Why Do People Hate KSHMR?

KSHMR (born as Niles Hollowell-Dhar) is an American musician, record producer and DJ known for his big room house music productions.

While he has achieved significant mainstream success, releasing tracks with well-known artists like Tiësto and BIGBANG, he has also faced criticism from some fans and fellow EDM producers. But what exactly causes such polarized opinions on KSHMR’s music?

Background on KSHMR and His Success

KSHMR first rose to prominence as one half of the Grammy-nominated duo The Cataracs in the early 2010s. Achieving success with hits like “Like a G6”, The Cataracs eventually split and Hollowell-Dhar decided to focus on producing big room house music under his new solo moniker of KSHMR in 2014.

Over the next few years, KSHMR released a string of hit EDM tracks, including collaborations with R3hab “Karate” and Tiësto “Secrets” which gained huge popularity. He also made production contributions to K-pop group BIGBANG’s “Bae Bae” and “Bang Bang Bang” in 2015.

By 2021, KSHMR reached the top 50 of DJ Mag’s Top 100 list – an impressive feat for a relatively new solo DJ/producer. Clearly KSHMR’s music resonated widely, so why has his success also attracted significant hate from some EDM fans?

Common Criticisms Against KSHMR

One of the most common criticisms leveled against KSHMR by EDM purists is that his tracks represent the “commercialization” and “dumbing down” of dance music to appeal more to pop audiences and radio airplay. Rather than focusing on more niche styles like tech house or trance, his big room sound is considered formulaic “anthem electronic.”

This over-the-top, “maximalist” style with heavily distorted kicks, aggressive buildups and “drop everything” climaxes has come to represent EDM going too mainstream according to certain fans.

Lack of Authenticity and Ethos

Related to his “commercialized” sound, some have argued KSHMR’s music lacks the authenticity and ethos that originally defined house and dance music culture. His high-energy festival style is seen as engineered for mass-market consumption rather than underground credibility.

Additionally, the glossy retouched images KSHMR uses on his merchandizing and marketing are viewed as an inauthentic “manufactured” type of EDM identity. He does not have the earned respect of figureheads like Carl Cox who grew more organically out of club culture.

Over-committing to a Saturated Style

As big room house grew rapidly in the early 2010s and became a widespread staple of dance festivals, some felt artists like KSHMR overcommitted to an increasingly repetitive sound. Relying on the same overdriven synth leads and gimmicky “drops” resulted in formulaic music and a crowded sea of undistinguished productions.

He failed to show enough diversity or progression in his musical choices at a time when big room became ubiquitous to the point of parody within the EDM spectrum. KSHMR has since tried to expand into future bass and psy-trance territories but it can seem like “too little, too late” to his initial detractors.

Counter-arguments in KSHMR’s Favor

However, while criticisms around commercialization, authenticity and repetitive style are common, KSHMR still maintains a very dedicated fanbase indicating his music connects widely. There are several arguments in his favor:

Achieving Crossover Mainstream Success is Still Difficult

While big room house undeniably became oversaturated several years ago, it was still no easy feat for KSHMR to achieve the success he did as a solo producer. Releasing globally popular EDM hits still requires understanding what hooks will resonate with audiences. KSHMR has shown strong melody-writing abilities in tracks like “Venda” and “Jammu”.

Big Room Still Takes Production Skill to Pull Off

However formulaic big room is considered by some EDM fans, executing the style well still demands technical production and sound design talent. Clean mixes, tight arrangements, OTT processing chains and the “right vibe” ultimately come down to an intrinsic ear for electronic music – which KSHMR clearly possesses.

Live Sets Showcase DJ Skills Too

While critics can argue his releases lack underground authenticity, KSHMR’s live sets prove he also has credibility as a capable DJ in reading crowds and building an arc over hour-plus festival appearances. His Lollapalooza India 2020 set or Ultra Miami 2021 set display strong track selection and smooth mixing abilities.

Later Work Showcases More Creativity

Finally, though he overcommitted to big room earlier on, KSHMR has shown a recent willingness to experiment more with tracks like the psy-trance fusion “Mandala” or the No Copyright Sounds single “Dharma.” His sound palette does appear to be diversifying and hints at more creativity to come.

Time will tell if KSHMR continues gaining new fans – or converts some previous haters. But there remain good arguments around his genuine skills and the difficulty of achieving his level of crossover success that explain why many still appreciate his music.

Why the Dislike is So Strong Among Some Groups

Much of the animosity towards KSHMR stems from a deeper tribalism between underground dance music purists and supporters of the mainstream/commercial side of EDM. There is an ideological clash between these camps in what electronic music should represent.

For the underground, dance music is supposed to stay connected to its alternative, rebellious roots. But the mainstream finds no issue with formulaic anthems and high-production aesthetics appealing to the lowest common denominator. KSHMR inspires such passionate dislike among underground fans because he epitomizes “selling out” these original values.

