cathedrals of destruction [rant]
“Dance music is going primetime.”
The sentiment isn’t exactly breaking news, but this statement isn’t a metaphor. The Fox network is launching an award show for electronic music. The painfully literal opening statement of the Hollywood Reporter release as published on billboard.com really does say it all, Spawned as a safe haven for outsiders, misfits, and social deviants, electronic music has been commandeered by the very enforcers of normative culture that dance music’s pioneers sought refuge from. To those who have been paying attention, this dynamic shift is obvious. But the irony of Fox’s power move can’t be ignored. Electronic dance music has turned on itself.
Thanks to technological advancements in music production, streaming, and sharing — as well as the explosive EDM phenomenon and seductive festival culture — electronic music is no longer a niche market. It’s a goldmine. The Fox broadcasting company is responsible for mega-mainstream award shows including the Emmy’s, Teen Choice Awards, and Miss Universe. One can only assume that the event will have as much depth and dimension as a competition for the universe’s sexiest women — with contenders hailing only from Earth.
In this case, planet Earth is populated by the bolded names printed at the top of festival lineup after bland, corporate festival lineup. The Hollywood Reporter announcement assures that the event will “spotlight the biggest artists and executives in electronic music”. The two categories, of course, are synonymous.
In 1979, an anti-disco protest combusted into riot at the White Sox stadium in Chicago, effectively out-staging the double-header that played host to the organized effort. At the root of the anti-disco sentiment was rampant homophobia: disco music was composed as the party soundtrack to a marginalized and abused queer community. The slogan “Disco Sucks!” was an insipid double entendre hurled as a homophobic slur. But dance music persevered below the mainstream radar for the decades to come, upholding an alternative party scene for those uninspired by — or unwelcome to — the straight path.
32 years later, the home of house music welcomed Spring Awakening Music Festival to Soldier Field — the 65,000+ capacity stadium for the Chicago Bears. The annual event has featured performers like Skrillex, Diplo, Tiesto, Bassnectar, and Pretty Lights. The ensuing chaos rivals 1979’s riot in numbers, but not tenacity. With ticket prices nearing $300, Spring Awakening is a retreat for the priviledged young fans of EDM who feel oppressed, seemingly, by sobriety rather than sexuality.
It is true that American society’s stance on sexuality has flipped dramatically since 1979. But the progressive ancestral roots of modern EDM and festival culture are unknown to most of its participants. They do come for the party: the mesmerizing light shows, uniformly catchy moments of dance floor bliss, and, naturally, the uninhibited access to otherwise illegal chemical thrills. Like the disco pioneers of the 70’s, they are attracted to the sense of belonging that the culture promises.
But this fulfillment is hollow. American sociologist George Ritzer coined the term “cathedrals of consumption” to describe the conglomeration of commodities encompassed by shopping malls, sporting events, amusement parks, resorts, even museums. Today’s corporatized music festivals epitomize the capitalistic phenomenon. Camping passes, shuttles from sponsored hotels, fashion, and food are profitable addendums to what was once dance culture’s main attraction: the music. The freedom to indulge in activities illegal in the outside world is expected as part of the package, adding yet another market to the events’ economy. Participants in EDM culture cite the utopian experience as their take-away from ticket costs. These euphoric weekends are marketed as an anti-reality: a cultural ideal reserved for those who are willing to pay the price. Festival environments ring with declarations of social change. The naive suggestion of “escape from the system” is stomped by the weekend’s finale. At the dull dawn of reality, festival goers anticipate returning to their cubicles to support the same system so they might afford their next visit to heaven.
In these cathedrals of consumption, electronic performers are the preachers, consumerism is the doctrine, and exploitative capitalism is religion. Another social theorist, Max Weber, crafted an appropriately dismal phrase for the age-old construct: the “iron cage of bureaucracy”.
If anything, Fox’s capitalization of the mass fever feels overdue. The entertainment industry is just as fond of the EDM hysteria as its followers. Like in on-screen media, the highest accolades are reserved for actors. But the network’s newest award show casts them as legitimate artists. When the credits roll on the production, hit DJ personalities are revealed as celebrity representatives for roles created by teams of faceless sound engineers and marketing masterminds. In the age of the internet, such charades can’t stay secret for long. The Fox network doesn’t care about any of this. Its job is to create a performance spectacular enough to distract its captive audience from the script.
As a subcultural movement, dance music offered an escape from reality. The tables have turned on underground scenes, too. Our turntables beg to acknowledge the sinister truth of the real world.
31 January 2016
