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Madonna's role in history of electronic music?


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I remember back when the Ray of Light album was being hyped and marketed a BIG deal was made of it being such a drastic change for Madonna with her moving into the whole electronic sound. Madonna had done dance music forever, but with ROL she departed from the same kinds of sounds and really began an era of her music style that she has consistently stuck with since (Hard Candy was a LITTLE more "urban" sounding I guess you could say) I remember at the time it was really really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist...

So my question is, do you think madonna helped make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so was the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music? Or did she copy what other popular artists had already done? Is she a trailblazer in the industry for brining a new genre to the industry and making it popular?

Discuss.

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I remember back when the Ray of Light album was being hyped and marketed a BIG deal was made of it being such a drastic change for Madonna with her moving into the whole electronic sound. Madonna had done dance music forever, but with ROL she departed from the same kinds of sounds and really began an era of her music style that she has consistently stuck with since (Hard Candy was a LITTLE more "urban" sounding I guess you could say) I remember at the time it was really really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist...

So my question is, do you think madonna helped make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so was the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music? Or did she copy what other popular artists had already done? Is she a trailblazer in the industry for brining a new genre to the industry and making it popular?

Discuss

She did not invent it, of course, but She brought it back to mainstream music with Ray of Light first and with Music then.

Ever since, basically every other pop artist started adding electro sounds to their records to make them successful, even working with the same producers (William Orbit or Stuart Price).

Her impact on mainstream music is undeniable. She changed it.

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I remember back when the Ray of Light album was being hyped and marketed a BIG deal was made of it being such a drastic change for Madonna with her moving into the whole electronic sound. Madonna had done dance music forever, but with ROL she departed from the same kinds of sounds and really began an era of her music style that she has consistently stuck with since (Hard Candy was a LITTLE more "urban" sounding I guess you could say) I remember at the time it was really really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist...

So my question is, do you think madonna helped make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so was the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music? Or did she copy what other popular artists had already done? Is she a trailblazer in the industry for brining a new genre to the industry and making it popular?

Discuss.

Yes.

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I remember back when the Ray of Light album was being hyped and marketed a BIG deal was made of it being such a drastic change for Madonna with her moving into the whole electronic sound. Madonna had done dance music forever, but with ROL she departed from the same kinds of sounds and really began an era of her music style that she has consistently stuck with since (Hard Candy was a LITTLE more "urban" sounding I guess you could say) I remember at the time it was really really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist...

So my question is, do you think madonna helped make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so was the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music? Or did she copy what other popular artists had already done? Is she a trailblazer in the industry for brining a new genre to the industry and making it popular?

Discuss.

She definitively did. I don't think there was a female pop star before her who had a huge success with electronic music like that.

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Guest bluejean

Electronic music first went mainstream in the 80's with the New Wave movement.

But since we're talking about the late 90's and early 00's I don't think Madonna helped electronic music "go mainstream." Artists like Goldfrapp, Moby, Massive Attack, Bjork, Air, Daft Punk, The Prodigy etc became mainstream and would have done so with or without Madonna. (Infact, some of these came long before Ray of Light and actually influenced it.)

With Ray of Light and Music Madonna jumped on a trend which was unique and unexpected for a pop singer. And as a result we saw other pop stars, especially female ones copying her. (Jlo, Kylie, All Saints, Britney etc.) But that doesn't just apply to Ray of Light and Music, female pop stars have ALWAYS copied Madonna.

I don't agree with the statement that Madonna "brought electronic music into the mainstream" though. Even as a kid I'd heard Bjork, Massive Attack, The Prodigy and Daft Punk before Ray of Light came out.

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Electronic music first went mainstream in the 80's with the New Wave movement.

But since we're talking about the late 90's and early 00's I don't think Madonna helped electronic music "go mainstream." Artists like Goldfrapp, Moby, Massive Attack, Bjork, Air, Daft Punk, The Prodigy etc became mainstream and would have done so with or without Madonna. (Infact, some of these came long before Ray of Light and actually influenced it.)

With Ray of Light and Music Madonna jumped on a trend which was unique and unexpected for a pop singer. And as a result we saw other pop stars, especially female ones copying her. (Jlo, Kylie, All Saints, Britney etc.) But that doesn't just apply to Ray of Light and Music, female pop stars have ALWAYS copied Madonna.

I don't agree with the statement that Madonna "brought electronic music into the mainstream" though. Even as a kid I'd heard Bjork, Massive Attack, The Prodigy and Daft Punk before Ray of Light came out.

Truth.

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She did not make it mainstream with ROL in Europe and most of the world since it already was. However, in the US I think it made a big impact. Acts like The Prodigy, Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers had minor hits before but electronica really never became mainstream even after ROL or Music. It wasn't until EDM became popular that so called electronic music became mainstream here.

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guys Bjork is iconic to a "certain" degree depending on who you are and where you are.... but can we honestly say she is MAINSTREAM????? I think not.

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Guest Rocco Papa

guys Bjork is iconic to a "certain" degree depending on who you are and where you are.... but can we honestly say she is MAINSTREAM????? I think not.

you're definitely mainstream when MadTV makes fun of you...

:lol:

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Guest bluejean

Why are you so bothered every time she gets a compliment? Don't your favorites get enough praise they don't deserve on top on what they do? Madonna's music reaches more people and she does inspire others.

