Music and Technology: How Technology has Impacted EDM

In my Honors Music as a Social Experience course, we are writing a chapter that could be implemented into our textbook, Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context. For this project, I’ve decided to look at the connections between music and technological advancements, specifically using examples from Electronic Dance Music (EDM) to describe this connection. Specifically, I’m looking at the progression of technology within the music industry and how the change in technology has impacted the way EDM music has been produced and received by the intended audience. Technology has become a huge part of how we do and perceive a lot of different things, including music; the increase in technological advancements has increased the reach of the music we listen to today, meaning we have access to listen to music from a wide range of music genres/styles, artists, and cultures. Technological advancements have also changed the way music has been played, recorded, and distributed throughout history, especially since the first recording devices were first used in the late 1800s. I use the following musical examples “Song of the Second Moon” by Kid Baltan and Tom Dissevelt, “Neon Lights” by Kraftwerk, and “Clarity” by Zedd to show the changes in the technology used in EDM.