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25.05.12 MusicWeek 13


OPINION IS TODAY’S MUSIC AND CULTURE BETTER THAN DANCE’S GLORY YEARS? Pete Tong


“It was more of a youth culture movement in the late Eighties. It was the first time people had heard house music,


had experienced dedicated clubs, saw the power of the DJ and that anyone (me) had gone on Radio 1 and played to that scene. In 2012 it’s global and the money spent and generated is off the scale.”


JASON ELLIS, POSITIVA


“It’s bigger, better and broader than the scene we had in the past. The continued success and creativity and general quality


of music produced at the moment is way beyond anything we’ve seen before.”


launched IMS five years ago, dance music was at rock bottom, but uniquely, the scene communicated with its audience directly. Today’s [wider music industry] is all about artist-to-fan engagement through Twitter, Facebook etc. Electronic music has always operated this way - we embraced the web first, and we’ve continued to innovate.” If dance music’s chatty community were a


perfect match for the sharing and social possibilities born by the internet, it wasn’t quite prepared for how global the conversation was about to become. That Swedish House Mafia Coachella set last


month – replete with fireworks, explosive light show, confetti and a pogo-ing topless crowd- was a perfect microcosm of America finally ‘getting’ dance music. Now, the country loves the scene so much, it’s even rebranded it with a handy Yankee acronym: EDM. “There was some quite cynical comments in the


US media ahead of Coachella about the number of electronic artists on the bill,” recalls Jason Ellis, who’s run Positiva for over a decade – and now counts SHM and David Guetta amongst the label’s artists. “The reaction afterwards was incredible. The


penny dropped for the broader US media. A traditional rock festival was swept away by the electronic wave.” Pete Tong adds: “Dance music’s sense of


community is unique. Despite the phenomenal impact the internet and social media has had on the way music is consumed, it’s only made the need for live congregation at EDM events stronger – that’s a major factor in the current US explosion.” Broadcaster and DJ


Zane Lowe has become


one of electronic music’s most famous converts, after making his name in the


world of indie. He says that UK festivals could learn much from the risks taken by Coachella. “The mainstream UK festivals have missed the


boat on electronic music this year,” he says. “I’d like to think bass culture and key newer artists will be given that shot in the UK in 2013.” Although Uncle Sam could claim to be there ‘at


the birth’ of electronic music – not least with the pairing of Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer, who sadly passed away last week – a slight wariness exists amongst some Brits who remember the US’s ignorance of the scene’s early Nineties high points. “This whole explosion in America is quite strange,” says Wall Of Sound founder Mark Jones. “Back in the day, they all said [affects American


accent]: “This is not real music.” Dance never really broke outside of the


DAVID DOLLIMORE, MINISTRY OF SOUND


BEN TURNER, IMS


JHO OAKLEY


“When were the glory years again? I’m too young to remember... ask Mike Pickering! Was that when Brandon Block stormed the stage at the Brit Awards?”


“It’s a lot friendlier! There’s an amazing vibe at the moment. It's great to see more females out there as well – it


“To me these are the glory years again. It’s amazing to see people I’ve grown up with on a dancefloor lead the charge into America.”


LEFT Skrillex: The dubstep superstar’s fanbase has been nutured online


wasn’t long ago that I’d go to a dubstep or drum&bass night and the ratio would be nine guys to one girl – now it’s approaching 50/50.”


club scene in New York, San Francisco or LA. It developed in Chicago and Detroit, but most of the US music industry didn’t recognise it. Nothing was ever played on the radio. “Then when we went there with Propellerheads


[in the mid-Nineties], it was like: “Wait? Is that a guitar? Are they, like, live drums? Oh my God. This is real music!” Certain people did well and the majors opened their dance divisions. And then they closed them. But guess what? All it takes is David Guetta producing a Black Eyed Peas record and now all the US ever talks about is electronic music - today there are raves in Buttfuck, Arkansas and everywhere else. He continues: “Generally, I’m happy it’s finally


dropped in the US. I do worry whether or not people are actually, properly listening to the music - and about the potential commercialism of certain things.” The fear of big business sweeping into the


‘EDM’ scene isn’t lost on other members of the dance music elite. Pete Tong wrote a famous Music Week editorial last month warning the sector against signing too many megabucks deals - remembering when “clubs, labels and magazines closed” as “money generated couldn’t sustain the huge infrastructure and global investment”. Positiva’s Ellis says: “That was a very interesting


LEFT Swedish House Mafia: The group appear on EMI’s dance roster alongside David Guetta, Eric Prydz, DeadMau5 and Japanese Popstars


comment, and Pete’s got a point. We’re all a bit wary of the land-grabbers and the bandwagon- jumpers. But the key thing now compared to 10 years ago is that the artists and producers have got their houses in order. Most [artists] have their own labels, they produce their own music and they have good teams around them. “It feels like a much more stable foundation on


which to build and potentially turn [dance’s success] into something like what hip-hop achieved in the US in the late Eighties and Nineties.” One of dance music’s most legendary names,


Ministry Of Sound – still proudly independent in 2012 – shares Tong’s mistrust of those looking to make a quick buck from electronic music’s current boon. “Our constant goals are signing and working


with great music and artists, and to develop great dance music talent - regardless of current popularity,” says MoS’s UK MD David Dollimore. “The reason dance has become so exposed in 2012 is that people have got wise to the fact that there is ‘gold in them hills’ - more people are just trying to get a piece of the action.” Not everyone is quite as cautious when it comes to the prospect of a cash injection from those


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