09
Sep 2012
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EDM – the worst thing that has ever happened to electronic dance music?


“Who’d have thought three little letters could make dance music look so wanky?”, fellow blogger Clive from UK-based music blog Electronic Rumors asked on Twitter a few months ago. “What’s happened to dance music?”, Haezer asks his fans on Facebook. London music blog Too Many Sebastians recently declared the beginning of EDMageddon on Twitter.

In the meantime, Tiesto is still touring US universities for his Club Life College Invasion tour, Steve Aoki is still surfing underage crowds on an inflatable raft and David Guetta is still selling out every single show he plays. Skrillex and Avicii can still be heard blasting out of every kid’s iPod, the top ten tracks for electro house on Beatport still have cheesy trance vocals and synths in the breaks and Rihanna or Pitbull’s songs still sound like big-room club anthems. Madonna still keeps appearing at Avicii’s shows. Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia still thinks SHM are the new Beatles. And above all, Paris Hilton still thinks she’s a DJ now. What has electronic dance music become? Or is EDM just electronic dance music for douchebags?

After an entire summer spent traveling from one EDM festival to another, I obviously could go on for hours here, but let’s just forget about all that for a second and step back to take a closer look at this thing called EDM. A few years ago, EDM had been a collective term for all kinds of electronic dance music (rather than a genre on its own), ranging from techno over house to drum&bass, and all other kinds of music created on computers and synthesizers with the purpose of making people dance. Except for some new genres (like dubstep or moombahton) that have recently joined the family, EDM is still the catch-all term for electronic dance music. So what exactly has changed, and why are so many people (including me) so upset about it?

“EDM has become an entire generation’s pop music.”

If you ask someone what kind of music they enjoy and the answer is rock, you can go on asking which kinds of rock music, and you would probably get stoner rock, indie rock, hard rock or any other kind of music with guitars as an answer. If you ask today’s average EDM fan the same question, they will most probably have a hard time naming you three sub-genres of EDM they’re into. If you don’t believe me, go check the line-ups of dance events a few years ago: never before have artists such as Tiesto, John Dahlbäck, Richie Hawtin and Steve Aoki constantly shared stages, because each of them represented a different style (trance, house, techno, electro, etc.) back then, with completely different crowds. Today, it’s all just EDM. For a large number of (young) listeners (mainly in the US), EDM has become a new genre, it seems. A genre characterized by simple melodies that immediately get stuck in your head and catchy vocals that you can sing along to after the first listen (wait, isn’t that pretty much a definition of pop music?). Add a big drop with lots of bass, gritty synths and white noise to that, and you’ve got a pocket definition of 2012′s idea of EDM. I recently asked on Twitter “What has dance music become?”, and one answer I got was from Andrew of Harder Blogger Faster: “One word: predictable.” I couldn’t agree more with this, remembering Skrillex joking about one of his fans commenting “Nice song, but where’s the drop” after the prince of dubstep posted a video of Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker on Facebook.

How could it have come to this, though? For years now, electronic dance music has been growing bigger and bigger, finally making the jump from music made for clubs to receiving attention on mainstream radio – outside of clubs. This process was sort of kickstarted between 2006 and 2008 when some emerging artists managed to build a big hype and make electronic music “socially acceptable” for people who have never been into dance music before: somewhere between alternative rock (which was huge back then) and dance music, indie dance was born. Think of: Justice’s remix for Simian’s We Are Your Friends, the early days of The Hype Machine, blog house, Kitsuné, the Ed Banger generation, Crookers, MGMT’s Kids (Soulwax Remix). In fact though, this process has been going on for much longer, though: electronic music has always been drawing influences from other genres – think Bloody Beetroots collaborating with hardcore punk bands such as Refused. After this big hype back in 2006 – 2008 though, it started actually influencing other genres itself. For years now, electronic dance music has been influencing mainstream pop music – I don’t think I need to give examples for that.

Today however, the situation has changed. Electronic dance music is no longer influencing mainstream pop music. EDM has become mainstream pop music.

