Electronic Dance Music. It's a blanket term that looks innocent when viewed from afar but up close, it covers so many subgenres that it can be overwhelming to someone new in the scene. From the soothing tones of chillwave and dreampop to the more intense beat drops of hardstyle, it's not hard to see why so many people are proud members of the movement. Almost everyone can find at least one subgenre that they like and a ton of other fans to join.
What makes people like a certain subgenre more than another? Is it an age thing? A gender thing? A location thing? Many believe that the subgenre you lean towards heavily depends on the things around you. They believe that your daily life and the country you live in influence your type of music! Dozens of DJs and event managers have mentioned that the crowd responses to different types of music are different according to region. Some say the difference can be categorised quite accurately according to country and this can be used to the DJs advantage. Is this true?
Let's take a look at the EDM tracks that are a hit in Malaysia. Malaysians have demonstrated a pretty clear liking towards Electro-House music. Faded, Animals, Boo-Yah and Levels were all huge hits in the local EDM scene. Even music created by our local DJs fall primarily into the Electro-House subgenre.
What about other countries? Let's turn our heads to Romania. The country is known for its EDM influences, but it lies on a very different ground compared to Malaysia's EDM scene. Romania's fame for its dance-pop community also shows its head in its EDM community, with many dance-pop-influenced tunes. Vocal-house music takes the center stage in this country, as well as minimal house and dubstep.
Next, Indonesia is a country worth looking at too. Trip-hop and down tempo music are a big deal and most of the local EDM community subscribe to these genres. Songs that feature these genres generally do well in this country and you'll probably be dancing along to these songs if you go partying in Indonesia.
Clearly, every country has their own personal taste when it comes to music. Even under the big umbrella of EDM, there are so many ways that every country is different. However, nothing stops us from coming together when the time is right. At international raves, everyone parties together, regardless of the genre and nationality. EDM brings people together and it will continue to do so as long as we let it.