Billboard article: Has the EDM bubble burst?

10/18/14 issue
Although the article deals with one company and it's stock price, it is interesting non the less.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:
SFX Entertainment is a company betting on EDM and the closest thing to a mainstream barometer of the culture that exists, since they heavily promote it.

Their stock price per share has gone down 63.8% since January (from $12 to $4.34 on Oct. 8). Even with that said, the company is worth $400 million. Their outflow and "purchases" were worth $123 million during the first half of 2014 and cash on hand ($58.9 million) declined 44.7% from March to June.

COMMENTS:
Let's see we've had New Wave, Techno, Trance, Industrial, Jungle, etc., etc. Although many lasted for years, they've all faded. Is EDM just the latest incarnation of a long line of alternative Dance movements? EDM Songs tend to sound alike and many are simply un-danceable. Once Rap and Hip-Hop songs fade from the charts they are pretty much over. The same can be said of EDM. Very few songs even from just a few years back, get much attention. Maybe Billboard is right.

gregg75 said:

10/18/14 issue
Although the article deals with one company and it's stock price, it is interesting non the less.

COMMENTS:
Let's see we've had New Wave, Techno, Trance, Industrial, Jungle, etc., etc. Although many lasted for years, they've all faded. Is EDM just the latest incarnation of a long line of alternative Dance movements? EDM Songs tend to sound alike and many are simply un-danceable. Once Rap and Hip-Hop songs fade from the charts they are pretty much over. The same can be said of EDM. Very few songs even from just a few years back, get much attention. Maybe Billboard is right.

Click to expand...

Well first, I searched the Billboard archive and never found this story from 10/18, there is similar SFX story dated 10/08.

Next, EDM is not the latest dance movement. EDM is also not a genre in its own. Just as rock, jazz, pop and other musical genres have their own set of sub-genres, so does electronic dance music. The term EDM just recently became more commonly used and excepted by the music industry in general. I attribute this to the huge surge of new fans (and some new "part-time" fans) over the past five years just not knowing the difference in sub-genres - EDM kinda covers them all. (And this USA Today story from 2011 backs me up on that http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-12-13/electronic-music-glossary/51863490/1)

The biggest sub-genres include house, techno, trance, drum & bass, dubstep, progressive, electro, & trap. eYou mentioned New Wave, Techno, Trance, Industrial, Jungle - all of those are sub genres of EDM.

A few other things you said that I feel need correction:
You said: "EDM Songs tend to sound alike and many are simply un-danceable"
That's a very silly statement followed by your opinion. Daft Punk, Avicci, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Skrillex, Deadmau5 are ALL EDM artists - and each one is very different than the other.

You said: "Once Rap and Hip-Hop songs fade from the charts they are pretty much over. The same can be said of EDM. Very few songs even from just a few years back, get much attention"

Huh? Where are you wanted these hip hop songs to "go" once they fall off the charts? The best of the best might survive a little longer as "recurrents". Older rap songs from the 90's are found on their own Classic Hip Hop channel on Sirius XM, there are 24/7 classic hip hop stations on the air now in Houston, L.A. & Phoenix plus Old Skool music features are common on top 40 and urban radio statios all over. As far what happens to EDM songs - your correct that finding dance/EDM music froim the 90's is fairly non-existant. But dance/EDM rarely got real radio support and Billboard ONLY chart was called "Dance Club Play", EDM artists whose songs crossed over to top 40 radio in the past 4-5 years still get some play. Songs like "Titanium", "Feels So Close, "Get Lucky" will be around a little longer. EDM has MUCH better radio support today but isn't even 25% of what what listeners want and the market will support And today Billboard has SIX electronic/dance charts tracking club play, airplay & digital sales as separate charts.

Hope that helps you understand EDM a little bit better.

T.M.I.
Call it what you want, but EDM is alternative Dance. Trance, Jungle, Techno.....they were all around before EDM, and stand on their own legs.

They all sound pretty much alike to me: Daft Punk, Avicci, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Skrillex, Deadmau5. Just another brand of the same motor oil.

Time will tell who was right (you or me). EDM may be the Dance sound of the moment, but it will not be the sound of forever!

gregg75 said:

T.M.I.
Call it what you want, but EDM is alternative Dance. Trance, Jungle, Techno.....they were all around before EDM, and stand on their own legs.

They all sound pretty much alike to me: Daft Punk, Avicci, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Skrillex, Deadmau5. Just another brand of the same motor oil.

Time will tell who was right (you or me). EDM may be the Dance sound of the moment, but it will not be the sound of forever!

Click to expand...

You still don't get it...

EDM is NOT "alternative dance"
EDM is NOT "the dance sound of the moment"
EDM is a catch-all TERM for ALL the different forms/sub-genres of Electronic Dance Music, past & present.

And if you honestly think that...

- Daft Punk and Skrillex sound the same
- Deadmau5 and Calvin Harris sound the same
- Avicii and David Guetta sound the same

...then I recommend you educate yourself on electronic music before posting further to avoid sounding foolish.

So somebody around 1999 suddenly decided that the new term EDM will cover all Dance music past and present? And that was a good idea? Let's just call all fast food places HJ hamburger joints. Why bother with Ford, Chevy, Toyota.........let's just put up an NCD, (new car dealer) sign in front of them all?

I never signed off on the renaming of Dance music and never will. You can have your EDM, PB&J or whatever else you want to call it.

This debate keeps having a rerun every 3 months. We all know what the initials of EDM stand for. But that doesn't mean the term is used correctly. It's an American brand that the industry has cashed in on. So therefore the average person understands EDM as the junk that has a cheesy festival sound. The cookie cutter Big Room formula. It's ironic because on the other side of the world, Real House and Electronic is the standard as most of the music comes from Europe. They don't use the term EDM, and it's actually clowned on as being Top40 cheese. I mean even Billboard has Disney remixes on their Dance chart? Be ahead of the curve and look outside the USA for trends in Dance music. The bar has been set real low here in the states, and its quite arrogant to think the spoon fed EDM nonsense holds any weight globally. Especially when domestic radio and labels wanted nothing to do with dance last decade. Don't be a sheep, be a leader!