It comes once a year and all your friends are going. Once tickets go on sale, you rush to buy them. Yes, the tickets might break your piggy bank, but you know the experience will be worth it; after all, you’ve never been to an electronic music festival. Once you’re there, Electric Zoo is everything you imagined it would be like, blaring lights, an exhilarating, festive mood and loud electronic music. After the festival is over, you promise yourself that you’ll be attending Electric Zoo next year. But what if Electric Zoo is not allowed to occur next year? Because of the rising fame of electronic music, electronic dance festivals were created as a large social event for electronic music lovers to band together, enjoy and listen to music. Electronic music festivals have grown in numbers, with events all over the world, and have been generally accepted by the public. However, there has been recent resistance against electronic dance festivals. The problem can be connected to the people who have died from drug overdose during electronic music festivals. As a result, some people want to ban and close down these festivals. Not only is this a social issue, but it is a cultural problem as well. People have the right to listen to the music they choose and to attend music festivals. The people who foolishly overdosed on drugs during the electronic music festival should not restrict the rights of all electronic music fans who wish to participate in festivals.
Electronic music is defined as a type of music “consisting of sounds produced by oscillating electric currents either controlled from an instrument panel, keyboard or prerecorded tape” (Collins English Dictionary). It first appeared in electronic disco music during the late 1970s. It was popular only momentarily and almost disappeared during the 1980s (Reynolds). But, electronic music made a comeback during the late 1990s and has only grown since then. In fact, the recent rise in listening, partying and dancing to electronic music has coined the modern term, raving. Electronic music has become so popular that many people characterize electronic music as the genre of music our current generation listens to. Many people love electronic music because it’s expressive, loud and bold. Some famous artists include Daft Punk, Frankie Knuckles, Kraftwork, Skrillex, Aphex Twins and Owl City. Many of these artists have created sensational hits that people often listen to such as Fireflies or One More Time. With the rise of electronic music, the creation of electronic music festivals was inevitable.
Electronic music festivals are entertainment events that bring different genres and artists of electronic music together for a live performance. Some famous electronic music festivals that take place in New York include Electric Zoo, also known as E-Zoo, and Electric Daisy Festival. People often listen, dance and party at these festivals. The atmosphere at these festivals is usually energetic, lively and loud. Electronic music festivals are a place for people who share common interests to meet and have fun. People should be able to attend these festivals because it is a different experience and they have the right to. Not only are these festivals fun for the people attending them, they are also profitable. Last years Electric Daisy Festival in New York grossed about 40 million dollars, with the cost a ticket at about 125 a piece (Reynolds). With electronic music festivals benefiting both managers and people attending them, it is hard to see why people would have a problem with them.
Talk to ban electronic music festivals started on September 1st, just two months ago, with reports of four people feeling ill and the death of two people during Electric Zoo. As a response, Electric Zoo stated they would be canceling the last two days of the electronic music festival. After further investigation, the deaths were linked to an overdose of a drug called Molly. Molly is also known as MDMA and has been increasing in popularity. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus reference the drug in her song We Can’t Stop and even Madonna mentions the drug when she asks the audience at her concert if they have seen Molly (Meyer). The main problem or concern about electronic music festivals is that some people take drugs during the festival. However, the drug problem is not specifically just an issue for electronic music festivals, it’s a social problem. The problem is much larger and won’t be solved by banning electronic music festivals. By forcing them to close down, it is only causing unhappiness and dissatisfaction and won’t solve the real drug problem. A similar example would be if attendees of an art gallery or a museum took drugs and died at the site. Would the next rational step be to ban art galleries and museum? That is clearly not the next logical step.
However, some people do believe that banning electronic music festivals is the right choice. In an official petition to the government, the petition states: “After the recent deaths at New Yorks Electric Zoo weekend. I firmly believe we should ban the manufacturing of electronic dance music. It is turning our children into drug addicts and murderers” (Meyer). The conclusion that electronic music festivals turn people into killers and drug addicts is preposterous. The purpose of electronic music festivals is to give participants an opportunity to listen to live electronic music of all genres. It is an entertainment event that encourages socializing and discourages drugs. To ban electronic music festivals because they supposedly encourage people to turn to drugs and kill people is silly.
Closing down electronic music festivals and preventing people from listening to electronic music won’t solve the problem of drug abuse. If society wants to fix the drug problem, they’ll need to educate the negative effects of drugs and make a larger effort to prohibit people from buying them. Electronic music festivals should not be persecuted because two people have died from drug overdose at the event. Instead of believing that electronic music festivals are places where people take drugs, we should look at them as places to enjoy good music and have fun.
Works Cited
“Electronic Music.” Collins English Dictionary. Collins English Dictionary, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Meyer, Chris. “A Petition To Ban Electronic Dance Music? Oh Brother! Here We Go….” Live For Live Music. Live For Live Music, 5 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Reynolds, Simon. “How Rave Music Conquered America.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
