Home / News / 21 Tales That Outlined EDM In 2021 – EDM.com

21 Tales That Outlined EDM In 2021 – EDM.com

2021 was yet one more 12 months that examined the energy of the digital dance music neighborhood.

Occasion organizers and ravers needed to settle into a brand new norm this 12 months, adapting to mercurial COVID-19 well being tips within the identify of public security. And regardless that it was marginally higher than the dystopian lockdowns of 2020, it wasn’t simple.

However in spite of everything was mentioned and finished, it grew to become extra clear than ever that the virus can attempt to take the rave out of the particular person, but it surely can not take the particular person out of the rave. Even in a vexing 12 months for the digital music scene, it remained as charming as ever.

Listed below are 21 tales that outlined EDM in 2021.

Return of Swedish Home Mafia

After a nine-year hiatus and numerous cryptic teases, legendary dance music trio Swedish Home Mafia lastly returned with new music in 2021. The group, who’re releasing a model new album in 2022 known as Paradise Once more, went on to collaborate with The Weeknd and announce their first international tour in over a decade.

“We had the time to select up and begin once more. And we make and remake and retry and regroup and have hope after which stop once more,” Axwell mentioned on the time. “After which seize that little hope that we had, convey it again, and begin over after which discovering one thing. So this entire time, the time has actually helped us to have gotten the place we’re with the sounds and with the songs and to a spot the place we really feel proud. We love what now we have finished.”

Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish Home Mafia.

Alexander Wessely

Daft Punk Break up After 28 Years

This one stings an excessive amount of to relive it, so on to the subsequent blurb.

Daft Punk.

Wikimedia Commons

Porter Robinson Releases “Nurture”

No album in 2021 had fairly the affect of Porter Robinson’s Nurture. The album was not solely a billet-doux from Robinson to his followers, but in addition to himself: “[Nurture] got here after an actual form of emotional and artistic low level for me, the place I simply was genuinely feeling like I used to be not able to making music anymore,” he informed Anna Lunoe in a poignant January interview.

Robinson was capable of meet the sky-high expectations pushed by followers of his debut album, Worlds, and overcome his greatest trials and tribulations as a musician whereas sharing among the most deeply private music of his profession to date. And contemplating the seven-year hole between his two studio albums, it may sadly be some time till followers hear a 3rd.

Cowl of Porter Robinson’s sophomore album, “Nurture.”

Porter Robinson/Wikimedia Commons

Coinbase Shows NFT Galleries at EDC

2021 noticed the world’s main cryptocurrency change adopting digital dance music to assist drive its development prospects.

EDC’s progressive partnership with Coinbase lends credence to the notion that digital music followers and artists are on the entrance traces witnessing the disruptive potential of NFTs and cryptocurrency. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have often been heralded as an enormous a part of the way forward for the creator economic system, and Coinbase’s position in spotlighting this medium at among the nation’s greatest music festivals served as a catalyst for NFT adoption this 12 months.

NFT gallery at EDC hosted by Coinbase.

Coinbase (via Twitter)

EDC Hosts Historic twenty fifth Anniversary Pageant In Las Vegas

As Insomniac Occasions toiled by way of a tumultuous 12 months for EDC Las Vegas—marred by a controversial postponement and explosive backlash from followers contrived by the affect of COVID-19—there was a heightened sense that they felt a must go greater than ever after two brutal years with out its flagship pageant.

And that is precisely what they did. Celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of the fabled EDC model with its Las Vegas version, which is prevalently thought-about one of many world’s prime EDM festivals, Insomniac managed to encapsulate all the things followers love in regards to the pageant in a rapturous weekend. And it’ll go down as the largest digital music pageant in current reminiscence.

EDC Las Vegas 2021.

brphoto.co

deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin Launch PIXELYNX

Legendary digital music artists deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin launched PIXELNYX in early 2021 with the objective to merge three of probably the most bullish sectors of leisure right now: digital collectibles, gaming, and digital worlds. They went on to announce a high-profile partnership with Niantic, the corporate behind the profoundly profitable Pokémon GO cellular recreation, who signed on as a key developer to flesh out PIXELYNX’s formidable foray into the metaverse.

“As we step over the brink into prolonged actuality, the longer term is really upon us,” Hawtin mentioned. “PIXELYNX is right here to help a optimistic and artistic acceleration into this new house, collaborating with artists to empower their creativity on this new medium and with manufacturers to develop distinctive digital belongings which have that means and worth.”

deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin.

deadmau5/Twitter

Hardwell’s Return to the Stage

Because the 2021 Amsterdam Dance Occasion drew to an in depth, Hardwell threw in a twist few noticed coming. The Dutch dance music icon, who continues to be formally on a hiatus—the place he is remained since 2018—appeared with a few of his Revealed Recordings artists onstage on the label’s showcase occasion.

