Negotiating Sonic Spaces

Over the past two decades, electronic dance music (EDM) has gained immense popularity among India’s urban middle-class youth, driven by the rise of commercial EDM festivals and local artists. This study examines how Indian urban youth engage with EDM culture (EDMC), focusing on participation, performance and consumption, as well as the meanings attached to EDM within this demographic. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews (2020–2023), the research highlights the shift of Indian dance music scene from its global underground origins to a commercialised mainstream culture. Annual, commercial multi-day festivals, featuring diverse genres, are central to EDMC in India, fostering a translocal ethos. These events, distinct from global rave culture, cater to middle-class, cosmopolitan youth navigating tensions between traditional values and global aspirations. This article elucidates the bicultural identities emerging from these negotiations, showing how contested understandings of dance music shape cultural practices and collective identities within India’s urban youth.