R&P Post 3: Music genres that interest me

Music genre is very important. When marketing a track, band/artist or album, the genre is vital to the artist's identity. The way that they are presented enables audiences to relate to the artist and identify with the genre.

As a group, our music tastes are very varied and we all listen to different genres of music. Therefore, we had to compromise our favourite genres and decided to choose a genre that we all enjoyed. We decided on EDM - electronic dance music, because we thought that it would be fun to do a conceptual video similar to ones that we had researched.

A short summary of the EDM genre

EDM: 1990s vs Now

Firestarter

The Prodigy

First released in 1996

Right Here Right Now

Fatboy Slim

First released in 1998

Wake Me Up

Avicci

Released in 2013

How Deep is Your Love

Calvin Harris & Disciples

Released in 2015

From the videos, I can infer that EDM has developed a lot over time. The music style has changed from being aggressive and ambitious with its strong beat to becoming more like chill music - a genre that has very laidback rhythm. The music videos have also changed in this period of time. The modern day music videos typically have more female representation to reflect a change in the producers and consumers of the EDM genre. Although most DJs are still predominantly male, modern day EDM tracks often feature a female singer.

Current popular EDM bands or DJs at the moment

Having had discussions with the group, we have each expressed what genres we like individually and decided on pop or synth-pop as it suited our strengths. As a result of our research into EDM, we researched into synth-pop songs and decided on our song. I have learnt about the history of the genre and how some aspects have changed and stayed the same over the course of 20 years. I have also learnt about the importance of the genre to an artist's identity as well as the versatility of the music tracks that range from love songs to controversial punk songs.

My research into the EDM genre will enrich our knowledge of the conventions of the genre and I can see how important the genre is to the marketing in the music industry. I will use my research to inform my decisions of how to style the artist and what kind of image to promote. I have also been able to apply Andrew Goodwin's theory of typical genre characteristics to EDM music videos. Although my group have chosen a different genre for our project, the knowledge that I have gained will prove invaluable to the project when I make decisions regarding genre.