I doubt we will ever get electronic 'superstars' like the magnificent 7 again as they came around in a time when what they were doing was revolutionary by default just by using a new(ish) medium that had been refined enough to bridge the gap between abstract electronic sounds and traditional harmonic instruments which finally caught the imagination of the general public.
These days electronic music is so diverse with so many artists doing things in constantly different ways then its hard to stand out unless its something an innovative DJ is spreading to the masses like the attention a live shown would normally get however this culture is restrained by the boundaries of club music and these days public prefer to see a sweaty guitar band than two bods miming behind a load of equipment.
For an artist to shine above a niche genre it would take a performance act thats appeals to a large social culture or get attention via use with some other mainstream medium like a TV ad or film soundtrack.
I think the main problem with the 'Golden 7' is that they rode on the back of the technology wave for most of their career which had a fundamental effect on influencing the the music they produced and kept them ahead of the game for some time. Even if Klaus Schulze said in 1979 that "there are 10 synth artist's going in different directions" their music in effect was still restrained by the limits of the technology they had at the time hence they have all been grouped together as the 'Sad Old 7' or 'Golden era' looking back.
Its only when music technology came full circle in the late 80's/early 90's and became more available to younger artists with fresh ideas that the 'Golden Oldies' were kinda left in the dust with no where to go as these young electronic artists were no riding on the back of their own drug fueled sub culture similar to the Rock of the late 60's.
Creating electronic music in the past was more a case of what you could get from the technology that was available at the time where as these days it more on your selection of the equipment and sound that you want from the infinite sources freely available hence so many sub genre's within other genre's blah-blah.
I think the big artists of the dance renaissance will get the same flack in 10yrs time like the artist of the 70's do now yet still maintaining admiration for their past work its just progression and evolution which is natural for a living medium such as music.
Electronic dance music will creep back eventually when the kids finally get sick of this indie pop rock but it will just be a diluted version of whats been before played by preset laptop DJ's to please the masses and cash in.
The internet whilst making piracy rife also makes lots more available for people to refine their tastes so I think this is where the current future of progressive electronic music culture will thrive for the time being reaching out to new audiences around the globe hence forums like this one!
As far as electronic music standing out to the masses goes I think it would take a live act of exceptional talent, innovation and skill with technology thats visually coherent yet fully functional in a true live environment that will inspire other artists for a new method of expression but we ain't going to get that playing ad lib keyboard solos, hiding behind laptops or relying on MIDI. :?
