The subjective nature of electronic music (deep thoughts)

[Saleem Razvi]

I am always my worst critic. Sometimes I wish I could listen through someone else’s ears and hear one of my tracks just once. Beyond the power of persuasion from marketing, large labels and DJs, music is becoming more and more subjective. With DJs all across the globe submitting their charts and buying dance music they fuel the growing subjective nature of music. Music will always be a source of debate between listeners, but with the rise of independent labels, music is being evaluated the way it truly should be, by the listener.

So what makes good dance music? Being charted either by a DJ or by the number of tracks you sell? If that is the case then we are using the same standard as all mass art. Do people even really evaluate and dissect dance music or is it just a beta test for your next gig? We all know that sometimes what hits the charts, is musically speaking not the best track, but people like it. I am not saying by any stretch of the imagination that I create some type of high art with my own music, but I challenge you to go beyond the big labels and charts, explore music and there is always something that will surprise you.

With a playlist being a trade secret nowadays, and more and more DJs becoming producers, will the quality continue to rise or will we be stuck in a slowly rising market evaluating sales and charts? Create art by evaluating art first. But this begs the question, are producers just using a skill to make a formulaic piece of music or are they pouring themselves into each work? Only you can figure that one out, after you yourself have applied your subjective powers to evaluate the electronic dance music that sits in your digital crate.

[lmc1dj]

All i will say is your not alone on your thoughts-
i used to let it bother me,
but then realised its just the general sheep of the world that follow the charts-
i grew up thinking that the scene was about getting respect from other djs /producers for not selliing out as it were and keeping the underground movement moving along in the direction away from media and record sales-
how wrong was i.
the thing that really gripes me tho is all these wannabe dj/producers who think its cool to be a dj /producer by paying somebody 350 quid to make them a tune then go round on social networking sites giving it tho whole listen to my tune n check the video of a certain dj playing it,,ahaha,,,,
that is not what the scene is about.
maybe iam just old in my ways and hold values n believes regarding the scene close to my heart.
i would never sell out.
i do it for the love of music-
not for the ten minute look at me iam famous nonsense.
you sure have opened a can of worms now boyo.:eek:

[Kristoph]

So what makes good dance music?

<hippie rant>
For me it's the moment where all the hairs on your body stand on end, and you're stood looking out over a crowd of people all feeling / thinking the same thing: "this is fucking awesome".

That would be the "epic rave" portion of dance music anyway - to me, what makes good dance music is also about the groove that kicks in that you just can't help but move to, which builds and builds, and drops with 1000 sweaty ravers pumping their fists in the air jersey shore style... (except in a good way, not looking like a bunch of dingbats)

</hippie rant>

[saleemrazvi]

always appreciate the incite, and yes the crowd, the listener will always be the last critic

[elnegrld]

The music could be called a good one when people would just love to forget everything listening to it. Music is in-fact that should help us forget everything. The technology has provided such a boost to the music industry that the music today has evolved and it seems that it would get even bigger and better, but there are some limitations which are to be dealt with before reaching this situation and that's not going to be an easy task. After all it is the audience/listeners who have to decide the fate of the music they listened to.