Counterpoint: Why EDM Isn't Fully Accepted

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While the original point is right, where there's no real room for seven minute EDM tracks on pop radio, it's a silly point. There's no room for ANY seven minute track on pop radio. Plus, since EDM has risen, the tracks that are really popping off are normally fitting into the three or four minute track lengths.

And the flipside is, the majority of the EDM that IS getting on mainstream radio are tracks that feature vocals, ala Rihanna and Calvin Harris, or any number of dance remixes that get into rotation. Even in the UK, you're more likely to hear a dubstep track on Radio 1 when it has some kind of vocal element in it. It's the same reason why Jazz records don't end up in regular rotation - that stuff isn't designed for radio airplay in the first place.

You could realisitcally insert "rap" or "r&b" into this argument and get the same results. Of COURSE EDM artists tend to attempt to make it big(ger) with the use of artists that are already established... which is the same thing rappers do by paying for big-name features to hop on their singles or remixes. It's the name of the game - people will consume what seems familiar, and if that means Calvin Harris doesn't get mainstream love until he collaborates with Rihanna, so be it.

The funny part about the "festivals" commentary is that this is just how festivals work. The idea of a music festival is normally to get a large number of musical acts together, giving people a serious bang for their buck. That normally means music that has to appease to concert-goers of different tastes. Why would a festival planner attempt to book acts that will play drastically-different sets as opposed to DJ sets full of the biggest acts/tracks/remixes? That's just silly.

OK, so EDM's growth has caused "club gigs" for big-name DJs to be considered "intimate affairs." THAT'S why EDM isn't being accepted? Would the Rolling Stones accept club gigs, after making so much doing stadium tours? That's backwards thinking, and hardly represents why EDM wouldn't be fully accepted, especially when you consider that the mainstream music media knows nothing of these instances... and might actually look down on a so-called "big name EDM DJ" doing nothing but small gigs.

So you spend your entire article arguing why EDM won't get accepted, only to then state how tethered the artists are to their mainstream collaborators? If anything, EDM is one of the ONLY scenes where a producer can start his own label, book his own shows, produce and engineer his album, and play press agent all at once. It's a pretty self-sustaining scene, and while the nature of the beast is the use of pop stars to collaborate with, they end up being points on a resume that will get them bookings outside of the "intimate affair" clubs across the world. Fix up.