With the recent rise in popularity of electronic music, an interesting development has begun to surface ever more prevalently. It is not an issue of laziness in production, or anything having to do with the music. The problem lies in the community.
Those who listen to electronic music absolutely love to brand themselves as open and inviting to others who are new to the scene. Many people find this culture a safe haven from more poisonous environments where their body type, their sexual orientation, or even their taste in music is looked down upon. The whole concept of “PLUR” was created in order to give a name and an identity to that philosophy. For those of you who are not aware, PLUR stands for “Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect.” It is an innocuous enough phrase, and yet it is the only acronym I can think of in which the individual parts are greater than the whole. 
There is a very popular quote by Kaskade that gets passed around from time to time, and it says, “As far as music culture goes, EDM is the one who will accept the kids on the outliers, the ones who get bullied, the ones who feel like they may not quite fit in. This community is exceptional in its ability to bond all types together, and I am not exaggerating when I say it saves lives.”
And this is very true. But as with all things, there is another side to the story. I’m talking about the “EDM elitists.” These are the people who will tell you that “you’re not going to a rave, you’re going to a festival.” They will say “You don’t know who Steve Duda is? Get the fuck out.” They will see you at a festival and silently judge you for going to see Avicii as they’re on their way to watch The Polish Ambassador. They are the desert ravers, the PLUR sympathizers, the house purists, the ones who shame you for saying that ‘Animals’ is “actually a pretty good track.” There seems to be this caustic relationship between those who claim to have been in the scene for years and years and those just now finding a foothold.
Part of the issue, I believe, is the current rise of commercial dance music. These are tracks that serve no creative purpose, but rather serve to be played strictly on main stages at festivals to get the crowd jumping. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that — it’s perfectly reasonable, and encouraged, to create music that will make people dance. That’s part of why it’s called “Electronic Dance Music.” What ends up happening though is that festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, etc. book these superstar DJs to play on their main stage, and play main stage music. As the name would suggest, the main stage is generally the most popular at large festivals, and exposes the greatest number of people to new music.
When someone hears ‘Tsunami’ or ‘CUBA’ at the main stage, two things can happen:
1) The listener decides that what they’re hearing is shit, and they either continue to dislike electronic music, or they go and publicly bash it, thus continuing the cycle.
2) They love it, and they come into the scene with the belief that what they’re hearing is EDM as a whole, which could not be further from the truth.
Now, the problem hasn’t really reared its ugly head yet. Sure, it’s reasonable to think that young kids thinking that DVBBS or Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike represent EDM as a whole is detrimental to the scene, but it’s nothing that education on the vast history of electronic music can’t fix. And that is exactly where the problem is. Rather than trying to educate newcomers on the history and legacy of electronic music — the Chemical Brothers, the Daft Punks, the Kraftwerks, etc. — they malign, berate and rebuke those who find themselves as small fish in a big pond.
Now please, do not twist my words to imply that I am speaking of all listeners of electronic music. I would not be so stupid. Remember, I am talking about the elitists here. In a culture that is supposed to welcome newcomers with open arms, we have a rather vocal sect of supposed “experts” and “connoisseurs” who specifically target those who cannot possibly know better. And the funny thing is, so many of these elitists have known about EDM little longer than the ones they are shunning. Just because you learned about Justice last week does not give you the right to call someone out for asking who they are. It doesn’t work that way, or at least it shouldn’t.
Another example of elitism that I commonly see, as I mentioned earlier, are the people who will tell you that “you’re not going to a rave, you’re going to a festival.” This one in particular makes little sense to me because it is of so little importance in the long run. I understand, and empathize with, those of you who actually attended underground raves in the 80s and 90s. I wish I could go back in time and experience them with you, I really do. But it has become utterly counter-productive to belittle someone’s experience or knowledge because they used a word that you think still has relevance. Underground raves are no longer as prevalent and widely held as they were 20 years ago. They’ve actually moved above ground. They are the Electric Daisy Carnivals and the HARD Summers of the nation and the fact that tickets are sold for these events does not diminish their status as a legitimate showing of electronic musical talent.
