Though the conversation was always convivial, last night as the South by Southwest Interactive ended and SXSW Music began, electronic-music pioneers Joel Zimmerman and Richie Hawtin delivered a pointed message: Today's electronic dance music suffers from the pursuit of commercial success and the ease with which the music can be made.

Better known as Deadmau5 and Plastikman, respectively, Zimmerman and Hawtin agreed many of today's EDM musicians have developed an instinct to copy rather than create. The irony, they said,...