Why Do You Love Electronic Music? The Deeper Values You're Not Seeing
And Why They Are Important In Order To Succeed In Electronic Music
When I ask anybody I encounter who is active in electronic music and nightlife somehow - either as a frequent clubber, a DJ and/or producer or whichever role they are fulfilling as an electronic music industry professional, why they chose electronic music, I usually hear one or more of 3 things:
1. For the love of electronic music.
2. It just kind of happened.
3. I wouldn’t know what else to do.
The love for the genre is one of the strongest factors I’m sure, but that love is based on something - something you value immensely but may not even be seeing or realizing.
Why do you like electronic music?
The rhythm, the danceability which simply feels great especially when you do it with a group, the emotional range because the feelings that electronic music can evoke are rarely obvious or direct. There is no definitive answer to the question. In fact, there will be as many answers as there are electronic music lovers. We can agree on that.
Musical tastes often can be influenced by social factors, upbringing, and become a huge part of a person’s identity. Without diving too deeply into this, I do want to share a few thoughts.
The dance music industry and especially nightlife have a pull to it because it’s an environment that welcomes experimentation, self-expression, and dares to think outside the box. It’s a very innovative, vibrant, exciting world to enter. From the perspective of seeing it as a music culture, the concepts of freedom, escapism, and existentialist substance use are often associated with it - and oftentimes not far off to be honest.
While this isn’t a history lesson in dance music culture (because I don’t consider myself a historian), I do invite you to read up on this culture that you seem to be magnetically pulled toward and reflect more deeply on who you are. I’m positive it’ll help you to get a better understanding of why you like electronic music.
For the love of electronic music
Ask anybody why they want to be active in the dance music industry and in most cases they’ll tell you it’s for the love of electronic music.
Whether you aspire to be a DJ, want to pursue a career as an artist manager, dream of opening up your own club or start your electronic music festival, or simply feel most at home on the dancefloor, there is a deeper reason why you choose electronic music over anything else.
Even if you truly feel like there’s nothing else out there you could see yourself doing or it just kinda happened to you, there is an underlying factor you’re not seeing or are being aware of. It’s what makes you choose electronic music over and over again, even in periods of uncertainty.
That love surely is one of the strongest factors but it’s based on something. So what is it that influences that choice for electronic music?
The deeper values you’re not seeing
Core values are your fundamental beliefs and your deeper motivations - the true reason WHY you do what you do. Your values are the driving force behind your choices and your behaviour. Your values from the basis for your goals. Without this, your goals won’t mean anything. They won’t bring you true joy.
Another way of putting it: An outcome of a value is a goal.
Values are the guiding principles that dictate your behavior and help you to determine if you are on the right path to fulfilling your goals. There are many examples of values in the world and what you value may not be the same as what your best friend holds high in life.
“What you value the most in life is the essence of every choice you make.”
Your values are the essence of what you wish to achieve
Your values uncover the basic human needs behind the things you do.
Basic human needs are love, belonging, esteem from others and self-esteem, safety and self-actualization.
For example, if you make music for the money, it’s not really for the money. It’s because you want stability, safety and freedom to do what you love without having to worry about anything else. Without the stress of not being able to pay the bills, live in your home and have a full fridge. Stability and safety are basic needs. Freedom to be able to do what you love is a form of self-actualization.
The ‘how' and the ‘what' of your goals are not so important if you don’t know the ‘why'.
And if YOU don’t know the why, then why should other people care? Not to sound harsh, but if you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, you can’t expect your fans, record labels, venue promoters or anyone you’ll cross paths with in electronic music to care either.
Your values may also shift as you grow as a person and as your context changes.
Why is it important to know your deeper values?
The answer to this is really simple: motivation.
Look, there are days when you don’t feel like getting out of bed. You feel aimless, you don’t feel like doing shit and you judge yourself for it.
Being clear on your most important values in life and by extension in electronic music, is what’s going to keep you motivated. It’ll keep you going no matter what day it is and helpt you to achieve your success in electronic music. It’s your passion, your fire, your fuel to experience that dance floor, or pursue that career as an artist manager in electronic music and to keep working on your music even when you cannot see the result.
Too many of us chase hollow dreams and shallow goals inspired by family, friends, acquaintances and/or society - often described as those things every normal human being wants, without asking ourselves if this suits us and comes from within ourselves. Or we expect to get a sudden big break somehow.
We aren’t encouraged to ask questions - at least not enough. When we don’t know which values and qualities a certain (life)(music)goal will deliver, we are busy chasing goals that aren’t connected to the essence, our essence.
Achieving your goals in itself isn’t a guarantee for your happiness, if you don’t know what the essence is of what you wish to achieve with your goals.
How can you find motivation to work on your music, to take that next step toward your dream career in electronic music or even to join your friends on a night out after a crap day?
By understanding what you’re doing it all for!
Examples are: Because you’re looking for a sense of belonging, you want to express yourself and build your self-esteem, you have a deep desire to create a fulfilling career that can bring in enough money to look after yourself and your loved ones.
Whatever it is that’s true for you and whatever it is you value the most, values are the essence of everything you set out to do in electronic music and in life. They are the fuel behind your goals and the drive that keeps you motivated to keep going so that you can confidently build a life around your passion for electronic music.
Let’s continue the conversation!
What’s 1 important value you have and how will you apply it to your success in electronic music? Drop it in the comments below!