VIBE on NYC’ EDM Roundtable at WiP
Combine a savvy audience of music aficionados, an open bar and a panel of EDM industry experts in New York City, and the conversation is bound to get interesting.
VIBE’s Sarah Polonsky - charged with creating a robust EDM channel for the publication that typically sticks to hip-hop and R&B - chaired NYC’s EDM Roundtable in Manhattan Wednesday night along with five other industry leaders, including DJ and Producer Junior Sanchez, CEO and Founder of Scratch Music Group, Rob Principe, Dancing Astronaut Editor-in-Chief, Jacob Schulman, and Publicity and Event Director for The Aurelia Group, Lainie Copicotto and Lawrence Lui, Director of Marketing for Astralwerks.
Held at NYC’s subterranean hotspot, W.i.P, the roundtable was moderated by Jesse Kirshbaum of SoundCtrl, a web startup dedicated to music and technology.
The cyclical nature of the music industry was a hot-button topic of conversation from the panelists who converged to discuss the rise of a number of sub-sectors of the EDM business world. The prevalent question of the night: “How did it all get so big, and where do we go from here?”
Polonsky cited, “The bottom fell out on live shows when record labels started going under after free music downloading sites such as Napster emerged. Take that and juxtapose it to the social media’s rising, people who liked making music on their computers could share it with everyone.”
Polonsky cited, “The bottom fell out on live shows when record labels started going under after free music downloading sites such as Napster emerged. Take that and juxtapose it to the social media’s rising, people who liked making music on their computers could share it with everyone.”
Amid debates of which city has the best culture for dance music (Five out of six preferred NYC), and what festivals are the hottest to headline (Tomorrowland seems to be the new promised land of EDM), Schulman, took some heat from the audience about his blog’s tendency to cover exclusively mainstream music and for not giving proper dues to underground talent. His reasoning? He doesn’t pretend to have an all-knowing view of music culture; he can only cover what he knows, which happens to be predominantl
As audience members asked questions about how to integrate their music into other genres, contemplated why the EDM craze has seemingly come out of nowhere in recent years (yes, it has been around since before “Levels” came out), and speculated on how the almighty dollar fits into it all. When asked what the most coveted gig in the world is for an artist to play, Copicotto answered with gusto, “The most coveted gig is your own,” reminding us that the EDM space is really no different than the other genres out there when it comes to reaching that ultimate prize.
The fans and culture may be unique, but that end goal of controlling your own show from start to finish, it’s worth more than any headlining slot at a festival main stage. While the industry continues to cycle between mainstream, to alternative to the ever-hidden underground, it’s these artists we should be watching most closely - the artists who are actively working to bring their vision to live, and who make things happen for themselves.
The fans and culture may be unique, but that end goal of controlling your own show from start to finish, it’s worth more than any headlining slot at a festival main stage. While the industry continues to cycle between mainstream, to alternative to the ever-hidden underground, it’s these artists we should be watching most closely - the artists who are actively working to bring their vision to live, and who make things happen for themselves.
