EDM has been really busy invading the pop-music airwaves for some time now. That’s extra evident when you listen to DJ Earworm’s mashup of the 50 biggest hits of 2015, as determined by the Billboard weekly Hot 100 charts. In addition to dance music artists from various sub-genres, there is a heavy presence of favorite-to-remix tracks and of artists who have collaborated with some of our favorite DJs.
Compare that to the 2010 mashup, which only featured the Top 25 Hits of the year — where’s the dance music? The closest you can get is Lady Gaga or Ke$ha. In 2011 we saw the beginning of a tiny army invasion, Calvin Harris & Rihanna’s We Found Love and LMFAO lead the charge. The next year, the dance music army expands. In 2012 we were brought Ellie Goulding’s Lights, Flo Rida & Sia’s catchy Wild Ones, the terrible gift of Gangnam Style, and Alex Clare’s way too overplayed Too Close.
By 2013 it was clear what was on the horizon. Avicii’s Wake Me Up infiltrated the airwaves (and still won’t go away.) Add in Capital Cities’ Safe & Sound, Daft Punk’s comeback featuring Pharell with Get Lucky, Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child, and we have a full on battle of genres. It’s also worth mentioning that Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble made this list, and like it or not, that chorus is full of melodic electronic wubs.
Last year’s 2014 mix featured some tracks that we still love to hear get dropped in sets now and then, like Pompeii and Habits. It also included some that we could do without, like Turn Down For What and the initially wonderful but eventually tiresome Stay With Me.
Now here we are in 2015 with plenty of awesome collaborations and solo efforts alike. Gracing this list on the collab side are AlunaGeorge and DJ Snake’s You Know You Like It, David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Afrojack Hey Mama, Jack U & Justin Bieber’s Where Are U Now. As far as solo tracks go we’ve got Ellie Goulding’s Love Me Like You Do, Tove Lo’s Talking Body, plenty of Justin Bieber, Trap Queen, and Cheerleader round out this list with a nice variety of sound.
Looking at what we have here, we’re not going to say dance music is king, but we will say that it’s aiming for the crown. It’s sometimes difficult to decide whether an artist is EDM or pop because honestly nowadays they can so often be both. Forgive us if you think that we have incorrectly characterized an artist or song, we do the best we can to be accurate despite the very blurred line.
How do you define the difference between pop and EDM?
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