Followers usually would not must learn the tea leaves of such a return to the stage if it weren’t for Extremely Music Pageant, who introduced weeks later that its 2022 version will function a closing efficiency from “some of the iconic artists in digital music historical past.” The artist’s id is being saved a secret in the meanwhile, however contemplating his storied historical past with Extremely, Hardwell could possibly be popping out of retirement for the pageant’s momentous return.

“This isn’t official but, however he’s coming, he is coming,” KAAZE elatedly mentioned on the mic as Hardwell joined him onstage at ADE. At one level Hardwell is overcome with emotion, visibly tearing up as he addressed the group. “I fucking miss you guys a lot,” he mentioned.

Hardwell.

c/o Press

Electrical Forest Reveals 2022 Dates and Lineup

Digital dance music followers followers have endured a protracted and windy highway again to the neon flowers of the beloved Sherwood Forest. They had been unable to descend upon the legendary backdrop of Electrical Forest in 2020 as a result of affect of COVID-19 and potential attendees held out hope in 2021 as vaccine rollouts picked up steam, however the pageant’s organizers in the end determined to drag the plug within the identify of public security.

However it wasn’t lengthy earlier than they introduced dates and a large lineup for the long-awaited return of Electrical Forest. The 2022 version of the Rothbury, Michigan fest will function performances from Disclosure, GRiZ, Porter Robinson, TOKiMONSTA, Louis The Baby, and Large Gigantic, Duke Dumont and plenty of extra.

Electrical Forest.

FifthLegend/Wikimedia Commons

Demise of SOPHIE

Famend music producer SOPHIE, whose groundbreaking productions shattered the boundaries of digital and pop music, tragically died following an unintended fall on the age of 34 again in January.

A number one trans girl within the EDM panorama, SOPHIE constructed a formidable popularity as one of many style’s true trailblazers by difficult the established order with unconventional sound design. Her music helped redefine the intersection of digital and artwork pop, highlighted by 2018’s Oil of Each Pearl’s Un-Insides LP, which garnered her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Greatest Dance/Digital Album.

SOPHIE.

c/o Press

Coachella 2021 Cancelled Following Emergency Public Well being Order

After Coachella’s organizers made the robust choice to desert the pageant in 2020, they proved that even probably the most highly effective and influential occasion manufacturers may fall sufferer to the affect of COVID-19. New dates had been finally introduced for April 2021, however these had been abruptly deserted in January, leaving influencers to as soon as once more hold up their floral head wreaths and write “take me again” Instagram captions.

And because the variety of instances of the Omicron variant proceed to surge round america, it is sadly inconceivable to know whether or not or not Coachella’s two deliberate weekends subsequent April are ironclad—a notion that might apply to different main festivals in early 2022.

The Sahara stage on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Pageant.

Wikimedia Commons

Triumphant Return of Lollapalooza

The revival of Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza in 2021 was the stimulating return that the digital dance music trade wanted. On its thirtieth anniversary, the pageant served as a much-needed stress launch valve for artists who had been anxious to make their return to the stage as memorable as attainable, and the group was having each second of it.

Regardless of mercurial restrictions, management delivered the premium pageant product followers have come to anticipate over Lollapalooza’s storied historical past, and so they wrote the roadmap that might permit occasions of comparable scale to happen safely and securely within the months to come back.

Lollapalooza.

Lollapalooza (through Fb)

deadmau5 Pronounces “dice” Residency In Las Vegas

After teasing his jaw-dropping “dice v3” stage manufacturing in early 2020, deadmau5 was pressured to postpone a barnstorming world tour on account of COVID-19 issues. The manufacturing was primed to be a tour de drive of types for the legendary digital music artist, that includes an intricate configuration working from code written by the “Strobe” producer himself.

The dice is now set to make its long-awaited return in 2022 because of Zouk Group, the worldwide powerhouse leisure firm and proprietor of Resorts World Las Vegas. Its flagship membership, Zouk Nightclub, is among the few—if not the one—technologically superior venues on The Strip geared up to deal with deadmau5’s dazzling “dice” present.

deadmau5’s “dice.”

c/o Press

The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, Extra Again Audius In $5 Million Funding Spherical

It was tough to disregard the arrival of blockchain-powered streaming platform Audius in 2021. Locking horns with goliath opponents like SoundCloud, the corporate emerged as a bona fide disruptor because of its distinctive worth proposition to creators trying to thrive within the crypto epoch.