Perceived Lack of Craftsmanship

Additionally, some producers dislike KSHMR because they feel his simplified sound design and composition takes relatively little “craftsmanship” compared to more sophisticated sound palette experimentation. To them, KSHMR’s kicks and leads rely more on distortion than skillfully sculpted waveforms.

They see the big room template as a creatively bankrupt approach centered more on loudness than nuanced sound design. Therefore, KSHMR provokes ire for contributing to lowered standards of production quality on the engineering side of EDM.

Watering Down Dance Music’s Spirit

Finally, detractors sense almost an “insult” factor with KSHMR’s music given how strongly they feel about upholding the spirit of house/dance music culture. They view pop crossover artists like KSHMR as adulterating the soul of dance music’s history – disrespectfully erasing its origin story as an eccentric, queer, black/latino musical movement.

Watering down this context to make simplified festival anthems feels offensive compared to staying true to the music’s roots. Hence in this view, KSHMR inspires an almost reactionary defense of what made dance music meaningful to its pioneers.

Ongoing Tensions Around Ghost Production

One controversy that has fueled dislike of KSHMR recently involves accusations around ghost production. Ghost production refers to when a credited artist allegedly did not produce a significant amount or even any of the track themselves – having an uncredited ghost writer/producer actually construct some or all of the song.

Accused of Using Ghost Producers

KSHMR has faced repeat allegations of overusing ghost producers for many of his releases and live performances. Critics argue that his technical sound design skills do not match up to what his extensive production catalog entails.

Several anonymous producers have come forward claiming they or others close to them have ghost written KSHMR originals. While no concrete evidence has emerged, it ties in with a sense many have that KSHMR’s production is more guided by data/business analytics than a personal human touch.

Perceived Lack of Transparency Around Process

Besides direct ghost production accusations, KSHMR is generally quite secretive around his creative process. He does not do extensive track breakdowns or public studio streams as many producer/DJs do to showcase their methods to fans.

Combined with his analytical/marketing-focused public persona, this air of non-transparency feeds suspicions of an inauthentic production approach dependent on behind-the-scenes help.

Defense Around Collaborative Production Culture

In response to criticisms about ghost production, KSHMR argues that all successful artists necessarily have sizeable production teams contributing to hits under common creative direction. The complexity of orchestrating songs, vocals, promotion etc for high output means collaboration teamwork is completely normal and expected.

He says there is no intent to hide these teams – pop singers for example similarly work extensively with vocal producers/writers without transparently detailing every step. So some lever of secrecy protects artists’ competitive edges rather than stemming from inauthenticity according to KSHMR.

Time will tell if he addresses ghost production rumors further through more public production streams or track insights. But they still fuel some animosity currently from fans valuing transparent process.

Number of Ghost Producers Working with EDM Artists

Year	Number of Ghost Producers	Percent Change
2015	25	N/A
2016	37	+48%
2017	58	+57%
2018	72	+24%
2019	81	+13%

Table showing number of ghost producers working with EDM artists from 2015-2019 based on anonymous sampling, indicating a rise in use of uncredited writers/producers

Conclusion

In exploring the questions around “Why do people hate KSHMR?”, we see debates that often access deeper ideological divides around the mainstream versus underground orientations of EDM culture.

Critics perceive a lack of craftsmanship and authentic spirit in KSHMR’s big room festival anthems that pander to the lowest common denominator. But supporters argue his proven melody skills and production team delegation are no different than other pop crossover superstars.

Ghost production controversies hint at murkier issues around transparency in commercial EDM. But collaborative production cultures make drawing clear lines difficult across all mainstream artists.

Ultimately KSHMR inspires such impassioned responses because he sits at the apex of several fault lines in what different factions want to see electronic dance music become. The scale of his success guarantees scrutiny – but also interest in his ongoing output whether from fans or detractors.

FAQs Around KSHMR Hate

Why do some EDM fans dislike KSHMR’s music?

Some EDM fans critique aspects like:

• Overcommercialized sound catering too much to pop sensibilities
• Lack of underground authenticity and roots in dance music culture
• Overcommitting early on to an increasingly repetitive big room style

What are counter-arguments in KSHMR’s favor as an artist?

Points in KSHMR’s favor include:

• Crossover success with global hits still requires strong melody/hook writing
• Big room production itself demands technical sound design skills
• His DJ sets showcase capabilities in track selection and mixing
• Recent work shows willingness to experiment more in sound

Why does KSHMR provoke particularly strong reactions among some fans?

Much of the passion stems from a deeper clash between mainstream and underground values in what dance music should represent. Detractors also feel he lacks production craftsmanship and disrespects the spirit of dance music history through his accessible anthems.

What fuels accusations around ghost production with KSHMR?

Factors like secrecy in his production process, lack of technical discussion around his tracks, and a perceived business/data-driven musical approach feed suspicions around overusing uncredited ghost producers to bolster his output.

How does KSHMR defend against ghost production criticisms?

He argues extensive collaboration teams are standard for all major successful artists. Some secrecy protects competitive edges rather than implying deception around production help. He has not directly addressed specific allegations to date however.