What are the defining characteristics of dubstep as an electronic music genre?

Question

I know many dubstep styles don't use the "wobble" effect at all, and that the "wobble" effect is used by many other genres, so it's not a defining characteristic, even if it's sometimes considered a genre's cliche.

Wikipedia includes some characteristics:

tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals

But that applies to a huge chunk of the electronic music universe. The rhythm section further specifies:

Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating tuplets. The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142 beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar

But that also applies to a huge portion of electronic music. It applies to them all if you consider the pitch control of a dj context. It's not rare to see house, techno, and trance productions with those characteristics, that would be hardly considered dubstep.

If that's not it, then what is defining dubstep as a musical genre? Which are the patterns that define a dubstep song? Is it possible to define dubstep in more precise, less generalized, terms? What makes a dubstep song a dubstep song, that isn't shared by pretty much every other electronic music genre?

Answer 1

with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar [...]

But that also applies to a huge portion of electronic music

This doesn't apply to a huge portion of electronic music. Most styles have the clap/snare every other beat, not every third. And that's, to me, one of the defining characteristics of dubstep, that is the half-time rhythm that, mixed with the other characteristics you mentioned (wobble (sometimes), bass-heavy productions...) make dubstep dubstep.