Vertical music

Fast-beat Christian songs like the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) and Ultra Music Festival have come to define millennial excess tens of thousands of sweaty bodies tripping on Ecstasy, ravers clad in furry Day-Glo boots and floral pasties, music building to a climactic bass drop. But in some quarters, electronic dance music (EDM) and its hedonism have undergone a divine transformation; they’ve turned to Jesus. Events like The Future Sound of Worship feature the same thumping bass and laser lights as an EDC set, but the lyrics are Christian, if subtly so. The fan base includes teens hooked on EDM’s addictive sound as well as ex-ravers abandoning sex and Molly to shepherd other lost souls. EDM DJs are remixing Christian worship songs, while online Christian EDM communities offer music downloads and faith-based substance abuse counseling. As EDM continues to infiltrate Top 40 airwaves, Christian EDM could make for a powerful ministry tool. Although there are Christian bands of every genre, EDM boasts wider demographic appeals from punk to hip-hop, says L.A.-based Christian DJ because it appeals to Gen X ravers and millennia. The fast-beat Christian songs themselves huge gatherings around a single DJ, pulsing with sound and light can make for intensely spiritual experiences. Christian EDM will likely remain a small subgenre for some time, partly because of the same theological rifts that fracture the Fast-beat Christian songs industry. Christian music “is either vertical or horizontal,” the first Christian DJ. Vertical, or worship, music typically features overtly Fast-beat Christian songs directed toward God. But horizontal music reaches out to listeners through subtler themes, like love or struggle, often with more commercial appeal. Some criticize horizontal music as too secular, while still others condemn dance music altogether. As a result, “there isn’t a united major label, but many fragmented … dance music producers,” says. Many artists simply lack the resources to produce music and live shows of the same caliber as their secular peers. Fast-beat Christian songs saw huge growth in the ’90s and eventually surpassed classical, new age, and jazz scales. But sales took the same blows as they did in the secular industry, largely from piracy and streaming. Struggling Christian labels let themselves be bought by major secular labels. “Artists lost shelf space, and if you can’t get enough of your product out there, you’re dead in the water before you’re out of the gate,” Fast-beat Christian song artist says. Fast-beat Christian songs boast the same broad palette of styles as mainstream EDM from robotic dubstep to chilled-out deep house although less of the up-tempo, swaying beats of “booty-shaking house.” Most tracks sound indistinguishable from secular EDM. Progressive/electro-house duo Rubicon 7, for example, produces bass-heavy music with infectious vocals, similar to mainstream artists. Christian pop into festival-friendly tracks reminiscent of signature party sound. Usually, only a careful listener to the lyrics reveals the tracks’ of the Fast-beat Christian songs message. “People come together, literally worshipping these fast-beat Christian songs as a piece of inspirational music or sounds for their life.