Underground music has been influencing mainstream music for as long as music exists, probably. When underground music actually becomes mainstream music, though, some problems arise: long-time members of the original scene will feel irritated with lots of new people suddenly claiming to be part of the movement when they obviously have no idea what this scene is really about. What better example than old-school house legend Mark Farina being removed from the decks in Vegas after the club received complaints from its bottle-service VIP crowd for “too much house music”? Or deadmau5 ranting about Madonna, and his “we all hit play” statement, and Boys Noize tweeting “if you see a dj that uses a mic and screams ‘put your hands up’ throw a banana at him”. Furthermore, artists who used to define and shape the scene for long years will start to “sell out” because of the big money that suddenly can be made when a genre blows up. These problems and others are of course typical side effects of a genre’s commercialization, and no EDM-specific phenomenon.

EDM in the USA – a booming industry.

With the hype exploding and still growing, EDM has evolved from an underground movement to a big target market for all kinds of enterprises, attracting the attention of big companies who started pouring lots of money into the scene, hosting bigger, louder, crazier festivals all over the world (think Holy Ship, Ultra, EDC, Tomorrowland etc.). “It’s just a marketing term to sell various genres of dance music to the US.”, Clive of Electronic Rumors once tweeted, and he’s totally right about that. With the massive marketing firepower of the entire event industry as a strong tailwind, EDM is getting bigger and bigger. In fact, the bigger it gets, the bigger it gets – a vicious circle.

Obviously what I’m talking about here is largely a US-based phenomenon. Of course it’s swapping over to Europe, but the real big hype hasn’t actually arrived yet (and I’m not sure if it ever will): even at European mainstream EDM festival like Tomorrowland you will meet more North and South Americans than Europeans combined. This is due to a strong, independent scene and a long tradition of electronic dance music in Europe: French house in, well, France, drum & bass and dubstep in the UK, techno and deep house in Berlin – just to name a few examples. There are lots of big artists in Europe who firmly stand against the EDM hype, who have always chosen quality electronic dance music over cheap music for the masses. I’m not going to do some namedropping here – if you’ve been following this blog for some time chances are that you already know who the good guys are. After being asked in an interview why Europe seems to be constantly ahead of the US when it comes to electronic dance music, techno legend Richie Hawtin explains that the club scene in Europe has not only a much longer tradition than it has in the States, but also complains about the mentality of the US scene: “I think music in America, and this emanates across the world, everybody wants to be a superstar. Everybody wants to actually cut themselves off from people. Everybody wants to be on a pedestal. [...] It’s a little bit disappointing how that’s happened in America. It’s really like the whole rock star, hip-hop mentality. You know, these unreachable people.”

Having said that, EDM’s poster boys are of course in no way inferior when it comes to producing and DJing (except for some of the obvious douchebags), in fact I have all the respect in the world for artists like David Guetta: every single piece of music this man touches immediately turns into solid earworm gold. Also, he’s French, so obviously I’m not just hating on the US music scene here, just to be clear about that too. The US music scene is clearly breaking new grounds with EDM at the moment, so obviously there are lots of people who are new to electronic dance music – and of course they can’t be expected to immediately know and appreciate the more elaborate and sophisticated facets of electronic music, as Hawtin explains: “If you just got into Calvin Harris or you just got into Afrojack, great. You’ve stepped through the door, but there’s so much more to learn.”

This is the end?

However, at some point in the near future the EDM hype will probably collapse, as new (or old) genres will eventually start replacing it again. I remember asking Olle of Dada Life in an interview I did with them back in 2009 if he thought that electronic dance music would ever become as popular as indie rock, and he answered: “It already is, in some ways. On a regular weekend more people are partying to house and electro than rock. They just don’t know what they’re hearing at the club. I don’t think that will change, but that’s fine!” Obviously it did change, so why shouldn’t it change again? Hopefully for the better, this time.

In my opinion, while quickly gaining lots of fans, electronic dance music has become less credible in the course of this big EDM hype. The (bigger part of the) underground clubbing scene (where it has been all about the music) has turned into a commercial hype focusing on festivals, fireworks and rockstar personality cult rather than on the music itself. It has become harder to spot the most interesting artists, and it has become harder for talented artists to reach an audience if their music is not big-room compatible. While introducing massive crowds to electronic music, this thing called EDM has been a major setback for electronic dance music, as it has changed the public’s perception of dance music to something that dance music never wanted to represent.

