Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music (EDM), also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radios,PartyCrews,underground festivals and an upsurge of interest in club culture, EDM achieved widespread mainstream popularity in Europe. In the United States at that time, acceptance of dance culture was not universal outside of New York City; although both electro and Chicago house music were influential both in Europe and the United States, mainstream media outlets and the record industry remained openly hostile to it. There was also a perceived association between EDM and drug culture, which led governments at state and city level to enact laws and policies intended to halt the spread of rave culture. Fitness classes were first to use the music for work out classes in which help bring it to the mainstream and out of only underground events and clubs.
Subsequently, in the new millennium, the popularity of EDM increased globally, largely in the United States and Australia. By the early 2010s, the term "electronic dance music" and the initialism "EDM" was being pushed by the American music industry and music press in an effort to rebrand American rave culture. Despite the industry's attempt to create a specific EDM brand, the initialism remains in use as an umbrella term for multiple genres, including dance-pop, house, techno and electro, as well as their respective subgenres.
History.
Various EDM genres have evolved over the last 40 years, for example; house, techno, dance-pop etc. Stylistic variation within an established EDM genre can lead to the emergence of what is called a subgenre. Hybridization, where elements of two or more genres are combined, can lead to the emergence of an entirely new genre of EDM.
Precursors.
In the late 1960s bands such as Silver Apples created electronic music intended for dancing. Other early examples of music that influenced later electronic dance music include Jamaican dub music during the late 1960s to 1970s, the synthesizer-based disco music of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder in the late 1970s, and the electro-pop of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Dub.
Author Michael Veal considers dub music, a Jamaican music stemming from roots reggae and sound system culture that flourished between 1968 and 1985, to be one of the important precursors to contemporary electronic dance music. Dub productions were remixed reggae tracks that emphasized rhythm, fragmented lyrical and melodic elements, and reverberant textures. The music was pioneered by studio engineers, such as Sylvan Morris, King Tubby, Errol Thompson, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Scientist. Their productions included forms of tape editing and sound processing that Veal considers comparable to techniques used in "musique concrète". Dub producers made improvised deconstructions of existing multi-track reggae mixes by using the studio mixing board as a performance instrument. They also foregrounded spatial effects such as reverb and delay by using auxiliary send routings creatively. The Roland Space Echo, manufactured by Roland Corporation, was widely used by dub producers in the 1970s to produce echo and delay effects.
Despite the limited electronic equipment available to dub pioneers such as King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry, their experiments in remix culture were musically cutting-edge. Ambient dub was pioneered by King Tubby and other Jamaican sound artists, using DJ-inspired ambient electronics, complete with drop-outs, echo, equalization and psychedelic electronic effects. It featured layering techniques and incorporated elements of world music, deep bass lines and harmonic sounds. Techniques such as a long echo delay were also used.
Hip hop.
Hip hop music has had some influence in the development of electronic dance music since the 1970s. Inspired by Jamaican sound system culture Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc introduced large bass heavy speaker rigs to the Bronx. His parties are credited with having kick-started the New York hip-hop movement in 1973. A technique developed by DJ Kool Herc that became popular in hip hop culture was playing two copies of the same record on two turntables, in alternation, and at the point where a track featured a break. This technique was further used to manually loop a purely percussive break, leading to what was later called a break beat.
Turntablism has origins in the invention of the direct-drive turntable, by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now Panasonic). In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10, the first direct-drive turntable on the market, and the first in their influential Technics series of turntables. The most influential turntable was the Technics SL-1200, which was developed in 1971 by a team led by Shuichi Obata at Matsushita, which then released it onto the market in 1972. In the 1980s and 1990s hip-hop DJs used turntables as musical instruments in their own right and virtuosic use developed into a creative practice called turntablism.
Disco.
In 1974, George McCrae's early disco hit "Rock Your Baby" was one of the first records to use a drum machine, an early Roland rhythm machine. The use of drum machines in disco production was influenced by Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair" (1971), with its rhythm echoed in McCrae's "Rock Your Baby", and Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together" (1972). Disco producer Biddu used synthesizers in several disco songs from 1976 to 1977, including "Bionic Boogie" from "Rain Forest" (1976), "Soul Coaxing" (1977), and "Eastern Man" and "Futuristic Journey" (recorded from 1976 to 1977).
Acts like Donna Summer, Chic, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Heatwave, and the Village People helped define the late 1970s' disco sound. In 1977, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced "I Feel Love" for Donna Summer. It became the first well-known disco hit to have a completely synthesized backing track. Other disco producers, most famously American producer Tom Moulton, grabbed ideas and techniques from dub music (which came with the increased Jamaican migration to New York City in the 1970s) to provide alternatives to the four-on-the-floor style that dominated. During the early 1980s, the popularity of disco music sharply declined in the United States, abandoned by major US record labels and producers. Euro disco continued evolving within the broad mainstream pop music scene.
Synth-pop.
Synth-pop (short for 'synthesizer pop'; also called 'techno-pop') is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the "Krautrock" of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Early synth-pop pioneers included Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra, and British bands Ultravox, the Human League and Berlin Blondes. The Human League used monophonic synthesizers to produce music with a simple and austere sound. After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s, including late-1970s debutants like Japan and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and newcomers such as Depeche Mode and Eurythmics. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra's success opened the way for synth-pop bands such as P-Model, Plastics, and Hikashu. The development of inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synth-pop. This, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV, led to success for large numbers of British synth-pop acts (including Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet) in the United States.
The use of digital sampling and looping in popular music was pioneered by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). Their approach to sampling was a precursor to the contemporary approach of constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds and looping them using computer technology. "Computer Game/Firecracker" (1978) interpolated a Martin Denny melody, and sampled "Space Invaders" video game sounds. "Technodelic" (1981) introduced the use of digital sampling in popular music, as the first album consisting of mostly samples and loops. The album was produced using Toshiba-EMI's LMD-649 digital PCM sampler, which engineer Kenji Murata custom-built for YMO. The LMD-649 was also used for sampling by other Japanese synthpop artists in the early 1980s, including YMO-associated acts such as and Logic System.
Dance music in the 1980s.
The emergence of electronic dance music in the 1980s was shaped by the development of several new electronic musical instruments, particularly those from the Japanese Roland Corporation. The Roland TR-808 (often abbreviated as the "808") notably played an important role in the evolution of dance music, after Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982), made it very popular on dancefloors. The track, which also featured the melody line from Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express, informed the development of electronic dance music, and subgenres including Miami bass and Detroit techno, and popularized the 808 as a "fundamental element of futuristic sound". According to "Slate," "Planet Rock" "didn't so much put the 808 on the map so much as reorient an entire world of post-disco dance music around it". The Roland TR-909, TB-303 and Juno-60 similarly influenced electronic dance music such as techno, house and acid.
Post-disco.
During the post-disco era that followed the backlash against "disco" which began in the mid to late 1979, which in the United States lead to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night,[13] an underground movement of "stripped-down" disco inspired music featuring "radically different sounds"[14] started to emerge on the East Coast.[15][Note 1] This new scene was seen primarily in the New York metropolitan area and was initially led by the urban contemporary artists that were responding to the over-commercialization and subsequent demise of disco culture. The sound that emerged originated from P-Funk[18] the electronic side of disco, dub music, and other genres. Much of the music produced during this time was, like disco, catering to a singles-driven market.[14] At this time creative control started shifting to independent record companies, less established producers, and club DJs.[14] Other dance styles that began to become popular during the post-disco era include dance-pop,[19][20] boogie,[14] electro, Hi-NRG, Italo disco, house,[19][21][22][23] and techno.[22][24][25][26][27]
Electro.
In the early 1980s, electro (short for "electro-funk") emerged as a fusion of electro-pop, funk, and boogie. Also called electro-funk or electro-boogie, but later shortened to electro, cited pioneers include Ryuichi Sakamoto, Afrika Bambaataa, Zapp, D.Train, and Sinnamon. Early hip hop and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra inspired the birth of electro. As the electronic sound developed, instruments such as the bass guitar and drums were replaced by synthesizers and most notably by iconic drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808 and the Yamaha DX7. Early uses of the TR-808 include several Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks in 1980–1981, the 1982 track "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa, and the 1982 song "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. In 1982, producer Arthur Baker, with Afrika Bambaataa, released the seminal "Planet Rock", which was influenced by Yellow Magic Orchestra, used Kraftwerk samples, and had drum beats supplied by the TR-808. Planet Rock was followed later that year by another breakthrough electro record, "Nunk" by Warp 9. In 1983, Hashim created an electro-funk sound with "Al-Naafyish (The Soul)" that influenced Herbie Hancock, resulting in his hit single "Rockit" the same year. The early 1980s were electro's mainstream peak. According to author Steve Taylor,
Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock serves as a "template for all interesting dance music since".
House music.
In the early 1980s, Chicago radio jocks The Hot Mix 5 and club DJs Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles played various styles of dance music, including older disco records (mostly Philly disco and Salsoul tracks), electro funk tracks by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, newer Italo disco, B-Boy hip hop music by Man Parrish, Jellybean Benitez, Arthur Baker, and John Robie, and electronic pop music by Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Some made and played their own edits of their favorite songs on reel-to-reel tape, and sometimes mixed in effects, drum machines, and other rhythmic electronic instrumentation. The hypnotic electronic dance song "On and On", produced in 1984 by Chicago DJ Jesse Saunders and co-written by Vince Lawrence, had elements that became staples of the early house sound, such as the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer and minimal vocals as well as a Roland (specifically TR-808) drum machine and Korg (specifically Poly-61) synthesizer.
