Twenty years ago, according to Benny Reichert, people regularly laughed at the music hardstyle fans listened to. Today, the genre has grown into an established force within the dance industry. In a recent anniversary interview, the founder of Musical Madness looks back on the evolution of the scene and explains how hardstyle has changed dramatically over the past two decades.
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According to Benny, the music itself has changed the most. “The hardstyle scene is changing a lot, especially musically,” he says. “It has become much harder and much faster.” However, he believes the biggest shift isn’t the sound itself, but the way younger generations experience music compared to twenty years ago.
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“Music now lives on TikTok”
According to Benny, social media has had a major impact on the development of the scene. “The attention span of the new generation has become very short,” he explains. “Music now largely takes place on TikTok.”
He also believes nightlife has changed significantly over the years. “Clubbing has changed completely. Young people don’t go out as much anymore.” As a result, new concepts have become part of today’s scene. “Daytime parties would have been unthinkable in the past. Today, they’ve become almost normal.”
According to Benny, trends are moving faster than ever before. “Everything changes so quickly nowadays that it’s not always easy to keep up with the trends.”
“We’ve never really had a peak or a low”
Despite all these changes, Benny believes one thing has remained remarkably consistent: the hardstyle scene itself. “Twenty years ago, people often laughed at the music we listened to,” he says. “But the most impressive thing about the hardstyle scene is that it has remained constant throughout all those years.”
“We’ve never really had a huge peak, but we’ve never really had a low either. It’s always been very consistent.” According to him, that stability has allowed organizations like Musical Madness to keep investing in new concepts and events.
A loyal fanbase
Benny also sees that consistency reflected in the visitors attending Musical Madness events. “We have a very loyal fanbase,” he says. “We can always count on our guests, and you can see that at every event we organize.”
Despite all the changes within the music industry, one thing has remained the same according to Benny: the passion of hardstyle fans. For him, that loyalty is ultimately the biggest reason why the hardstyle scene continues to grow after twenty years.
Images via: Musical Madness