Having said that, the scene has always been sort of re-inventing itself – and the bigger EDM becomes, the more up and coming artists start rejecting the hunt for the hardest drop, slowly developing a fresh underground scene, where it’s all about the music again – for example the future techno movement. Facing the rapid commercialization of mainstream dance music, these small underground scenes are rapidly gaining fans who are fed up with the EDM hype. So let’s all just sit back and wait for this whole thing to repeat itself again in a few years. Eurodance, EDM – I wonder what they will call it the next time.

Comments appreciated.

Photo credits: Drew Ressler, rukes.com.

← Older Comments
  • Lyserg

    A really interesting article indeed and I couldn’t agree more… Though I am mainly in the psytrance scene, I can only speak on behalf of it. Psytrance too, has become influenced by this new “EDM-music” och pop-music. More and more vocals and also fricking dubstep (?) drops combined with progressive psytrance… it just kills me inside when I hear it. There are both negative and positive effects of EDM becoming commercial

    Positive
    People get more and more open to new kinds of electronic music

    Bigger parties

    Government doesn’t hate the 4×4 beat since even radio blasts it!

    Negative
    Harder to find smaller underground parties

    Smaller acts are harder to make a name for themselves since bigger and more commercial artists have more money to promote their music.

    The underground scene also loses it’s charm when it comes out to the mainstream crowd.

    • dj rawcut

      amen Lyserg!

  • Pingback: EDM – The Worst Thing That Has Ever Happened To Electronic Dance Music? | JoJo Electro

  • o.o

    Every time I see the name “skrillex” and “dubstep” together I feel extremely agitated. I don’t hate skrillex, but his interpretation of dubstep is not something I agree with. Dubstep artists like Burial, Skream, Benga, and Caspa sound nothing like Skrillex’s transformer speaking music. I honestly feel that people give him more credit than he is deserving of. Now that he has made his mark on dubstep, the genre has been altered. Sigh. I just wanted to say that… it bothers me. (American)

  • Mario

    wow EDM culture is turning to garbage, i heard Shadow was kicked off the decks at Mansion for not being house enough, and the jersey producer wants to make a dj reality tv show…pretty much sums up whats going on at the moment. Give it two years max before the whole scene will need a reboot, sad for the hardworking producers who believed in it however.

  • j.mora

    sounds to me like your just old now… like an old man who’s generation is used to wearing pants at there waist complaining about young kids sagging there pants…. like it or not, everything changes with time. and just like that old man complaining. nothing you say can change it. accept it or be forgotten. Instead of worrying about the specific sub genre worry about how the track makes you feel…. smh…. poor old man cant keep up w the times…

  • Concerned Citizen

    I feel like electronic music is defined by its ability to give the listener a personal introspective experience as well as make them feel part of a whole ie. rave, at the same time. Sadly, with the advent of dubstep and hippy-wacko drug music that seem to be dominating the scene today, what makes electronic music so good has been lost. I hope a good underground scene starts to emerge because I’m sad, I miss hearing a good new song every week. This new bullshit music is fucking garbage, PLEASE STOP PRODUCING IT! GIVE US BACK OUR GOOD MUSIC, PLEASE!!!

  • Carlos

    You know, in a way, I blame side-chaining for the push from record companies of “EDM”. Side-chaining not only makes a big part of the mixing process quicker, it also helps to crank out a few more decibels too. Trouble is, the music starts to sound very samey.

    I think I’m right in saying that the pioneers of not only side-chaining but filtering too (Daft Punk), are turning their backs on the typical EDM style and are going back to the roots of dance music by collaborating with big names from disco. It’s a bold move but, I have to admire them… especially when even they, are moaning about the EDM scene.

    Will their new stuff change dance music? I’m not so sure…. Daft Punk spent a lot of time in making the new album, which is something record companies don’t find attractive.

    At the end of the day, it will ultimately be down to the people to decide where dance music goes. IMO it is in a bad place at the moment though. I think it sounds even more whack than what disco did at it’s height of popularity. Of course back then disco was associated with the gay scene.

    Nowadays of course being gay isn’t anywhere near as frowned upon…. and I can’t see people wearing EDM sucks tee-shirts any time soon.