"On and On" is sometimes cited as the 'first house record', though other examples from around that time, such as J.M. Silk's "Music is the Key" (1985), have also been cited. House music quickly spread to American cities including New York City, and Newark, and Detroit—all of which developed their own regional scenes. In the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as major cities in South America, and Australia. Chicago House experienced some commercial success in Europe with releases such as "House Nation" by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987). Following this, a number of house inspired releases such as "Pump Up The Volume" by MARRS (1987), "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express (1988), and "Doctorin' the House" by Coldcut (1988) entered the pop charts.
The electronic instrumentation and minimal arrangement of Charanjit Singh's "" (1982), an album of Indian ragas performed in a disco style, anticipated the sounds of acid house music, but it is not known to have had any influence on the genre prior to the album's rediscovery in the 21st century.
Techno, acid house, rave.
In the mid 1980s house music thrived on the small Balearic Island of Ibiza, Spain. The Balearic sound was the spirit of the music emerging from the island at that time; the combination of old vinyl rock, pop, reggae, and disco records paired with an “anything goes” attitude made Ibiza a hub of drug-induced musical experimentation. A club called Amnesia, whose resident DJ, Alfredo Fiorito, pioneered Balearic house, was the center of the scene. Amnesia became known across Europe and by the mid to late 1980s it was drawing people from all over the continent.
By 1988, house music had become the most popular form of club music in Europe, with acid house developing as a notable trend in the UK and Germany in the same year. In the UK an established warehouse party subculture, centered on the British African-Caribbean sound system scene fueled underground after-parties that featured dance music exclusively. Also in 1988, the Balearic party vibe associated with Ibiza's DJ Alfredo was transported to London, when Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold opened the clubs Shoom and Spectrum, respectively. Both places became synonymous with acid house, and it was during this period that MDMA gained prominence as a party drug. Other important UK clubs included Back to Basics in Leeds, Sheffield's Leadmill and Music Factory, and The Haçienda in Manchester, where Mike Pickering and Graeme Park's spot, Nude, was an important proving ground for American underground dance music. The success of house and acid house paved the way for Detroit Techno, a style that was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with Detroit clubs catching up later. The term Techno first came into use after a release of a 10 Records/Virgin Records compilation titled "Techno: The Dance Sound of Detroit" in 1988.
One of the first Detroit productions to receive wider attention was Derrick May's "Strings of Life" (1987), which, together with May's previous release, "Nude Photo" (1987), helped raise techno's profile in Europe, especially the UK and Germany, during the 1987–1988 house music boom (see Second Summer of Love). It became May's best-known track, which, according to Frankie Knuckles, "just exploded. It was like something you can't imagine, the kind of power and energy people got off that record when it was first heard. Mike Dunn says he has no idea how people can accept a record that doesn't have a bassline." According to British DJ Mark Moore, "Strings of Life" led London club-goers to accept house: "because most people hated house music and it was all rare groove and hip hop...I'd play 'Strings of Life' at the Mudd Club and clear the floor". By the late 1980s interest in house, acid house and techno escalated in the club scene and MDMA-fueled club-goers, who were faced with a 2 a.m. closing time in the UK, started to seek after-hours refuge at all-night warehouse parties. Within a year, in summer 1989, up to 25,000 people at a time were attending commercially organised underground parties called raves.
Dance music in the 1990s.
Trance.
Trance emerged from the rave scene in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and developed further during the early 1990s in Germany before spreading throughout the rest of Europe, as a more melodic offshoot from techno and house. At the same time trance music was developing in Europe, the genre was also gathering a following in the Indian state of Goa.
Trance is mostly instrumental, although vocals can be mixed in: typically they are performed by mezzo-soprano to soprano female soloists, often without a traditional verse/chorus structure. Structured vocal form in trance music forms the basis of the vocal trance subgenre, which has been described as "grand, soaring, and operatic" and "ethereal female leads floating amongst the synths". Trance music is broken into a number of subgenres including acid trance, classic trance, hard trance, progressive trance, and uplifting trance. Uplifting trance is also known as "anthem trance", "epic trance", "commercial trance", "stadium trance", or "euphoric trance", and has been strongly influenced by classical music in the 1990s and 2000s by leading artists such as Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buuren, Tiësto, Push, Rank 1 and at present with the development of the subgenre "orchestral uplifting trance" or "uplifting trance with symphonic orchestra" by such artists as Andy Blueman, Ciro Visone, Soundlift, Arctic Moon, Sergey Nevone&Simon O'Shine etc. Closely related to Uplifting Trance is Euro-trance, which has become a general term for a wide variety of highly commercialized European dance music. Several subgenres are crossovers with other major genres of electronic music. For instance, Tech trance is a mixture of trance and techno, and Vocal trance "combines [trance's] progressive elements with pop music". The dream trance genre originated in the mid-1990s, with its popularity then led by Robert Miles.
AllMusic states on progressive trance: "the progressive wing of the trance crowd led directly to a more commercial, chart-oriented sound since trance had never enjoyed much chart action in the first place. Emphasizing the smoother sound of Eurodance or house (and occasionally more reminiscent of Jean-Michel Jarre than Basement Jaxx), Progressive Trance became the sound of the world's dance floors by the end of the millennium. Critics ridiculed its focus on predictable breakdowns and relative lack of skill to beat-mix, but progressive trance was caned by the hottest DJ."
Breakbeat hardcore, jungle, drum and bass.
By the early 1990s, a style of music developed within the rave scene that had an identity distinct from American house and techno. This music, much like hip-hop before it, combined sampled syncopated beats or breakbeats, other samples from a wide range of different musical genres, and, occasionally, samples of music, dialogue, and effects from films and television programmes. Relative to earlier styles of dance music such as house and techno, so-called 'rave music' tended to emphasise bass sounds and use faster tempos, or beats per minute (BPM). This subgenre was known as "hardcore" rave, but from as early as 1991, some musical tracks made up of these high-tempo breakbeats, with heavy basslines and samples of older Jamaican music, were referred to as "jungle techno", a genre influenced by Jack Smooth and Basement Records, and later just "jungle", which became recognized as a separate musical genre popular at raves and on pirate radio in Britain. It is important to note when discussing the history of drum & bass that prior to jungle, rave music was getting faster and more experimental.
By 1994, jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity, and fans of the music (often referred to as junglists) became a more recognisable part of youth subculture. The genre further developed, incorporating and fusing elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Despite the affiliation with the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene, Jungle also inherited some associations with violence and criminal activity, both from the gang culture that had affected the UK's hip-hop scene and as a consequence of jungle's often aggressive or menacing sound and themes of violence (usually reflected in the choice of samples). However, this developed in tandem with the often positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene and dance hall-based Jamaican music culture prevalent in London. By 1995, whether as a reaction to, or independently of this cultural schism, some jungle producers began to move away from the ragga-influenced style and create what would become collectively labelled, for convenience, as drum and bass.
Dance music in the 21st century.
Dubstep.
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with bass lines that contain prominent sub-bass frequencies. The style emerged as an offshoot of UK garage, drawing on a lineage of related styles such as 2-step, dub reggae, jungle, broken beat, and grime. In the United Kingdom, the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.
The earliest known dubstep releases date back to 1998, and were usually featured as B-sides of 2-step garage single releases. These tracks were darker, more experimental remixes with less emphasis on vocals, and attempted to incorporate elements of breakbeat and drum and bass into 2-step. In 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted at London's nightclub Plastic People, at the "Forward" night (sometimes stylised as FWD»), which went on to be considered influential to the development of dubstep. The term "dubstep" in reference to a genre of music began to be used around 2002 by labels such as Big Apple, Ammunition, and Tempa, by which time stylistic trends used in creating these remixes started to become more noticeable and distinct from 2-step and grime.
Electro house.
Electro house is a form of house music characterized by a prominent bassline or kick drum and a tempo between 125 and 135 beats per minute, usually 128. Its origins were influenced by electro, electroclash, electropop, synth-pop, and tech house. The term has been used to describe the music of many "DJ Mag" Top 100 DJs, including Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Skrillex, and Steve Aoki. Italian DJ Benny Benassi, with his track "Satisfaction" released in 2002, is seen as the forerunner of electro-house who brought it to the mainstream. By the mid 2000s, electro-house saw an increase in popularity, with hits such as the Tom Neville remix of Studio B's I See Girls in 2005 (UK #11). In November 2006, electro-house tracks "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fedde Le Grand and the D. Ramirez remix of "Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana held the number one and number two spots, respectively, in the UK Top 40 singles charts. Since then, electro-house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Porter Robinson, Yasutaka Nakata and Dada Life have emerged.
Trap music (EDM).
Trap music (EDM) originated from techno, dub, and Dutch House, but also from Southern hip hop in the late 2000s and early 2010s. This form of trap music can be simplified by these three features: "1/3 hip hop (tempo and song structure are similar, most tracks are usually between 70-110 bpm) – with vocals sometimes being pitched down, 1/3 dance music – high-pitched Dutch synth work, Hardstyle sampling, as well as a plethora of trap remixes of popular EDM songs, and 1/3 dub (low-frequency focus and strong emphasis on repetitiveness throughout a song)". Some of the artist that popularized this genre, along with several others, would-be producers such as RL Grime with the tracks "Core" and "Scylla" released in 2014, Flosstradamus with their "Hdynation Radio" album released in 2015 and Carnage (DJ) with his track "Turn Up" released in 2012. Trap music in this connotation was characterized by "soulful synths, 808s, the pan flute, sharp snares and long, syrup-slurred vowels" which created dirty and aggressive beats resulting in "dark melodies" Trap is now mainly used as remixes.
