstream media outlets and the record industry remained openly hostile to it. There was also a perceived association between EDM and drug culture, which led governments at the state and city level to enact laws and policies intended to halt the spread of rave culture.

Subsequently, in the new millennium, the popularity of EDM increased globally, largely in the United States and Australia. By the early 2010s, the term “electronic dance music” and the initialism “EDM” was being pushed by the American music industry and music press in an effort to rebrand American rave culture. Despite the industry’s attempt to create a specific EDM brand, the initialism remains in use as an umbrella term for multiple genres, including dance-pop, house, techno, trance, drum and bass, dubstep, hardstyle, and trap, as well as their respective subgenres.”

— Wikipedia

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Thanks for reading. Copyright Terry Mansfield. All rights reserved.