When 5 time #1 DJ in the world Armin van Buuren has something to say, we’re all ears! The legend may have slipped in the rankings to #2 in 2013, but he still commands undisputed  respect on his views concerning any of the spheres of dance music. So, on the occasion of a partnership with Heineken for the “Dance More, Drink Less” campaign, Armin sat down with journalists to discuss his plans for 2014 and talk about the current orientation that EDM is taking.

Talking about a  packed schedule for 2014, which includes his iconic ASOT 650 celebrations and an Armin Only Tour, which will also come to Mumbai, Armin then discussed the expanding nature of EDM and went on to compare our times with the 60′s, with respect to the influence The Beatles had on world music then.

“I want to stress that what is happening now is not just a hype or phenomenon. A lot of people thought that it would go over, but now it has spread like a virus through all kinds of other current musical genres. Even pop music is using a lot of electronic ways to make music. I think when we look back at history, at this time, I think we will see that it is like what happened with The Beatles in the ’60s. It’s happening again with electronic music. “

“If you listen to US pop radio you will hear a lot of EDM, and I’m not saying that is necessarily a good thing by the way. There are good and bad sides to the commercialization of the genre. We cannot turn our heads from the fact that it is moving a generation of people and it is a cultural phenomenon like what happened with The Beatles, only it doesn’t have a face as much as it did with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.”

On the same lines, Armin had an interesting personal point of view when quizzed about the fusion of dance music with other contemporary genres such as hip-hop and pop. He further pointed out that electronic music itself can be said to have found its roots in disco and credited the influential Giorgio Moroder as an influence for the beginning of trance music.

“On a very personal level I don’t know if I’m happy with every commercial collaboration between electronic dance music acts and hip-hop and R&B. It’s not something I would put on for my enjoyment. It’s not going to go away, whether I like it or not. It opens a lot of doors. For example, you can love or hate David Guetta, but the fact is that he has opened a lot of doors for all of us.”

“I grew up listening to disco. I actually just met Giorgio Moroder here in Amsterdam during the Amsterdam Music Festival. What a hero! Disco was the foundation for a lot of electronic music that is popular right now. Giorgio Moroder has had a massive influence on trance music. I think a lot of artists will say the same thing. The disco generation was definitely the spark for the whole EDM movement that is happening now.”

Armin then spoke about the campaign, and how dance music influences audiences in general. He maintained that people are always looking to have a good time at these events and its only in the rarest of cases that tragedy strikes.

“Dance music is growing so fast right now everywhere in the world and it is definitely a very positive thing. But with the growth of EDM also comes the dark side. There will always be stupid people but if you have an event of 1,000 people it’s a lot easier to control than an event of 300,000 people.

“I’ve seen many silly things. Fortunately I’ve never had a death incident at an event that I have seen, but I’ve seen people get hurt. I want to stress that at 99.9% of my gigs, nothing happens. People have an amazing time, and especially with the music I play. Trance doesn’t have that stigma of alcohol misuse. People are mainly there for the music.”

So, Armin Van Buuren has had a lot of things to say with respect to dance music, its commercialization and its expansion. We’d love to know your thoughts as well, so feel free to leave your comments down!