Furthermore, in a culture that is supposedly so welcoming, why is it that adolescents and teenagers are repeatedly ostracized and left out of the discussion? Elitists will say that they are tainting the scene, that they don’t belong because they spend all night at the main stage rather than explore the stage off in the boonies. Who are you to judge someone for how they enjoy music? Honestly. I am so sick and tired of people who should be mentors for the younger generation attempting to remove them from the culture altogether.
Elitists of any culture will inevitably taint the culture they are trying to preserve, and it’s very unfortunate. Their wealth of knowledge and experience could be much better suited to educating the younger generation on electronic music before it was EDM, and yet they insist on continually resting on the coattails of their “one time at that warehouse party.” If we are to survive as a culture, the education and welcoming of newer listeners should be of tantamount importance. As it stands now, it’s not the drugs and kandi-bitching that will kill the scene. We’re dying from the inside out.
Raves still exist all over the USA. The underground is alive and well and has some fantastic music. Other than that I enjoyed this article. I think a lot of people’s ‘elitism’ comes from a genuine fear that commercial dance music will eliminate and replace the underground and club culture they have loved for so long, replacing cutting edge music and an open loving atmosphere with cookie cutter crap and see and be scene posing for photographs in designer clothes bullshit. Educating and accepting the new generation is incredibly important. However, that isnt accomplished by just glossing over the very real threat of companies like SFX (the same people that killed rock and roll) hanging rave out to dry so they can make a few billion bux. Rave isnt just a ‘scene’. 🙂
I began this journey of electronic music in 94, back then a vast majority of us called ourselves “House Cats” as the house parties we attended were just that, house parties. During the same time we were doing break in parties because the house’s couldn’t support the amount of people attending. Then came map point parties, secret info lines, then Raves came into play and we became “ravers”, then the OC Polo field massive’s came along, EDC, JuJu Beats, Oracle, Bigger, Nocturnal Wonderland, events that were able to “legally” step up the game. Even then “ravers” of my day complained about massive’s being to big and corporate lol I went to my first EDC in 97-98 and it had a “festival” feel, it was in a water park between LA and Vegas haha.
Now I personally wouldn’t consider the EDC of today a “Rave” in the sense that that word holds a different meaning for me personally. However if someone new to this whole thing we call Electronic Dance Music feels that that word applies to them and their experience they had attending the current EDC, then I say you’re more than welcome to use it! Because the ideals that surround words like Rave or PLUR are still there, rather its 1994 or 2014.
I have dedicated 21 years of my life to this scene and i’ve seen its changes and I never thought it would ever reach the hight thats its at now! I actually rejoice in it, though with every scene being popular you will always get BS that comes with it. It happened in the punk scene, grunge scene, hip hop scene, rock scene etc etc.
I am a firm believer in educating the newer flocks that come into electronic dance music. I own a record label and a events company and with those i’ve been able to teach newer people about our history, show newer DJs/Producers how to spin on turntables. I have the newer people come learn how to build a stage, lighting, sound, stage management, booking and marketing. Because I had someone back in the day take the time to teach me!! So i’m just passing it on. Its our job as “old schoolers” to set the standard and tell them about the history of the music, where it came from, how we almost lost it all in the 2000’s, turntables, records, Joey Beltrams “Energy Flash”, Shell top adidas lol, Moonshine Records, The Orb, Kraftwerk, Detroit Techno, Kikwear, the Amen Break ;), Dance Safe, so many things!
Look, if you’re complaining about where things are headed and you don’t spend the time to at least educate one person, then yes you’re being a elitist prick and you’re just taking away from it instead of adding to it. My time has passed, those experiences are solidified in those times, its newer generations time to carve out their “rave” and their “PLUR”.
Theres my rant for the year, now i’m going to go watch the Empire Strikes Back!
“As far as music culture goes, EDM is the one who will accept the kids on the outliers, the ones who get bullied, the ones who feel like they may not quite fit in. This community is exceptional in its ability to bond all types together, and I am not exaggerating when I say it saves lives.”
