Hamilton 1

Annotated Bibliography

Electronic Dance Music, Its Progress, and Todays Festival Scene

Jonathan Hamilton Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1103 Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Hamilton 2

Annotated Bibliography Montano, Ed. Festival Fever and International DJs: The Changing Shape of DJ Culture in Sydneys Commercial Electronic Dance Music Scene. Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, Vol. 2 No. 1, 64-89 [Web]. 02 Feb. 2011. This source is taken from an online peer-reviewed scholarly journal called Dancecult. Dancecult is a reliable website established for peer-reviewed research into EDMC or Electronic Dance Music Culture. The author of this source is an Australian resident and a graduate of RMIT University by the name of Ed Montano. Montano publishes this article in order to explore the history and other factors behind the changing EDM scene in Sydney that he has witnessed personally. He begins by discussing recent contributions to Australias Electronic Dance Music scene since the beginning of the 21st Century, particularly related to festivals and shows. Montano considers how the increase of highly acclaimed festivals in Sydney is effecting the existing club scene and recognizes the Recurring motif of the concepts of underground and mainstream EDM, he uses many examples of well known artists and events in the scene. To dig deeper into the factors of the changing EDM scene in Australia, Montano looks back to the origins in Disco and follows where the world took the music and its scene. A pattern begins to occur in its history and we see how from Disco, to House music in America, to Acid House in the UK, EDM has gone back and forth between the underground and the mainstream. After discussing Brittans latest, most prolific contribution to the scene from the 20th century until now, Montano realizes through the text how Australia has followed and built on the trends that the English have created.

Hamilton 3

Since the early rave days this influx of British festivals, music and surrounding culture today has been inevitable to follow their existence in England. Montano explores the differences and important notions in the concepts of underground and mainstream EDM before delving into specific festivals that have been staged in Sydney. The recurring pattern of these festivals starting somewhat small and underground, only to see exponential growth to mainstream, is very evident. We see how when the scene reaches the mainstream it is an adopted culture and it is hugely diversified. Montano speaks to DJs and promoters involved in both the festival and the decaying club scene in Sydney to show how the culture of the party scene is changing and the extent to which festivals are responsible. Account is taken of technology and other reasons for the ever-changing scene of EDM, and the article is concluded with a curiosity as to where the scene will continue on. This source is very reliable as it is peer reviewed and from a published journal. The author of this article lives in Sydney and has therefore seen the changes of the EDM scene first hand, however he is very accepting of them and sees them as part of the ongoing movement of the music and what it brings. Montano communicates his message effectively and gives a good background, foreground, and opens up the future of a musical movement that has been unlike any other. The audience of this article would be thought of as a niche group of people as the general following of the EDM scene does not consist of college graduates that read scholarly journals, however, in reading this and other historic texts on the music it is evident that its fans and followers stretch widely across the world and age spectrum. The intention of this article is to inform both Montano and its audience of the changes happening to the EDM scene today, it is based mostly on

Hamilton 4

an interest in the music, the culture, and the platforms it is engaged on. This article provides very helpful information on the history of EDM and proves a pattern of the development of the scene seen in the past and in other works. I find this source useful as it provides a clear, concise history and progression of the industry that is EDM, while also giving reliable information on the things going on in the scene. Although I do not intend to be basing my research on the festival scene in Australia, I appreciate the pattern presented in this article, as I believe I can follow it and see how the USAs recent involvement in the scene fits. I will also find good use of the history in this text because it is proved to be reliable. Tomorrowland 2012, Official Aftermovie. Tomorrowland Channel, YouTube. Sept. 14, 2012. [Web]. Access Date: Oct. 13, 2012. Tomorrrowland is an Electronic Dance Music festival. In this YouTube video, the viewer experiences 20 minutes of the music, the people, the scenery, and what Tomorrowland is in general. The film takes its audience through all the dance floors at the event and shows a variety of different moments with the intention of making the viewer feel like he has experienced the event first hand. In the video, there is also footage taken of the camping grounds where most attendees slept during the festival and of different facilities that where offered at the event. The movie shows a variety of different nationalities to represent the unity that describes EDM culture and festival life along with many happy moments shared by everyone while dancing to the music they all love. The main purpose of this film is for promotion; to hopefully instill a desire into anyone that is watching to go to the next event, as advertised toward the end of the video. However the films

Hamilton 5

intention is not only advertising, but is an effort to capture the experience that is described by many as one of the best festivals in the world and become a celebration of the festival for the viewers that attended the event and of EDM and the culture around it for the general audience around the world. This film is a sequel to that of 2011s Tomorrowland after-movie which received the fame of over fifty million views on YouTube. This festival is the 8th edition to the Tomorrowland family and the largest to date since the first edition in 2005. This popular source is an online film that has been produced partly for the purpose advertising, it is therefore bias and is produced in a manor that urges its audience to attend the next one. Because of its purpose, it is known that any negative aspects of the festival have been left out. For this reason the source is not completely trustworthy, however, the purpose of this film being a source is not to argue the perfection of an EDM festival. This source would be ideal for allowing an individual with no prior knowledge of EDM or festivals or anything involved in the culture to gain an idea as to what the up and coming trend is with some detail. This source does not provide any academic information concerning the topic of EDM, but is a relatively useful platform for research as it is a highly popular festival, film, and product of the EDM world. The video is intended to reach audiences of all nationalities, genders, races, including persons under the age of 18 whom would not be granted entry to the festival. With this audience in mind, the makers appeal to many aspects of the festival that might spark an interest in the viewer. The fact that the production of this source was facilitated by an entity that receives all profits that would be an outcome of the sources existence makes it have more of a bias angle than any other source in this bibliography.

