The History of the Abbreviation/Acronym EDM (Electronic Dance Music)

From all my searching on the net there seems to be no conclusive evidence as to where the abbreviation “EDM” came from. I wanted to write a blog post on it as I find it rather curious as a brit who once lived in the USA..and nobody else seems to have bothered.

In the US, for the most part it was never acceptable to listen to Dance music, or indeed, any type of music that was deemed to be against the norm; instantly being labeled “Techno” and off-limits. The US media are mostly to blame for this, scanning through the radio channels you are greeted with Rock station after Rap station after Christian station after country station, it’s what most children will grow up listening to and hearing, the polar opposite to what a child in the UK is influenced by (another blog post I think would be required for that one). Recently (well, I say recently, we’re talking a progression over the last 6 years) things have been changing. A “new” sound entered the American scene pioneered in the UK; Dubstep. A sound that was able to finger its way across genres easily – it pulled in those fans from Rap and RnB being the right speed and temperament of a style (of course, Grime and Dubstep have always coexisted quite happily in the UK so it was a logical meeting of sounds). It pulled in those from more chart based fangroups as a more commercial side to dubstep found its feet (much to the irritation of “true” dubstep fans). It went on to pull in rock bands and due to its nature managed to squeeze its way on to the radio and into the charts. Gradually as other artists pulled their weight in the US it became the norm to hear Gaga’s latest dance track, Maroon 5′s latest dance track..Britneys latest track with that dubstep drop. A new world had opened up to US media and younger generation, even if they had already missed over 20 years of dance history.
Here is where my theory comes into practice – the American public were presented with a new problem, Dubstep, was technically “Techno” to them…and it was/is a social faux pas to be seen listening to anything that might be construed as “Techno”…Europe, and the rest of the world have been calling electronic music “Dance Music” for decades, dance music being a loose blanket term for most music that is electronically based. Somehow an idea was born, around about the time Dubstep became big that “EDM” was to be the new label.. Electronic Dance Music.
“omg, you’re listening to techno?”
“no, i’m listening to EDM”

So, is it totally assumption? granted some of it is from my experiences in the USA, but a little research into it and things do start to open up a bit:
Using google to find the earliest use of the abbreviation of EDM on a forum proves a little tricky as many of the results get stuck between dates that people joined forums and dates people posted on forums, along with results generally being out of date. Wikipedia and its previous edit history seems to be the only reliable source for first uses at the moment.

The abbreviation EDM doesn’t seem to come into use properly (if at all) till around 2005 (ish) or later in 2006…reading the revision articles on it on wiki are very interesting, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electronic_dance_music&dir=prev&limit=500&action=history the page was started around 2001, under the name “Electronic Dance” (no mention of EDM) it stayed that way till July 2006 the page was changed to “Electronic Dance Music” and less than two months later “EDM” as an abbreviation appeared http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electronic_dance_music&oldid=78080098

forgive my assumptions, but I feel that there were few American’s editing at that point as nobody in the UK or Europe would have written “electronic dance music has enjoyed popularity in many nightclubs, and, as of 2006, is the predominant type of music played in discothques as well as the rave scene” which appeared around the same time as the page being moved to “electronic dance music”.

Of course, Dance music in the UK has been the predominant form of music at clubs and raves since the late 80′s. Saying “2006″ would actually tie in nicely with America’s *very* late acceptance of the music. Since then, looking through the revisions its been a battle between people trying to put it under “EDM” and people trying to keep it under “Dance music (electronic)” finally settling at its state now “EDM”

I still think that the dubstep craze there has something to do with dance music becoming more acceptable for the American public, check out the BOOM in dubstep articles from the time it was create through to 2006 onwards: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubstep&dir=prev&action=history anyway, by the looks of things that’s just a side product of what was becoming popular in clubs back in the states then. (assuming America caught on to our boom here around the same time)

anyway, bottom line *opinion* for me is that “Dance Music” and “Techno” were the two major generalisations that were prevalent until about 2006 – then EDM appears, in my opinion the only reason it appeared was a want or need to make dance music acceptable in the states and be rid of the “techno” stigma that was being used to look down on people who listened to dance music over there, coupled with the love of abbreviations “EDM” was new and cool. Dubstep was getting bigger, and dance music artists like Guetta, BEP and AVH were getting in with big pop stars..the only way to make it ok would be to make the genre cool to listen with an all american rebrand…right? Why else start calling it something other than the generalizations that were there before?

I’m down with EDM though, its technically more accurate, just sounds a little silly and possibly slightly self-important, as at least from “dance music” or “techno” you can make a good guess as to what someone’s on about instead of trying to baffle the person you’re talking to “edm”?

