Hey
HF,
I have had discussions on this subject many many times with my colleague's. Its a touchy subject for me too, cause i am also very involved in music since my early age. It has driven and influenced my life very deeply, and i have great respect for music as a form of art, and a physical medium to even heal, help your self (an overlooked field) .
Of course, there are many takes on what electronic music really means. It could mean nearly all music that isn't completely acoustic in nature... but even microphones are an electronic instrument, so who can say. When I started out making electronic music, there were no sequencers and the synthesizers were mostly analog. Music that had the title of electronic music was very different than what the term refers to today. Pink Floyd, for example was considered an electronic music act in that time... now they are obviously a rock band
Of course in early days it was hard to define what an electronic music really is because it was not solely created by synth's. Still much of the instruments used were acoustical instruments. So i think anyone who experimented (like Pink Floyd), or at least implemented one of these electronic instruments in their gig, was electronic music pioneer.
As far as the microphone goes, even the electric guitar...its still manipulation of acoustical signal. The source is acoustical, so is considered as such also...even if the output of the guitar is electrically distorted...the first signal outputted is completely analog and acoustic.
But as years were passing and new technology was born( DAW sequencing and synth's), i think it was pretty much defined what electronic music means.There is no doubt that today, all of the electronic music is completely made in the digital realm of bytes and bit's. Even the synth's are hybrid of digital and analog, there is hardly a complete analog device on the market that doesn't belong to one of the vintage brands that remained like Moog, and is sold as such :vintage.
Now about the copying of ideas that we today see. I think its the same in every f.in genre of music. U see dub step which is very boring and already heard, but you also hear the same riff's in rock and metal. I mean the level of experimentation and creativity in general fell a bit.. Maybe its a bit pronounced in electronic music genre's cause its easier to come by the cracked software so really everyone can try, but no one can buy a fake Gibson with the same sound. I think you get what i mean.
As long as there is music that touches your heart and mind, you shouldn't worry much about how or why it was done.At least i stopped bothering...and its really brighter on that side

As technology paces up, music was always following with a change. Music as we know today is completely dependent and connected with the technological development.So we will definitely see more change in what we today perceive as music.