Why Are EDM festivals Suddenly So Popular?
An infographic about the rise in popularity for electronic dance music.
EDM festivals are more popular than ever, but why? Read below to find out! Data was gathered from Facebook and Google Trends.
Since the early 2000s, electronic dance music (EDM) festivals have been growing in popularity. EDM is a genre of music that was created with synthesizers, drum machines and digital software. It is played at nightclubs, raves and festivals around the world. Some of the most well-known EDM festivals in North America are Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Forest, Ultra Music Festival and Lollapalooza.
The infographic below details why this type of music has become so popular. In the 1970s and 1980s, electronic music was still considered to be underground and only appealed to small groups of people. However, with the rise of the internet, it started spreading like wildfire. The internet allowed people to share their favorite songs with friends and family members without having to purchase a CD or other physical media.
As laptops became more affordable and portable studio equipment from companies such as Native Instruments became available for purchase online, many producers started using these tools to create original tracks at home instead of spending thousands at a professional studio. These tracks were then published on websites such as SoundCloud for anyone who wanted to listen or download them for free!
The infographic shows a timeline of EDM popularity from the 80s to now. The timeline starts with the birth of electronic music in the early 1980s and ends with the current state of EDM festivals.
The growth of EDM is very interesting. In the early 80’s, not many people were interested in electronic dance music. Then, in 1999, a movie called “The Matrix” was released that helped popularize the genre. The first large-scale festival was held in 2001. This festival attracted over 100,000 people!
In 2011, there were over 11 million people who attended an EDM festival. That number increased to 26 million people in 2013 and 36 million people in 2014! These numbers are expected to continue growing as more and more people get into electronic dance music.
EDM has been around for decades but it has evolved in recent years. Other than the bigger crowds and bigger names, what is it that’s made EDM so popular?
For starters, EDM is now a billion dollar industry. That’s right, billion with a B. It’s become a phenomenon that’s not only popular with the younger crowd but older Americans as well. For those of us who can remember the days of disco, we can certainly see some similarities between then and now. In fact, at an EDC festival in Las Vegas this past year, the average EDM fan was 29 years old.
It’s no longer just something you listen to in your bedroom or on your headphones. EDM festivals are becoming more and more popular to attend. In fact, many people travel from all over the world just to attend one of these events. The total number of people attending these events each year has more than doubled since 2009 and attendance is expected to continue to grow over the next few years. With attendance comes revenue and a lot of it at that too. These festivals aren’t cheap to attend and they aren’t cheap to produce either which means there’s money coming into this industry from all angles.
From 2010-2012 there was a 47% increase
I’m an electronic dance music fan and I’ve been to many events over the past few years so when I saw the latest infographic from Eventbrite, I was really excited. This infographic features all kinds of interesting statistics about the growing popularity of EDM and festivals. We’re talking about everything from who is going (millennials, duh) to what kind of drug use goes on at these festivals.
The information also breaks down the most popular genres of EDM and which artists are topping the charts this year in terms of festival attendance. It’s a well done infographic that shares a lot of great information about this growing music genre.
I do want to note that there may be some errors in the infographic because they seem to have combined the genres a bit too much. The genre “dubstep” is actually not part of “techno/house/trance” – although it is a part of electronic dance music like moombahton, trap and drum & bass are.
There are so many different styles of electronic dance music right now that it can be hard to keep track of them all. Let’s just say there are enough genres to keep everyone happy!
The electronic dance music (EDM) festival industry has grown from a community of ravers to an international business worth millions. How is this happening?
The answer, it turns out, lies in the data. Let’s take a look at what has made EDM festivals so popular and how they are engaging with their fans.
In the past 10 years, attendance at EDM festivals has increased by 40 percent worldwide. In 2012 alone, EDM festivals grossed a reported $300 million in the United States and $4 billion globally. The Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas festival saw 320,000 attendees over three days; Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival had an estimated 400,000 attendees over two weekends; and Ultra Music Festival had 330,000 attendees in just three days.
EDM festivals are becoming increasingly popular because of their music and their social media marketing strategies. Let’s take a look at what the data says about these top two factors.