What are you talking about? Madonna IS my favourite. I don't consider your opinion a compliment to Madonna, I consider it a warped view of realiy and/or a lack of knowledge of pop music history. There were electronic artists popular in the mainstream prior to 1998. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. Madonna is very influential in many different ways but to say she made electronic music popular is just not true. I know some people disagree and that's fine but the fact is I'm one of the biggest Madonna fans on this board and I don't see how what I'm saying implies otherwise.

I mean Ray of Light is my favourite album of all time :lol: Wtf.

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Guest bluejean

guys Bjork is iconic to a "certain" degree depending on who you are and where you are.... but can we honestly say she is MAINSTREAM????? I think not.

Maybe it's because some of us are thinking from the perspective of outside of the US? She's sold 20 million albums, that's mainstream success.

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uhn no... electronic music was very BIG mid 90s specially in Europe and everyone was very much into it. Madonna was actually a very mainstream popstar that happened to use it, but by then it was not something new or complete obscure to most people.

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First of all the original poster talked about "Madonna moving into the whole electronic sound" and then goes on to say that they "remember at the time it was really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist"....very baiting opening.

the question was "do you think Madonna "helped"make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so is the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music" then goes on to ask "did she copy what other popular artist had already done and bringing a new genre to the industry." Well that should get the little Bjork fans riled up. "electronic" music has been around before the 90s. I guess based on that fact Bjork didn't help it go mainstream either. Everything has an origin and grows and is helped along the way. To diminish Madonna's role in taking things to the next level is completely unfair.

I think the original poster already has an idea of what they think and they don't really need to discuss this or ask questions.

Ray of Light got noticed and for a lot of people it was an unusual sound. Madonna didn't invent popular music but yet she's the Queen of Pop so I don't know what the problem is saying Madonna "helped" make electronic music mainstream.

The original poster sounds like they want to discredit what was said at the time about Ray of Light.

Oh and I love the way the debut of Ray of Light is described by the op.

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First of all the original poster talked about "Madonna moving into the whole electronic sound" and then goes on to say that they "remember at the time it was really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist"....very baiting opening.

the question was "do you think Madonna "helped"make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so is the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music" then goes on to ask "did she copy what other popular artist had already done and bringing a new genre to the industry." Well that should get the little Bjork fans riled up. "electronic" music has been around before the 90s. I guess based on that fact Bjork didn't help it go mainstream either. Everything has an origin and grows and is helped along the way. To diminish Madonna's role in taking things to the next level is completely unfair.

I think the original poster already has an idea of what they think and they don't really need to discuss this or ask questions.

Ray of Light got noticed and for a lot of people it was an unusual sound. Madonna didn't invent popular music but yet she's the Queen of Pop so I don't know what the problem is saying Madonna "helped" make electronic music mainstream.

The original poster sounds like they want to discredit what was said at the time about Ray of Light.

Oh and I love the way the debut of Ray of Light is described by the op.

This :thumbsup:

This thread is sad really. It really seem a lot of people are just thinking she jumped into a bandwagon with Ray of Light and nothing more. I'm a Bjork fan, i defended her on another thread recently but she's not solely responsible for the popularity of electronic music. Madonna DID play a role, she just didn't created electronic music.

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First of all the original poster talked about "Madonna moving into the whole electronic sound" and then goes on to say that they "remember at the time it was really talked about this album being different than most other styles that had been popular over the years for ANY pop artist"....very baiting opening.

the question was "do you think Madonna "helped"make electronic music go mainstream and in doing so is the first popular artist to use this style and start a groundbreaking trend in music" then goes on to ask "did she copy what other popular artist had already done and bringing a new genre to the industry." Well that should get the little Bjork fans riled up. "electronic" music has been around before the 90s. I guess based on that fact Bjork didn't help it go mainstream either. Everything has an origin and grows and is helped along the way. To diminish Madonna's role in taking things to the next level is completely unfair.

I think the original poster already has an idea of what they think and they don't really need to discuss this or ask questions.

Ray of Light got noticed and for a lot of people it was an unusual sound. Madonna didn't invent popular music but yet she's the Queen of Pop so I don't know what the problem is saying Madonna "helped" make electronic music mainstream.

The original poster sounds like they want to discredit what was said at the time about Ray of Light.

Oh and I love the way the debut of Ray of Light is described by the op.

Ok any person replying in this thread please disregard what this person is saying... Because what they are saying is by no means what I meant or intended at all. And to be honest it's very annoying and dumb as hell to talk to another "poster" as if they aren't even in the room.

DISCUSS

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And I'm sorry but I have to laugh my ass off to anyone who thinks Bjork is even remotely at the level of being a worldwide massive success of a mainstream artist who is known by all and seen by all. She's basically an oddity.... A has been. A very small blip in the history of pop culture.... And Madtv? Really???! It's like the generic younger 4th cousin of SNL from wAaaaaaay back in the day!

NEXT

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Guest Rachelle of London

Wtf is this thread. How is it insulting to Madonna?

I think M did help it become mainstream, she wasn't the first to do it but as far as female artists go she was the most poignant.

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Wtf is this thread. How is it insulting to Madonna?

I think M did help it become mainstream, she wasn't the first to do it but as far as female artists go she was the most poignant.

I don't think anyone said it was INSULTING to her... people just disagreed with my original statement which is fine... in my opinion though Madonna pretty much brought this genre to a mainstream beginning, especially in the USA... I'm not going by stuff I've read or anything like that, but my actual memories of the time. I remember a HUGE deal being made of the "new sound" Madonna was "experimenting" with in the buildup to ROL being released. The electronic sounds, the mysticism of it all

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