In September, Audius introduced it had closed a $5 million funding spherical in partnership with among the up to date music scene’s hottest creators. The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, Steve Aoki, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Pusha T, Mike Shinoda, and plenty of others threw their weight—and their money—behind Audius, serving to to develop the platform’s footprint within the streaming economic system. The high-profile capital infusion represents a robust endorsement from the creator economic system for the decentralized way forward for music.

Audius.

Audius

Extremely Music Pageant Pronounces 2022 Return

To the delight of the digital dance music scene at massive, one in all its hottest festivals punched its ticket to 2022 after a string of controversial postponements.

The journey to the return of Extremely Music Pageant was formally underway in October, when organizers introduced the primary wave of artists to carry out in 2022. The thrilling lineup announcement arrived after a tumultuous 12 months for Extremely’s organizers, who discovered themselves navigating not solely the pitfalls of COVID-19, but in addition a contentious class motion lawsuit filed by disgruntled ticket-holders.

Extremely Music Pageant.

Hanny Naibaho

Return of Nero

After an prolonged hiatius, fabled digital music trio Nero returned in March with their first new observe in over two years, a surprising remix of Daft Punk’s “Emotion.”

Nero’s edit of “Emotion” is nothing in need of breathtaking. The group managed to assemble an aching dance quantity utilizing the bones of the unique, interpolating radiant chords and fluttering arpeggios with Daft Punk’s vocoders in dazzling style. Nero superbly oscillated between half-time and double-time with class and finesse, catering to longtime followers in search of the cadence of one in all their iconic dubstep tracks whereas paying homage to the robots, who infamously break up in February.

Nero.

c/o Press

Because the music trade raced to the metaverse in 2021, nobody made extra strides than Sensorium Galaxy, who adopted EDM on their quest to revolutionize stay music experiences as we all know it.

Sensorium’s jaw-dropping PRISM portal, which the corporate has known as “the world’s most superior metaverse,” presents a glimpse into the way forward for digital concert events and music festivals. It is right here the place plenty of probably the most famend digital music artists on the planet, similar to Eric Prydz, David Guetta, Charlotte de Witte, and Black Espresso, amongst others, will carry out in VR as a part of an Avengers-like DJ crew dubbed “The Chosen Ones.”

David Guetta’s avatar for Sensorium Galaxy was developed utilizing cutting-edge movement seize technololgy.

Sensorium Company

ILLENIUM Releases “Fallen Embers”

When his nonstop touring schedule got here to a halt final 12 months, ILLENIUM took to the studio with the objective of making one thing really outstanding. And after tying a bow on a triptych of albums in 2019—providing up solely a handful of singles in 2020—Illenials had been left questioning what was subsequent.

He went on to launch his fourth album, Fallen Embers, which marked the start of an thrilling new chapter in his profession. The gorgeous album finally garnered ILLENIUM his first Grammy nomination within the class of Greatest Dance/Digital Album.

ILLENIUM.

c/o Press

Over 70,000 Occasion In Dutch Streets for #UnmuteUs Protest

On August twenty first, tons of of Dutch music organizations carried out the #UnmuteUs protest by way of six cities. Hoping to make their voices heard amid an absence of readability from the federal government concerning the way forward for music festivals, over 70,000 folks marched in protest of the COVID-19 restrictions impacting music festivals and the humanities sector on the time.

Protestors partied within the streets, dancing behind a convoy of vans, DJs, and sound programs blasting digital dance music. “They’ll mute our pageant, however they can not mute us,” asserted one DJ.

1000’s of Dutch protesters march within the streets as a part of the #UnmuteUs initiative.

Unmute Us (via Instagram)

Iconic Stockholm Live performance Venue Renamed After Avicii

The star of Avicii’s legacy grew even brighter in 2021. In Might, one in all Sweden’s most visited and iconic venues, the Ericsson Globe, was renamed because the Avicii Enviornment.

The partnership between the Tim Bergling Basis and ASM World’s Stockholm Reside reworked the venue into an emblem of the #ForABetterDay initiative, which focuses on serving to younger folks with psychological sickness and suicide prevention.

Avicii.

Sean Eriksson

3LAU Sells Document-Breaking $3.6 Million NFT In First-Ever Tokenized Album Sale

In record-setting and groundbreaking style, digital music producer 3LAU bought a group of restricted version NFTs for $3,666,666 again in February. The dance music vet and cryptocurrency pundit additionally broke the report in non-fungible token gross sales by promoting 33 distinctive gadgets for a complete of $11,684,101.

The sale befell on 3LAU’s custom-built web site developed by the crew at Origin Protocol. To commemorate the three-year launch of 3LAU’s Ultraviolet album, the successful bidder gained a platinum-plated vinyl report NFT model, which is redeemable for a {custom} tune by 3LAU, in addition to entry to unreleased music and a bonus bodily vinyl.