3 music genres that had an extremely short prime

Hello everyone, welcome back to the blog! Today I wanna talk about 3 music genres that an extremely short prime. Just for fun!

Anyone who knows music a bit knows: music comes in an uncountable number of styles and genres. Some evolved decades ago and still have a (strong) presence today! Take Reggae, Techno or Metal for example.

In today’s world though, the market is different in things in general come and go faster than ever. Once modern technology and the internet made it possible for almost anyone to make their own music and upload it to the world wide web, the music world was facing a new era. An era of rapid development and in some cases sheer overflow. Every day we welcome new music to the internet that never forgets.

This development has a number of benefits, one of which is that we can watch music genres evolve on the daily. Styles rise up faster than you can blink and some just disappear almost as fast too. I wanna take a look at three of those today so get ready for the first of 3 music genres that had an extremely short prime!

3 music genres that had an extremely short prime

Melbourne Bounce

Those of you who watched the EDM scene roughly between 2013 and 2016 will know. Big Room House and Electro House were on it’s high, songs by names like Martin Garrix, Hardwell and David Guetta were everywhere. But not long into this peak of a genre and there was another style that popped up very quickly and it was named ‘Melbourne Bounce’. Invented in the surrounding area of Melbourne, Australia, it quickly took the EDM world by storm.

The characteristics

It was often a bit faster than the rest of your typical 128 BPM electronic dance music with punchy kicks and a less ‘epic’ approach. It often featured some sort of party themed vocals (often original).

But the most significant difference probably was the bassline. As the name of the subgenre implies, it was BOUNCY. And it really was. A typical Melbourne Bounce bass was offbeat with a signature sound I won’t try to describe. Instead I’m just gonna link you one example right here. Notice how it all sounds very funky and loose:

Notable names

I think most people would say that Will Sparks is the pioneer of Melbourne Bounce. Other popular names include TJR, Bombs Away, Uberjak’d and Bounce Inc.

Will Sparks especially made the genre popular with remixes of a number of hits back then such as ‘Maps’ by Maroon 5.

So what is Melbourne Bounce up to today?

Not much I’d say. It still exists though! I think there are two main reasons for why it’s pretty much dead by now. One is that there were many very simple remixes of pop classics that were played over and over at all kinds of events worldwide. At some point people were tired of these kind of tracks.

Another reason is Psybounce. What is Psybounce? Psybounce is exactly what it sounds like. A mixture of Melbourne Bounce and Psytrance. It combines all the aspects people still love about those genres. Hard and bouncy Melbourne Bass sounds and the faster tempo of Psytrance.

Electro Swing

Electro Swing is the second of the 3 music genres that had an extremely short prime we’re looking at today. As far as I’m concerned it was especially popular amongst non-musicians between 2010 and 2014. It combines oldschool Electro with all kinds of Swing music. You could say it takes Swing and modernises it. To better understand what I mean by this, just check out this mix:

I think what made it popular was the clever move of combining the vintage, retro swing feel with some more danceable and modern 4 to the floor beat.

It’s not a young genre though!

Electro Swing itself is not a young genre or one that has died completely. It has been around for years before it’s prime and there are still mixes being uploaded to YouTube today. But you can certainly say that the prime of Electro Swing is over and it wasn’t long compared to other genres popular in that time.

Kinda crazy to talk about the years around 2015 as past times… but it is what it is.

Future House

Another EDM genre! The third of 3 music genres that had an extremely short prime is Future House. The name Future House might not ring a bell for everyone but I know a name that is: Oliver Heldens. To be precise his song ‘Gecko’ and its ‘Overdrive’ edit. Definitely one of the most successful and legendary EDM songs. It wasn’t the first Future House song but it set the tone for a huge wave of underground artists to shine with their take on Future House. Artists like Pep & Rash. Tchami or Curbi quickly rose to fame.

Another all time classic is ‘After Life’ by Tchami. It’s one of those tracks that is still liked by many people today.

So what is Future House?

On Wikipedia it says it’s a mixture of UK Garage and Deep House but to be honest I’m not sure if that’s the best way to describe it. I’m pretty sure it developed from Deep House and Big Room House in order to find a good mixture between the two. Big Room was focusing on heavy drops many people didn’t find danceable. Deep House on the other hand had the groove but wasn’t as hype. In my opinion Future House did a good job combining the two styles to make something that appealed to a wider audience.

The tempo was typically 125 to 130 bpm and the lead synth in the drop was the main act in the song. It’s hard to describe the sound but just like with Melbourne Bounce it had that signature Future House sound. Paired with groovy house drums and funky melodies it made for a couple of great hits.

Where is Future House today?

I was into Future House like crazy back in 2015. I remember browsing through certain YouTube channels to find more tracks to listen and I came along many gems in that time. Today though I don’t think there is a lot happening around Future House. It had it’s prime from 2014 (kickstarted by Gecko) to around 2017 and then quickly died off.

Other than Melbourne Bounce though which kinda just disappeared I feel like Future House managed to blend in with pop music trends and slowly dissolved leaving a silent legacy together with Deep House.

There are certainly more than 3 music genres that had an extremely short prime!

To round this little blog episode off let me say that these three genres aren’t the only ones that had a very short prime. It’s just 3 examples I wanted to put a spotlight on. I could think of countless other styles that faced the same fate and I’m sure you could too. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this short trip into recent past times.

Which other music genres do you know that had an extremely short prime? Leave them in the comments or hit me up on my socials! Also feel free to check out other blog posts on here, there are plenty! Until next time.