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In electronic music, we love to argue. About the right BPM, the right club, the right crowd, what is still “underground” and what isn’t anymore, what techno is and what it isn’t.
So, for once, let’s do the opposite.
Here are our 10 non-negotiables at Clubbing TV.
(Don’t worry, we’ll still debate a little. Just a little.)
1. Techno comes from Detroit. Period.
Berlin gave techno some of its most legendary clubs. Europe helped turn it into a global phenomenon. But its story begins in Detroit. Its story is Detroit.
In the 1980s, Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, the famous Belleville Three, helped shape a new sound built around electronic machines, funk, futurism and various european influences. Juan Atkins is still widely regarded today as one of the founding fathers of techno.
We can spend three hours arguing about techno’s best era, its purest style, yes, yes, we know. But not really about where it was born.
2. If the sound system sucks, the party sucks. Period.
You can have an incredible line-up, perfect scenography and an exceptional venue: if the sound is harsh, or worse, if it starts crackling, it’s a complete no-go.
The woooorst is schranz on a shitty sound system. It’s terrible. Honestly, you can’t do much worse. Electronic music is physical music too. You don’t go out just to hear a track you could have listened to in your headphones at home. You go out to feel the bass, hear the details in a mix, understand the transitions and experience the sound collectively.
So if you can’t afford a decent sound system, don’t charge people to come to your party.
The sound system is part of the party.
3. €30 for a ticket is a lot. Period.
Yes, putting on an event is expensive. Renting a venue, paying the artists, technicians, security, staff, the sound system 😉 and the entire production all costs money.
But we also need to be able to say that paying €30 just to get through the door — knowing that you still have drinks, maybe an Uber, and everything else on top of that — simply isn’t accessible to everyone anymore.
And culture should be open to everyone.
Saying that a €30 ticket, and yes, we’re talking early bird here, is expensive doesn’t mean every event should cost €10.
But come on. Let’s not get carried away either.
4. There is no such thing as a “techno outfit.” Period.
Black sunglasses. All-black everything. Futuristic shades. Harnesses. Combat boots.
The internet has created a kind of visual techno uniform. And obviously, if you genuinely like that look, wear it. The problem is when people start wearing it like a costume just because it’s super trendy. Honestly, it gets uncomfortable.
Techno is not a dress code.
For decades, its different scenes have been shaped by completely different aesthetics, from Detroit to Berlin, London, Paris or Tbilisi. Reducing an entire culture to black cargo pants and a pair of Oakleys is probably one of the worst consequences of techno making its way onto TikTok.
Wear whatever you want.
That should be enough.
5. House is amazing. Enough with the 160 BPM minimum. Period.
What exactly is everyone’s problem with house?
Loving electronic music and genuinely caring about it also means learning about its pioneers, its foundations, its history and its legendary tracks, even when it isn’t your favorite style. Just because you love hard techno doesn’t mean house deserves to get dragged all the time.
And come on…
You don’t say you don’t like something before you’ve tried it.
(And most importantly, don’t say it’s shit, because then we’re going to have a problem.)
6. The longer, the better. Period.
We’re obviously talking about DJ sets here. An hour can be perfect for a festival. Sometimes fast food is great it’s quick, it’s fun. But have you ever had a beef bourguignon that’s been simmering for hours?
Give a great DJ three, four, six hours and suddenly it’s a completely different experience. Special mention to Sven Väth, who apparently believes that after around 12 hours of mixing, things finally start getting interesting.
Not everything needs to be spectacular immediately.
Giving a DJ the time to take things slowly has almost become a luxury.
7. Clubs and raves have always been important spaces of LGBTQIA+ freedom. Period.
This isn’t some contemporary rewriting of nightlife history.
Long before electronic music became a global industry, bars, clubs and dancefloors were spaces where LGBTQIA+ communities could meet, express themselves and exist more freely.
Disco itself developed in part through underground clubs frequented by Black, Latino and gay communities before exploding into the mainstream.
That history matters.
And watching those spaces shrink because badly intentioned people start making others feel unsafe?
No.
Of course, you can go out and party without knowing every chapter of club culture history. But when you enter these spaces, it’s worth remembering that some of the freedoms we now take for granted had to be fought for.
So, thank you to the people who made them possible.
8. An outfit is never an invitation. Period.
That’s it.
Nothing else to add.
9. Racism, homophobia, transphobia and the far right have no place in rave culture. Period.
The history of LGBTQIA+ nightlife also shows that these spaces existed for a long time in a context of discrimination, police raids and, sometimes, outright criminalization.
So it’s pretty strange to borrow the aesthetics, music and codes of cultures that were partly born in these spaces while rejecting the very people who helped build them.
So, out.
10. Apartment afterparties are rarely a good idea. Period.
It’s 7:34 a.m.
You have two options: go home, or keep the night going in some questionable apartment that’s one hour and ten minutes away from your place.
Six people want to keep going. Three others say they’re coming for “just twenty minutes.”
That’s exactly the moment when you need to know when to leave. Of course, legendary afters exist. Of course, sometimes we get tempted. Of course, every now and then, it’s actually worth it. But most of the time, it really isn’t.
You keep drinking, you keep consuming, you delay the moment when you eventually have to go home alone, and the anxiety starts creeping in.
Go home.
You’ll thank yourself later.
Sleep is always the better option.
Period.