Terminology.
The earliest use of the term "electronic dance music" (EDM) was by English musician, producer, manager, and innovator Richard James Burgess in 1980, whose single "European Man" with his band Landscape used the term on the back of the single's record sleeve: "Electronic Dance Music... EDM; computer programmed to perfection for your listening pleasure." Burgess is therefore known as having coined the term, as well as "New Romantic". In response to a question about being credited with coining the term New Romantic in an interview with "The Electricity Club", Burgess said: "Initially I was using three terms - Futurist, Electronic Dance Music (the Landscape singles have EDM printed on them) and New Romantic." In the United States, the term was used as early as 1985, although the term "dance music" did not catch on as a blanket term.[95] Writing in "The Guardian", journalist Simon Reynolds noted that the American music industry's adoption of the term EDM in the late 2000s was an attempt to re-brand US "rave culture" and differentiate it from the 1990s rave scene. In the UK, "dance music" or "dance" are more common terms for EDM.[4] What is widely perceived to be "club music" has changed over time; it now includes different genres and may not always encompass EDM. Similarly, "electronic dance music" can mean different things to different people. Both "club music" and "EDM" seem vague, but the terms are sometimes used to refer to distinct and unrelated genres (club music is defined by what is popular, whereas EDM is distinguished by musical attributes).[96] Though "Billboard" debuted a "dance" chart in 1974, the larger US music industry did not create music charts until the late 1990s.[93] In July 1995, Nervous Records and "Project X Magazine" hosted the first awards ceremony, calling it the "Electronic Dance Music Awards".[Note 4]
Production.
Electronic dance music is generally composed and produced in a recording studio with specialized equipment such as samplers, synthesizers, effects units and MIDI controllers all set up to interact with one another using the MIDI protocol. In the genre's early days, hardware electronic musical instruments were used and the focus in production was mainly on manipulating MIDI data as opposed to manipulating audio signals. Since the late 1990s, the use of software has increased. A modern electronic music production studio generally consists of a computer running a digital audio workstation (DAW), with various plug-ins installed such as software synthesizers and effects units, which are controlled with a MIDI controller such as a MIDI keyboard. This setup is generally sufficient to complete entire productions, which are then ready for mastering.
Ghost production.
A ghost producer is a hired music producer in a business arrangement who produces a song for another DJ/artist that releases it as their own, typically under a contract which prevents them from identifying themselves as a personnel of the song. Ghost producers receive a simple fee or royalty payments for their work and are often able to work in their preference of not having the intense pressure of fame and the lifestyle of an internationally recognized DJ. A ghost producer may increase their notability in the music industry by acquainting with established "big name" DJs and producers. Producers like Martin Garrix and Porter Robinson are often noted for their ghost production work for other producers while David Guetta and Steve Aoki are noted for their usage of ghost producers in their songs whereas DJs like Tiësto have been openly crediting their producers in an attempt to avoid censure and for transparency.
Many ghost producers sign agreements that prevent them from working for anyone else or establishing themselves as a solo artist. Such non-disclosure agreements are often noted as predatory because ghost producers, especially teenage producers, do not have an understanding of the music industry. London producer Mat Zo has alleged that DJs who hire ghost producers "have pretended to make their own music and [left] us actual producers to struggle".
Bedroom production.
A bedroom producer is an independent musician who creates electronic music on their laptop or in a home studio. Unlike in traditional recording studios, bedroom producers typically use low-cost, accessible software and equipment which can lead to music being created completely "in the box," with no external hardware.
Popularization.
United States.
Initially, the popularization of electronic dance music was associated with European rave and club culture and it achieved limited popular exposure in America. By the mid-to-late 1990s this began to change as the American music industry made efforts to market a range of dance genres as "electronica". At the time, a wave of electronic music bands from the UK, including The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Underworld, had been prematurely associated with an "American electronica revolution". But rather than finding mainstream success, many established EDM acts were relegated to the margins of the US industry. In 1998 Madonna's "Ray of Light," an album heavily influenced by club music trends and produced with British producer William Orbit, brought dance music to the attention of popular music listeners. In the late 1990s, despite US media interest in dance music re-branded as "electronica," American house and techno producers continued to travel abroad to establish their careers as DJs and producers.
By the mid-2000s, Dutch producer Tiësto was bringing worldwide popular attention to EDM after providing a soundtrack to the entry of athletes during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics — an event which "The Guardian" deemed as one of the 50 most important events in dance music. In 2003, the influence of dance music on American radio resulted in "Billboard" creating the first-ever Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. By 2005, the prominence of dance music in North American popular culture had markedly increased. According to "Spin", Daft Punk's performance at Coachella in 2006 was the "tipping point" for EDM—it introduced the duo to a new generation of "rock kids". As noted by "Entertainment Weekly", Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" helped introduce EDM sounds to top 40 radio, as it brought together variations of electronic dance music with the singer's R&B sounds. In 2009, French house musician David Guetta began to gain prominence in mainstream pop music thanks to several crossover hits on Top 40 charts such as "When Love Takes Over" with Kelly Rowland, as well as his collaborations with US pop and hip hop acts such as Akon ("Sexy Bitch") and The Black Eyed Peas ("I Gotta Feeling"). The music sharing website SoundCloud, as well as the video sharing website YouTube, also helped fuel interest in electronic music. Dubstep producer Skrillex popularized a harsher sound dubbed "Brostep", which had drawn comparisons to the aggression and tone of heavy metal.
With the increasing popularity of electronic dance music, promoters and venues realized that DJs could generate larger profits than traditional musicians; Diplo explained that "a band plays [for] 45 minutes; DJs can play for four hours. Rock bands—there's a few headliner dudes that can play 3,000–4,000-capacity venues, but DJs play the same venues, they turn the crowd over two times, people buy drinks all night long at higher prices—it's a win-win." Electronic music festivals, such as Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas and Ultra Music Festival in Miami also grew in size, placing an increased emphasis on visual experiences, and DJs who had begun to attain a celebrity status. Other major acts that gained prominence, including Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, toured major venues such as arenas and stadiums rather than playing clubs; in December 2011, Swedish House Mafia became the first electronic music act to sell out New York City's Madison Square Garden.
In 2011, "Spin" declared a "new rave generation" led by acts like David Guetta, Deadmau5, and Skrillex. In January 2013, "Billboard" introduced a new EDM-focused Dance/Electronic Songs chart, tracking the top 50 electronic songs based on sales, radio airplay, club play, and online streaming. According to Eventbrite, EDM fans are more likely to use social media to discover and share events or gigs. They also discovered that 78% of fans say they are more likely to attend an event if their peers do, compared to 43% of fans in general. EDM has many young and social fans. By late 2011, "Music Trades" was describing electronic dance music as the fastest-growing genre in the world. Elements of electronic music also became increasingly prominent in pop music. Radio and television also contributed to dance music's mainstream acceptance.
US corporate interest.
Corporate consolidation in the EDM industry began in 2012—especially in terms of live events. In June 2012, media executive Robert F. X. Sillerman—founder of what is now Live Nation—re-launched SFX Entertainment as an EDM conglomerate, and announced his plan to invest $1 billion to acquire EDM businesses. His acquisitions included regional promoters and festivals (including ID&T, which organises Tomorrowland), two nightclub operators in Miami, and Beatport, an online music store which focuses on electronic music. Live Nation also acquired Cream Holdings and Hard Events, and announced a "creative partnership" with EDC organizers Insomniac Events in 2013 that would allow it to access its resources whilst remaining an independent company; Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino described EDM as the "[new] rock 'n' roll".
US radio conglomerate iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Media and Entertainment) also made efforts to align itself with EDM. In January 2014 It hired noted British DJ and BBC Radio 1 personality Pete Tong to produce programming for its "Evolution" dance radio brand, and announced a partnership with SFX to co-produce live concerts and EDM-oriented original programming for its top 40 radio stations. iHeartMedia president John Sykes explained that he wanted his company's properties to be the "best destination [for EDM]".
Major brands have also used the EDM phenomena as a means of targeting millennials and EDM songs and artists have increasingly been featured in television commercials and programs. Avicii's manager Ash Pournouri compared these practices to the commercialization of hip-hop in the early 2000s. Heineken has a marketing relationship with the Ultra Music Festival, and has incorporated Dutch producers Armin van Buuren and Tiësto into its ad campaigns. Anheuser-Busch has a similar relationship as beer sponsor of SFX Entertainment events. In 2014, 7 Up launched "7x7Up"—a multi-platform EDM-based campaign that includes digital content, advertising featuring producers, and branded stages at both Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival. Wireless carrier T-Mobile US entered into an agreement with SFX to become the official wireless sponsor of its events, and partnered with Above & Beyond to sponsor its 2015 tour.
In August 2015, SFX began to experience declines in its value, and a failed bid by CEO Sillerman to take the company private. The company began looking into strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company. In October 2015, "Forbes" declared the possibility of an EDM "bubble", in the wake of the declines at SFX Entertainment, slowing growth in revenue, the increasing costs of organizing festivals and booking talent, as well as an oversaturation of festivals in the eastern and western United States. Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella felt that the industry would weather the financial uncertainty of the overall market by focusing on "innovation" and entering into new markets. Despite forecasts that interest in popular EDM would wane, in 2015 it was estimated to be a £5.5bn industry in the US, up by 60% compared to 2012 estimates.
SFX emerged from bankruptcy in December 2016 as LiveStyle, under the leadership of Randy Phillips, a former executive of AEG Live.
In 2020 LiveStyle entered its final phase of restoring the original owners of the companies acquired during the SFX reign or selling them. Northeast EDM promotor React Presents was sold to LiveXLive and Donnie bought his company, Disco Donnie Presents, back from LiveStyle.
Criticism of over-commercialization.
