The Baby Boomers were fortunate enough to be the generation blessed with music from Motown and the likes of the Beatles. Generation X has been dubbed the “MTV Generation.” What music will characterize our current culture in 10 years?

Leave it to the technology generation to start a music revolution, the likes of which arguably have not been witnessed since the birth of punk.

Though most would credit the edgy music scene of Southern California as the breeding ground for this new movement, the electronic trend has rapidly swept across the nation, and it definitely hit Dallas on its way to the east coast.

A November article from the music section of the Dallas Observer claimed that “2009 has seen a heavy, heavy influence of electronic music bubbling under its most interesting sounds-even locally. Or, maybe more appropriate, especially locally.”

During the past year and a half, the music industry has seen a new rise in the futuristic sounds of house, techno and electronic music that is quickly beginning to infiltrate today’s mainstream popular music culture.

“I’ve recently started really loving electronic music,” senior Katie Viola said. “I like it because it’s the kind of music that always pumps you up and is great to dance too. I also have always really liked hip-hop, and a lot of the artists that I usually listen to have started incorporating electro sounds into their new stuff.”

Everyone loves a good dance tune, but Viola brings up a more significant aspect of why this new sound has become popular so fast. The technology behind this music allows it to blend different genres and even create remixes of virtually any song from any genre, allowing a much broader fan base than other styles of music.

How did genres like house, techno and electro go from underground to mainstream in such a short amount of time?

“The Internet definitely plays a big role with this kind of music. A lot of the best stuff isn’t on iTunes, it’s going to be from a blog or a Web site,” Viola said.

It would make sense that this new computerized music is being propelled and promoted by the computer. The Internet has played a paramount role in spreading the word about artists, songs, festivals and more. Hundreds of blogs dedicated to up-and-coming artists of the electronic persuasion are taking over the blogosphere. And Web sites like Hypem.com not only offer the newest and most raw sounds in this genre of music to the public, but also have remixes of songs by artists varying all the way from T.I and Lil Wayne to Oasis and The Clash.

Those who are jumping on this musical bandwagon may be trading in their old rocker tees for spandex and neon. This new music revolution is blowing concerts out of the water with its rave scene. Complete with stigmas and all, the underground culture that couples this kind of music is easily becoming a very popular, not to mention exhilarating thing to do.

The growing popularity of electronic music doesn’t have everyone as excited as the masses. Some people don’t understand the sudden fad being associated with the genre, while others have been dedicated followers of certain artists for a long time and are now disappointed that they have gone mainstream and are becoming more commercial now that they have recently gained more popularity.

“My older brother has been listening to electronic music for a long time,” Marissa Belske said. “He’s mad that all of a sudden all these people are into it now just because it’s starting to become really popular.”

Rolling Stone Magazine described this genre of music as “tracks serving mainly as tools for DJs to manipulate the dance floors of clubs, raves and parties. The music is a mysterious flow, with artist identity and song-title trappings all but forgotten.”

Some love it for its mind-numbing, bass-heavy, melodic beats. Some love it for its philosophy. Some don’t love it at all. Whatever the reason, our technology-reliant generation has oddly enough succeeded at turning computers into musical instruments. All across the nation, people are choosing the sounds of turntables over guitars, and are sporting neon in place of the generic rocker tee.

It’s the era of rave, and it looks like it’s here to stay.