Gareth Emery and Standerwick‘s “Saving Light” featuring HALIENE has hit #1 on the Beatport Top 100 – but at the cost of some scathing social media buzz. Emery called for trance enthusiasts to download the single en masse as part of a charity effort that a handful of tastemakers have written off as a disingenuous marketing ploy.
A post to the Gareth Emery Facebook page outlined OPERATION: Make Trance #1 Again as a means of helping a trance single hit #1 on the Beatport charts. All sales proceeds were to be donated to the charity organization Ditch The Label – which, ironically enough, is an anti-bullying non-profit.
Being that “Saving Light” falls a lot closer to what more tenured trance fans commonly write off as “trouse,” some measure of outrage was to be expected. Perhaps no other single response gained as much traction as the post made by Los Angeles DJ and producer Christopher Lawrence (which has since been deleted:
When the single did, in fact, hit #1 overall on the Beatport charts, Emery admitted in a subsequent post that following the negative response – however outweighed by positive as it may have been – his “ego was bruised.” Taking the high road to a degree, he continued:
So, to John [Fleming] and Chris, I guess you both posted because you wanted a reaction from me, and here it is: I look forward to seeing you both at Dreamstate, and if my musical choices over the years have made you this mad, let’s have a beer and talk it out, I’m honestly not that much of a cvnt in real life. In a way, you also really helped with the promotion of this record, so thank you for that.
As the worldwide re-emergence of more classic trance styles has led to something of a renaissance for the genre, the topic of artists jumping back on the trance bandwagon after pursuing more mainstream-friendly styles has become a topic of controversy. Festival favorites like Andrew Rayel and Orjan Nilsen are among others whose return to 138 BPM trance has been met with criticism.
Gareth Emery was also recently announced as one of the headliners of Dreamstate San Fransisco this past weekend. The English DJ and producer is not, however, included on the lineup of Dreamstate London, which is now less than a month away.
