Abstract
While an increasing amount of literature highlights the psychological well-being benefits of musical participation, research focusing on electronic dance music (EDM) event contexts remains scarce. This exploratory mixed methods research draws influence from interdisciplinary research on EDM culture and psychological well-being research on music festivals that suggest EDM event attendance may have a positive influence on well-being. Two studies were implemented. Semistructured interviews with regular attendees of EDM events were undertaken and analyzed thematically (Study 1, n = 7). Four main themes were identified, namely the importance of social, musical, and emotional experiences, and shared values at EDM event. These themes were then used as a basis for developing a questionnaire which explored relationships between scores on facets of EDM event attendance and measures of subjective, social, and psychological well-being (Study 2, n = 103). Results showed that all four EDM event facets were positively associated with psychological and social well-being measures. Principal component analysis was utilized to elucidate nuanced aspects of the four themes and their links to well-being scores. A four-factor model (SMEV) that encapsulates the key psychological beneficial aspects of EDM event attendance has been suggested, and the implications of this model and findings are discussed within the context of future research avenues.
Highlights
Much like ‘rock’ or ‘classical’ music, electronic dance music (EDM) is a varied overarching genre of music with over 300 distinct sub-genres (McLeod, 2001)
The current study aimed to explore subjective experiences of EDM event attendance (Study 1) and analyze links between facets of EDM event participation and scores on subjective, social and psychological well-being scales using a larger sample (Study 2)
As such, building on the themes initially suggested by Little et al (2018), a principal outcome of the current study is the proposal of a holistic four-factor model consisting of the social, musical, emotional, and shared values dimensions to EDM events (SMEV)
Summary
Much like ‘rock’ or ‘classical’ music, electronic dance music (EDM) is a varied overarching genre of music with over 300 distinct sub-genres (McLeod, 2001). From the sparse rhythms of half-time dubstep (D’Errico, 2015) to the repetitive, hypnotizing phrases of trance (Shapiro, 2000), EDM encompasses an array of varying electronically produced musical styles. EDM is firmly situated within an event culture, as St John (2017) explains, ‘dance music cultures possess distinct festival roots, in the club, the rave, the party’ EDM events, or ‘raves’, may be summarized as ‘masses of young people dancing all night to a syncopated electronic rhythm mixed by DJs’ The American cities of Detroit, Chicago, and New York are regarded as the birthplaces of early EDM genres such as techno and house (Reynolds, 2013), with electronic music outfit Kraftwerk being considered pioneers of the genre, credited with hugely influential tracks such as ‘Trans Europe Express’, released in 1982
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