How Hilary Duff’s Husband, Matthew Koma, Soundtracked EDM’s Biggest Era

Photo by Matthew Koma

If you’ve ever screamed along to an EDM chorus at a festival, replayed a pop-leaning electronic track because the vocals hit a little too hard, or wondered who keeps singing on all these massive drops, there’s a solid chance the answer is Matthew Koma. Yes, Hilary Duff’s husband. But zoom out for a second, because that headline barely scratches the surface.

Before celebrity couple discourse entered the picture, Koma was already one of the most influential and anonymous voices of the 2010s electronic boom. Not a DJ. Not a producer chasing the spotlight. A songwriter and vocalist whose voice became the emotional backbone of a whole era of EDM.

You know the records. Zedd’s “Spectrum,” "Clarity," and “Find You," Hardwell’s “Dare You,” Tiësto's "Wasted," Afrojack's "Keep Our Love Alive, "Alesso's "Years," Steve Aoki's "Hysteria," Flux Pavillion's "Emotional," Midnight Kid's "Serious" and a long list of festival staples where the chorus mattered just as much as the drop. Koma’s voice wasn’t just featured; it carried the feeling. The human weight. The part that made those songs stick long after the lasers shut off.

What often gets overlooked in the Matthew Koma conversation is just how deep his songwriting and production résumé extends beyond EDM. While his voice became synonymous with festival-era electronic music, his pen has quietly shaped records across pop, country, and alternative for years.

Koma has written and produced for Shania Twain on tracks like “Life’s About to Get Good,” “Home Now,” “Roll Me on the River,” and “Who’s Gonna Be Your Girl,” helping bridge her modern comeback with contemporary pop sensibilities.

He co-wrote Britney Spears’ “Swimming in the Stars,” a fan-favorite that resurfaced her voice in a more reflective, atmospheric space. His work with Kelly Clarkson (“Someone”), 5 Seconds of Summer (“Babylon”), and Carly Rae Jepsen (“This Kiss,” “More Than a Memory") further proves his ability to adapt without losing emotional clarity.

He’s also collaborated with Keith Urban (“Change Your Mind”), Demi Lovato and Noah Cyrus (“Easy”), and P!nk (“Turbulence”), artists who demand strong songwriting over trend-chasing production. Even Bruce Springsteen’s “Rocky Ground (Modern Remix)” carries Koma’s touch, underscoring just how trusted he is when it comes to modernizing legacy voices without stripping their identity.

While DJs became global brands, Koma stayed deliberately low-key, stacking credits and letting the work speak. That’s why so many of those tracks still hold up. They weren’t just built for the moment; they had emotional architecture. But EDM isn’t the only lane he occupies.

Photo by Paige Sara / Winnetka Bowling League

Taken together, these credits tell the real story: Matthew Koma isn’t genre-bound, era-bound, or scene-bound. Whether he’s fronting EDM anthems, leading Winnetka Bowling League, or shaping records behind the scenes, his role has always been the same: translating emotion into songs that actually last.

This is also where the recent chapter with Hilary Duff makes more sense and feels less like a celebrity footnote. Koma has now begun collaborating with Duff on her new music, not as a gimmick, but as someone who understands emotional songwriting, pop structure, and when not to overdo it. Duff isn’t chasing her early-2000s sound, and Koma isn’t trying to recreate EDM’s peak years. What they’re working toward appears more grown, more grounded, and far more intentional.

Both of them know what overexposure looks like. Both have stepped back from the industry machine at different points. And that shared perspective shows up in the way the music is reportedly being approached, less noise, more substance.

Koma has also been increasingly open about mental health, burnout, and the realities of the music industry, themes that quietly shaped his earlier work and now sit front and center in his newer projects. That context matters. Especially in a moment where pop music feels either algorithm-choked or emotionally hollow.

So yeah, it’s kind of wild to realize that someone you might’ve mentally filed away as “Hilary Duff’s husband” has actually been the emotional voice behind EDM’s biggest era and the frontman of a thoughtful indie band. But it tracks. The people doing the most meaningful work usually aren’t the loudest ones in the room.

Matthew Koma didn’t need center stage to shape a generation of electronic music. And now, whether it’s through Winnetka Bowling League or carefully chosen collaborations, he’s finally being seen for what he’s always been: a songwriter first, a vocalist second, and a quiet architect of songs you never forgot.