Following the popularization of EDM in America a number of producers and DJs, including Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, and Markus Schulz, raised concerns that the perceived over-commercialisation of dance music had impacted the "art" of DJing. Cox saw the "press-play" approach taken by newer EDM DJs as unrepresentative of what he called a "DJ ethos". Writing in "Mixmag", DJ Tim Sheridan argued that "push-button DJs" who use auto-sync and play pre-recorded sets of "obvious hits" resulted in a situation overtaken by "the spectacle, money and the showbiz".
Some house producers openly admitted that "commercial" EDM needed further differentiation and creativity. Avicii, whose 2013 album "True" featured songs incorporating elements of bluegrass, such as lead single "Wake Me Up", stated that most EDM lacked "longevity". Deadmau5 criticized the homogenization of popular EDM, and suggested that it "all sounds the same". During the 2014 Ultra Music Festival, Deadmau5 made critical comments about up-and-coming EDM artist Martin Garrix and later played an edited version of Garrix's "Animals" remixed to the melody of "Old McDonald Had a Farm". Afterwards, Tiësto criticized Deadmau5 on Twitter for "sarcastically" mixing Avicii's "Levels" with his own "Ghosts 'n' Stuff".
In May 2014, the NBC comedy series "Saturday Night Live" parodied the stereotypes of EDM culture and push-button DJs in a Digital Short entitled "When Will the Bass Drop?". It featured a DJ who goes about performing everyday activities—playing a computer game, frying eggs, collecting money—who then presses a giant "BASS" button, which explodes the heads of concertgoers.
After years of rapid growth, the American popular EDM market started to wane in 2016 when a number of artists famous for producing so-called 'big room' electro-house started to diversify stylistically. This development was directly referenced by two such DJs – David Guetta and Showtek – in a techno-influenced single released in April 2016 titled 'The Death of EDM'.
International.
In May 2015, the International Music Summit's Business Report estimated that the global electronic music industry had reached nearly $6.9 billion in value; the count included music sales, events revenue (including nightclubs and festivals), the sale of DJ equipment and software, and other sources of revenue. The report also identified several emerging markets for electronic dance music, including East Asia, India, and South Africa, credited primarily to investment by domestic, as well as American and European interests. A number of major festivals also began expanding into Latin America.
In Ghana, West Africa, an artist named Djsky introduced EDM in 2015–present and organised successful festivals and events such as Hey Ibiza, Sunset music Festival, Sky show and more. In an interview with Watsup TV, Djsky revealed he was the first to introduce Electronic Music Dance into Ghana music.
In Ethiopia EDM has become part of mainstream music after the 2018 breakthrough of a young artist named Rophnan which incorporated EDM sound with traditional rhythms and melodies. In his shows, tens of thousands of youth were packing stadiums across the country and radios started to play the emerging genre.
China is a market where EDM had initially made relatively few inroads; although promoters believed that the mostly instrumental music would remove a metaphorical language barrier, the growth of EDM in China was hampered by the lack of a prominent rave culture in the country as in other regions, as well as the popularity of domestic Chinese pop over foreign artists. Former Universal Music executive Eric Zho, inspired by the US growth, made the first significant investments in electronic music in China, including the organisation of Shanghai's inaugural Storm festival in 2013, the reaching of a title sponsorship deal for the festival with Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand, a local talent search, and organising collaborations between EDM producers and Chinese singers, such as Avicii and Wang Leehom's "Lose Myself". In the years following, a larger number of EDM events began to appear in China, and Storm itself was also preceded by a larger number of pre-parties in 2014 than its inaugural year. A new report released during the inaugural International Music Summit China in October 2015 revealed that the Chinese EDM industry was experiencing modest gains, citing the larger number of events (including new major festival brands such as Modern Sky and YinYang), a 6% increase in the sales of electronic music in the country, and the significant size of the overall market. Zho also believed that the country's "hands-on" political climate, as well as investments by China into cultural events, helped in "encouraging" the growth of EDM in the country.
Social impact.
Festivals.
In the 1980s, electronic dance music was often played at illegal underground rave parties held in secret locations, for example, warehouses, abandoned aircraft hangars, fields and any other large, open areas. In the 1990s and 2000s, aspects of the underground rave culture of the 1980s and early 1990s began to evolve into legitimate, organized EDM concerts and festivals. Major festivals often feature a large number of acts representing various EDM genres spread across multiple stages. Festivals have placed a larger emphasis on visual spectacles as part of their overall experiences, including elaborate stage designs with underlying thematics, complex lighting systems, laser shows, and pyrotechnics. Rave fashion also evolved among attendees, which "The Guardian" described as progressing from the 1990s "kandi raver" to "[a] slick and sexified yet also kitschy-surreal image midway between Venice Beach and Cirque du Soleil, Willy Wonka and a gay pride parade". These events differed from underground raves by their organized nature, often taking place at major venues, and measures to ensure the health and safety of attendees. MTV's Rawley Bornstein described electronic music as "the new rock and roll", as has Lollapalooza organizer Perry Ferrell.
Ray Waddell of "Billboard" noted that festival promoters have done an excellent job at branding. Larger festivals have been shown to have positive economic impacts on their host cities the 2014 Ultra Music Festival brought 165,000 attendees—and over $223 million—to the Miami/South Florida region's economy. The inaugural edition of TomorrowWorld—a US-based version of Belgium's Tomorrowland festival, brought $85.1 million to the Atlanta area—as much revenue as its hosting of the NCAA Final Four (the national championship of US college basketball) earlier in the year. EDC Las Vegas boosted the Clark County economy by $350.3 million in 2015 alone, with over 405,000 attendees across three days (June 19–21). The popularity of EDM and festivals also led some multi-genre festivals not strongly associated with electronic music, such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, to add more electronic acts to their lineup. They often play EDM-specific stages, but major acts such as Deadmau5 and Calvin Harris have made overall headlining appearances on the main stages of Lollapalooza and Coachella respectively—placements that are typically associated with rock and alternative.
Russell Smith of "The Globe and Mail" felt that the commercial festival industry was an antithesis to the original principles of the rave subculture, citing "the expensive tickets, the giant corporate sponsors, the crass bro culture—shirtless muscle boys who cruise the stadiums, tiny popular girls in bikinis who ride on their shoulders – not to mention the sappy music itself." Drug-related incidents, as well as other complaints surrounding the behaviour of their attendees, have contributed to negative perceptions and opposition to electronic music events by local authorities;
After Ultra Music Festival 2014, where a crowd of gatecrashers trampled a security guard on its first day, Miami's city commissioners considered banning the festival from being held in the city, citing the trampling incident, lewd behavior, and complaints by downtown residents of being harassed by attendees. The commissioners voted to allow Ultra to continue being held in Miami due to its positive economic effects, under the condition that its organizers address security, drug usage and lewd behavior by attendees. In 2018, after continued concerns, the commissioners voted to bar the festival from being held in Bayfront Park and downtown Miami, but subsequently approved a proposal to move the event to one of Miami's barrier islands, Virginia Key. Following the festival, which was impacted by transportation issues (as there is only one vehicular link between Virginia Key and mainland Miami) and other problems, Ultra pulled out of the agreement, and negotiated an agreement to return to Bayfront Park.
Association with recreational drug use.
Dance music has a long association with recreational drug use, particularly with a wide range of drugs that have been categorized under the name "club drugs". Russell Smith noted that the association of drugs and music subcultures was by no means exclusive to electronic music, citing previous examples of music genres that were associated with certain drugs, such as psychedelic rock and LSD, disco music and cocaine, and punk music and heroin.
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy, "E", or "Molly", is often considered the drug of choice within the rave culture and is also used at clubs, festivals and house parties. In the rave environment, the sensory effects from the music and lighting are often highly synergistic with the drug. The psychedelic amphetamine quality of MDMA offers multiple reasons for its appeals to users in the "rave" setting. Some users enjoy the feeling of mass communion from the inhibition-reducing effects of the drug, while others use it as party fuel because of the drug's stimulatory effects. Another drug para-Methoxyamphetamine (4-MA) also known as pink ecstasy, PMA, "Death" or "Dr. Death", it is similar to MDMA but they can take up to an hour to produce effects, which can result in hyperthermia and subsequently, organ failure. People who take PMA are often mistaken for it being identified as MDMA.
MDMA is occasionally known for being taken in conjunction with psychedelic drugs. The more common combinations include MDMA combined with LSD, MDMA combined with DMT, MDMA with psilocybin mushrooms, and MDMA with the disassociative drug ketamine. Many users use mentholated products while taking MDMA for its cooling sensation while experiencing the drug's effects. Examples include menthol cigarettes, Vicks VapoRub, NyQuil, and lozenges.
The incidence of nonmedical ketamine has increased in the context of raves and other parties. However, its emergence as a club drug differs from other club drugs (e.g. MDMA) due to its anesthetic properties ("e.g.", slurred speech, immobilization) at higher doses; in addition, there are reports of ketamine being sold as "ecstasy". The use of ketamine as part of a "postclubbing experience" has also been documented. Ketamine's rise in the dance culture was rapid in Hong Kong by the end of the 1990s. Before becoming a federally controlled substance in the United States in 1999, ketamine was available as diverted pharmaceutical preparations and as a pure powder sold in bulk quantities from domestic chemical supply companies. Much of the current ketamine diverted for nonmedical use originates in China and India.
Drug-related deaths at electronic dance music events.
A number of deaths attributed to apparent drug use have occurred at major electronic music concerts and festivals. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum blacklisted Insomniac Events after an underaged attendee died from "complications of ischemic encephalopathy due to methylenedioxymethamphetamine intoxication" during Electric Daisy Carnival 2010; as a result, the event was re-located to Las Vegas the following year. Drug-related deaths during Electric Zoo 2013 in New York City, United States, and Future Music Festival Asia 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, prompted the final day of both events to be cancelled, while Life in Color cancelled a planned event in Malaysia out of concern for the incident at Future Music Festival Asia and other drug-related deaths that occurred at the A State of Trance 650 concerts in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In September 2016, the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina banned all electronic music events, pending future legislation, after five drug-related deaths and four injuries at a Time Warp Festival event in the city in April 2016. The ban forced electronic band Kraftwerk to cancel a planned concert in the city, despite arguing that there were dissimilarities between a festival and their concerts.


