There is no such thing as electronic music anymore...now everything uses electronic means to deliver music, it's just music now...and every genre can use some sort of electronic element.

Personally I believe that term is out-dated now and is used to describe music from late 20th century artists experimenting with new electronic tools to create new sounds and musical compositions...

But now, as we quickly further into the 21st Century, that term now should be completely extinct, because now, it is a norm to make music using electronic means, therefore there is no need to specialise that term into a unique form of music.

The term electronic music to me is starting to sound really old-skool and out-dated...it's slowly becoming a classic late 20th century era in music rather than something that is unique in it's own right. It was a term used to describe making music using electronic mediums when it was at its infancy...but now it should be accepted as a normal form of music just like how a piano composition, a rock 'n roll track, a soul or funky track, jazz, blues etc. is accepted as a normal type of music...

Unfortunately there are people who are still trapped in time and haven't moved on yet...some people still believe the electronic sound isn't real music...these guys are obviously lost and have gone really old...and then there is the other really dumb side where mainstream America just DISCOVERED the term and now there marketing it as something new, when it existed decades before any of the new listeners prolly even grew as a leech in their parents stomach...

What you guys think?

I honestly believe it should be considered by the proper musical authorities such as university research groups/professors and such to reconsider the term 'Electronic Music' and update their studies relating to this type of now 'normal' music *yes*

 

Most of the people I talk to know in a way what I do if I say: I produce electronic music.

They do not expect me do produce Country nor Death Metal nor Indie Pop nor Rock'n'Roll, so I guess the term is still descriptive in a way.

What should I use instead? If I say Psychill or Dark Ambient or Power Electronics or Cold Wave they do not know what I'm talking about. *no*

 

well you're getting it confused. Electronic Music isn't a genre like psychill or dark ambient...it is a platform that can consist of any type of music these days. But since there are many productions that use a heavily electronic sound...the term is useless.

Even Hip Hop and Soul tracks use electronic sounds now...

Just say to you're friends you produce any kind of music...whatever. You should never really restrict yourself to a genre anyway...

but as I said...electronic music is a platform, not a genre...

of course you're friends will not understand what you will say if you say psychill or dark ambient, because they do not realise that the term 'Electronic Music' is out-dated yet...this is why the term needs to be professionally debated *yes*

 

I didn'say that electronic music is a genre. If you ever have heard of the term "prototype semantics" you should understand what I mean when talking to my friends about music. People only can communicate by means of common understandings those people are sharing. But if you want to confuse people, just drop the term "electronic music" if you like.

If I say "music", next question would be "what kind of music?" Get the idea?

I do not restrict myself to any genre, but in common language I tend to use words others understand. Not everyone is a musician nor a geek or nerd who knows about production techniques or genres. For most people Lady Gaga is Pop, Jonny Cash is Country and Aphex Twin is Electronic, no doubt about that. *no*

So there is a common understanding about "electronic music", which is: music made mainly with (virtual) electronic devices like synths, drum computer, samplers, and which has a sound on its own. Just because a genre uses electronic sounds it does not mean that this music is "electronic music".

If s.o. composes a classical symphony only with samples, no one would call that "electronic music", most of the people would call that "classical music", made with a computer. *yes*

Words and meanings develope by usage, not by debates. *no*

 

Gotta say I agree 100% with DokX.

Well articulated point, great examples to boot

I think the term 'Electronic Music' should be used as a blanket genre (Electronica, House, Trance, Dubstep, DnB etc.xINFINITY)and not as a definition of how a song is made.

As you said HK, lots of tracks are made using electronic/computers/VSTi these days but I wouldnt consider them 'Electronic Music'. What about Hip-Hop? I cant remember the last Hip-Hop track I heard that you could identify REAL instruments you know... but Hip-Hop is Hip-Hop is Hip-Hop at the end of the day!

 

I agree HK. Was thinkin about this the other day. In time people will begin to notice the depth of electronic music and then it may be referred to as something bigger or classified as one of the main types of music.

Look at rock and hiphop...no one really took these genres seriously until people started to notice the versatility that each genre withheld. When rock music began it was mainly just a sub-genre of the original R&B/alternative soul music. Then people like Chuck Berry and Elvis (whom are a topic all to themselves) began to take it to another level with showmanship and general crazyness and show people it's more than they think. Same with hiphop. Once people wake up and take a genre for itself instead a sub-par spawn of another genre then it gets it's due respect as I believe electronic music will in time.

