The following article is part of an eight part series exploring my thoughts on the state of electronic music in the current decade compared to the 1990's and 1980's.
--------------------------------------------------------------Perhaps the number one reason for the state of electronic music as it exists today is because of the artists. In short, I think we have become lazy, complacent and shallow. We have been presented with one of the rarest opportunities in the history of music: the personal computer and the internet. We have the cheapest tools ever and the largest audience possible and we have failed to take our genre to the next level.The very problem with the artists could be the sheer fact of the masses now involved in music creation. Just about any shmoe can go out, get a computer, download some software and make music. While this is fantastic on many levels it is also horrific to the artisan community on other levels. As with any mass effect in culture, mediocrity is the mainstay of the masses. In this respect we have a dual effect pressing down upon the electronic music community to create predictable mediocre music. More and more artists from the mass population, which have mass culture aesthetics for music, are entering the music creation scene. Their aim, as artists, is to perpetuate the status quo of the current sound, the sound which they like at the moment. While more and more people are coming to the table to play, new ideas are not following to that same table. Those masses that are entering the field are bringing the same ideas as currently exist creating the mass media effect of a self perpetuating cycle of recycled music folding in upon itself. Case in point: how many artists online have you heard say; "I just want to make banging dance tunes!!!" Well making a banging dance tune is great and all, but what do banging dance tunes do for the growth, innovation and maturity of the scene and its music? Many readers at this point may think I am a pretentious elitist ass, but I ask you, especially the producers out there to think for a moment about the reason you make music. I don't expect everyone to go out and change the world or make a new sound with their music, but if all you want to do is "Make a banging dance track", why donÂ?t you try to create a fresh new sound or idea rather then post online asking people "how to I re-create this Ferry Corsten lead for my banging dance track?"Other Chapters in this writing:
.:Part I:The Decade That Should Have Been:.
.:Part II:Where Electronic Music Was:.
.:Part III:Who is to Blame?:.
.:Part IV: The Sound:.
.:Part V: The Tools:.
.:Part VI: Internet:.
.:Part VII: The Artists:.
.:Part VIII: The Birth of the Renaissance:.Stay Tuned for Part VIII: The Need for a Renaissance
Tags: The Electronic Renaissance Part VII: The Artists Article
--------------------------------------------------------------Perhaps the number one reason for the state of electronic music as it exists today is because of the artists. In short, I think we have become lazy, complacent and shallow. We have been presented with one of the rarest opportunities in the history of music: the personal computer and the internet. We have the cheapest tools ever and the largest audience possible and we have failed to take our genre to the next level.The very problem with the artists could be the sheer fact of the masses now involved in music creation. Just about any shmoe can go out, get a computer, download some software and make music. While this is fantastic on many levels it is also horrific to the artisan community on other levels. As with any mass effect in culture, mediocrity is the mainstay of the masses. In this respect we have a dual effect pressing down upon the electronic music community to create predictable mediocre music. More and more artists from the mass population, which have mass culture aesthetics for music, are entering the music creation scene. Their aim, as artists, is to perpetuate the status quo of the current sound, the sound which they like at the moment. While more and more people are coming to the table to play, new ideas are not following to that same table. Those masses that are entering the field are bringing the same ideas as currently exist creating the mass media effect of a self perpetuating cycle of recycled music folding in upon itself. Case in point: how many artists online have you heard say; "I just want to make banging dance tunes!!!" Well making a banging dance tune is great and all, but what do banging dance tunes do for the growth, innovation and maturity of the scene and its music? Many readers at this point may think I am a pretentious elitist ass, but I ask you, especially the producers out there to think for a moment about the reason you make music. I don't expect everyone to go out and change the world or make a new sound with their music, but if all you want to do is "Make a banging dance track", why donÂ?t you try to create a fresh new sound or idea rather then post online asking people "how to I re-create this Ferry Corsten lead for my banging dance track?"Other Chapters in this writing:
.:Part I:The Decade That Should Have Been:.
.:Part II:Where Electronic Music Was:.
.:Part III:Who is to Blame?:.
.:Part IV: The Sound:.
.:Part V: The Tools:.
.:Part VI: Internet:.
.:Part VII: The Artists:.
.:Part VIII: The Birth of the Renaissance:.Stay Tuned for Part VIII: The Need for a Renaissance
Tags: The Electronic Renaissance Part VII: The Artists Article