Christian electronic dance music, also known as CEDM, Christian EDM, Christian Dance Music, CDM, or Christian electronic music is a genre of electronic dance music and

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

. Its musical styles closely mirror non-Christian EDM; however, the CEDM culture's lack of drug use and emphasis of positive lyrics (often focused on

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

-based principles) distinguish it from non-religious counterparts. EDM.com wrote "the

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

culture can feel quite welcoming." Many live concerts and events have been held in Christian churches in addition to traditional venues such as Lumination,

Creation Festival Creation Festival, commonly shortened to Creation, is an annual four-day Christian music festival in the United States. According to its organizers, it is the "Nation's Largest Christian Music Festival." Average attendance is between 50,000 an ...

and

LifeLight Music Festival LifeLight Festival was an annual free outdoor Christian music festival held over Labor Day weekend on a farm near Worthing, South Dakota, which is 12 miles south of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. History LifeLight Festival was started by Alan and Vi ...

. CEDM has also been incorporated into some

Christian worship In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings. Throughout most ...

routines.

Popular figures

During the late 2000s and early 2010s several Christian electronic artists rose to prominence in

and general

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

, those include G-Powered,

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his pa ...

, and

Kye Kye Kye Kye (stylized KYE KYE) is an American indietronica band from Portland, Oregon, that formed in 2010. The band is made up of Estonian-born Yagolnikov siblings Olga and Timothy. They released their first studio album in 2011 entitled ''Young Lov ...

. Other mainstay artists in the genre include

Capital Kings Capital Kings was an American pop, EDM and Christian pop act. The group went on indefinite hiatus on January 3, 2018. The group originally consisted of producer and rapper Cole Walowac and singer Jon White, who was later replaced by Dylan House ...

, LZ7, DJ Flubbel, Gawvi,

Hillsong Young & Free Hillsong Young & Free (also known as Hillsong Y&F or simply Young & Free or Y&F) is an Australian contemporary worship music group from Sydney, Australia, where they started making Christian music in 2012 at Hillsong Church. They have release ...

, Andy Hunter LE37, NONAH, Ocean Avenue, Oiwolf,

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

, Bryson Price, Re5a, Red Letter Hymnal, Reyer, Tony Foxx, and Transform DJs. CEDM also includes other subgenres included in EDM, such as

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, deep house and

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

. There also is a perception of genre-blending between CEDM and Contemporary Christian music. A significant number of artists from this genre tend not to reference themselves as solely Christian music due the crossover with other genres,. There also is a perception of genre-blending between CEDM and Contemporary Christian music, such as Christian hip-hop musicians

Andy Mineo Andrew Aaron Mineo (born April 17, 1988), is an American Christian hip hop artist, producer, music executive, and video director based in New York City. He is signed to Reach Records and his creative initiative Miner League. In addition to ...

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the i ...

, and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Reception

In September 2014, Hallels.com conducted an interview with CEDM artist

, and claimed that some in the Christian community deem dance music as, "music of the devil", to which Parker replied, "I don't believe any rhythms, melodies, chords, or harmonies are inherently evil and belong to the devil. Frankly, I think that's stupid." Zurich Lewis of the Biola University Chimes wrote an article aimed at

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

distinguishing the harmful elements of the EDM culture (such as drug use) from the musical style of the genre itself. In 2014, Matt Shea of Noisey wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post, saying "Nay, the Lord has spoken, and he has done so through womps...Hallelujah!"

Radio

Usually broadcast on Christian radio broadcasts, there are

internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

stations that specifically broadcast CEDM, such as Radio U Fusion: EDM, NRT Radio Remix, God's DJs, URLive, and GLOW. NRT Radio and

David Thulin David Morgan Thulin (born 17 June 1983) is a Swedish music producer and film composer. He is known for his ''Reconstruction'' album series, multiple chart-topping hits on US Christian and indie radio, and various film/TV credits. Early and pers ...

partnered to create a CEDM radio show, ''The Reconstruction'', which seeks to promote Christian EDM.

References

{{Electronica Contemporary Christian music Electronic dance music genres