(I bring people who aren’t necessarily part of my immediate community to parties, as I always like when my friends have fun when they go out. More importantly, I try and listen to them when they talk about their impressions/experiences. One of the photographers I’ve had the privilege of knowing & working with did me the honor of sharing some of her frustrations with one of the facets of the underground here in NYC: The Burner/Burning Man community, one she very much enjoys. Her comments are presented unedited & the photos added to the article are by her, chosen by me, with her permission.)

I do not consider myself a burner, but I’d really like to be. The principles of radical inclusion, civic responsibility, radical self-expression and reliance, gifting, participation, etc., yeah that’s a kind of world I want to see, that I want to help build. But what does radical inclusion look like when economics keep many would-be burners out of the NYC scene? How do we make spaces welcoming for people who don’t have the money & who lack the ability to create elaborate costumes? I want to be a part of the burner scene, I really do, but factors beyond my own social anxiety keep me out.

One of the hardest parts of privilege is that by definition you aren’t aware you have it. In New York City it’s easy to lose sight of one’s own economic privilege because there are always twenty someones with bigger wallets than you. Most burners I know have a financial stability that I have never had the luxury of experiencing which is probably why this issue is so glaring for me. I know people who live in apartments where the rent is two months’ salary for me and yet they still call themselves “poor” because compared to their finance neighbors they feel they are. To these people a fifty dollar party is no big deal but to someone working a minimum wage job it’s a day’s pay. Now I don’t begrudge anyone their good fortune but I also think people need to be aware of the privilege they possess. We need to be aware of fact that the prices of events and the expectation of elaborate costumes are by nature exclusionary. We also need to be aware of the kinds of people these exclusionary practices are keeping out.

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Those two somewhat unassuming guys released a “Massive EDM White Paper,” which studied the $4.5billion in annual sales (give or take a few regional burns). My editor at EDMTunes was able to sit down with these guys and really get at some of the issues surrounding the industry and how corporatization of festivals is changing the culture. It’s a bit more meaty than my usual morning fare here in Gotham, but if you’re an event producer, promoter, or even an artist or a tech wanting to climb that ladder, you should probably take the time and read this.