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EDM Culture Is Being Reshaped By Smartphones
Dancing off // Image by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E
The rise of smartphones, social-media-curated moments, and big-budget spectacles has diminished what electronic music was once truly about: dancing.
The Big Drop: There’s no denying that electronic music is wildly popular — it’s a $12.9 billion industry with over 500 million fans across socials as of 2024, powered by chart-toppers like David Guetta and Calvin Harris and massive festivals like Tomorrowland and EDC. But there’s a lingering concern that the genre has become so mainstream its momentum may have peaked… creating space for a new genre to redefine dance culture.
Behind The Change: Bloomberg reports that electronic music producers, execs, and diehard fans are all asking, “Why is everyone just standing around?”
Electronic music used to be all about the night — long sets, crowds losing themselves on the dance floor, and artists responding to the vibe in real time.
Now, clubbing “increasingly resembles concerts.” Phones are out, cameras up, and crowds are watching instead of moving. To get the perfect shot, people stopped dancing.
That shift is changing the music itself — artists are making shorter songs filled with hooks and drops built for radio play and viral moments on social media. A survey of 15,000 DJs found that “61% believe a social media following now matters more than musical skill.”
It’s also transforming live shows — venues are booking more DJs per night for shorter sets, prioritizing big names, and leaning on expensive production (screens, lights, etc.). That’s driving ticket prices up and attendance down.
Last Call: The economics no longer add up. While electronic music has fueled a boom in giant clubs, many can’t justify the escalating costs... and midsize venues are being squeezed the hardest. In Berlin, the electronic capital of the world, half of its 250 clubs are reportedly at risk of closure.
Looks like the party may be winding down.
The Future: A new crop of clubs is going phone-free in an effort to revive old-school dance culture. The next wave of cool venues may be the ones with no social-media footprint at all.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.