Budi Voogt // heroic.academy

EDM is growing up

Takeaways from ADE and trends of the industry.

How future bass transcended mainstream radio - two examples.

The Chainsmokers

“Closer” has undoubtedly been the biggest song of the year so far with twelve consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, but there venture into mainstream radio dominance really started with “Roses”, a future bass single, back in 2015. How did an act best known for progressive house manage to break into the mainstream with completely new styles?

Long answer short, the duo identified what EDM genres were trending and had recent crossover success, think Jack Ü and Justin Bieber, and managed to tap into the perfect sound that could be ‘the best of both worlds’.

“Roses”, was the first of The Chainsmokers’ singles in the last year to really break them as a radio act peaking at #6 on the Hot 100. The song itself retains many pop elements in the songwriting structure but features future-bass production to make it accessible to both The Chainsmokers’ EDM fans while still making it accessible for mainstream listeners. The single also marked the first time the Drew sang on the record in the second verse which gave their live performances another element with Drew singing while Alex DJs.

They followed up that success with “Don’t Let Me Down” a trap single that peaked at #3 overall and helped cement their reputation as EDM’s newest mainstream crossover act. Before finally

heroic.academy // soundcloudbible 1 assembling a talented team of fellow producers and songwriters to assemble “Closer” which has very much become a song of the year. Like in regular pop music or even Jack Ü before them, The Chainsmokers realized that the key component in writing a hit was having enough talented songwriters to put the track together and with EDM fully mature enough to tap into the mainstream they went ahead and did it.

Flume

If The Chainsmokers are the example of artists who adapted and shifted their sound just enough to break into the mainstream audience without jeopardizing their loyal fans, then Flume is the example of the artist who stayed true to his sound till the market shifted towards him enough.

Being the leading artist in a genre that’s just broken mainstream success, if managed correctly, will solidify his position in the industry for years to come. While there’s certainly an element of serendipity to his success, more often than not that in this industry that can happen, and when you’re just that talented that tends to happen.

From when he first broke through with “Holdin’ On” to recent LP Skin to his work with What So Not, Flume has consistently remained a transcendent artist who’s pushed boundaries with his music from day 1.

Skin in particular, peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 and spawned two radio singles in “Say It (feat. Tove Lo)” and “Never Be Like You (feat. Kai)” with the latter currently made it into the top 20 of the Hot 100. While the numbers might not be as eye-popping as The Chainsmokers, for an artist without any prior large radio success in the US he’s certainly made a splash in the last half year.

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