There are a couple dozen producers still active today that I would say are “allowed” to voice their opinions on the entirety of dance music and get away with it. Seth Troxler isn’t one of them, but BT is.
He’s been active since the early ’80s, and has been credited as a pioneer of trance and IDM, as well as multiple production techniques including the stutter edit. About 10 days ago he went on a pretty massive twitter rant about the current state of ‘EDM’ and how it has become so commercialized, mostly by America.
Now… I am an American, as is BT (he was born in Maryland). I have to take a certain amount of nationalistic pride as part of my identity, and while many of his points are perhaps poignant, a lot of it places blame where I don’t believe it belongs. Nevertheless, I’ll show you his thoughts below, first in paragraph format and then in individual tweets, if you’d like to retweet or favorite any of them. 
Wow, so much to say. I had some pretty big epiphanies last night. First, thank you @anjunabeats and @ministryofsound for an amazing night // Last night was incredible, effortless, stunning even. It was so relaxing playing for an audience that loves and understands good dance music // What I mainly realized is US is in a deep lull in electronic music. Which is counterintuitive because it’s inverse scalar in popularity // And I also realized, and I kind of haven’t wanted to admit this, because it WAS such a good idea to have one unifying banner for dance music // The name “EDM” has unfortunately become instead of a movement, an actual sound & a terrible one at that. It leads the ADD/drop culture in US // As with many other things (and hard not to digress into politics and culture) America is no longer a leader at much of anything. We follow. // And, I suppose appropriately, this is reflected in our consumption and “McDonaldsafication” of dance music. Here’s what’s happened. // The rest of the world has supported, embraced, loved, understood this music for almost 30 years. There is a long and deep understanding. // America has never understood it. Until now. What happened? A lot of things. Corporate America stepped in for one, but most importantly… // We have DUMBED DOWN GREAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC. America is solely responsible for this. Not all American producers but our country none the less // Because our country has to add salt, saturated fats and sugar to foods to make things literally addictive (this really happens) // Look up the focus groups and scientists that have figured out how to make Oreos more addictive than heroin. // We have done the same thing with electronic music in America. It is a caricature of powerful, evocative, forward thinking electronic music // Many of us, let’s say a group of founders, purposely avoided pop music culture because it was too restrictive to innovate in. // Quality dance music is not 3 minutes long. It’s not 1:30 to the next drop, it is not shitty and overly loud, it is not all soft synths // It’s not terrible vocals devoid of meaning. It does not have a shelf life of two weeks. It’s is not a hashtag. It has no hand symbol. // All the pressure that producers & artist feel to “fit it” in American “EDM” culture is damaging the cultural &sonic diversity of dance music // And guess what, zoom out, look at a the macro, it’s an embarrassing blip on the radar. It will pass and when it does..(spoiler alert) // There will be an incredible bloodletting. Either the people playing the “keep up w/the jones” game ie making crappy music to play festivals // Will either make (and somehow barely survive but also barely be able to sleep at night) another disingenuous shift it their creative output // Or be eaten alive as the floodgates open & Americans begin to experience, authentic, moving, non-commercialized, beautiful dance music // And it’s resounding and rich, diverse culture. Last night, I realized it is still here. It’s just not in America. The people, the producers // All of it still exists. While America gets fat and dies of diabetes on EDM Oreos, the rest of the world still cares. // And as with everything else, instead of taking the lead and innovating (like our country used too) we will fold and follow. // and in this case, that will be a wonderful win in the world of music that I love. Electronic dance music. Viva dance music #endrant
Wow, so much to say. I had some pretty big epiphanies last night. First, thank you @anjunabeats and @ministryofsound for an amazing night
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
Last night was incredible, effortless, stunning even. It was so relaxing playing for an audience that loves and understands good dance music
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
What I mainly realized is US is in a deep lull in electronic music. Which is counterintuitive because it's inverse scalar in popularity
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
And I also realized, and I kind of haven't wanted to admit this, because it WAS such a good idea to have one unifying banner for dance music
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543761040702730240
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543761229463166976
And, I suppose appropriately, this is reflected in our consumption and "McDonaldsafication" of dance music. Here's what's happened.
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
The rest of the world has supported, embraced, loved, understood this music for almost 30 years. There is a long and deep understanding.
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543761932537569280
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543762262025338882
Because our country has to add salt, saturated fats and sugar to foods to make things literally addictive (this really happens)
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543762758949683201
We have done the same thing with electronic music in America. It is a caricature of powerful, evocative, forward thinking electronic music
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
Many of us, let's say a group of founders, purposely avoided pop music culture because it was too restrictive to innovate in.
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
Quality dance music is not 3 minutes long. It's not 1:30 to the next drop, it is not shitty and overly loud, it is not all soft synths
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
It's not terrible vocals devoid of meaning. It does not have a shelf life of two weeks. It's is not a hashtag. It has no hand symbol.
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
All the pressure that producers & artist feel to "fit it" in American "EDM" culture is damaging the cultural &sonic diversity of dance music
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
And guess what, zoom out, look at a the macro, it's an embarrassing blip on the radar. It will pass and when it does..(spoiler alert)
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
There will be an incredible bloodletting. Either the people playing the "keep up w/the jones" game ie making crappy music to play festivals
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
Will either make (and somehow barely survive but also barely be able to sleep at night) another disingenuous shift it their creative output
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
Or be eaten alive as the floodgates open & Americans begin to experience, authentic, moving, non-commercialized, beautiful dance music
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543766239890657280
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543766589527818241
https://twitter.com/BT/status/543766758889635840
and in this case, that will be a wonderful win in the world of music that I love. Electronic dance music. Viva dance music #endrant
— BT (@BT) December 13, 2014
H/T: EDMsauce