This is what literally every ‘music culture’ says about itself. And guess what? They’re all full of judgemental snobs as well. Nothing new here.
I can’t explain how much I miss the EDM from 2010 – 2012. I want to fucking kill the mainstream popstars who shat all over Electronica. Remember when it was a big deal for Skrillex or Knife Party or deadmau5 to release something? Ugh…
I am one of those people who says, “you’re going to a festival/concert/event, not a rave.” Not to bash, but to educate. Why? Because raves, since the beginning, have a negative reputation in.the eyes of society; and I strongly believe that music festivals (EDC, Ultra, Coachella, etc.) should not be looked at in the same light. All I’m saying in the end is don’t call an event something it’s not.
I remember the days in Ybor city and Tampa when Florida funk breaks and drum and bass were thriving. Acts like Dj Icey and Dj Baby Anne for all the rage. One side of EDM that I still love to this day. No-one ever mentions Sasha and Digweed anymore or for that matter Rabit in the Moon. This is a great article very true.
Polish is the shit tho
You realize you look like an asshole for trying to call out assholes right?
We should be honored to have had enough longevity to get elitists. PLUR is a struggle not a standard, just like chivalry you gotta practice it every day (and event) if you want it to have an impact on the world. Of course there are going to be people who get irritated when noobs penetrate their scene. If you’re old school (or not) politely take the time to remind these peanut gallery critics what they stand for and that PLUR is for everyone.
That being said I’m gonna throw HARD under the bus here and say you can’t call yourself a rave if you’re going to scrub your public image by not allowing your patrons (who pay out the ass) to wear pony beads because you think it gives you a bad image in the media, breakdown or GTFO of the business.
There’s gonna be at least a little bit of friction every time you get that many people together, the victory is overcoming it as a scene with a movement not a solution. Are you expecting an episode of fucking Sesame Street every time you go to a rave?
(Not to say that isn’t totally possible lol, but it’s just a little asinine to ask for it EVERY time)
facepalmed through this entire article and then I read the comments and facepalmed some more
This page is a clear example xD
There’s a bunch of people in here that think they know more and better than everyone else about Electronic music, also a bunch more that are gonna judge you and make fun of you because of the DJs and tracks you like, still you see them wearing Kandi bracelets and talking about how PLUR they are…
I’ve listening to House/Electronic music since probably 1999, I don’t know a lot about it but I’m happy to say that I’ve teach some of my friends about it…Yea, some of them like mainstream tracks, and that doesn’t mean I’m gonna start bashing them or make fun of them…Fck, I like some mainstream tracks, sometimes you just wanna have fun and jump and sing and dance and just live life! And that’s what I do
Do i give a damn about what people say or think about me? No, and I’m pretty sure that I know more about Electronic music and the “scene” than most of them.
Unfortunately, the “scene” is not the same as before, but there’s a few of people out there with the values, people that still believe about what actually “PLUR” means and practice it. If you’re lucky enough, you will find some of them in some point in your life, at a rave, a festival or a club…People that are not gonna judge you or look at you bad, people that just want you to feel and live that moment with them
There’s always the bad and the good side on everything, nothing is perfect in this world, but you decide how to live this life.