This Is Life

This Is Life is a 2012 novel by British author Dan Rhodes.
Plot introduction.
Set in contemporary Paris it tells the story of several interlinked characters, amongst them are:-
Aurélie Renard - studying art at a Paris college, she throws a small stone to initiate her art project, planning to follow whoever it hits over the course of a week and make them the subject of a series of artworks. The stone hits a small baby on the forehead; the mother threatens to call the police but on hearing of Aurélie's project agrees to let her look after the baby, named Herbert, and have him returned to her a week later...
Sylvie Dupont - Aurélie's best friend, she is looking for a husband; to aid her in her task she has taken a different job each day in order to meet as many as possible having read that the most common way to meet a life partner is in the workplace. One such job is driving tourists around Paris in a 2CV.
Lucien - like Sylvie, he is also looking for a life partner; he only has eyes for Japanese girls though and hence has learnt the language and is acting as a translator for Japanese tourists.
The Akiyamas are a Japanese couple on holiday in Paris leaving their grown up son and daughter, Toshiro and Akiko home in Japan. They have booked an afternoon with Sylvie in the 2CV with their translator Lucien.
'Le Machine' is a performance artist who is preparing for the latest leg of a world tour of his show "Life" in which he lives day and night naked on stage for 12 weeks in front of an audience, collecting all the bodily effluent produced.
The story follows these and other associated characters over the course of a week...
Reception.
Reviews were mixed though generally positive :


Jam Session with Feeling

Jam Session with Feeling is the second descarga album recorded by Cuban bassist Cachao. Following the recording and release of "Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature", which received critical and commercial acclaim, Cachao assembled a similar roster of musicians to record "Jam Session with Feeling" in Havana in 1958. The album was meant to be released by Maype, but due to the political events of the time, it was not released until 1962, in the United States, once Maype had relocated there. The title of the album is a reference to "filin" (feeling), the 1940s movement in which forms such as the bolero were used as a basis for descargas (improvised jam sessions).
Recording.
The album focuses on improvised arrangements of Afro-Cuban standards: danzones, boleros and sones. This is unlike "Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature", where the compositions were novel and not adscribable to any genre besides the unspecific "descarga". On "Jam Session with Feeling", many of the songs are decades-old such as Eusebio Delfín's bolero "¿Y tú qué has hecho?" (1922), Ernesto Lecuona's canción "Siboney" (1929), Moisés Simons' son-pregón "El manisero" (1930), and Arsenio Rodríguez' son "A buscar camarón" (1943). Also included is "(Camina) Juan Pescao", one of Orestes López most famous danzones which was the title track to the Spanish reissue of Cachao's 1958 "Con el ritmo de Cachao", a straight-ahead danzón album also recorded in 1958.
The album features Cachao's brother, Orestes López on piano and Niño Rivera on electric tres, both of whom had previously performed as guests on "Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature". The wind section is formed by trombonist Generoso "Tojo" Jiménez and trumpeters Armandito Armenteros (cousin of Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros) and Alejandro "El Negro" Vivar. The album features both Ricardo Abreu (leader of Los Papines) and Tata Güines on tumbadora, the latter doubling on the drums (trap set).
Release.
Following the relocation of Maype to Miami, the album was originally released as a 12" vinyl record in 1962 with the catalog number US-122. In 1992 it was released on cassette (USC-122) and CD (CD-122).
"Jam Session with Feeling" was followed by "Descarga" (US-168), also recorded for Maype with a similar lineup.


Dot the i

Dot the i (Spain: el punto sobre la i; Argentina: Obsesión) is a 2003 psychological thriller film starring Gael García Bernal, Natalia Verbeke, and James D'Arcy. It was written and directed by Matthew Parkhill.
Plot.
Carmen, a young Spanish woman who is engaged to be married, has her hen night at a French restaurant in London. She is invited to participate in the observance of an old custom which allows her to kiss the stranger of her choice before the marriage, symbolically "kissing her single life goodbye" and bringing luck for the future. The man she chooses is Kit and both enjoy the kiss far more than they have intended. They fall in love, which creates a "love triangle" among Carmen, her fiancé Barnaby, and Kit.
What initially appears to be a typical urban love story begins to take some surprising and dark twists. In the third act, it is revealed that the circumstances have been arranged in order to create an "emotional snuff film". Unbeknownst to Carmen, she has been cast as the female lead in this endeavor. Barnaby has hired Kit to play a part in the deception, but has misled him by neglecting to mention that he himself, the director, will take on the role of Carmen's fiancé (Kit believing that the couple know nothing of the film). Barnaby is apparently unscrupulous, as he actually marries Carmen for the sake of the film and later fakes a violent suicide (his motive being that Carmen will never love him as she does Kit). In a state of shock, she returns to Kit, who is also horrified, guilty, and never having met the husband, still in the dark as to the true identity of a man he knows only as "Ford". He admits to Carmen that he has been paid by a man to seduce her for a film, and that he regrets it immensely.
Barnaby, whom Kit recognizes as his employer, suddenly appears, offering Kit his final pay and removing camera equipment he previously has concealed in the actor's bedsit without his knowledge. With contemptible satisfaction, he unravels his entire plan to the shocked, broken pair and bitterly ridicules them before leaving.
Several months later, as the film is about to open, Barnaby appears to have won Carmen back. For a ceremony during which he is to accept a filmmakers' award, he engineers a publicity stunt by which it appears that Kit will have the ultimate revenge. However, Carmen takes advantage of the opportunity to do in her manipulative husband for real while framing his business partners for murder. Tragedy generates sensation and, while its clueless producers await trial, the film enjoys a big opening at which Carmen and Kit arrive in style, together.
Reception.
Most American critics did not appreciate the bait-and-switch approach the film took, calling its twist ending "implausible" and "gimmicky". Even Roger Ebert, who was one of the few admirers of "Dot the i", said of it: "we walk out of the theater with perplexing questions about motives, means, access and techniques." The film got an extremely limited release and only grossed about $300,000 in the United States.


