Remember when Calvin Harris said he was starting to make dance music that wouldn’t be engineered toward the Beatport charts? It was over a year ago that Harris made that statement to Music Week, attempting to put to rest any angst over recent cheesy productions and apparent crowd pleasing. Fast forward to today, and we’re faced with tracks like “Summer” “C.U.B.A.” and his remix of The Killers “When You Were Young”.

“I’m doing more dance music that probably won’t get into the charts. I was in the studio yesterday. I just want to make good music; this award is like drawing a line under the past two years where I’ve just been intensely fucking working to try and make singles and hit records.” – Calvin Harris (Music Week interview)

If he said he was working for the previous two years on making singles and hit records, what has changed since? It’s important not to confuse “popularity” with “skill” here. Harris knows how to produce massively popular tracks made for radio, even he says pop music is as easy to make as a ham sandwich.

Forbes recently announced that Calvin Harris was the richest DJ last year, earning $66 Million. That number is more than the amount Avicii and David Guetta made combined. What would you do in Harris’ situation? If you realized that by producing a certain type of music you can make yourself and your family ungodly amounts of money, would you refuse? It’s a very tough question and one I’m sure the majority would side with Harris on. All this does is give me deeper appreciation for artists like Carl Cox and Bassnectar who have refused trade in their artistic integrity for money.

Watch this imaginative music video for a Harris track that was created nearly seven years ago. While this no doubt is a more creative production than the cheesy progressive house of 2014, he wouldn’t be where he is today without the massive change in musical direction.

That’s not to say Harris will make generic chart toppers forever, but it will certainly be interesting to see where he goes from here. It’ll be easy to take the money and ride it as far as it can go, but with an artist as talented as Calvin Harris we wonder where his music would be today if he didn’t decide to sell out.

Has Fame Changed Calvin Harris’ Music For The Worse?

Share On