My advice for the “newcomers”…Feel the music, enjoy the music, be one with the music, dance , jump, scream, sing and surround yourself with good people, don’t care about what others think but most important…Respect eveyone if you wanna be respected =D
Who even wrote this haha I just think its the commercialism and mainstream media and music now that is ruining the scene. Also I think its lame when newcomers come into the rave scene and are just there to get fucked up…its a lot more then that and they give us a bad name for being ravers and they dont even know the true meaning of that. Its about community and coming together and most importantly PLUR! No judging and no problems and meeting new people and enjoying good music. Most mainstream events and festivals dont have that as much unless it is Insomniac, which now is one of those mainstream machines as well. Honestly I am just a little more pickier as to what shows I go to. As I get older it seems harder to surround myself with young ones on drugs so I go for 21 and over if i can and some 18 and over events. Also it depends on who is putting on the event. I rather choose Skills Events over a radio station putting on an EDM event anyday. Also smaller shows where its up close and personal are amazing as well. I feel veteran ravers should show the new ones the values we share but what it comes down to is the transformation of EDM becoming the thing for everyone and now its not just ravers who are going to these events but people who hear stuff on the radio and now think its cool because the media says it is and they play a few alright popular songs and now EDM is their shit too. I have heard people say they cant stand EDM but now they like it bec these hip hop artists now use DJ’s…just kinda fake to me :/
commercialism isn’t one of the small problems…it’s THE problem. I agree with the sentiment of this article but it’s easy to see that the author really doesn’t understand where the scene comes from. Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers WERE mainstream EDM music from the get go. Commercialism goes completely against what PLUR was originally about. It is completely against the grain of the scenes that were around in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s. All underground scenes go through this cycle. I went to a dance club just yesterday and was so excited to get my dance bug out and the scene is a completely different beast. There are still people really connecting with strangers and with each other… but for the most part it’s just tourists. Usually, if the tourist influx into a scene is slow… they are able to take the scene in and understand what it is and why it’s there and eventually become part of it if it aligns with them (and for the rave scene this is usually always the case because it is such a positive scene). But when the influx of tourists is large… the heart of the scene is drowned out by all the other tourists… and the scene gets diluted and very quickly changes. A tourist comes into the scene and just sees other tourists, and just sees what’s getting sold to him by people on the commercial end. and the other tourists see the same thing… and in time you get a mainstream scene and the left overs of the old scene goes back underground… I know there are still dessert raves and underground parties…the underground will ebb and flow but it will never be what it use to be before people realized how much money the scene was worth.
I loved this article. I agree with it and I have noticed a lot of hate for teens trying to get into the culture and a lot of hate by older fans as well. I went to the Ultra Music Festival in 2011, I was 16 years old and I loved every minute of it. I was able to see my favorites like, Armin, Chemical Brothers, Skrillex, deadmau5, Ferry Corsten, Steve Aoki, DJ Icey, and that’s is even how I found out about Feed Me.
I am the “Techno” and “Dubstep” guy in my group of friends, I live in America, but I’m always willing to take them to a show or a Festival and answer any questions they need. I’ve been listening to Dance Music since around 2006 or 07, I love Hardwell, DVBBS, Blasterjaxx etc, but I also love Daft Punk, New World Punx, Kraftwerk, Feed Me, Audiofreq, Zatox, Zany and a whole lot of other great producers and DJs. I think we need PLUR back but really teach it’s meaning to others. Show that we aren’t the culture of drugs and booze but the culture of Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect.
what a load of horse crap firstly the underground is very much alive it was there long before the mainstream scene its still there and it will continue to be there as for the elitism this guys mentions well here is my take the rave was created by people for people who wanted to break away from the shallow ideals of mainstream society and that is why they created there own sound there own vibe and that is why it was hidden for so many years and now the very people and ideals that we meant to keep out come along and claim it as there own hell fucking no and a good example of this is the bastardization of P.L.U.R ,it used to mean and stand for something you know and now the brain dead horde has just turned it into another word so elitism no anger hell fucking yes
No. Its the fucking drugs and kandi. It was the drugs in 89-93 and it still is now. Oh yeah, also turning EDM to a 100% for-profit venture, that is also helping in its destruction. Elitism, my ass! Shit, if anything, we NEED MORE ELITISM! Maybe then, cookie cutter DJ’s will feel the need to bust ass and please their fans. Fans are fucking tired of the same shitty music being pushed out to the masses. Fans are tired of going to poorly planned festivals where all kinds of bullshit occurs. EDM isn’t about maximizing profit, its about the relationship between artist and fan. Simple.
This is a very poignant article however, it seems to gloss-over the elephant in the room. Many new people (not all) but a large majority that now unlike ever before, come in vast quantities don’t always foster the same respect for the community, music, and general vibes of the event. For people who have been around awhile its overwhelming because there were so many newcomers so quickly. But, that being said, I have met many new comers that understand what I once understood about the scene and those are the people that will stick around. The ones that are there for the “Molly” will be elsewhere in a year or two.