Jerry Mitchell

Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer.
Early life and education.
Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, Mitchell later moved to St. Louis where he pursued his acting, dancing and directing career in theatre. Although he did not graduate from the Fine Arts college at Webster University in St. Louis after attending for a year, he later received an honorary degree from Webster University in 2005. Today, Mitchell resides in Manhattan and St. Louis.
Career.
Mitchell's early Broadway credits were as a dancer in "The Will Rogers Follies" and revivals of "Brigadoon" and "On Your Toes". He is openly gay.
Mitchell's first professional credit as a choreographer was for the 1990 Alley Theatre world premiere of the musical "Jekyll & Hyde". Mitchell's first Broadway production as sole choreographer was the 1999 revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", which he followed with "The Full Monty".
Mitchell created and for many years directed the annual "Broadway Bares" benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In addition to the theatre, he has choreographed for films such as "Camp", "In & Out" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous". He garnered an Emmy Award nomination for his work on "The Drew Carey Show".
In 2003 Mitchell was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". He directed and choreographed "", which opened in April 2007, and served as a mentor on Bravo's reality competition "Step It Up and Dance" in 2008.
Mitchell created, directed, and choreographed a stage show for Las Vegas, "Peepshow", which opened at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in 2009. He was involved in workshops for the stage musical adaptation of the film "Catch Me If You Can".
In 2013, Mitchell directed and choreographed the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots". He won the Tony Award for Best Choreography and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. He is the director of the new musical "On Your Feet!", about the lives of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. The musical premiered in Chicago in June 2015 and opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on November 5, 2015.
He is the director and choreographer of the new musical "Half Time", based on the film "Gotta Dance", which began performances on December 13, 2015 at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, and ran through January 17, 2016. The musical has the book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, with additional music by Marvin Hamlisch. The musical opened at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) on May 31, 2018.


HBBS


Project Greenlight

Project Greenlight is an American documentary television series focusing on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. It was created by Alex Keledjian, developed by Eli Holzman and produced by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore through their production company LivePlanet, along with Miramax Films. "Project Greenlight" first aired on HBO for two seasons (aired 2001–03) before moving to Bravo for season three in 2005. The series returned in 2015 for a fourth season airing on HBO. On July 26, 2016, the series was canceled. In May 2021, HBO Max picked up the series with an 8-episode order and will be produced by Issa Rae through her production company Hoorae.
Episodes.
Season 1 (2001–02).
The script contest ran from September 2000 to March 2001. Over 7,000 screenplays were submitted, and Pete Jones was selected as the winner for "Stolen Summer", which he then filmed on location in his hometown of Chicago during the summer of 2001. The first season of "Project Greenlight", helmed by show runner and co-executive producer Liz Bronstein, chronicled the selection of Jones's script and the filming of the movie, aired on HBO from late 2001 through early 2002. "Stolen Summer" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2002, then went on to a limited theatrical release which brought in just under $140,000.
Season 2 (2003).
For its second run, the contest was split into two categories: writing and directing. The winners were chosen on January 18, 2003. Erica Beeney won the writing contest for her script "The Battle of Shaker Heights", and Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle won the directing contest. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Elden Henson, Amy Smart, and William Sadler. The series aired in the summer of 2003, detailing the production of the film in Los Angeles. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" opened in limited theatrical release on August 24, 2003, earning just under $280,000 during its box office run.
Season 3 (2005).
Script submission began and ended during February 2004. After two seasons on HBO, the series moved to Bravo and season three began airing on March 15, 2005.
The selected screenplay was a horror script titled "Feast" written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. The director was John Gulager. The film stars Balthazar Getty, Krista Allen, Jason Mewes, and Eric Dane and was produced by Dimension Films and Neo Art & Logic.
The film ran for a special late night showing on September 22 and 23, 2006, almost a year after its premiere. Feast earned just under $690,000 during its box office run. The DVD was released on October 17, 2006, earning an additional $4,687,595. The film spawned two sequels: ' and '.
Season 4 (2015).
On April 2, 2015, "Project Greenlight" announced the first annual Greenie award winners.
In September 2015, "Project Greenlight" became the subject of controversy when an episode aired of Matt Damon disagreeing with producer Effie Brown over the subject of diversity. A later controversy developed over the titling of the season's sixth episode as "Hot Ghetto Mess" involving Brown's attempt to make sure one of the films did not partake in racial stereotypes, which was to be corrected before airing and replaced with "The Pivot", but was never resolved before airtime.
Australia.
Series 1.
In 2005, "Project Greenlight Australia" was launched with Pay-TV Movie Network in partnership with Screentime producing the show and offering the A$1,000,000 financing to the winning film. The entries were received online with last entries being accepted on February 14. The screenplay selected from the 1200 submissions was "Solo" by Morgan O'Neill.
Series 2.
In 2006, comedian and filmmaker Paul McDermott hosted the series. The screenplay selected from the 700 submissions was "The View from Greenhaven" by The MacRae Brothers.
References.
Notes.
 The episode "The Pivot" was originally titled "Hot Ghetto Mess." However, the scene contextualizing the title was removed in last-minute editing. The original title was not corrected for television listings before air due to what was described as a "production error" by HBO. Future airings, along with HBO Go/HBO Now use "The Pivot" as the episode's title.


Alexander Bennett (dancer)

Alexander Bennett (27 July 1929 – 15 February 2003) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet master, and teacher.
Early life and training.
Alexander Bennett was born in Leith, the coastal district on the Firth of Forth that serves as the port of the city of Edinburgh. The younger of two sons of a working-class family—his father was a streetcar driver—he was raised by parents who valued education and who encouraged him to pursue his varied interests. As a boy, he was introduced to dance by watching the films of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly at the Alhambra Theater in Leith. Motivated to emulate them, he studied tap dance and became proficient enough to perform in concerts produced by various youth groups. A lover of classical music, he also learned to play the piano, often playing for the Boys' Brigade and for Bible class. He was educated at Trinity Academy, a comprehensive secondary school under the control of the Edinburgh City Council, where he took Highers, specializing in languages: French, German, and Latin. An accomplished athlete as well as a linguist, he also played sports on his school teams.
In August 1946, Bennett saw the Sadler's Wells Ballet performing in Edinburgh and was inspired, at the age of seventeen, to enroll in ballet classes with Marjorie Middleton, one of his home city's leading dance teachers. To accept the bursary offered by Middleton, he successfully applied for a nine-month deferment of his military conscription. Despite his late start in dance classes, he showed promise of developing talent, and Middleton included him in the cast of her ballet "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", performed at the Edinburgh Ballet Club in 1948. Soon thereafter, Bennett joined the British Army and was ordered to London to study Russian and to be trained as a member of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). In that capacity, he was posted to Germany for the remainder of his two-year tour of duty.
Upon completion of his national service in 1950, Bennett returned to London to join the British Foreign Office, responsible for monitoring the foreign affairs of the United Kingdom. In his spare time, he resumed his dance training at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School with Vera Volkova, who, nearing the end of her tenure there, recommended that he take classes with Marie Rambert at her school in Notting Hill Gate. Although Rambert claimed to have been initially unimpressed with the abilities of the pale, sandy-haired Scotsman, when she found herself in need of a tall male dancer a few weeks later, she sent for him and asked him to join her company. Faced with a choice between his secure job in the Foreign Office and the uncertain possibility of becoming a professional ballet dancer, Bennett took a risk and accepted Rambert's offer.
Performing career.
As a junior member of Ballet Rambert, Bennett made his debut on the professional ballet stage in April 1951 as the peasant Hilarion, the rejected suitor in "Giselle", a role that required more acting than dancing. Rambert then took him under her wing and, within eighteen months, transformed him into a brilliant Albrecht, the "danseur noble" of the ballet. For the next five years, until 1957, Bennett danced with Rambert's company, appearing in both classic and modern works and creating a variety of roles for such inventive choreographers as John Cranko and Robert Joffrey. He also appeared occasionally with the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, where in 1957 he was appointed a principal dancer. During his nine years with the Sadler's Wells company (later renamed the Royal Ballet Touring Company), he gained a large regional fan base. He was known for such classic roles as Siegfried in "Swan Lake", Franz in "Coppélia", and Florimund (Prince Dėsirė) in "The Sleeping Beauty" as well as for such expressive roles as the Poet in Frederick Ashton's "Apparitions" and the Husband in Kenneth MacMillan's "The Invitation". In 1964, he returned to Ballet Rambert for one final year, during which he danced the technically difficult role of James in August Bournonville's "La Sylphide".
In 1965, nearing the end of his performing career, Bennett accepted the invitation of Faith de Villiers to become ballet master for the dance company of the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (Transvaalse Radd vir die Uitvoerende Kunste), in Johannesburg, South Africa. For this company, known as PACT/TRUK Ballet, he staged an evening-length production of "Coppélia", in three acts, and a one-act version of "Aurora's Wedding" ("Aurora se Huwelik"), incorporating dances from the prologue and the final act of "The Sleeping Beauty". He also produced Frederick Ashton's "Façade" and "Les Patineurs" for the company, both of which became popular showpieces throughout South Africa. Besides his work as ballet master, he made his last appearances on stage in 1965 as Florimund in "Aurora's Wedding", as the Rejected Lover in Audrey King's "La Fenêtre", and as Prince Marzipan in Walter Gore's production of "Casse Noisette" ("The Nutcracker").
Later life.
Upon returning to England in 1966, Bennett worked as ballet master for Western Theatre Ballet (later named the Scottish Ballet) in Bristol until 1969, when he went back to London to be ballet master of Covent Garden Opera Ballet. In 1970, he served as teacher and ballet master for the Icelandic Dance Company (Islenski Dansflokkurinn) in Reykjavik. He then moved to the United States, working as artistic director of several regional companies, including the Twin Cities Ballet in Bloomington, Illinois, and the Scottish-American Ballet in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He took the latter company to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on several occasions between 1985 and 1995. In the late 1980s, he also worked as artistic director of the Ballet Nacional do Brazil in São Psulo. Throughout these later years, he taught technique classes and staged ballets from the classic repertory for many companies around the world. Some of his productions were criticized as being old-fashioned, but he was highly valued as an inspirational guest teacher, able to impart traditional values to young dance students.
Bennett returned to Scotland in 2001 and settled in a small house just outside Edinburgh. He died in his sleep in 2003, at age seventy-three, in Taynuilt in Argyll, while working on a production of "Swan Lake" for Ballet West. Among his effects were draft manuscripts for two books: one a biography of Marie Rambert, with whom he felt a special affinity, and the other a monograph on Bournonville's "La Sylphide". He had for many years been interested in the background of this romantic tale of a Scottish farmer, James Ruben, who abandons his rural sweetheart to pursue an illusion of beauty in the form of a woodland spirit. Cursed by a witch for his infidelity, James unwittingly causes the death of the sylphide and is left alone, heartbroken, in the shadowy forest. In the distance, a wedding procession reminds him of reality and the happy life he might have had.


