Food For Thought – Why we should cherish ‘criticism’
With an almost cynical mind-set, I cannot help myself from enjoying the way individuals let their criticism ‘liberally’ flow on social media. Without any barriers, like the consideration about the feelings for others, these criticasters spell out their opinions upon the world. The Hard Dance community’s online presence is no exception to this rule. On the contrary, it is a perfect paragon. Our scene is namely drenched with people who embrace every possibility to let their unrestrained opinions be heard. Tracks, festivals, styles, merchandise, and artists; all are victimised by the pejorative eyes of these critical folk.
Consequently, criticasters themselves are often criticised of being pessimistic and having a negative outcome on our style and scene. I do only partly agree. I acknowledge the negative outcomes of excessive and unsubstantiated criticism. However, there is another side of the coin. Criticism is not only formed out of unsubstantiated bullshit. It is created by people who care; care about the scene and care about the style. No wonder people went mental a short time ago when Psy Trance influences were introduced in Hardstyle. New influences always cause insecurity about how a certain style is going to develop and criticism is an outcome of this insecurity. It questions if change is really evolution or an involution and in this sense it becomes vital for the preservation of quality and the essence of our style.
Let us first look at how criticism, in its negative form, is often addressed. Criticism is often approached as something that hinders artists from utilising their creativity to the fullest, as they in turn become afraid of being slaughtered on social media. Therefore, it is addressed as restraining for artists who are looking to ‘experiment.’ And indeed, more than once, we’ve seen artists being completely racked on these platforms from simply thinking out of the box.
However, instead of restraining and suppressing the creativity of artists, criticism also forces artists to continuously judge their productions with utmost precision. Heavy critique creates an environment where there is no room for fooling around. It prevents the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking of artists from spinning out of control. To put it more forcefully, it guards the authenticity of our style.
In this sense, in each instance where our style latches onto new influences, like recently with Psy Trance, it has to overcome a board of critical judges who are preventing the style from losing its own identity. Thus, criticism indicates the continuous negotiation between progress on one hand and what we believe is the essence of our style on the other. As said before, no matter which standpoint you take, new influences always endanger a certain ‘style’. It is therefore vital to look critically to these influences as evolution can easily result in involution. This is exactly what criticism does.
Another point is that criticism is often addressed as a threat for the unity in the scene. Critique is a hazardous element as it tends to divide the scene, leaving it in temporary states of mayhem. But does it really create disunity in the scene or does it merely create a momentum in which its old boundaries become renegotiated? Did the raw versus euphoria really generate a ‘great divide’? I still see these styles being combined on one festival, one stage, one set, and even in tracks. Moreover, it is still addressed as one style; Hardstyle.
Therefore, criticism should be embraced as a vital element for the preservation of our style and scene, as it indicates the continuous negotiation of our identity. It questions and constitutes who we are and who we want to be, the style we love and the scene we are. Criticism is a beautiful, although sometimes harsh, element in our scene. We should not resist it. We should but embrace it, because criticism doesn’t ‘doom’ our scene – it creates it.