I don’t agree that our community will die out. But i do agree with opening up to people even though they act rude or say something you don’t like. We as the OG’s need to be more open and just show them the way.
On the other side of the fence you have the festival goers who don’t go for the music and will openly criticize lesser known genres for not having the “drop”.
But there is a difference between a rave and a festival. What’s so hard to understand about that?
This is stupid, I couldn’t even finish it. Our cumminity is still a beast.
I think there is a lot more to it than that. Old schoolers aren’t that shallow.
awesome article man, on-point
I wholeheartedly agree with this article. People who scoff when the newbies don’t know who Tall Paul, Johan Gielen, or Sasha is, need to have a reality check.
This whole scene isn’t about who’s listened to dance music the longest, or who knows the most DJ’s, or who has every Rabbit in the Moon vinyl. It’s about having fun.
I got started on this scene through Sensation White & A State of Trance (back in the ID&T radio years – for the uninitiated, the guys who run Tomorrowland used to have a radio station before it became Slam!FM). While trance will always be my go to for dance music, I love ALL flavors of dance music. Techno, House, Drum ‘n Bass, Breaks, Moombahton, Dubstep, and yes, Big Room House & Trap. There is always a time and place for a style of music. Do I prefer some styles over others? Absolutely. But I make sure to give every style a fair shake before I decide whether I like it, or decide it’s not my thing (I’ll never say I outright hate a style).
If PLUR has taught me anything, it’s to never judge a book by it’s cover. I met a group of fraternity brothers at Ultra one year. Sure they were a little brash with their behavior, but ultimately nice people. I asked who they were closing out with and they all said “Oh bro, gotta go to Avicii” (that’s verbatim, not to enforce stereotypes). I said to them “That’s cool, but you should give Sven Vath a try. Come with me to him for 10 minutes tops. If you don’t like it, you can go to Avicii”. They stayed with me for the whole set.
My point is as veterans, you gotta guide the new folks as to where the true sounds of dance music are. Did I get lucky with that group liking Sven Vath? Absolutely. But you never know unless you share it with them.
By ostracizing them for liking DV & LM or David Guetta, are you no better than the people you’re ostracizing?
Hands off, elitists. Let the community develop how it should. No matter how bad you think big room house may be, it will NEVER be as detrimental to the scene as your vocal negativity will be. Just listen to what sounds good and don’t tell anyone else off about their tastes. At one point, we all liked the ‘hot trend’, whether that be Electro, BRH, trance, or just whatever. Regardless of whether or not we still do, we need to respect those moving through their electronic tastes. Everyone moves through genre phases. After all, the next big room house fan could one day fund a new upcoming producer of some new, weird genre that’ll get really hype. So don’t let your negativity stop that fan from becoming something great. :]
I will just say no. You obviously didn’t do any research and you probably are a month into listening to “EDM” You probably remember when your friends were listening to “techno” and you said “eww gross that stuff sucks” and now you are all “EDM RAWKS”
That’s the only issue I have and I will say I am this “elitist” you speak of. Not only because of the constant bombardment of the new “main stream edm” that is an exact replica of the song before and the song before that, but because these new DJ’s are just in it for the money and that’s it.
I’m an Elitist because I believe DJ should be DJ’ing, not playing a pre-recorded set and pretending to touch knobs and buttons to look like you are doing something. I like hearing a semi fucked up mix every now and again to know who I am watching is human… or maybe hes on 4decks and doing a beautiful job… then he’s super human. But really, I’m not going to be excited when I hear a DJ is making 300k to press play and get in front and dance and shoot champagne at the crowd the whole night. Bullshit.
You say people are coming in to enjoy the music and be a part of an “all encompassing community” when before these people were talking straight SHIT about ravers. “Eww omg, this music sucks.” or “oh you go to raves? what do you do, take ecstacy and listen to bad music? lol what a loser.” Yeah, that was the cool things to do, rant on ravers. Now? “OMG I LOVE AVIICI AND TAKING DRUGS!” Cool? No.