Socialtainer

Socialtainer () is the Korean language term for an entertainer or celebrity who is invested in social issues. The word is used heavily in South Korean media, especially in newspapers, and show business.
History.
The term has been defined as "celebrities who are known primarily for their work and advocacy for social justice." The word is a compound of "social" and "entertainer."
In 2011, Korean English language media called "socialtainer" a buzzword in Korea, referring to a celebrity activist, and said the word was not in an English dictionary. Also, in that year, media made a distinction between the words "socialtainer" and "politainer" (politically active celebrities). However again in 2012, "socialtainer" was still defined by some media as "referring to entertainers who express their political ideas and give their opinions on social issues."
The academic world has taken more than one look at the word, and the phenomenon, from the perspective of the celebrity and the audiences they affect. At Dongguk University they compared it to the ranking of the real-time word search referring to the internet expression "bright entertainers" on social networking service (SNS) sites such as Twitter and Facebook. They say "socialtainers" are limited by their appeal and stimulation toward the public, and secondly, in their limited knowledge and carelessness in what they say in public and online; then delved further, discussing the question, "Why the power of socialtainers can be uncomfortable?"
Controversy.
On July 13, 2011, a controversy ensued, after one of the major Korean broadcast stations, MBC, banned appearances by "socialtainers", including actress and activist Kim Yeo-jin, which expanded to a debate over whether it was appropriate for entertainers to use their celebrity to influence the public, using SNS sites, a popular communication among young people; and also, whether such media prohibitions was appropriate." A protest was held by active "socialtainers", including writer Gong Ji-young, professors from Seoul National University, Sungkonghoe University, and the team leader of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, who referenced the government's need to maintain "freedom of speech."
Celebrities in Korea are seen to be influential, but sharing their opinions on certain topics is something they monitor, due to media and "netizen" scrutiny. Some who were reported to receive a backlash involving "contentious issues" were Broadcaster Kim Mi-hwa, who was suspended from her radio program,
and entertainer Kim Je-dong and rocker Yoon Do-hyun who were banned from appearing on televised programs.
Celebrities who are called "socialtainers".
A June 2012 news report listed the results of a poll by Panelnow, which asked about 20,000 people, "Who is the socialtainer that best represents Korea?" Thirty percent of the respondents voted for male broadcaster Kim Je-dong, followed by male singer Kim Jang-hoon, actress Lee Hyori, and actress Kim Yeo-jin.


Adam Shankman

Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a judge on seasons 3–10 of the television program "So You Think You Can Dance". He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. Shankman has choreographed dozens of films and directed several feature-length films, including "A Walk to Remember", "Bringing Down the House", "The Pacifier" and the 2007 remake of "Hairspray".
His company, Offspring Entertainment (which he co-owns with his sister) produces films and television for various studios and networks.
Shankman is also currently co-writing young adult novels for Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum Books for Young Readers. The books, co-written with author Laura Lee Sullivan, follow the story of rags to riches Lucille O'Malley as she becomes Hollywood's "it girl", navigating a murder mystery and meeting her match, Frederick van der Waals.
Early life.
Shankman was born in Los Angeles to an upper-middle-class Jewish family. He is the son of Phyllis (née Perper), a licensed practitioner in Gestalt therapy, and Ned Shankman, an entertainment lawyer and manager for such acts as Barry White, the American band X, and Sister Sledge. His sister Jennifer was born when Shankman was four years old. He attended Palisades High School before attending Juilliard School.
Early career.
After graduating from Palisades, Shankman was a performing intern and junior company member of the prestigious Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. Having been accepted for both dancing and acting at Juilliard, he chose dance as his major without having any previous formal training. He dropped out of college to dance in musical theater and at nineteen he was cast in his first professional show, "West Side Story", at the esteemed Michigan Opera Theater.
Shankman moved back to Los Angeles and started dancing in music videos. He was a dancer in Janet Jackson's "Alright" video, as well as in an MC Skat Kat video with Paula Abdul. Shankman broke into professional choreography in a 1989 music video for rapper MC Shan with director Julien Temple. When the hired choreographer fell through, Shankman lied and said that he had done choreography for Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. He was hired on the spot without his story being verified. As a choreographer, he worked with acts including Tony! Toni! Toné!, The Time, Whitney Houston and Aaron Neville. In 1996 he won a Bob Fosse Award for Best Choreography in a Commercial. On television, he was a go-to choreographer on "Friends" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". He served as a choreographer and dance consultant on dozens of movies including "Addams Family Values", "Catch Me If You Can", "George of the Jungle" and "Boogie Nights".
In 1998 Shankman wrote and directed "Cosmo's Tale", a non-dialogue short film that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. Following the short, his sister, Jennifer Gibgot, asked him to read a script that she had already set up with Fine Line Features, entitled "The Wedding Planner". He liked the script and this led to a meeting with execs. He was hired for the job of director ten minutes into the meeting. The movie eventually went to Columbia Pictures and was a box office success.
Directing career.
Following "The Wedding Planner", Shankman went on to direct seven more studio films: "A Walk to Remember", "Cheaper by the Dozen 2", "Bringing Down the House", "The Pacifier", the 2007 award-winning film "Hairspray", Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' "Bedtime Stories", and the movie based on the musical of the same name, "Rock of Ages". In 2019 he directed "What Men Want", starring Taraji P. Henson for Paramount Pictures.
Shankman has been confirmed to helm Walt Disney Pictures' sequel to "Enchanted", starring Amy Adams.
Shankman has directed commercial campaigns for Macy's, Marshalls and Schick, as well as primetime television pilots and shows, including "Being Mary Jane", "Glee", AJ and the Queen, and "Modern Family". He has directed several shorts for Funny or Die, including "Prop 8, The Musical" starring Jack Black and written by composer Marc Shaiman. According to "TIME" magazine, "Prop 8, The Musical" was Marc Shaiman's attempt to pick apart the anti-gay marriage lobby's logic. Lending support to the cause were actors Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Craig Robinson, Neil Patrick Harris and Allison Janney.
In 2012, Shankman directed a dual campaign to attract young voters for Rock the Vote and Funny or Die.
In June 2017, he directed the pilot for "Step Up: High Water", a gritty teen drama series produced by Lionsgate Television and YouTube Red.
Producing career.
In addition to directing, Shankman has produced various studio films with his sister Jennifer Gibgot, through their company Offspring Entertainment. These include Touchstone Pictures' "Step Up", which helped launch the careers of Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan; "Premonition", starring Sandra Bullock; "Bedtime Stories" for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; "17 Again", starring Zac Efron; "The Last Song", starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth; and "Going the Distance", starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore. Shankman also served as producer of the "Step Up" franchise.
In 2009 Shankman produced "Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special", with Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe.
With Bill Mechanic, Shankman was one of the two producers of the 82nd Academy Awards, which took place on March 7, 2010. The telecast earned a record 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including two for Shankman, for Best Choreography and Co-Producing.
Offspring Entertainment, in addition to having several feature films on the development slate, has a deal with Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon, and is currently developing television series and events for both network and cable.
Adam Shankman serves as an executive producer on YouTube Premium and Lionsgate Television series "". He also directed the pilot episode. The third season of the series will air on Starz Encore in 2020.
Theater and stage.
In August 2014, Shankman directed and choreographed a production of "Hair" at the Hollywood Bowl. Zach Woodlee assisted Shankman in choreography and Lon Hoyt served as music director. The show presented an all-star cast including Benjamin Walker as Berger, Kristen Bell as Sheila and Hunter Parrish as Claude. Other cast members included Sarah Hyland, Jenna Ushkowitz, Mario, Kevin Chamberlin, Beverly D'Angelo and Amber Riley. As is customary with the annual Bowl musicals, the "Hair" cast had fewer than 14 days to get the semi-staged show up and running.
Shankman and his team had the task of teaching dialogue, choreography, music and lyrics for over forty numbers to a cast of thirty, in just ten days before going on to dress rehearsals. The cast and crew had only two dress rehearsals before going live to a crowd of 11,000 people. The show garnered positive reviews, including one from BroadwayWorld.com: "Overall, Shankman's production of HAIR for the Hollywood Bowl is definitely a must-see event this weekend. Steeped in dazzling visuals, fun music, high-energy choreography, and a cast of talented, staggeringly gorgeous youngsters with giddiness coming out of every pore, this musical celebration of peace, love, and happiness deserves your attention."
In 2015, Warner Bros. Theater Ventures started developing a musical version of the 2009 movie "17 Again", which was directed by Burr Steers and produced by Shankman and Gibgot. The show was workshopped in New York's theater district, with a run planned for the near future. The musical is being produced by Warner Bros. Theater Ventures, Mark Kaufman and Adam Shankman.
"So You Think You Can Dance".
Shankman was a judge and choreographer on seasons 3–10 of the Fox Broadcasting reality show "So You Think You Can Dance". He used the term "lyrical hip-hop" to describe the dance style associated with the choreography duo of Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo. The term is popularly credited to him, as reported in the May/June 2009 issue of "Dance Spirit" magazine.
Charitable work.
Shankman has donated time and funds to numerous charitable and political foundations. He actively promotes charitable causes by producing live events and galas, utilizing social media, participating in PSAs, speaking engagements and personal appearances. These charities include AIDS Project Los Angeles, Mountains AIDS Foundation, Feeding America, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Point Foundation, GO Campaign, Special Olympics and Motion Picture and Television Fund. He teaches classes and mentors students for Ghetto Film School and has appeared at events for Operation Smile.
Shankman serves on the board of The Trevor Project and co-founded the DizzyFeet Foundation with his friend Nigel Lythgoe. This was founded in 2009 to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States by providing grants to after school dance and arts programs in low income areas and rewarding scholarships to talented dancers across the country. The foundation is the biggest supporter and trailblazer for National Dance Day, hosting various events every July across the United States.
Personal life.
Shankman is openly gay.
He officiated the wedding of actors Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, a good friend of his with whom he worked while choreographing "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". He got the "Buffy" job based on Gellar's recommendation to the show's creator, Joss Whedon.
Shankman danced on the Oscars telecast in 1990, and exactly 20 years later was producer and choreographer on the 82nd Oscars. At the 1990 Oscars, Shankman danced in the number "Under the Sea", where he met his best friend (a dancer in the same number), director and choreographer Anne Fletcher.
Filmography.
Film.
Producer
Recurring cast members


