Electronic dance music, the rock myth, and authenticity

Most discussions of authenticity in popular music mobilize the ‘rock myth’, a loose collection of assumptions that pit rock against an inauthentic other, such as pop, dance or electronic music. Some academic studies attempt to discuss authenticity in these genres by side-stepping the rock myth and focusing on other aspects of the genre’s construction. This article, however, examines the structures of power in electronic dance music culture in terms of the rock myth, showing that for the fans of this genre, as revealed through music journalism and online fan sites, the same discourses are at work as in discussions of rock