[Predictions That Will Mostly Come True] A Vision of the Dance Music Scene's Future in the 2020s [Techno! House! Technology!]

Happy New Year!

A new era, 2020, has begun.

I am writing this on January 2, 2020. Thank you to everyone who visited the blog in 2019.

The 2010s were a decade when EDM swept the world, many stars emerged, and gigantic festivals took over globally.

Although I cannot make precise predictions for this year, fresh winds are certain to blow through the dance music scene.

So as 2020 begins, I would like to predict the scene's direction over the next ten years.

Techno and House Will Be the Main Genres of 2020

I have consistently said this on this blog since around its launch in 2017.

The trend became noticeable in Japan around 2018 and 2019 too, but it will truly become a major movement over the next decade.

↓ Here are today's beatport rankings. Tap to see the full-size image.

While we are at it, let's look at the featured DJs providing charts on the homepage.

Amelie Lens, ANNA, Ben Rau, Jimpster, Nic Fanciulli, Nicole Moudaber, Darius Sytrossian, Detroit Swindle, Junior Jack.

If you call yourself a dance music lover, how familiar are you with these DJs?

Female DJs Will Reach the World's Summit in the 2020s

Talented female DJs rose to prominence in the 2010s.

Led by Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte, who have risen to headline the world's huge festivals, along with ANNA, Chelina Manuhutu, Nora En Pure and others, plus rising talents we have yet to see, they will invigorate the dance music scene.

Techno and House sweeping the world again must be a major factor behind this.

Techno has long had fertile ground for artists such as Ellen Allien, Monika Kruse, and Nina Kraviz to break into the mainstream through popularity and talent.

The power of social media, particularly video, and AI such as recommendation engines will bring audiences and DJs even closer in the future.

The environment will surely keep developing to lift talented, popular female DJs into stardom more than ever.

[Recommended] The Hottest Right Now! Top 5 Female DJs (DJanes) Combining Popularity, Talent, and Beauty in 2019 [Too Many to Choose From] June 30, 2019

EDM and Trance Will Move into the Shadows

It is fair to say EDM finished its role in the scene in 2019.

These artists will probably become pop music producers based around Spotify and YouTube, like Calvin Harris, The Chainsmokers, and Jonas Blue, or return to House like David Guetta and Diplo.

As for Trance, positively it will continue to be supported by devoted fans; negatively, it will remain largely unchanged and inconspicuous within the wider dance music scene.

Recent Trance has not sounded particularly innovative either.

Rather, DJs playing hard Techno such as Nina Kraviz, Amelie Lens, and Charlotte de Witte are taking approaches reminiscent of Uplifting Trance, and that seems to be breathing new life into the scene.

The Latest Tracks from Lenske, Amelie Lens's Label

Charlotte de Witte playing Extreme Trax – Final Fantasy

After DJ Skills, Production Skills Will Become Unnecessary Too

The 2010s greatly lowered the barriers to starting DJing and performing in front of people.

Matching pitch, once a demanding DJ skill, is now almost unnecessary thanks to BPM analysis and automatic sync.

Professional DJs' tracklists appear on 1001tracklist and in YouTube comments, tracks can be identified with Shazam, and download purchases and Beatport recommendations have developed. With everything completed online, evaluating selection skills has lost its meaning.

Where will technology intervene next? I suspect the area of music production.

In fact, AI composition is advancing, and AMAZON, one of the world's leading AI technology companies, has announced the world's first machine-learning-enabled electronic keyboard, AWS DeepComposer.

In the future, the skill of composing from scratch will become unnecessary; instead, the skill of controlling technology to compose will be in demand.

I currently have a very strong interest in this category of AI and composition.

I plan to study this area seriously this year and share what I learn on the blog.

Nonhuman DJs Will Become Popular

As described, technology will replace most of the work of DJing, once regarded as a craft.

Does that mean DJs will become unnecessary?

No, I do not think so.

We still feel that we want people—human beings—to provide us with music.

In other words, music content will lose its value, and only who provides it will become important.

I just wrote that we want people—human beings—to provide music, but I also wonder whether that is really true.

Like VTubers, it would not be strange for V DJs—virtual DJs, nonhuman DJs who do not exist in physical reality—to become popular.

Or, like the AI Hibari Misora below, deceased popular DJs such as Avicii could be brought back by technology to play before your eyes, and that may become commonplace.

Festivals and Clubs Will Appear in VR

Another major point is VR and AR, technologies to watch.

The spread of 5G will suddenly make VR and AR familiar, and some kind of wearable—I have no idea what it will be yet, but perhaps something like a ZOZO suit and Google Glass, haha—will let you transform into virtual festivals or clubs.

I suspect the turning point will be 2025, when it is said all kinds of things around the world will change completely.

A time may come when traveling to Shibuya, Roppongi, Belgium, Britain, or the Netherlands to experience dance music feels old-fashioned.

I am extremely interested in this area too.

Summary: The Dance Music Scene of the 2020s Will Be Chaotic

For a long time on this site, I have argued “Techno and House will sweep the world in the 2020s”, and this is actually happening. In the future, that movement will be impossible to ignore.

As for technology, honestly I cannot say precisely what it will look like in practice.

But isn't that precisely what makes it interesting?

Not only in dance music, revolutions that were impossible throughout previous history will happen one after another.

They will be particularly noticeable in the dance music world, which is highly compatible with digital technology.

It looks like a very exciting decade. I am looking forward to it.