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  • MC Owen Dees

    This was an eye opening, intriguing read. I try to find the artists that stick out but too many of the more financially backed artists always end up taking the spot light. Just the fact that a category of the Grammy Awards is made for EDM music shows its only going to be perverted by the main record companies, until it becomes a sea of overly repeated noise. What are some good artists to get into, or good venues in the tri-state and Philly area?

    • http://www.facebook.com/djalexjarvis Alex Jarvis

      The only eye opening thing about this article is that it illustrated that there are way too many writers who would rather slam something cool to get attention than write a real critical article that exhibits literary talent.

      • Benito Aramando

        Something cool?! Ha! Personally I loved this article, because it perfectly captures a growing feeling that I have had for some time. If that isn’t the essence of good writing, I don’t know what is. I don’t read music articles for their literary merit, myself.

        The problem here is that you are failing to appreciate why some people, like the author of this piece, have a problem with “EDM”, and thus assume that their antipathy is motivated by attention-seeking. Well, I’ve hated the EDM scene since shortly after I learned about it, and the only people I’ve talked to about it are my friends, so you can’t accuse my hatred of being motivated by anything other than taste (or distaste, more appropriately).

        Trust me, there is nothing cool about “EDM”. The music that is actually good that is now, sadly, encompassed under this awful umbrella term, was a lot better off on its own, if you ask me. America has been doing amazing electronic dance music for years; it pains me that these types of artists are now being lumped in with a huge bag of douchery.

  • http://www.facebook.com/seb.samui Seb Samui

    Like Simon just mentioned. Germany had a similar phenomenon during the 90s. Everybody was listening to “techno” and the German charts where full with it. Marusha’s “Somewhere over the rainbow” or Perplexers “Acid Folk” replaced Madonna or Michael Jackson songs from the top of the charts. We have seen the exact same situation that the US have now 20 years ago in Germany. And back in the days we thought it will be a hype and then die. But what happened? It never died, it just changed. Now Germany has probably the most healthy “underground” club scene worldwide. Most people that where hyped up during the 90s kept following the next trends that showed up. But a large number of people really started loving this music and developed. It started from there that young people where searching for more…. more quality, more diversity and more talent. I hope the same for the US. Let there be hope. Let’s hope that out of these millions listening to garbage today, will become thousands looking for more and finding quality on their way.

    • Toby

      Really love this comment. I have been hoping the same thing myself. Even tho house music originated in the US, to me it feels like most youngsters in the US are just discovering Dance music. The EDM cheese is entry level music, just like Trance was for me when i was discovering dance music, it took me a few years of listening to Trance until i wanted something more complex and deeper, I doubt i would have liked the stuff i like now if i had of heard it 12 years ago when i first discovered dance music. Now I am hoping the same will happen for a lot of these people. The current scene feels like a feast or famine for the DJS involved, play cheese and become a superstar millionaire or play underground and barely get by(with some exeptions) I think its a real shame that there are so many extremely talented underground house producers that are struggling to make a living out of this.

  • freaker

    i am so glad i read this article it sums up everything i feel now a days about EDM. i was in to the rave scene at 14 (but i looked 20 to everybody for some reason probably the facial features and skin tone in dim lighting) at that time raves and the music were great (to me at least) the people were honest and the sound was pure. there was no pretension or aggression, no ego and no arrogance, it wasnt the cool thing to do because it was the fun thing to do. now its the opposite of all that. its become just another party scene for people who just want to get drunk, high, laid and fulfill some childish need for acknowledgment. back in those days i felt isolated because my generation (14) didnt understand what this was and didnt care, not until it became the popular thing to do. at first when the scene went mainstream i thought cool now i can share and converse with my peers and show my friends wht it is i do when im not around (im the mysterious shady guy in the group) but i was dead wrong, they didnt get it, they didnt understand it was just another fad that meant more parties one that every wanna be poser jumped on to get the attention. it all just escalated to fast and now the rave scene and the music i loved is dead nothing more than a memory perverted by commercialism and abused by egocentric youth…and yet im called the poser and hypocrite and continually judge for my age (being young means lack of experience apparently, but i get it) but i cant be all upset about that, i see it now as me being privileged one of the lucky few of this generation to have experienced such a beautiful thing, before it turned in to something gaudy…i am now 20 (but i look 30 lol) i just wish there was somewhere with someone who can appreciate this sentiment, to share and rejoice , rave with me the way i remember…sigh (god was i ranting lol)

    • Devonte Davis

      Basically, you felt like a hipster back then and now that its gone mainstream you’re too cool and too 90′s for it so now you hate it.

