Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
Before "EDM" became a festival-sized brand, Black and queer DJs were building its sound in underground clubs.
By Greg Goodwin · Published October 3, 2026 · Updated October 24, 2026
Cheat Sheet
- Grew from 1970s-80s disco, house (Chicago), and techno (Detroit) scenes, pioneered significantly by Black and queer DJs and producers in underground club culture.
- The term 'EDM' itself is a relatively recent, commercially driven label (popularized in the US around the 2010s) distinct from the genre's much older underground roots.
- Festival culture, exemplified by events like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival, became central to EDM's mainstream explosion starting in the early 2010s.
- EDM encompasses a wide range of subgenres (house, techno, dubstep, trance, drum and bass, and more), each with distinct tempos, rhythms, and production techniques.
- The 'drop,' a sudden shift to a track's most intense, bass-heavy section after a build-up, became one of mainstream EDM's most recognizable structural signatures.
- Streaming and DJ-as-headliner culture have made some electronic producers among the highest-earning live performers in the entire music industry.
The 60-Second Version
Electronic dance music grew out of 1970s and 80s disco, house music from Chicago, and techno from Detroit, pioneered significantly by Black and queer DJs and producers working within underground club culture, well before the sound reached anything resembling mainstream recognition. The term "EDM" itself is actually a relatively recent, commercially driven label, popularized in the United States around the 2010s, distinct from and arriving much later than the genre's considerably older underground roots stretching back decades earlier. Festival culture, exemplified by massive events like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival, became central to EDM's mainstream commercial explosion starting in the early 2010s, transforming what had been underground club music into a stadium-scale live spectacle. Today's EDM actually encompasses a wide and genuinely diverse range of subgenres, including house, techno, dubstep, trance, and drum and bass, each carrying distinct tempos, rhythms, and production techniques rather than representing one single unified sound. Within mainstream EDM specifically, "the drop," a sudden shift to a track's most intense, bass-heavy section following a build-up, became one of the genre's most recognizable and widely imitated structural signatures. Thanks to streaming and the rise of DJ-as-headliner culture, some electronic music producers have become among the highest-earning live performers in the entire music industry, a commercial outcome few could have predicted from the genre's underground club origins.
The Long Version
Underground Origins in Disco, House, and Techno
Electronic dance music grew out of 1970s and 80s disco, house music from Chicago, and techno from Detroit, pioneered significantly by Black and queer DJs and producers working within underground club culture, well before the sound reached anything resembling the mainstream recognition it enjoys today.
A Commercial Label Arriving Decades Later
The term "EDM" itself is actually a relatively recent, commercially driven label, popularized in the United States around the 2010s, distinct from and arriving much later than the genre's considerably older underground roots stretching back decades earlier to clubs most casual EDM fans today have never heard of.
Festivals Turned Club Music Into Stadium Spectacle
Festival culture, exemplified by massive events like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival, became central to EDM's mainstream commercial explosion starting in the early 2010s, transforming what had been underground club music performed for small crowds into a stadium-scale live spectacle attended by hundreds of thousands annually.
One Label, Many Distinct Sounds
Today's EDM actually encompasses a wide and genuinely diverse range of subgenres, including house, techno, dubstep, trance, and drum and bass, each carrying distinct tempos, rhythms, and production techniques rather than representing one single unified sound, despite often being grouped together under the same broad commercial umbrella.
A Signature Moment, and a New Commercial Scale
Within mainstream EDM specifically, "the drop," a sudden shift to a track's most intense, bass-heavy section following a build-up, became one of the genre's most recognizable and widely imitated structural signatures. Thanks to streaming and the rise of DJ-as-headliner culture, some electronic music producers have become among the highest-earning live performers in the entire music industry, a commercial outcome few could have predicted from the genre's underground club origins.
Why People Care
Knowing EDM's real underground history, and the artists and communities often left out of its mainstream commercial story, gives genuine context to a genre that's become one of the biggest live-music economies in the world, while explaining why the word "EDM" means very different things depending on who's using it.
Glossary
- House music
- An electronic dance genre originating in 1980s Chicago club culture, foundational to modern EDM.
- Techno
- An electronic dance genre originating in 1980s Detroit, foundational to modern EDM alongside house music.
- The drop
- A sudden shift to a track's most intense, bass-heavy section following a build-up, a signature structural element in mainstream EDM.
- EDM festival culture
- Large-scale live events like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival central to EDM's mainstream growth from the early 2010s onward.
- Subgenre
- A distinct stylistic branch within EDM, such as dubstep, trance, or drum and bass, each with its own tempo and production conventions.
Go Deeper
- Red Bull Music Academy — Electronic Music History
- Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton
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