If you think about your favorite musical artist, or even your favorite song, do you know where that stems from? Music is a representation of time, culture and experience that is altered by the consumer’s thirst for something new and the artist’s desire to deliver. Genres come and go based on time and place. Woodstock, the Summer of Love and a great deal of music and society of the 1960’s was birthed due to a rebellion of the social norms in the 1950’s. Without digging too deep into history, it is very evident that music and culture have always coincided.

So, where do we stand in 2017 and where is music headed? Night clubs and music festivals have become the staple home of modern music consumption. The clubs stem from european cities such as Paris and Barcelona. They are often open until morning hours and have a DJ playing uptempo techno and pop music. The festivals offer a weekend of nonstop live music. Big-name festivals such as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza have started to incorporate late night EDM (electronic dance music) acts. Electric Forest brings in big name EDM artists such as Bassnectar, Odesza, Nero and more. The point being, both of these leading social atmospheres help to bolster the rise of EDM. Today’s society has a shorter attention span, and the desire to sit down and watch an acoustic act has drifted from most people’s interests. Musicians have started to make adjustments to fit their audience.

Programmable synthesizers have been around since 1958, so having electronic instruments alongside bands is not a new phenomenon. What is new, however, is the push and development 100 percent electronic music. The idea that live music could consist of one person behind a wall of computers making purely digital sounds is a relatively new concept.

While EDM has not yet fully infiltrated the other genres of music, it has begun to have an effect. There are many established rock bands that are incorporating less traditional rock instruments and replacing them with pre-recorded and looping electronic sounds. The Flaming Lips are introducing their new album “Oczy Mlody” in 2017. On December 1,6 2016 the band released “Sunrise (Eyes of the Young)” as the first single on the new album. This track uses a steady electronic drum beat. Wayne Coyne uses delay and multiple other digital effects on his voice, and the keyboard is set on a digital delay as well. The National, a band that has always used traditional rock instruments, is incorporating electronic sounds into their upcoming album. The National hasn’t released an album since “Trouble Will Find Me” in 2013. A single titled “Checking Out” released October 19, 2015 begins with a steady electronic rhythm set by a synthesizer. Beck dropped his new hit single “Wow” on September 13, 2016. This song has Beck fans confused and partially agitated because of the Pop music feel. He has a flute sound on loop throughout the entire track, and multiple beat rises and drops. The XX released its first album in 2009, and is a perfect representation of the evolution of rock music. The XX often headlines big name festivals and is listed as an indie rock band, but the band’s first big hit “Intro” is almost completely electronic. The track also lacks a voice. The XX has set a trend for new and old rock groups to follow.

A great majority of popular music has swayed in the direction of EDM. Katy Perry is releasing a new album in 2017, which includes her new hit single “Rise”. “Rise” incorporates an electronic beat that has many rises and falls, no pun intended. Modern rap has evolved from 1990’s record scratching and song sampling to its own form of EDM. Many Rap artists have seen recent success collaborating with EDM DJs, such as Gesaffelstien and A$AP Rocky, Daft Punk and Kanye West, Flux Pavilion and Childish Gambino, and even the infamous “Turn Down for What” came from DJ Snake and Lil John working together.

There is, and will always be, a taste for the more sentimental acoustic acts. Ed Sheeran announced on New Year’s Day that he was dropping a new album in 2017. Jay Z seems to be inspired by his wife, Beyonce’s, last album “Lemonade” and is releasing a new album that he acclaims to be his most personal yet.

I am not saying that all music is headed towards EDM, because it still has the possibility to be a fad. Just like any era of great music, today’s sounds are affected by cultural trends. Technology rules in 2017. There is no getting around it and there is no living without it. Is it merely a coincidence that a large portion of our music is made through a computer? I don’t think so. Whether you are a proponent for it or not, there is no denying electronic music has seeped its way into almost every genre. As for now, EDM is the music of future.