Simon Cowell’s New DJ TV Show

Today Simon Cowell’s entertainment arm of his media corporation SYCO announced, in partnership with Sony Pictures Television and Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith‘s Overbrook Entertainment, plans for a new TV show based on finding the next big DJ. EDM acts and labels have been quick to voice their opinions on it. Defected Records sarcastically commented on Simon’s ability to “always spot a bandwagon”. This is in reference to the meteoric rise of EDM in the last 2 years, especially in America. DJ Van Toth, one half of Miami-based duo GTA, stated “FFS”, whilst world-renowned English DJ Chris Lake simply said, “Oh dear.” Gareth from Drum and Bass group Pendulum and most recently their side-project Knife Party, stated, “Simon Cowell is launching an xfactor (sic) style search to find the next big DJ sensation, I knew 2012 would be the end of life as we know it”. 

So, not exactly a positive reaction from the EDM community, many of whom feel that DJ’ing is already becoming a fad that everyone wants to be involved in. However, what many of these famous DJ’s with a shred of musical history should know is that exactly the same sentiments were expressed by rock bands in the 80′s, when it was seen as the “cool thing” to do, and again by rappers in the early 2000′s, when one could compose a hip-hop instrumental in 5 minutes on a computer. Artists of popular genres always fear they’ll lose their spot, and would prefer to make it slightly more exclusive, than to open it up to the masses, which explains the hatred of cheap midi-controllers and auto-sync features.

What do you think? How will Will Smith contribute anything to this show? Will it lead to the commercialisation of EDM, like X-Factor has done with other genres? Or will it increase awareness and open up new possibilities for the scene? Leave you views and opinions in the comments section below.

Ed