I personally hate when people go full retard generalize all electronic music as techno. Pisses me off everytime.

 

How about 'electronica' ?

 

I always call it.. Electronic music to all the genre such as Electro/house/techno/trance/progressive.. etc.

A couple of years ago when people start calling it EDM.. i was like wtf is EDM.


Overall i think music should always evolve and incorporate sounds from other genres to achieve new genres or sounds. It would be sad if the artist/groups we like play the same 4 by 4 bar and drops for years. Same goes to synths/guitar/effects/etc..

 

but doxx you confused it again... classical music is a genre, not a platform...if you made classical music using computer samples, you delivered it electronically and not realistically. The platform you used was electronic, the genre was classical. See where I am getting at?

You basically made my point because if classical music was made using computers and people referred to it as classical even though it really wasn't using actually composed live...then why should my next track that used a plugin be considered electronic when it went through the same process but just used a different sound?

See? Everyone uses the electronic PLATFORM, it is no longer a special area of music that only certain people do like it was back in the day...it is an out-dated term.

You saying people not understanding the type of music you make if you don't say it's electronic is only because the term is still around...that is all...but if we do take this into a professional discussion and some professor deems the term out-dated, then we can all move on from it...

It is just a matter of updating the history of music and keeping it in line with the times...

 

the whole thing of placing a style tag on electronic music has become stupid example the current must "Deep House" now if I'm not wrong isnt that really tech house.The tags change so much that I cant keep up with them atall

 

that's because genres also have a problem. Genres are very stupid and pointless because it limits the creativity of a producer and restricts his abilities to a certain type of sound...genres only exist and are made by cooperate heads who love to market the sound for money...if music wasn't looked at genre wise...then people would come up with more interesting ideas rather than oversaturate someone elses good idea...

But it's not so much of a destructive problem. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM with genres is that everyone just comes up with bullshit and gives a name to a certain type of music they hear. And sometimes this can improperly catch on. Every genre means something different to somebody.

Take techno for eg... everyone thinks ALLL electronic music is techno...everyone calls EDM 'techno' and whatever. But even labels have that problem as well...if you go on beatport and you see the techno genre, you would see a deep house style track there for some reason...and then you would see a more tech housey track and then you would see detroit techno and hard techno...all this bullshit is in their...

that's why it is stupid to catergorise a certain type of music something. People in detroit listening to German Techno wouldn't call what the Germans do techno because they see it as something else...and vise versa.

Everyone should try to do their own thing rather than think about genres then maybe we could flip this shit up-side down to a point where all these kids and cooperate heads that love to categorise shit have their brains fried from not knowing where something belongs...

A person that loves rock music and hates EDM would say 'FUCK EDM' for a certain reason that is personal to him...and I can say 'FUCK EDM' for a completely different reason that is personal to me but at the same time I'd say 'FUCK ROCK' cuz I hate rock music.

Music means different things to different people, but genres just ruin things and confuse the logic that is contained between the notes...

 

To be concise..

Electronic is a generalization used to encompass several sub-genre's.

Tons of other music most certainly does not fall under Electronic.

I don't see how it's outdated.

Pretty simple, what's all the fuss?


I use a mix of software sybth\sample and classic instruments, guitar, percussive... but I wouldn't use Electronic in the name \ genre even tho a lot of what I use would be considered electronic.

 

that's exactly my point. You still use electronic instruments or tools in some of what you use...but what you do isn't electronic. But 'tool' wise, what's different to what you do to what some House music producer does. Some house tracks use real guitar recordings and classical instrument recordings. Armin Van Buurens trance album had a live violiinist compose an intro...

They consider electronic music 'trance' and 'house'? What makes that sooo electronic then what you would do with the DAW you use? It's no longer electronic music because all music is made electronically now...it is produced... so a paradox lies which makes the term out-dated and illogical. No matter what you do now...it's just music... and those trance and house tracks or whatever, it's not electronic...I don't see anything electronic about it...it's just music...

To truly understand what I am saying you have to also be someone that listens or makes that kind of music...it's not any different from making a rock track tbh...it all ends up going through very similar processes aside from mic technique and recording...but there is no difference between the level of electronics used that makes trance music or whatever specifically more electronic than a rock track. Besides, don't rock tracks use ahem...an ELECTRIC GUITAR?