California megapolitan areas

California's major urban areas normally are thought of as two large megalopolises: one in Northern California and one in Southern California, separated from each other by approximately 382 miles or 615 km (the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco), with sparsely inhabited (relatively) Central Coast, Central Valley, and Transverse Ranges in between. Other ideas conceive of a single megalopolis encompassing both North and South, or a division of Coastal California vs. Inland California. These regional concepts are usually based on geographic, cultural, political, and environmental differences, rather than transportation and infrastructure connectivity and boundaries.
Notable conceptions of California megalopolises.
Beyond Megalopolis, by Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute, defines two megapolitan areas which extend from California into Nevada: NorCal, which includes the Reno, Nevada area, and the Southland which encompasses Greater Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and San Diego and includes Metropolitan Las Vegas.
America 2050, an organization sponsored by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, lists 11 megaregions in the United States and Canada. This includes the Southern and Northern California megaregions in which Southern California includes Greater Los Angeles, San Diego–Tijuana, the Inland Empire and Las Vegas Valley.
Futurists Herman Kahn and Anthony Wiener coined the name SanSan to refer to "a Pacific megalopolis that would presumably stretch initially from San Diego to Santa Barbara, and ultimately from San Francisco to Santa Barbara" (along with other megalopolises BosWash and Chipitts) in "The Year 2000". The notion of a megalopolis stretching from San Diego to Santa Barbara corresponds to the conventional notion of a Southern California megalopolis. But the prediction that there would ultimately be a Pacific megalopolis stretching all the way from San Diego to San Francisco, joining Southern and Northern California along the coast, does not conform to subsequent growth patterns, which instead extend inland to Metropolitan Sacramento and the Inland Empire.
Northern California.
Northern California holds 21 counties that are part of metropolitan areas, including one in Nevada, and includes an additional 17 neighboring counties and four Nevada counties in the sphere of influence. Currently, all three of the metropolitan regions of Northern California (Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, and Metropolitan Fresno) are connected but are separated from Greater Los Angeles with Kings, Tulare and Kern Counties at the narrowest gap. However, one of metropolitan regions of each part of the state borders one of the two metropolitan regions of Nevada, Sacramento bordering Reno and Greater Los Angeles bordering Las Vegas.
California's economy as a whole is the largest of any state in the United States and is the fourth largest economy in the world. The Northern California megaregion is home to the Silicon Valley with major corporations such as: Cisco Systems, Apple Inc., Oracle, EBay, Yahoo!, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Hewlett Packard, the San Francisco Financial District (home to headquarters of various financial and business firms such as VISA, Wells Fargo, and Union Bank of California and is the largest financial district outside New York City), Wine Country, and much of the Central Valley which is one of the world's most productive agricultural areas, producing 8% of the nation's total crops. The centers of major national government offices, such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the U.S. Mint, as well as the California State Capitol and the California Supreme Court are all located within the region. The Bay Area also has the largest concentration of multi-millionaire households of any metropolitan area in the country and the largest concentration of billionaires of any U.S. metropolitan area, almost more than the next three metropolitan areas combined.
Southern California.
Southern California holds the 8 counties and municipalities of Greater Los Angeles, Inland Empire and San Diego-Tijuana. Kern County and two Nevada counties are within the sphere of influence of Greater Los Angeles while Imperial County and Mexicali Municipality are held within San Diego-Tijuana's sphere of influence.
The Southern California megaregion is also a very important economic center in the U.S., and indeed also in Mexico, as it includes Tijuana, Mexico. Southern California is home to the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach (the first and second busiest container ports in the U.S. respectively) and the Port of San Diego. The global center of the entertainment business, Southern California leads the world in the motion picture, television, and recorded music industry and is the home base for Hollywood, with studios such as The Walt Disney Company, ABC, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, MGM, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox headquartered here. Corporations such as Fox Sports Net, Guess, In-n-Out Burger, ARCO, Farmers, and many financial and banking companies are also based in the region. Southern California has long been the leading region in the U.S. for aviation and aerospace, and is one of the top five regions in the U.S. for the high-technology industry.
Southern California is also one of the world's largest tourist industries thanks to its famous beaches, entertainment districts such as L.A. Live and Sunset Boulevard, and theme parks including Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Universal Studios Hollywood. San Diego is an important port city, industrial, commercial, and shipbuilding center. It has a flourishing tourism industry, many research institutions, a large biomedical/biotechnology industry, and it is home to one of the largest concentrations of U.S. military bases and personnel of any large American city. Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada, the world's second largest gambling/gaming center after Macau, and one of the fastest growing large cities and metropolitan areas in the United States.
Coastal and Inland California.
The vast, relatively sparsely populated area of Central California weakens the proposal that California constitutes a single megalopolis. The northern and southern regions continue to grow toward one another, however, with much of this recent urbanization occurring not along the expensive and crowded coast itself – or even along the somewhat developed first tier of interior coastal valleys – but farther inland along a north–south axis through the midsection of the state in the Central Valley, Antelope Valley, Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley regions, all comparatively more affordable areas which are becoming increasingly suburbanized as they are within commuting distance (albeit often a long commute) of the state's major coastal cities.