We all know that we listen to songs that whose lyrics have meanings that we can understand and think about something. Sometimes the instrumental part of music catches our attention and enjoy the harmony and rhythm of it. Electronic dance music (EDM) became popular and many people are frequently listen and dance on it because it engages many individuals positively. There are factors that clarify how EDM brings people together: aesthetics, congruent interaction, and interpersonal synchronization.
Musical aesthetics means the appreciation and evaluation of musical form (Sellnow, 2010). Individuals consider musical aesthetics as the reason why they engage in EDM music. EDM artists such as Martin Garrix, David Guetta, and Alesso create EDM tracks that focus on aesthetics to bring the audiences together to feel the positivity of this kind of music. Music as communication focuses on the individual and unique meanings each of us might attach to a musical piece (Sellnow, 2010). These musical DJ’s and artists create unique beats and melody that communicates with audiences to keep in track of their music trends. Congruent in
teraction clarifies how their own version of rythm and beats support the lyrics of the modified songs.
Congruent interaction is one where the emotional meanings of music and lyrics reinforce each other (Sellnow, 2010). While EDM does not rely on lyrics to convey meaning, the music gradually generates as repeated patterns are added and subtracted (Halick, 2016). I noticed the DJ’s and EDM artists modify and remix existing songs with lyrics that have meanings in order to make the song more engaging to the audience.
The three videos below are the recent live shows of the EDM Artists. Some of them have remixed existing popular songs.
Not only EDM music instrumentals and lyrics convey meaning to the audiences, it also communicates them to engage in physical activity such as dancing. Solberg & Jensenius (2019) mentions that “dancing with others leads to various changes in our human behavior, displays an increased ability to cooperative behavior, social bonding, and closeness” (p. 113).
Overall EDM music brings people together because not only the music and lyrics conveys meaning to the audiences, but it encourages people to enjoy the music more positively all together.
Questions:
- What EDM artists or DJs do you know other the ones I mentioned?
- How EDM influences your perspective in music?
References
Alesso. (2024, July 29). Alesso | Tomorrowland 2024 (Mainstage Weekend 1) [Full DJ Live Set] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07p-uHtAaOo
David Guetta. (2024, July 29). David Guetta live @ Tomorrowland 2024 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7O-7rF0Hqk
Halick, M. E. (2016). What Can You Teach with Electronic Dance Music? A Music Teacher’s Guide to EDM. General Music Today, 30(1), 4–10.
Martin Garrix. (2024, November 29). MARTIN GARRIX LIVE @ AMF 2024 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-mT5E7Ol2A
Sellnow, Deanna (2010). The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Solberg, R. T., & Jensenius, A. R. (2019). Group behaviour and interpersonal synchronization to electronic dance music. Musicae Scientiae, 23(1), 111–134. https://doi-org.proxy.li.suu.edu:2443/10.1177/1029864917712345
I enjoyed reading through your blog post. EDM is a very unique genre that when performed in a venue creates an experience with very little words being used. The music is used to invoke feelings within the audience that then leads to a shared experience and overall bonding of the audience. One of my favorite EDM artists who falls into the subgenre of drum and bass is Netsky. I think there are a lot of people who do not believe that EDM should be considered music but from the Sellnow reading there is value in its existence.
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