Old McDonald by Martin Garrix and the Present State of EDM
Ultra Music Festival: it's synonymous with mollied-out fluffy ravers making love to trees, casually urinating on drunken bystanders, and the bro generation throwing themselves around to an endless onslaught of Dutch DJs dropping banger after banger. To understand UMF, you must understand that it's just a symptom of a much larger ailment ever present in EDM and in the music itself.
The history? Well, American masses were introduced to EDM predominately through the pop stars, and quickly jumped in to become a part of the new musical movement. It was rock and roll to the ears of millions of disillusioned recession-era millenials who had no money and no job to turn to. For many, it was the glimmering hope of wealth, fame, and hedonism.
But EDM came too fast, and with it came some growing pains. Analogous to dating for three days and moving in, it has alienated many people involved. This new world where vocal-less, formulaic music could thrive had promise, but with that promise, came a certain social responsibility to uphold the integrity of that music. The Beatport top-100 has failed. Mainstream media hasn't really alerted the masses to the reality that we live in a world of carbon copycat artists, who couldn't care less about contributing to the pool of timeless music on the planet. They simply take an existing formula, rework it slightly (or pay their ghostwriter to), and in the fashion of Martin Garrix - let their label spin it by suggesting bigger artists contributed to it.
And while the profits have kept rolling in for Spinnin' Records; there is an undeniable lack of lasting-power in much of their lineup. It turns out all it really takes for Rome to fall is awareness, and that awareness is growing. Deadmau5 understands this copycat culture, and while I know he's likely just being Joel Zimmerman, his trolling speaks to the current state of things. Headlining Ultra, and replacing the Animals drop with "Old McDonald" stirred up a lot of dust. Whether intentional or not, he was whispering something to us subliminally.
"Animals is what this industry has become."
Deadmau5 isn't the troll we need, but the troll we deserve. Only time will tell, and I'm confident that a wave of incredible futuristic styles will roll in like a “Tsunami” and flush out this dilapidated state of repeat, cash in, repeat again.
This leads me to two final questions:
When will people quit being trolled by copycat DJs, and demand music with artistic integrity for a change? Is "EDM" just a bad joke?
titsay
romaincrisis
vaporwave
stormborns