      • freaker

        no, i dont feel cool. it was never about ego, it was about the feeling…i just really miss that feeling :( i would give anything to feel like that again.

        ps; i really hate hipsters lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/beroshima Frank Mueller-Sato

    i prefer EBM.. electronic music is not underground anymore. what you expect?

  • http://www.facebook.com/jon.oleary.5 Jon Oleary

    dude why are people like you attacking edm? Negative stuff like this is not needed. What about when rock music took off yes it went main stream a bit but so what??? Why cant you say EDM has become the new rock music?? Because the crowds are rocking and having a great time…

    • http://www.facebook.com/djalexjarvis Alex Jarvis

      Some writers write because they care…others write because they crave attention. Writers who care don’t usually focus on the negative things…that about explains it for you, I hope. The guy who wrote that article is a tool.

  • http://www.facebook.com/craig.gafoor Craig Gafoor

    when i first got into the scene in 1988-1989 i never thought that the scene would die a pop death…the fact is it is…ill come back and rant later on this posting.
    all i can say is THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS….it sounds like me ranting about wtf is so messed up now pretty much.

  • http://www.facebook.com/damien.hamot Dean Amo

    Nice drop!!!!

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  • Weaver2

    For me, the all this popularity has the horrible side affect of transforming “rave culture” into “club culture”.

    I’ve been raving since the late 90s, and I’ve seen a lot of things change. But the problem now is the complete drain of rave identity. As cheesy was the notion of PLUR was, the ideology was at least symbiotic with the rave scene. IMO, if you haven’t been to a kandi party with whistles and horns, you’ve never really raved before.

    All I’m saying is; go to a party in the old days and everyone was there for fun. Everyone was there for the music, and there was a massive sense of community and belonging. The anthems had the whole room signing along in a sea of people who were so glad to be there sharing their passion for the music with others.

    Now what do you get? Guido jackoffs, preppy club boys looking for sex, frat boy douche bags who get blasted and vomit all over the place. The culture has been cheaped by these idiots, no one knows any of the tunes and the whole thing is just goddamn depressing. I’m not in University anymore, I don’t need the “Friday night college bar experience” when I go see a show.
    This is the a symptom of what I call the “third group”. There are three kinds of listeners in regards to a genre. Those who like it. Those who don’t. And those who only listen to what’s popular. Right now, unfortunately, it’s our turn to have the “third group” token and take on the burden of massive popularity. It will pass.
    Additionally, and I’m surprised no one comments on this, ticket prices are fucking crazy now. WEMF used to be pretty cheap for what it offered, now it’s ballooned to an inordinate cost. I could rave from 9pm to 6am in Toronto for $10 – $15, even in 2007.

    Now, the all night rave is dead here. Shows are ending earlier because the comparatively “normal” people going to the shows can’t cope with the all night dancing, ticket prices are climbing and everything, really, is just getting shittier.

    The crowd sucks more, the music is hilariously derivative and the ART and SOUL of electronic music is being sucked up in corporate money, immensely flashy and expensive parties, and the massive public dick sucking of DJ’s.

    As an aside, I also produce. Nothing great, just as a hobby. I’ve been at it for years. The production tools have never been better, but the music is so incredibly lame now. We have a fucking world of possibility. We have the ability to make sounds like we never have before. We have the computational power in nearly every household to experiment with wild sounds that even in the 80’s artists couldn’t FATHOM. And what do we use it for? To rip off deadmau5 because he’s popular.

    If “EDM” is dying, I’m happy because I’m going to stick with it through the rebirth period when I can listen to electronic music again.

  • http://www.facebook.com/william.j.costello William J. Costello

    It wasn’t Windowlicker. I think it was Flim by Aphex Twins.