I don’t hate on newcomers, but I strongly urge and beg for people to learn about every genre within EDM. Everyone spits EDM out like its a genre itself, but people who say EDM usually just refer to this new breed of “electro house”
Oh, and please leave the stripper clothing to strippers. You aren’t self expressing if you look like a sex addict whore…. unless thats exactly what you are.
/end rant
If you’re calling out the elitists and saying they are contributing to the ‘downfall’ – you’re being judgemental too, which completely negates and defeats the purpose of this article. And this is NOT just in the EDM industry, but in every single one. When a term like PLUR is bastardized to such an extent you know it has lost its purpose. Just thought this article was not thought through in the best way possible.
Matthew Meadows, seriously dude where have you been for the 15 years!? Elitism has been around for that long! They’re called keyboard warriors or House fans that are so consumed of constantly talking about how House wasnt what it was in the 80s! This won’t effect the scene, the Deep House fans will go to Deep house parties the Kandi kids will carry on listening to Garrix
Good article. These new kids unfortunately won’t see the love the scene once had. The welcoming embrace has been lost.
Goddammit. Thank You Matt…
Props bruv.
Rebecca from EDMSouthFlorida here. Yeah, I wasn’t there back in the 90’s (I am more of an 05- present day girl. elitest? maybe.) but I know from doing a lot of research on those days for my thesis, that they valued more then just PLUR. They had certain ideals. They created Temporary Autonomous Zones where there was no social hierarchy, and many of them did not allow labels in from the outside world and it was free (kinda like burning man). Now when, you go put a DJ on a stage like a rock star, charge a bunch of kids money out the ass, have Heinekin sponsor it, the news filming it, cops patrolling it, fewer and fewer fresh sounds coming out. all the outfits everyone is wearing are mass produced and people are gettin rich off all of this… Its kind of the opposite of the world they would create back then.. I get what you are saying, but you just aren’t addressing everything in the picture. But here I am, to educate you. . I will set an example for my fellow “elitists”. Feel free to ask whatever questions you like. I will answer. To the best of my ability. By the way… I would also like to point out that these are not all nerds and outcasts in the rave scene anymore. I mean, how many sorority girls does it take to crack a glowstick? JK. You guys don’t bother me. To me, its just about the music. The music is everything. Welcome.
I have an EDM Blog in a country that just started accepting dance music. According to this post i am an elitist but also one problem is that the ignorant listeners to put time into discovering new genres of music. They just stick with the same shitty music
i may think like an “EDM Elitist” but i welcome anyone to the scene and i am not afraid to show some new people, some new music that they currently havent heard of. and i am PLUR %100 and i never judge, but it does bring my vibe down when alot of the new ravers can judge the others that arent into mainstream music and alot of them are bringing the bad vibes, i remember my first edc 5 years ago and PLUR was strong and had meaning, now that alot of mainstreamers are part of the scene the plur vibe is soon gonna be gone. i still see it now and then but not as often as it should be. and not to sound ignorant or anything but i also think there is to much trap at events these days, like honestly i went to nocturnal this year and i heard nothing but trap. and in my opinion trap is just rap without the lyrics, so who knows maybe too much of that music could possibly be bringing in a negative crowd, just saying. And i think there should be more trance at raves, because we shouldn’t let that scene die out because of mainstream music, i’m honestly seeing less and less trance DJ’s at events lately and pretty much replaced by more mainstream artist, i mean honestly guys all of the sets sound the same, i pay enough money to come and here edm and i get like 10 of the same songs played repeatedly by different artists through the entire night, i mean yeah the people rolling aren’t gonna notice because all they do is change the beginning of the song and then it drops…. oh would you hear that! same thing i just heard that last dj at the other stage play! except that last dude was gonna drop animals but instead it when into this! whooooooooa! why i’m also stating that there should be more trance is because you don’t get what everyone else is playing. you actually get to hear something different! and what is funny especially when i go to EDC i constantly hear people shit talking trance and the people that go and listen to it! yet when the person that says that pops that magical pill, hmmmmm i wonder where they are at night? oh! look at that the shit talkers ended up at the trance stage! i wonder what happened there??? i just think there should be less mainstream in the events. atleast go 50/50 with the music go %50 mainstream music and %50 the “underground” EDM music and i think that events would be better off 🙂
