Types of EDM (Electronic Dance Music)
Here is a list of Electronic Dance Music genres. These go by the four on the floor style.
Drum And Bass
Drum And Bass, commonly referred to as DnB is very popular. It's known for its fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, synthesizers and samples. Most DnB is 173 Beats Per Minute, but the B.P.M. can range from 160-180.
Popular artists include Netsky and Pendulum.
Popular subgenres include jungle and liquid.
Festivals that you may want to look into are Sun And Bass, and Let It Roll. Outlook Festival is also bass heavy. Northern Bass is a worthwhile festival in New Zealand.
House
House has a heavy beat and is generally 115-130 B.P.M. Such tracks can contain bass drums, off-beat hi-hats, snare drums, claps, snaps, synthesizer riffs, deep basslines.
House tracks commonly have vocals.
Popular artists include Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk.
Dubstep
Dubstep has a B.P.M. rate of 135-145. It has sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with prominent sub-bass frequencies. .
A well-known artist is Nero.
Most festivals with dubstep also play DnB, such as Rampage.
Techno
Techno is known for repetitive beats and synthesized sounds. It has a focus on rhythm and groove. Techno usually has a B.P.M of 130-150.
Awakenings is a popular techno festival.
Hardstyle
Hardstyle typically has a B.P.M. of 160-200. It has a disorted sawtooth kick, the kicks are intensive.
The genre also makes use of disortion.
Some subgenres have a synthesized bass.
D-stub is an example of a hardstyle artist.
Defqon.1 festival mainly focuses on hardstyle.
Hardcore
Hardcore can be described as minimalist with cold sounds and powerful beats. The vocals are aggressive.
A top producer is Angerfist.
Defqon.1 festival also plays hardcore.
Trap
Trap as Electronic Dance Music has a typical B.P.M. of 130-170. It features synthesized drums, complex hi-hat patterns, tuned kick drums with a long decay.
Notable producers include DJ Snake and RL Grime.
Trance
135-150 is the normal B.P.M. for trance. It's known for repeating melodic phrases and building energy.
Trance music usually builds up to one or two "drops".
Popular trance artists include Armin van Buuren, Markus Schulz and Gareth Emery.
Worthwile festivals include Transmission and Luminity.
Electronic body music
Electronic Body Music, sometimes shortened to EBM contains repetitive basslines, programmed drum beats, and instructional shouts or growls with reverb or echo effects. The vocals are typically clear or slightly distorted.
Tracks sometimes make use of environmental samples, a siren would be an example of this. Tracks could also use excerpts from political speeches or science-fiction movies.
Bodyfest in Sweden is a festival with electronic body music.
Thanks for reading
I hope that you enjoyed learning about the types of EDM (Electronic Dance Music).
You may want read our guide on how to DJ and mix music.