  • Savage Science

    “Let’s call our stuff IDM to separate ourselves from that pop garbage!” said the 90′s

  • http://www.facebook.com/doriandioptrics Dorian Dioptrics Abducted

    some people are here for the music, some people are here for the culture. Its nice to have both, but in the end, its the music that matters. and if you are influenced by and choose to listen to the shit, then thats your fault. Enjoy the music that you enjoy, fuck all the other shit.

  • http://www.facebook.com/radjackson Rad Jackson

    articles like this are the worst thing to happen to music. criticizing the way things are and wishing they were different. get over your ideas.

    • http://www.facebook.com/djalexjarvis Alex Jarvis

      You are right on Dude! Writers who complain about things in their articles don’t have a clue about what critical thinking and writing really is. This article and others like it make me sad.

  • Tech Junkie Minimalist

    it all fucking sounds the same. There’s no progression or evolution in the music, just the same catchy bassline with tacky lyrics. Quit calling yourselves artists and give the scene back to those who are really talented and not just making music to make money…

    • http://www.facebook.com/djalexjarvis Alex Jarvis

      I used to be a loyal house head. Old School as hell even…but all the ignorant hatred and closed minded prejudice associated with articles like this and the attitudes that support them have turned me into a full bore EDM fan. A lot of the music is plenty complex and technical…and the fans have much more positive attitudes. It is a shame that you would rather live in a world filled with hatred and unwarranted judgment than just live and let live. Get a life dude. You sound delusional with your claim that the people making money in this business are not talented.

      • Benito Aramando

        Gotta love it when valid criticism gets denounced as hatred and prejudice.

        It’s not prejudice – it’s discernment

      • Weaver2

        Firstly, Alex, I got nothing against you. I’ve read your posts and you clearly know your stuff.

        To me though part of my issue with this new wave of EDM is the technical complications you mention being added to the music. Neuro, for instance, is very complicated to make. It requires layers of very finicky synths working together to make “unstable” sounds. Dubstep, requires a very large amount of layering and very short splices which adds up to make a ton of work.

        However, to me, there is something lost now because people are getting so incredibly worked up in making the most “technically badass” tune they can, instead of just making a good song.

        To use a simile, every member Dream Theater are all virtuosos in their chosen instrument. Easily some of the best players on the planet, but them being technically proficient is not necessarily what makes their music good. In fact, I’d say they’ve made some songs that really weren’t that great, despite most bands on the planet being incapable of physically playing them.

        To bring things back home, my favourite DnB song is the Ed Rush & Optical Remix of Mindscan. It’s just a classic tune to me, and really, there’s nothing that technical about it. It’s practically downright simple. But they knew their music theory, they knew how to tune their drum lines, they knew how rising and lowering tension in the music works psychologically, and they knew their music would be played with big banging subs so they weren’t afraid of a pure low end. All of that resulted in a killer track.

        I guess it really just seems like so many people are focused on making the music complicated, rather than making the music good.

        But hey, that’s just my take on it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/djalexjarvis Alex Jarvis

    File Under: JUNK.

  • ihateedm

    Stop defending EDM. We all know it’s a piece of shit. EDM is so
    repetitive and it has no soul or feeling, Everything about it is so
    cheesy and those events are always full of douchebags. You want to
    listen to real electronic music? Listen to Tiger & Woods, Classixx,
    Chris Malinchak, Satin Jackets, Flight Facilities, MAM, Finnebassen,
    Tensnake, and Perseus to name a few.