Hamilton 6

This film has a large audience and its prevalence in the scene of EDM makes it a useful source. I will use this source along with many others like it to relate my research and findings to a direct product of the EDM industry. In the case that I produce a video as the medium of my research project, I will be able to use clips from this video to represent what the EDM scene looks like or to give examples of a festival. One attribute this video has is that it is direct evidence of the prevalence of the EDM scene in todays music industry as it received 10 million views only 8 days after being released. The sources online fame being an interesting fact considering the medium of todays music industry being mostly online with YouTube being a big factor. Kavanaugh, P. R. and Anderson, T. L. Solidarity And Drug Use In The Electronic Dance Music Scene. The Sociological Quarterly, 49 11 January 2008: 181-208. Online. This article is a reliable source due to its scholarly attributes. The authors affiliation is shown at the bottom of the first page and there is an official date of publication, an abstract appears at the beginning of the article and an in-depth bibliography appears at the end. The author of this source is affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware, this being good reason to assume that the contents of the article are bias and are conducted in the context of criminal justice. The authors intention in this article is to look into the festival scene and make a distinction between solidarity and drug use along with determining where exactly the combination of these two aspects of the scene lies or if they are even related. This intention is to be carried out using an analytical approach by doing research and interviews of individuals personally involved in the scene. Kavanaugh begins in the abstract by stating his intention; he then sets a platform for the article by discussing the context of raves and

Hamilton 7

reported aspects of solidarity and drug use within the scene (With PLUR or Peace Love Unity and Respect backing these) This article places the concept of raves in a cultural progression referring to tribal drumming and dancing, by discussing the spiritual transcendence involved in the rave scene Kavanaugh contends with the scenes sociological stand point. The article continues then to present the rave scene as a public health risk more specifically referring to the intense involvement of drugs. Documentation of drug use at these raves is provided and the consequences to the attendees of them shown. Solidarity and collective identitys definitions are described and the prevalence of them in the scene and where the scene fits into sociological and socio-political avenues is stated. The analytical approach in this article is structured by revealing the social-affective side of solidarity, which encompasses ravers tendency to experience camaraderie at festivals and share moments of spiritual solidarity without the use of drugs, this side representing PLUR. Behaviouralorganizational solidarity that is described by the attendees of these festivals behaving favourably to the scene in which they found themselves, this angle saw the organization of rave-events directly effecting the way ravers experienced solidarity and dealt with commercialisation of EDM and how it effects the scene. Detachment was discussed as an idea exclusive to this article and saw the individuals being interviewed speak of their changing views of drug use and the scene itself due to matured observation, overcome drug-addiction, and the introduction of a new generation of ravers more interested in the drugs and hedonism than the solidarity of EDM. Before concluding the article, Kavanaugh speaks about fragmentation of subgenres/scenes of EDM and how

Hamilton 8

detachment can be seen as the commercialisation and progression of the scene continues to take place. This article is very detailed and provides an angle to my research that I do not enjoy to consider as I myself am against drug use being the cause of solidarity within EDM, however the analysis of social-affective solidarity will help enforce the healthy side to EDM I wish to portray. The less attractive aspects to this article will also act as a good argument to my idea of the EDM scene and perhaps evidence I can use to suggest a new way of thinking of and participating in the scene. The reliability of this source will serve to help my project become more scholarly and reliable itself. Sisario, Ben. Electronic Dance Concerts Turn Up Volume, Tempting Investors. New York Times 4 April 2012: page A1. Online. This source is a detailed popular piece from a reliable publication called New York Times. The fact that this article appears in such an accredited publication serves to both substantiate the claims within and show how relevant the EDM scene is to the audience in my project. The article presents many financial and organisational facts related to the EDM industry and discusses how rapidly the scene has become mainstream. Big names in promotion organisations, event companies, Artists, and specific festivals are spoken of and their relevance in the importance of the industry today stated. As the article shows how popular big events have become, and gives details on ticket sales, the idea of EDMs rise is evident. The articles main focus is the financial aspect of the EDM industry and it sees the rise of the scene becoming an area of interest for wealthy investment entities. With the labelling of high powered names in the financial worlds interest and particular moves

Hamilton 9

being made in relation to outside investment in EDM the article also mentions the impact of investors on the scene. How will the culture of the EDM scene find effective relationship with money-concerned investors? Although this source is relatively short in length, it provides a lot of useful information in the form of very relevant statistics and details on the EDM industry. I appreciate this articles acceptance of the scene cultures integrity and how important EDM is to todays generation. I will definitely use the statement made by Michael Rapino in my project, If youre 15 to 25 years old now, this is your rock n roll. This source is helpful not only for its contents but also for its context as New York Times has such a wide audience and such respect as a publication.