House
Stylistic origins: Electro, Funk, Disco, Synthpop, R&B
Cultural origins: 1980s, New York, Chicago, United Kingdom
Typical instruments: Synthesizer - Drum machine - Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler
Mainstream popularity: Large, especially late 1980s and early 1990s United Kingdom
Derivative forms: Rave - Nu jazz - Madchester
House in the new millennium


Dance music arguably hit its peak at the turn of the millennium, especially in the UK. A number of reasons are seen for its decline in mainstream popularity during the 2000s:

  • Many people felt that club promoters had gone too far in what they were asking people to pay on a weekly basis to enter clubs. A prime example was on New Year's Eve at the turn of the Millennium. Some promoters had been asking upwards of £100 ($180) to attend clubs and various event venues across the country. A large number of club goers instead decided to stay away all together or go to local parties. Many in general grew tired with paying up to £20 ($35) on a weekly basis for poor quality club nights which had little variation from week to week and venue to venue.
  • Older people that had been with the scene from the beginning started to move away. Many in their 30's started having families and settling down. Many younger people viewed Dance music as becoming increasingly outmoded with the same set of DJ's playing in Clubs and on the Radio year after year. This lead to the term "Dad House" being applied.
  • Many older clubbers who did have families remained active in the scene, and small-scale events organisers, invariably not tied to a venue, began to appear to cater to a group that was increasingly ostracised by younger clubbers, and unable to go clubbing more than once or twice a month. This scene subsequently has expanded and about half of those involved are under 30.
  • A lot of the same music was being played on commercial dance shows, and in bars, supermarkets, and television advertisements. This along with a lack of invention in the mainstream left many people feeling increasingly bored with the music. This has inevitably led to the music being forced back underground to its roots.
  • Ecstasy, the drug of choice for many on the Dance scene during the late 80's and through out the 90's, started to lose its popularity to Cocaine and Ketamine. Both these drugs changed the nature and the atmosphere of the scene. In part this was due to the decreasing proportion of MDMA in Ecstasy, which was increasingly being cut with Amphetamines, Ketamine as well as a generally greater amount of inert 'bulk' substances.
  • The global rise of hip hop during the late 90's as well as the re-emergence in the UK of a strong Rock and Indie scene drew many away from Dance Music.
  • The Glade, the UK's largest electronic dance festival, began in 2004 as an offshoot of the Glastonbury Festival, featuring the UK's only dedicated Psytrance stage.

 

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