If there’s one thing desperately missing from the dance music world – and goodness knows that there are a few – it’s unflinching honesty. This is not to say that everyone in the industry is a massive liar – far from it. It’s more a case where there are many who are honest, but not entirely so – often for reasons outside their control.

But once in a blue moon, someone comes along who just doesn’t play by those rules. One of those is the very successful Canadian DJ and producer deadmau5 – real name Joel Zimmerman. Every now and then, he speaks his mind – and he really isn’t that bothered by the prospect of upsetting someone along the way. Now who does that remind us of?

Anyway, here are some comments that Zimmerman recently made on the subject of pre-recorded DJ sets. In short? They’re much more common than you think, and they don’t give him sleepless nights…

So what’s the consensus at Ears To The House HQ on the subject? In a nutshell, there isn’t one. Some of the team believe they’re an abomination, whereas others take the view that they’re occasionally a necessity in a world where sets are often accompanied by visuals and other effects.

But there’s one thing we certainly noticed was the amount of comment from those inside the DJ world. Just like in discussion during the early stages of the pandemic, the higher echelon DJs have managed to totally excuse themselves from the discussion. Hence why the reset of the scene advocated on social media at the time never occurred – because those higher echelon DJs didn’t want it to.

We simply don’t believe that these DJs had nothing to say on the subject – one source we spoke to with close links to a number of dance music agencies say many inside the industry were privately “incandescent with rage” when the furore erupted. But in public? They appeared to take a strategy of collective silence.

The only question, of course, is why. A few weeks ago, Ears To The House received correspondence from one of our sources claiming at least one agency had put out an edict for their artists not to discuss the subject on social media. We weren’t able to verify the claim, so we decided not to publish the story – even though our source is someone who has a proven track record for providing accurate information.

Nonetheless, the reaction to the whole episode – or the utter lack of it – was very telling. So was the lack of denials from those long rumoured to be doing it…