Help with Electronic music

i'm a BIG fan of electronic music in most of its variations. However when someone asks what kinda music is this CD or that one. It's hard tell them, "Oh that's Hard House," or "Oh that's Industrial," if they don't know what those genre terms mean.

Well I found a website to help out. An Electronic Music Publishing & Licensing company in the UK called Raw42 has created a pretty comprehensive list of the genres and what they mean. Some break down and give groups/artists that would qualify in those branches. Unfortunatly others are sparse at best.

The worst part is I can name you a few groups off the top of my head that span a number of those specialized genres. Because of this I typically don't break groups down that far. They consider KMFDM Industrial Dance, while I'd say it's more Industrial Rock. Well the key is that it's Industrial, stick with the simple titles I say. The easiest genres, in my opinion, to recognize are Industrial, Trance, House, Trip Hop and Drum & Bass. Happy Hardcore and Gabber are also VERY distinctive, but not very popular. You're more likely to hear Happy Hardcore at a Rave than any place else. Gabber, started in Amsterdam, hasn't traveled too far from there.

Click here and read for yourself, if you are interested. You'll be surprised at the history. Electronic music is a rich and diverse world. It's reaching slowly but surely into the mainstream. Eminem may think no body listens to Techno, but wait to see what happens when people get tired of the Top40. Everyone reaches a point in their lives when they ask, "Is that all there is?" This can apply to a variety of things, but many people, especially in college, learn there are bigger and better things that Top40.