Electronic Music Popularity

 electronic dance music — It's a rogue, cutting-edge art form that has darted in and out of the mainstream since the disco '70s. Now it's a stadium-level moneymaker.
"You have a new generation every eight to 10 years that finds its own music, its own sound, and for this generation, dance music is the biggest new thing," says Dutch DJ Afrojack, aka Nick van de Wall, one of the headliners at the Spring Awakening Festival of electronic dance music June 16-17 at Soldier Field. "Dance music has always been around, but now you see major pop artists like J.Lo and will.i.am working with dance producers, and it's becoming part of the culture."


The sound is ubiquitous on commercial radio. Sales for mostly instrumental electronic-music albums aren't in the same league as Beyonce or Katy Perry, usually topping out at about 300,000 copies. But countless hip-hop and pop artists in recent years, from Lady Gaga to Nicki Minaj, are collaborating with DJs and electronic-music producers for hits. The Grammy Awards last February acknowledged the impact by giving nationally televised exposure to electronic dance-music superstars such as Skrillex, David Guetta and Deadmau5, who was seen "jamming" with rockers Foo Fighters.
Sales of recorded music tell only part of the story. The live electronic-music scene has moved out from the underground clubs and outlaw loft-party scene into large theaters, arenas and even stadiums that typically host major rock concerts. Spring Awakening is just one of several music festivals in the area this summer with heavy representation from electronic dance artists and DJs, including the Wavefront Music Festival, June 30-July 1 at Montrose Beach; Summer Set Music and Camping Festival, Aug. 24-26 in Somerset, Wis.; and the North Coast Festival, Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Union Park.
Nationwide, electronic dance music has become a major draw on the festival circuit: The Electric Daisy Carnival drew more than 200,000 in Las Vegas last year, and 165,000 attended the Ultra Music Festival a few weeks ago in Miami, totals comparable to the huge audiences commanded by raves in Europe. In addition, dance music has become a major component of more mainstream rock festivals such as Coachella April in California and Lollapalooza in Grant Park, which sold out 270,000 tickets in advance with dance artists Avicii and Justice among the headliners Aug. 3-5.
When it opened in Grant Park in 2005, Lollapalooza could easily contain the hard-core dance crowd in a small grove dubbed "Perry's Place" (in homage to festival co-founder and Jane's Addictionsinger Perry Farrell). But the audience steadily grew, so last year Texas-based C3 Presents commissioned a huge tent for the Perry's stage that could hold 15,000 people. It still wasn't big enough. When Skrillex performed, the crowd not only stuffed the tent, it spilled outside, creating a mob scene with revelers shimmying atop generators and climbing trees. This year the festival will again expand the dance element, and have two electronic performers on the main stages for the first time.
"The energy being created from dance and electronic music is as powerful asrock 'n' roll," Farrell says. "It's getting stronger and stronger. You want to see people flip out like they did in the mosh pit at a rock show? They're doing it in dance music. It's scary, dangerous, exciting, likerock 'n' rollused to be."

bygregkot