In a recent interview with The Sun, ex-Swedish House Mafia member Axwell joined the likes of Wolfgang Gartner, Diplo, and many other producers with his latest comments regarding the electronic music scene. While speaking his mind on the generic, overused sound of EDM in this day and age, he said:
“People consume [music] like McDonald’s a little bit, like download a song and throw it away the next day. That’s a bit like how music has become so we have to fight against it.”
“I think the main problem with how the music is sounding cheap sometimes, is that it is cheap. People are downloading it for free. People don’t have time or the funds to go into a real studio for 12 months and produce and record instruments and everything. People don’t have the financials to do that, so instead they are just sitting there with their laptops in their bedrooms and just saying, ‘this is good enough, this is good enough, let’s get it out there.’”
It may be pushing it comparing an EDM track to an item on the dollar menu, but Axwell certainly has a point in what he’s getting at. I’ve been hearing the same concerns about the state of EDM for months now, and even remember back when it was all just a few unsatisfied fans complaining about the Beatport Top 10 sounding too similar. Nowadays, no matter where you turn there’s a track mocking the generic electro house sound or a big name producer speaking about the demise of the electronic music scene. Nobody knows the fate of electronic dance music for certain, but whether it ends up taking over the world or turning into something comparable to McDonalds, it will be changing right before our eyes every waking day.
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Source: The Sun
actually, I use a desktop…
I don’t think it’s fair to assume that bedroom producers are always less serious or less talented than those who write music in a studio, but that seems to be the trend. his point about it being disposable is spot on though. especially with all this generic big room sounding the same, you can’t have a set with a bunch of almost identical songs so the old generic tracks become unusable and are played out before they are even officially released.
Well, I guess I listen to just “good enough” music, but Axwell still amazes me with his creations.
I’ll still never eat McDonals though.
He pretty much saying that people are cheating themselves by going to McDonald’s similar to downloading samples and making it their own thinking its good enough.
Downloading music is nothing like ordering from the dollar menu… ordering from the dollar menu is a dollar more expensive! lololol
I started my edm scene 2 years ago. I got into it ’cause I was tired of the formal club scene in my neck of the woods; rude people/don’t know how to party. n my friend showed me an edc preview n I was like “that’s a party”. I think I got into the scene for all the rite reasons, the plur n most importantly the music. I love that the sounds of music can b expressed to the infinity in edm; no limits, music for all. edm showed me the true potential of wat music can do, n that’s wat I stick around for.
um…hello? Swedish House Mafia are part of the reason the scene is such shite right now! I love how these producers get in there, make their shit ton of money, and then want to come out with some “things suck now” statements….when THEY helped make it that way! SHM was part of the fucking problem. Cookie cutter, generic, mainstream pop electronic music. Fuck EDM…i can’t wait till this whole thing explodes and people go back to listening to quality music…REAL house, REAL techno. Its not like SHM were out there breaking the rules and innovating….They sounded just like the rest of the crap in the scene. Fuck that dude.
Uh yes, I’ll have a McWomp Deluxe, two McDrops, and a large synth please.
90% of these comments translate to “I was listening to this stuff before it was cool.”
I thin the less important stuff here is SHM. You are totally missing the point of this.
I don’t about axwell but I don’t throw my macca’s away the next day.
uhmm… I agree with Joel Zimmerman and that the genre is too oversaturated by people who just want to make meaningless music fast, music should mean something, and to a lot of people, its just a stepping stone to making money…
Still listening to john digweed and sasha from back in the early 2000’s
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If the state of EDM is comparable to McDonalds – Axell is one of the highshool kids flippin the burgers.
Get the fuck outta here with this shit. This is one of the last people on the planet that should be talking about commercialization or the mainstreaming of electronic music.
Like the SHM or not, you have to respect them…They have been doing it for years, way before this whole recent EDM thing came about. Also, as a DJ who spends a lot of time in Clubs and around this music, I have to say Axwell’s stuff is quite well produced and far more advanced than most of the Prog/Electro stuff out there. But I always say in this industry…live and let live. You don’t like someone’s music, don’t buy it or go to their show. But no need to tear others down