a comment from an old fart….loved the style of music since the late 80″s. the concept of plur that the new generation of electronic music fans have created is a beautiful idea and i wish it were that simple. with edm becoming so mainstream it has become “big business” now. the really cool local dj’s still have their loyal fans who show up for any/all local venues that occur, but the fans seem to abhor the big names who ” sold out” and went for the big money. it seems it’s a win/lose situation for some of the artists. stay small and local and keep your fans, or go big and go for the bucks. kind of sad really. personally i think the problem these days is the small percentage of attendees who are only in the scene to hit on the underage girls and the ones scoring big providing all and any kind of recreational drugs you might want. gives the solid fans a bad name and keeps some of the venues from allowing them back. if you can’t get your buzz from the music there’s another reason you came and has nothing to do with plur, more to do with you needing a crutch to bandaid your personal problems. people throw the phrase plur around too much without feeling or knowing the actual concept.
How about you shut the entire fuck up, today the OP was a piece of shit. You can start by not calling the music we love “EDM.” Or calling us “EDM” elitists, we don’t even fuck with that acronym. Techno is Techno, House is House, Trance is Trance and they all came before that dumbass acronym. Also, fuck the kids at MainStage, same type of in-crowd kids that would make fun of kids that listened to electronica. Fuck off.
Let me just say this how nice it is to finally address the real problem. This entire movement was based upon equality and that included the music. Sadly that hardly exists any longer not due to the newer generations but due to like every great genre of music the original passions becoming about a style we constantly think we need to protect. So ill totally agree with you on this but it is equally our fault as a whole for forgetting why this way of expression even was created. We need to return to our roots in mind, heart and voice forget the rest. If we lose ourselves we not lose our music but evrything else.
Oiiiiiiiiiii.. opinions are like assholes, everyone has got one. People, please.. all this drama, why? Just stop, breathe, and listen.. dance, trance, and rave the night away. If it’s good for one, it’s good for all. Where is the peace? Where is the love? The Tranquility? Where are the old days? Fuck the new world! Bring the old one back?! Mainstream garbage….. feel it in your heart, feel it in your soul. Live it and breathe it… rave on!!!
Making fun of Avicii fans is essential what are you crazy? That’s like saying in a Rock music forum that you’re a One Direction fan. Avicii is the McDonalds of dance music. Besides if people say they’re going to see Avicii, this individual is on lots of drugs because Avicii is hiding/dying or something right now.
I agree with mathew. Instead of bashing out the new comers teach them what electronic music it’s all about. Show them the different styles it has, the different DJs that there are. So if they like avicii, Calvin Harris , guetta, diplo, Dillon Francis, etc. We all start somewhere. We go to festivals and raves for the music, this is what unite us.
It’s all about the music people. Why have we all forgotten?? You like who you like I like who I like and a party is a party no matter what you call it. Get over yourselves
Rave is never mainstream, EDM was never rave. Im the fucking purist you speak of… 😛 EDM has no communite to speak of. Its not like the 90s House scene, the 2000 Psy trance scene or german hard trance.
Most fitting track for this article (that I agree with 100%)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouyC28ffPjQ
I always make a distinction between “raves” (events) and festivals. There’s no negative connotation for me; one just last multiple days.
Elitism has been on and off in the rave/ EM scene since the late 90 ‘s. It will come again, but it won’t kill the scene. The scene will live on.
i LOVE RAVES!! Just tap into the good vibes, LOGIN to EDM 🙂
i say festival because I think rave has a bad connotation.. does this make me an elitist?..
I’m so elite, I’m underunderground.
Well said Bermillo
good post
i love it