EDM has become used practically worldwide with seemingly the exception of the UK (granted, it seems to be occasionally used on forums by brits, but i’ve never heard it actually enter the language), on Radio One a canadian DJ was quoted, and the presenter actually had to comment “EDM being Electronic Dance Music” it sounded so silly, as Dance music is talked about on the radio constantly and the abbreviation sounded very out of place.

The Vinyl Dilemma, The Digital Conundrum of the Bedroom DJ

For this DJ, still living in the past, with a vinyl fixation, the digital age has reared its head and left him scratching his own..trying to work out just what to do with all his records!

For those wondering where I’m coming from, here is a quick recap.

There was once a time when in order to DJ in a club/rave/bedroom you required a tidy vinyl collection, a mixer and turntables, the majority of Dance music being released on vinyl. This is a fairly simple formula – want to DJ? Buy vinyl.
Should you wish to DJ out, you will be presented with the same setup most everywhere.
With the rise of the digital, the formula has become somewhat more complex and left vinyl DJs with a few kinks to work out now that CD Decks are added to it.
Most clubs will have CD decks, and sometimes turntables, the polar opposite to what it used to be like!
The obvious option is to buy CD decks and move with the times, of course, it’s also the more outright expensive option. This leads us to the first Conundrum! To upgrade/add on to your existing setup, industry standard CD Decks (Pioneer CDJ1000 mk3) will set you back around £1300 for a pair (this is if you don’t buy brand new CDJ2000s). This fairly heavy investment will lead some ‘bedroom DJs’ to say “is it really worth it?”

As a bedroom DJ who has been DJing as hobby for over 15 years I’ve been asking myself this very question. £1300 is a fair amount of money and to spend this amount you either have to:
[01] REALLY enjoy what you’re doing as a hobby
[02] Know that you’re going to “do” something with it
[03] Have the money to blow and aren’t concerned if they don’t get used (at least to no progressive end).

Personally, if I can’t fill any one of those requirements I wouldn’t deem spending the money worth it. If you chose not to upgrade and carry on ignoring the fact you can’t mix certain tunes your alternative could be to buy timecoded vinyl. Timecoded vinyl is all very well, but not a whole lot of use if you are DJing in a club. Of course, you could use timecoded CDs, though this isn’t a whole lot of use if you’ve no CD decks to practice on.
Time coded vinyl seems practical if you are planning on staying at home.

For arguments sake, let us say we choose to go down the route of purchasing the standard CD Decks; this actually presents a new problem; what to do with the vinyl we already own. In 97/98 when I first started buying vinyl, the releases were steady and constant from all genres; I could go on for years, for my entire life, literally, collecting vinyl.
By 2006 vinyl releases seemed to start slowing down, and Mp3 was taking over as the preferred method of release. No longer was it the case people were buying the vinyl and others waiting eagerly for a digital version. I was now seeing digital song after digital song being released, I left saying
“erm, vinyl release?….hello?….anybody?…hello?…no?…oh well!”
So whilst it certainly wasn’t the complete “death of vinyl” It was certainly was in some sense of the word. Moreover, this leads someone who once thought that the quest of vinyl collection had no real end, actually.. now does.

Bringing us nicely around to the similarities of the issues around the switch from vinyl to Mp3 and VHS to DVD. Just as some movies released on VHS were never re-released in better quality on DVD, many record labels have been and gone, the original DAT tapes lost and as a result will never see a digital release. To get around this many DJ’s rip their own vinyl to the computer.

So some, you will have no choice, you need vinyl. Others will get an Mp3 release and no vinyl; and finally you will get songs that were released on vinyl and also on CD as full versions. Leaving the buyer to wonder “which format should I be getting?” Vinyl takes up space, is much more expensive than Mp3, which is cheeper and takes no physical “space”. In thinking about this, I think the best way to keep value for money and space in your house is to follow the following rules:
Vinyl bought should fall into one of two categories
(1). The vinyl does not have a digital release
(2). The vinyl is being bought for sentimental reasons IE:
A. the song is epic, and deserves to be owned on vinyl
B. the song may have been released digitally, but it’s a song from history that would be nice to own and mix.
(2) should probably always be secondary to (1).
I already own around 1000 records I feel that applying this rule to them would probably help me cut down the size of the collection by about 200. There are certainly tracks I own that are not really worthy of vinyl that i’ve kept solely on the off chance I might feel like DJing them, but never have.

Even now I’m thinking about the prospect of selling some (less than 2%) of the vinyl I own and feeling a cold chill. That feeling is counteracted by the thought of only buying vinyl that is practical (by following rule 1 and 2). You would end up with a collection that is concentrated on “rarer” pieces and classics, barely any fillers – and furthermore, there is only a finite amount of records that haven’t been released digitally/need to be owned for sentimental reasons. One could argue that buying CD decks is actually a money saving venture, albeit a money saving venture that would take potentially decades to recoup.