  • freaker

    the music is not the problem, people are the problem. we can all agree without a doubt that people are different, they will like what they like and do what they do and its something that no one can control. but that doesnt mean u cant take advantage of them. music labels want to make money off the weak minded masses (the easily influenced party people) and even DJs looking for the rock star lifestyle. these people will spend money to attend these music festivals funded by these labels making deals with the commercial element for profit so that these party people can hand over their money and they will continue to do this willingly because they believe that this is the blueprint to happiness. when in actuality it is a shallow attempt for temporary pleasure, leaving them only wanting more; parties, drugs and alcohol. EDM and many other genres like it and before will continue to be the soundtrack to this kind of behavior. then there r other kinds of people who posses an appreciation for music, for art and the sensibility of sharing a good time with others. every genre of music has both kinds of fans and further more different kinds of fans. but it is the superficial party seekers (the mainstream trend followers) who essentially bring down the quality of anything and everything they encounter and we have all experienced this before at one time or another. u find something ur passionate about and then once it becomes popular it will attract those ready to exploit it and ruin it. another fact that everyone can agree on is that no one likes ASSHOLES, especially intoxicated assholes. after that its all a numbers game, the greater the number of party seekers the higher the chances of encountering an asshole, assholes plus drugs and or alcohol results in an increase for potential violence and argumentation turning any scene to a senseless pit of people looking to fill the void in their souls…but in the end r we not all lost individuals trying to fill the void? we must all seek a better quality of life filled with art and happiness and that was basically the foundation of the original rave culture. a culture DJ-ed by EDM…

    • Weaver2

      One of the biggest downers to me is plenty of DJ’s are jumping over to
      what’s popular to make some cash. I can’t necessarily say I blame them,
      it’s their livelihood. However, Trance seems to be shrinking as more
      and more DJ’s jump ship to produce and spin house.

      Drum and Bass, in a more dramatic example, has done a sort of pseudo meld with drumstep; to the point where online music catalogs are putting drumstep into the D&B section (which annoys me to no end). Chase and Status, for example, seem to have just given up on everything and make modern dubstep their focus.

      Don’t even get me started on Hardcore.

      Obviously, there are still a lot of producers out there making the music they want to, but it’s annoying when even like likes of Van Buuren are making stuff like ‘We Are Here To Make Some Noise’. I’ll admit he’s always had prog house leanings, but that track in particular was extreme.

      However, I’m writing this because I want to highlight to people that it’s not just all us old timers being a bunch of jaded assholes. People like us are NOT necessarily disapproving because our once niche musical taste become popular. It’s because the popularity is directly affecting
      related genres that I’m going to flagrantly guess 90% of the people who
      only started listening to house a few years ago have never heard of.

      I can ignore Justin Bieber, I can’t ignore that Trance sounds more like house every year. I can ignore Rihanna, but I can’t ignore that Gabber and Hardcore parties are becoming more expensive and less in numbers as venues everywhere up their costs for DJ events.

      EDM, as it is now, is like when a huge department store moves into town and destroys all the local businesses with their cheap crap.

      • freaker

        right on! we dont hate it because its popular, we hate for its diminishing quality because of popularity. i really liked the example of big businesses ruining small towns.

  • bandman19

    I’m probably going to regret posting this, but I don’t care. I just have a few things to say.

    Forgive me for being an altruist, but I just don’t understand why the current EDM scene deserves so much negative criticism. I definitely used to be a heavy critic of what’s been happening, but it seems so pointless to me to bring negativity to something that should be about human expression and happiness. Sure there are great artists like Bonobo, Noisia, and maya jane coles who are pushing boundaries and creating new sounds that are interesting and unique. But, I’ll go ahead and say it: I think that Deadmau5 is a good producer. and Skrillex. and even Avicii. They aren’t sellouts. If artists knew how to get all of the success that these guys have accrued, don’t y’all think that they would go for it? who wouldn’t? I hate how as soon as someone becomes popular, many people say ‘oh, he’s just not the same anymore. He doesn’t care about the music at all.’ I do not think that is true at all. They’re just doing their thing. and no, I don’t think popularity is the most important indicator of music being good. Just ‘let it be.’ There will always be that underground scene for the people who just can’t stand even the thought of something being massively popular.

    I appreciate the mass appeal EDM has nowadays. It’s not just some secret anymore. I don’t care who has been getting into EDM recently. I love it that there are more and more festivals every year. I love it that more and more people are getting into it. I don’t care if it’s some party-hardy frat bro or some guido dude. The more the merrier. That’s what it should be about. People being happy. Why can’t that be enough?

    It just pains me to see how viciously ‘industry veterans’ tear apart something that isn’t trying to hurt anyone, no matter how ‘logical’ their argument may be. It’s all subjective. Sure when you compare certain artists to others, like kaskade to the chemical brothers, one might draw the conclusion that the chemical brothers are ‘better’ because they’re more complex or whatever, but doesn’t mean kaskade is bad at what he does. not at all. It’s almost like comparing apples to oranges.

