DeadMau5 has been doing three things as of late. Taking famous people out for coffee in his Ferrari (with Zedd, Pharrell, Russell Peters, Miss Detroit and Beamz) blowing people’s minds dropping tune after unreleased tune on his Soundcloud page, and making pointed criticisms of the fast-changing industry he’s a giant in. He drops a few excellent tweets & makes the claim that a DJ can’t get signed without having a hit, as labels don’t pick anyone up who doesn’t have a hit, so no one like DJ Sneak or other true DJs would be hired.
I still think Nic Fanciulli was the last DJ to make it as a DJ. Now it’s just a buncha producers like me who pretend to be DJ’s.
— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) September 30, 2013
my take on the current state of EDM
I think EDM, as it stands now, can easily be summed up into 3 parts… Product, art and execution. And its really just a mater of how all 3 are balanced.
some artists are all about the product… some are about the art… and some are about the execution… but more often than not, you’ll find the more successful artists finding their own balance between 2 or all 3.
Product being what the people want or what works in the hype state of EDM as it is whatever month we’re in… or whatevers making the rounds on the allmighty hitmaker guideline of the beatport top 10. the “sick drops yo” for all the kids. the brand, the huge selling 3 note wonder track that “SOUNDS PHAT LOUD YO” Art need not apply… im sure if all edm artists were so inclined, we’d all be able to shit out “HEY THIS KICK IS ALSO A BASSLINE” with one blip product until the cows come home, scare them off with some loud edgy shit, and then make more till they come back again. And im sure some do… and if they don’t theyll hire someone to do it. whatever.
of course you have the art, the “i dont give a fuck if it doesnt sell at all, this is what i want to do for fun / passion / props from the coolkid community / whatever.” …. and execution being that awkward process of making the product… and running around to dem massive EDM raves all the kids are talking about these days to showcase their product / art… so they can sustain their art and or further execution.
so… im sure like any other genre of popular music today… you can either do what you want, do what you must, or do what you can.
His Tumblr post fired off at the same time with some profound (and profoundly annoyed) truth that I think we need to meditate on. The Tumblr goes into detail about what he thinks people are in it for and how those things differentiate itself. He makes a great case for why the scene is the way that it is, and leaves us with one of the more profound things I’ve heard recently: “You can either do what you want, do what you must, or do what you can.” In music as in life it seems. Kudos to DeadMau5 for treating his fans like adults and sharing his thoughts. Can’t wait to hear more.
