2001- The first version of Ableton launched. Ableton is a digital audio workstation, first created by Bernt Roggendorf and Gerhard Behles in Germany. Originally, it was developed to be a simple loop arrangement tool, and later on added full DAW capabilities, MIDI sequencing and VST hosting. When it launched, it was praised for its’ two workflow modes, Session View and Arrange View. The two differ by Session being more of an overview, showing implemented work as sections. Arrange was a more close-up look, and allowed you to position samples, loops and other work to create the sections shown in Session. However, it saw backlash until version 4, due to its’ lack of MIDI sequencing, which came with version 4. Ever since then, it has replaced FL Studio, another DAW that launched 4 years earlier, as the industry standard for DAWs’ and production software as a whole, and now is the most commonly used DAW, in front of Apple’s Logic Pro X, and FL Studio.

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2005- Saw the release of “Waters of Nazareth”, by Justice, an electronic group from France. It was a bass track that was compared to dubstep, although it played more with electro sounds and distortion, sounds that were later incorporated into dubstep. While they weren’t the first to play with modulating sounds that a synthesizer created, they were the first to popularize it.

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2006- Saw the formulation of The Glitch Mob, an LA-based IDM group. TGM originally had 4 members, edIT, Boreta, Ooah, and Kraddy. They first were popularized in late 2007, after playing in clubs all over California, popularizing IDM along the way. Unfortunately, in 2009, Kraddy left the group over creative differences, but that didn’t stop them from releasing their first album, “Drink The Sea” one year later. Since then, they created an all new stage design and custom instrument called the “Blade”, a touchscreen monitor that in use,  is very closely related to a MIDI controller, just on a much larger scale. Along with that, they have released 2 more albums, “Love, Death, Immortality” in 2014, and “See Without Eyes” earlier this year (2018).

2010- Sonny Moore, otherwise known as Skrillex, released his first song, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”. Moore was previously the lead vocalist of the rock band “From First To Last”, but left 3 years prior to him coming onto the electronic scene as Skrillex. His music popularized dubstep in the US, a sub-genre that was already popular in Europe and the UK since 2000. Since the release of “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”, Skrillex founded his own label, OWSLA in September 2011, and has signed several artists over many different genres (house, trap, future bass, dubstep, etc) in the last 7 years since it’s forming. He’s also released one album, “Recess” in 2014, and a collaboration album with fellow artist Diplo the following year. Since that, he has taken a semi-break from music, and hasn’t released anything since late 2017.

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2011- Swedish House Mafia, a progressive house and trance group, became the first electronic group to sell out Madison Square Garden.

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2012- Australian musician and producer Harley Streten, otherwise known as Flume, released his self-titled debut album on November 9th, 2012. This album was the first to create and popularize the future bass genre, which is based around supersaws and vocal chops. It was a chartopper in Streten’s home country, and it went double platinum. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a commercial success in the US due to it’s lack of promotion, and that Streten wasn’t recognized outside of Australia. 3 years after his first album's release, he released “Never Be Like You (feat. Kai)”  in January 2016. He also then announced the name and artwork to his second studio album, “Skin” following Never Be Like You’s release. “Skin” was released on May 27th, 2016, to massive success both in the US and internationally. Skin saw more success in 2017, by winning 3 ARIA awards (essentially the Australian Grammy’s) and taking home “Best Electronic Album” at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

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2014- At the Grammy’s that year, Kraftwerk received a lifetime achievement award for their work in music, and pioneering the basis to electronic music in the 70s’.

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2016- Porter Robinson, a DJ/producer from the US, and French DJ/producer Madeon joined forces for the Shelter Live Tour, sharing a title with their collaborative song, released August 11th, 2016. The Shelter Live Tour combined both artist’s individual live sets, playing mashups and edits of each artists’ biggest hits, but first opening with one edit of Shelter, and later closing with another edited version of Shelter. The tour’s first show was in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 29th, 2016, and later concluded on the second weekend of Coachella, a festival held in Indio, California, on April 23rd, 2017. The tour saw 43 dates in between that timeframe, with the majority of shows (36) being held in the US, then 3 each in Europe and Australia, and 1 date in Japan.

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2018- On Friday, April 20th, 2018, Tim Bergling, otherwise known as Avicii, was found dead in Muscat, Oman. Bergling was an influential piece to electronic music of this day and age, and the response to his death was nothing short of amazing. Several artists spoke out about his death, along with making and releasing tribute tracks. One of the biggest examples of this response was at Kygo's (another electronic artist) Coachella set the same day, where he played several of Bergling's tracks, and had a moment of silence for his death. 11 days after his death, Tuesday, May 1st, 2018, an official cause of death was released, with all signs pointing to a suicide. He was 28.