EDM

EDM is not a style but an umbrella term, coined by the American industry around 2010 to sell electronic music to big stages. What it actually points at is the mainstage format: big room, electro house, a verse-build-drop structure modelled on pop, and headliners playing to tens of thousands. For a large part of the audience, it is the way into electronic music.

EDM describes a way of playing more than a sound: in front of a monumental stage, with a set built around its peaks, synchronised visuals and surprise guests. It is a show format as much as a genre, which is why one DJ can run house, big room and trance inside the same hour.

In Europe it is the sound of the very large summer festivals (Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain) and the door through which much of the audience enters electronic music before looking at what clubs are playing. Headliners are global and tickets go months ahead.