    Forgive me for being sappy. I just want to see people be happy. Y’all say PLUR is gone? I definitely don’t see y’all exercising any PLUR.

    One final thing. I don’t feel like y’all’s opinions are wrong. They’re just as valuable as anybody’s. I just wish you guys would see the positive side of things more often with this stuff. That’s all.

    I don’t care if I sound redundant. I am also not trying to attack the original writer of this article. That’s just how I feel. I’ll get off my soapbox now.

  • Rafa Battesini

    EDM = electronic disgusting music. Guetta, Aoki (and many others) are not DJs. They don’t play music! Everything is fake! I’m really impressed that people consider this shit music as something serious.

    POOR AUDIENCE.

  • Tony

    I totally understand how people are upset about how this music has gone mainstream, especially in the US. But it’s not the actual music that’s going to kill things even though they may sound “one in the same” per se. It will be the greed and that’s all around (DJ’s, promoters).

    I’m not going to say that people shouldn’t make money. And if they’re pouring out crazy bucks to DJs/producers they would be foolish NOT to take it. But when these prices keep climbing and climbing each year (and that’s just the pass, let’s not even get into concessions) with people willingly spending the money and the promoters add more and more days to it, eventually people are gonna wise up and realize it’s not worth it and for what….seeing a guy in front of gear bouncing around and pumping his fists up?

    On one event I had paid for VIP and got the tickets, but when I went to the window they said it wasn’t good and I needed to fork up more money for the VIP.

    It’s because of that, I DO NOT go to any festivals. And to add, in the US we have very little radio airplay of EDM outside of mix shows on Top 40 stations. I think even radio corporations don’t know what to make of this…

    TONY SANTIAGO
    Coordinator, New York Dance Music Coalition

  • WreckinShop

    I’m all about 90′s and SF House music. That’s what I love and that’s who I support. I don’t like today’s EDM but I don’t hate on it. I just don’t go to those shows or buy today’s EDM artists music. They’re all excellent producers (in terms of sales anyway) but I listen to DJs, not selectors. There’s a huge difference. Everyone chooses their own thing and I’ll never knock someone’s hustle.

  • DJ Rupert Murdock

    Didn’t read.

    Jk wankers. Let’s get serious for a moment.

    The kids don’t care about this discussion. The douche b’s “BTD” don’t care about this discussion. These peeps are out to get paid and laid.

    The only people that care about this discussion are some grizzled old chin strokers that haven’t danced a lick since the 90′s and barfly out at the pub wondering what happened to the scene.

    Cheer up old boy. House will always be house. Go to the desert, or the forest, or to the heady ass events the folks are throwing in the farmhouse in the middle of BFE. You know where its at, you’ve been doing this for years.

    The world at large will never appreciate art. This is as true as people nailing Jesus to the cross. The idea is the same and so is the message, lost and only for the few.

    And for fuck’s sake, don’t blame America for the rockstar mentality. That shit came from England a long time ago w the Stones, The Beatles, U2, need I say more?

    No.

    Keep the faith ye faithless. Its your attitude that’s lacking.

  • j dutch

    Here I will chime in on this one. I think the D in EDM needs to be taken away. Its electronic music not electronic dance music. Sure there are some who can bust out some moves to the new school style, but mostly its a head banging rock concert and the audience crowds the front of the stage and pump fists at the “DJ” like rock stars. There is no dancing at the front going on. And not much anywhere else for that matter. Again there are exceptions but in general its become a “rock show” concert scene. For those of you youngins out there, it used to be that if you were not dancing you were in the minority big time. I saw many a nights when the DJ actually told the people at the front to get to the back if they did not want to dance. No one near the front stood still or pumped a fist or jumped straight up and down. That is what hooked me into Electronic Dance Music otherwise known as House music. Everyone of all walk of life there for the music and to dance together and have fun, nothing more, nothing less. Not to say those at these new shows are not having fun, I am sure they are loving it. But its not dance music if the large majority are not dancing. Its just not. Its a different time, different scene, different vibe and different attraction. movin on……..

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