When a Deadmau5 rant turns into a Twitter debate; then came along Paris Hilton's DJ debut...

It all started a few days ago when Deadmau5 wrote a tumblr entry called 'We all hit play.'

...my “skills” and other PRODUCERS skills shine where it needs to shine… in the goddamned studio, and on the fucking releases. thats what counts...

Various DJs chimed in on Twitter with A-Trak providing my favourite response: 

For a counterpoint view to Deadmau5's thoughts read this post by EDMsnob.


Out of this debate came a terrific piece by Dancing Astronaut on the whole issue called 'Dance music has gone mainstream, but it doesn't have to sell out'

What worries me is not that DJs are simply “pressing play,” but that they’re pressing play on the same tracks in the same order night after night after night. There’s new music being released at a breakneck pace, but many of the big name DJs are still spinning the same freaking sets every time. They are playing the same bootlegs, making the same transitions, and delivering the same exact shtick every day of the week.

Great point. This should be apparent for all of those EDM fans that have paid any attention to track listings of major DJs in the past 6 months. With all of this technology available to the modern day DJ this cookie cutter approach to live shows should no longer be acceptable.

Sometimes I wish that the EDM scene could look to the comedy world for the way forward out of this stagnation. Louis C.K is one of the biggest comedy acts in the business and he's almost universally praised by his peers for his work ethic. Louis C.K is famous for literally throwing out all of his old jokes and creating a solid new hour of material every year. When developing this material he is known to refine his jokes in New York comedy clubs until he gets it just right. Sometimes he bombs on stage and that's okay because what's important is that he's constantly challenging himself to create something new. DJs shouldn't be afraid to take a little risk to give fans something new to listen and dance to instead of simply sticking to what has worked in the past.

What happens if EDM continues its current trajectory? Well DJ Sneak offers some insight by using the current state of Hip Hop as an example in this interview:


I leave you with this clip of Paris Hilton's DJ debut in Brazil:

No comment necessary as the video speaks for itself. Deadmau5 couldn't have timed his post any better.