Electronic dance music, also commonly abbreviated as EDM, is electronic music that is produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment. The music is largely created for use by disc jockeys and is produced with the intention of it being heard in the context of a continuous DJ set; wherein the DJ progresses from one record to the next via a synchronized segue or 'mix'.
It is key to note that EDM is not a genre in and of itself but rather an umbrella term used to categorise all electronic music. There are countless hundreds of subgenres of EDM ranging from ambient, future garage, wave and chillstep to rawstyle, xtra raw, speedcore, terrorcore and so on. By far the most popular of all these is the house music scene, with genres like Big Room House, Electro House and Progressive House being synonymous for many as just 'EDM'.
Although many think that 'EDM is dead', in recent years genres like Phonk and Slap House have broken through to the mainstream once again showing the diversity and adaptability that producers in the EDM scene have to break the mould of societal expectations and norms.
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
