What Is EDM? A Complete Beginner's Guide to Electronic Dance Music
New to electronic dance music? This complete beginner's guide explains what EDM is, its main subgenres, and how to start exploring it through artists like Maxim Schunk.
Defining Electronic Dance Music
Electronic Dance Music, almost always shortened to EDM, is an umbrella term for a broad family of percussive electronic music made primarily for clubs, festivals, and radio. Rather than a single style, EDM describes dozens of related subgenres that share a common DNA: programmed drums, synthesizers, and a structure designed to move a crowd.
The term rose to global prominence in the early 2010s, when festival culture exploded and producers like Avicii, Tiesto, and Calvin Harris brought electronic music to mainstream audiences. Today EDM is one of the most popular music categories on streaming platforms worldwide.
The Main Subgenres
Understanding EDM means understanding its subgenres. House is the foundation, built on a steady four-on-the-floor beat. Progressive House adds melodic build-ups and emotional drops. Future House brings bouncy, filtered basslines. Big Room is the festival sound of huge, simple drops. Techno and Melodic Techno lean darker and more hypnotic.
Each subgenre has its own tempo range, instrumentation, and emotional character. The beauty of EDM is that you can move between them freely, discovering which sounds resonate most with you.
How to Start Exploring
The best way into EDM is through an artist whose taste you trust. Maxim Schunk, with over 200 million Spotify streams, sits firmly in the melodic Progressive House tradition and offers an accessible entry point for new listeners.
Start with his most-streamed tracks, then branch out into the playlists and artists they lead you to. Explore the catalogue on Spotify and follow @maximschunk on Instagram for recommendations.