Personally, I’m still completely up in the air over what I should really be doing. Currently I don’t have turntables, though have kept my record collection, now mainly concentrating musical efforts at producing. The venture back into DJing would be rather expensive as it requires both decks, mixer and cdjs, though these aren’t so much on hold because of money, as the money is there if i want to buy everything I need. For me its currently an issue of space and prioritys along with a muddle of feelings about the 3 critera mentioned earlier.

A full setup can take up quite a bit of space, this setup is perhaps the smallest you can make it, though it would be awkward to scratch on the CD decks..

[1] Certainly, I really enjoy DJing, but I’m not sure its worth that amount of money to get CD Decks. Because of the lack of DJing equipment (sold when I changed prioritys and bought some studio equpment) I would be looking to buy the whole lot at once, second hand, which would be the most cost effective way.

[02] Am I going to “do” somthing with it? I feel I could, but there are unknowns around it such as where’s and what’s. Where? there is a club in town, and it is upfront dance music, but its still a “club” and not a dedicated night – having done nightclubs in the past, whilst its fun its not ideal. Which leaves me with ‘dedicated night’ and that could be a whole new kettle of fish, Demand? Genre? both questions that would need answering. A few fustrating unknowns.

[03] would be a wonderful situation, the money to splash and not be fussed wether it gathers dust, gets used or even gets gigged.

As I said earlier I sold my decks originally to purchase some studio equipment and focus my efforts on the production side of music which I seemed to make a little more headway in. Currently [2] is the only available conceviable critera I think I would be able to justify such a purchase.

Free Track: Decybel System – A Skipping Symphony

Christmas is a busy time indeed, busier this year what with our new baby on the way and things to get ready, but still determined to keep this blog somewhat up to date!

Here’s a wonderfully chilled Glitch track from Decybel System called ‘A Skipping Symphony’
It’s pretty clear he’s had some fun with the drums in this one, alot of time has been taken making everything sound exactly right. obviously any glitch is going to sound a little too random if played on an insufficient sound system, so be sure to have a listen when you have some time to really give it attention and on your prefered listening device!

Download

the song sits nicely in the background if you’re doing some work, and only crosses the “slightly too heavy” mark once or twice, which might require a lowering of volume!

Allergies

Ever since I was 11 I’ve suffered from large bouts of allergies – these consist of the usual itchy eyes, puffy face and a mixture of both blocked nose/runny nose and itchy nose. I always assumed it was just pollen that does it, but I’ve been trying to pay attention over the last few years as it seems to be either very very random..or I’m allergic to a lot of different airborne *stuff*.
Dust seems to be one, I remember doing some work in a field back on Scilly potatoes picking when i was a teenager, within about 2 minutes of fumbling round behind the tractor in the dirt with the other works pulling potatoes from the ground my nose was running and I was sniffing like crazy – worth noting that i don’t seem to remember my eyes itching.

We’d have hot summer days back on the islands and i could run through fields and fields and have no problems, then we’d have other days where I would literally be crushed will all the symptoms I listed at the start. Back then I used Flexonase (or whatever it was called back then) I don’t remember if it worked or not.
Fast forward through a life of clear days and crippled-with-hay fever days to more recently where I’ve been trying to keep track of it.
Throughout the spring summer and autumn I had quite a few days where I could barely function because of them and only one thing seemed to stick out the instances – they only seemed happened on weekends, especially Sundays. Many times they symptoms would actually start toward the end of Friday and then not disappear till Monday morning. I still get allergies during the winter too. All this is without doing anything specific or different.

It’s all very odd.
Anyway, that aside – if I specifically want to have an “attack of the allergies” I can also set them off by doing the following:
Cleaning the inside of the car.
Using the hoover.
Using a brush to clean the floor
Turning the heating on in our house (I think this is more relevant to how hot it is, but sometimes its within seconds of the heating Turning on no matter what heat)
Going near any furry animals that aren’t cats (oddly enough they seem to be the only animals I have no reaction to)
Walking around a farm.
Going near a pets sawdust/hay.

Most of those can be avoided – and I’ve found that I can continue to do the cleaning without any symptoms as long as i open all the windows and doors and/or wearing one of those rave masks that builders wear.
so, what to do? When I was 16 I went to trelisk to get an allergen test done, where they poke you on the arm, with a few things that you can be allergic to…and then it itches like a bitch for a few hours – you go back and tell you what you are allergic to.
I haven’t the foggiest what the results were (shows how good my memory is) and even so..I’m not sure how prodding me with something in my arm is going to show me what my breathing and nose has problems with.

