Taken at face value, EDM—shorthand for “electronic dance music”—isn’t so much a genre as a perfunctory descriptor that does little justice to the music’s deeper layers. The catchall term was popularized in the 2010s in an attempt to corral the many sounds bubbling up in dance music’s vast corners around the globe. But what linked it all was the producers’ pursuit of the almighty drop—the moment when synth builds crescendo before crashing down in a cathartic, beat-fueled climax. Do techno and house technically fit the classification of electronic dance music? Sure, but EDM is more about the pop- and festival-friendly overlap of dance styles: Where Skrillex’s take on dubstep bleeds into tropical house when he and Diplo (as Jack Ü) team up with Justin Bieber. Where DJ Snake and Lil Jon throw trap and hip-hop and dubstep together to “Turn Down for What.” Where Avicii found new “Levels” of ecstasy by marrying a glorious Etta James sample with a progressive house production palette. Where Swedish House Mafia and Kaskade took house’s building blocks and combined them with trancey synths and euphoric vocals for maximum mainstage impact.