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Eh, this is a typical overreach from a pop-culture-turned-music critic, IMO.
I disagree with the basis for a lot of his assumptions here. To me, electronic music (we'll use the less-correct, but more recognized "Techno" here) is just another form of music trying to break into mainstream culture - just like hip hop before it, and jazz and rock before that, and it is experiencing the same difficulties.
One key distinction that's poorly explained: 'digital' is NOT the same as 'electronica' . . . just b/c digital recording techniques are used by (let's say) Radiohead, it is not a rational inferrence to call them 'influenced' by someone like Oakenfold (or vice versa). Remember - tape looping, sampling, and synthesized beats have been used since the late seventies - well before anything was even remotely digital - yet most won't say that the Velvet Underground is a direct forebearer of today's Jungle music. Recording techniques, and even the instruments used, do not have a whole lot to do with what kind of music comes out (in general).
Also - DJing and mixing someone else's work in a live show, in my mind, is similar to a 'cover band' playing at your local bar - definitely still musicians, just applying their own slant on someone else's idea. I think that once that sort of thinking becomes prevalent, many of the "huge" euro-style DJs will have larger followings.
I do agree that 'techno' will become 'mainstream' fairly soon - although not in the way the author here implies. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that this has begun - listen to your local Kiss FM station (if you can deal with it... ugh). Many of the 'top 40' hits have elements of electronica in them, and much like hip hop has been assimilated into pop music quite successfully, the same thing will happen with today's techno, be it jungle, trance, or heavy house.
One thing that stands out to me about techno type music is that the crowd tends to be predominantly (if not exclusively) upper-class. The music doesn't exactly reach out to the poor working stiffs, and the $25 cover I paid the last time I experienced a good quality DJ live probably backs that up in an anecdotal stance. UF_Pike, do you think this will ultimately hold back the entire genre? Part of me wants to extend the argument to say that the fans of electronica like it as an exclusive jet-set crowd (think Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby jazz era doing the Charleston), but I'm not sure that's it entirely.
The "jazz revolution" led to new modes of thinking in rock and roll, and led to the current pop era. Electronica should have a similar impact, although maybe not to the same dramatic degree.
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