Doctors hate talking to me about it, I’ve brought it up once or twice when I’ve been in to see them and the LOVE passing it off as “oh its just hay fever season” and sometimes even do the “well, when did they start?” “ohhhh start of the pollen season then?” *insert smug look* “Just take some regular hay fever pills”

well, I’ve been doing this, and you know what? none of them seem to do anything. well, that isn’t strictly true.
So far I’ve tried:
Piriteze (Cetirizine hydrochloride) (nothing).
Benadryl (uses Acrivastine) (nothing).
Zirtek (Cetirizine hydrochloride) (nothing).
ASDA own brand (Loratadine) (absolutely nothing).
Piriton (chlorphenamine) : this was interesting, it did’t work – but it took me a few days to work out why I was becoming so dozey and sleepy, turns out that about 30mins after taking this medicine I’m basically out of the count, what it lacks in allergy repellent it makes up for as a sleeping aid. So at least the remainder of this potion has some use.
Beconase Allergy (nose spray, did nothing by tasted weird)

and finally….
Otrivine Adult (Nose Spray)
Now this…within 20 seconds of using it, both my nostrils had completely cleared and I was breathing more normally than I had in..well, ever. I had discovered a miracle cure for my nasal symptoms, no longer was I bunged up and stuffy and no longer was I breathing through just one nostril (my usual state of being).
However there was one big downside. My nose had become insanely itchy and sneezy. I really do mean insanely itchy – like to the point where I wanted to chop it off. I’ve used this several times and also whilst i had a cold and it’s led me to a few conclusions.

1. Using it when you have allergies unblocks your nose – great! But I’m guessing your nose is blocked because there is something in the air that’s going to irritate you beyond belief – hence, you stop the nose from doing its usual swelling up..you then face the onslaught of whatever awaits..

2. Using it when you have a cold, but no allergies, is a godsend – it fixes you, and will keep you feeling 95% normal for about 7hours before needing another blast. I feel the downside to this might be that you slow the process of your nose/face getting over whatever cold it is you have. Eventually I felt i had to stop using it, as the cold felt like it was lasting *alot* longer than it should.

I can’t bring myself to use it when i have allergies, even knowing that it will fix my breathing – the itching that comes along with it is pure pure hell. Whilst using it with a cold it was almost addictive. on reading further into it Otrivine Adult can actually become addictive when your nose realises it doesn’t need to produce (whatever it is) that makes the blood vessels relax because it knows it’s going to get a good dose of it in 7hours time – I’m fairly sure this is the same stuff my dad used to use as well, he used it lots too.
so where does this leave me? I’m really not sure! Without too many options.
The weekend/sunday thing still gets me, the only thing I can think of is farmers and fields..maybe they’re doing somthing pesticides wise? I do not know. the fact it seems random and is all year long says to me that there it either somthing that is ALWAYS around but in differing levels, or that I am allergic to quite a few things.

Come on!!

I wanted to write a blog post tonight, a proper one. When I arrived home from work I felt quite inspired to write about the last few places we ate at…radio one removing more shows from their roster..my Son when asked “please get off daddy’s chair” shouting “CATSHIT!…….NIPPLES!!” at me, followed by my fits of laughter. Last weekend I discovered, whilst being attacked by allergens, that a certain type of allergy medicine “Piriton” in liquid form…sends me to sleep about 30-60minutes later. Well I’m writing and my fingers seem to be typing with a mind of their own! This is down to me consuming more of this medicine, who’s only effect on me seems to be soporific. So as a result, this is a blog post to remind myself to have a moan about doctors and allergies. Now I’m off to sleep!

Free Track: Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas (Keljet Merry Christmas Remix)

It’s getting deeper into the season now, and as christmas fast approaches I thought it might be a good idea to post something with the season in mind!

so here is a remix of Chris Rea’s ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ one of my favourite christmas songs!
They’ve sped it up a tad, added a little bit of funk, and finished it off with a little wintery trance.

Download

Can’t guarantee that this will be the last festive track i will post

The past few weeks I’ve been a little bit preoccupied with putting together the members mix for happyhardcore.com, we dropped a few DJs and gained a few more this time round 21 DJs in total, mixing back to back (well, one after the other)
at the moment the north of the UK is being battered by storms and rain, sleet and snow! We’re really close to the Scottish border so we’re also feeling alot of it. The river near where i work has swelled to at least 4 foot its usual height, been having fun watching logs and trees float down!

Free Track: Digital Philosophy – Ultimate Chill Project 2 (Demo)

Stumbled across this fantastic piece of music a few weeks ago whilst going through soundcloud’s Glitch/Chillout selection and was instantly hooked. It’s going to appeal to anyone who enjoyed the K-PAX soundtrack as the entire song screams Edward Shearmur..well, apart from the glitchy drums, but that’s an added bonus! Digital Philosophy is a Canadian artist and this seems to be the only piece of music on his soundcloud that is close to this style – the others tend to be, less gentle? and/or Dubstepy.
Download(right click save target..)