Sarah Shellam
“The problem with EDM blogs/journalism”
http://blog.symphonicdistribution.com/2015/05/top-electronic-music-blogs-by-ranking
EDM, electronic dance music, has rapidly been growing and gaining popularity among teens, young adults and even parents all across the world. Although this music has been around since the early 90’s, raves were happening in secret warehouses and were kept more of an underground subculture. When electronic dance music really hit the surface in 2011, everyone wanted to talk about it, and this led to the rise of EDM blogs and EDM journalists. But, many hidden issue came along with this.
One problem EDM media is facing is that, back when EDM was emerging any person who was into the music could create a blog and post it, weather it was true or not. Then these blogs became big. Because there were so many people that were just then discovering electronic music, often times those posts would be from fans, not trained journalists. “This was occurring at a time when print media was nose-diving and anyone with enough willpower could hop on WordPress and call themselves a news journalist,” says EDM.com, one of the original EDM websites. People that thought they knew a lot about DJ’s or certain sub-genres, were creating content that was most of the time opinion, rather than fact.
Another issue that created a problem with EDM blogs, is the fact that because these blogs were just starting out, PR companies worked the system. PR companies for DJ’s, festival, venues, etc. would get these young, naïve journalists to cover stories, without a purpose. Almost all of the time the journalist would say yes, because they are excited to meet a famous DJ, not cover a news article. “You’ve fallen for the classic “interview for the sake of an interview” marketing tactic,” says Patrick Shannon, a writer for EDM.com. Most of the time this ended up in free press for that specific DJ or venue or festival, and the blog was just fluff. This has been happening more and more. The EDM blogging community has become just like a weekly tabloid. Instead of hearing real news, like the fact that SFX, one of the biggest EDM production companies, filed for bankruptcy on Feb 1st, websites like YourEDM.com and DancingAstronaut.com have been putting out almost all promotional titles for certain DJs.
Now that EDM has become a widely accepted genre, more and more people have become very knowledgeable about the subjects involving electronic music, the culture and raving. People are starting to call out these blogs, so hopefully in the near future, EDM blogs will produce quality content and not just what DJ is having a baby and which two DJ’s are in a cat fight.
Bibliography:
Convenience, Walmer. “DEAR YOUREDM.COM, YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM – WALMER CONVENIENCE.” WALMER CONVENIENCE. 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
http://walmerconvenience.com/2015/09/10/dear-edm-com-youre-part-of-the-problem/
Shannon, Patrick. “{{ Meta.title | EncodeHtml }}.” The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artist Releases. EDM.com, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
http://edm.com/articles/2015-08-27/EDM-Media-Failing
Waltman, John. “Top Electronic Music Blogs By Ranking | Symphonic Distribution.” Symphonic Distribution. 14 May 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
http://blog.symphonicdistribution.com/2015/05/top-electronic-music-blogs-by-ranking/
Original Link to 1st Picture:
2nd Picture:
(screenshot from http://www.youredm.com/news/page/2/) (“News |.” Your EDM. 16 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.)
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