too many new labels. dec 2007 edition.

[human?]

after page 2 they are all out of stock...

whoops! good point, but you know what i'm getting at. thats just one store we're looking at too. chemical's deadstock is deep as well.

i do understand... i do think its subjective tho...

alot of released music in general, imho, sucks.

as a DJ, im pretty much used to having to grind through tons of releases to find the gems i play..... so i guess it really just doesnt bother me too much.. i actually find it fun even...

if everything was dope, my function would be minimalized!! lol

[daggus]

Absolutely...personally I think market saturation is inevitable and people are stressing about something that cannot be stopped.

Yea have to agreed.

I'd be more worried if they wasn't enough stuff comin out that i DO want to buy. There's been a decent run of releases at the end of this year. But i couldn't help thinking when i voted in the forum awards that the stable of artists & labels i'm interested/impressed in hasn't exactly changed drastically since last year. Thats despite the stupid amount of releases an increased interest in the scene etc.

[*decibella~~]

seckle - i totally back you on this bro

I have been a little broke the last few months - but i went into Blackmarket last week and was greeted with tonns of lables/artists i had never heard about --- getting exited (and also a little scared - as i felt 'jeeez ive fallen behind quite alot!') I said to youngx gimmi one of everything..... and i can safely say that out of about 15 tunes i bought 1 thing (and its more of a chilled tune with a nice little melody that touched me rather than anything amazingly good /fresh...)
DMZ & Deep Medi lead the way and set the standard lable wise for me -
TIMELESS tunes on each release (normally even the B side deserves to be AA! and the way they schedule the releases too dont swamp you and leave you wanting more for the perfect amount of time!)- plus the artwork etc etc (new characatures / dmz colours etc) everything is spot on.

----- I too, was so upset when dnb started getting stale (jungle/dnb was what i grew up on from 14!) i think that bodyrock was probably the last 'exiting' new tune that really pushed new boundaries....

(aprt from Lynx this years Disco Dodo)

---- dont even get me started on Best of British last weekend - it made me weep

[dj $hy]

Absolutely...personally I think market saturation is inevitable and people are stressing about something that cannot be stopped.

Yea have to agreed.

I'd be more worried if they wasn't enough stuff comin out that i DO want to buy. There's been a decent run of releases at the end of this year.

That’s the point!

Interesting thread and form Seckle, god is this guy going to stop creating moan threads

Personally I agree with what you’re saying hands down. Quality control is very important and it needs to considered form a labels eyes. But I also have to think one mans gold is another mans shit and with that in mind who are we to say what’s a shit release and what isn't?! I mean a shit release would clearly be Seckle’s example only selling 5 in 35 but does that really happen? Have labels ever been left with 90% of their stock... Cos thats a bitter lesson learn't!

The problem for one of a better word is that loads of ppl are now creating labels, a good thing as long as QC is adhered to! Not being a label I couldn't comment but how easy is it to sign bigger names to a smaller label? From my experience (not much) n what I've heard it isn't easy at all in fact it just don’t happen! So labels have to reach down the food chain. With that in mind its good for up and coming producers!

Funny thing is it will always happen. I was at a DnB studio only a month ago n was given about 6 records, all bangers from the DnB world that were just sent back to them! Boxes outside a lockup full of full release 12"'s! I'd imagine if that happened to a dubstep label at such an early stage it'd be game ova...

Like to hear what smaller labels have to say tho.

Altho

I'd still have to refer to my first point if you want my opinion on this topic...

One mans shit is another mans gold

[gravious]

Funny thing is it will always happen. I was at a DnB studio only a month ago n was given about 6 records, all bangers from the DnB world that were just sent back to them! Boxes outside a lockup full of full release 12"'s! I'd imagine if that happened to a dubstep label at such an early stage it'd be game ova...

Like to hear what smaller labels have to say tho.

Altho

I'd still have to refer to my first point if you want my opinion on this topic...

One mans shit is another mans gold

Yeah. A lot of it comes down to taste. If people don't like the new releases coming out, they won't buy them, and in most cases that will mean the end of the label (at least for a while!).

However, if they do like them, and they sell, then they'll keep going.

So, unless you start imposing 'good' (i.e. your own) taste on people, labels are gonna keep putting out the records you don't like.

Having said that, there are plenty of released things I hear that I don't think are that worthy of release, and plenty of un-released things that I think are. But I suppose everyone feels this way - which is why they start a bloody label!

Overall though, I feel some newer labels could branch out a bit more into different styles.

[datura]

I can actually say that this year has been a bit of a disappointment from some of the more established labels for me personally, with the newer labels like Hessle, Punch Drunk etc providing a lot more interesting and diverse releases.

[shonky]

Just support the ones you like, the others will soon get the message. Must admit, if I get time in my lunch hour to check tunes out and nine out of ten are predictable and familiar, then I tend not to bother checking those artists and labels again.

As with the comment about 4 labels passing on a tune, I think it depends on the label again, it might well be a good tune, might just be that the label owners don't think it fits in with their house style, or might just be that the label owners don't think it would sell. Sales figures and quality of tune don't necessarily go hand in hand. Also might be that they're not in the inner sanctum of the label owners mates too

[ramadanman]

many of the problems that drum and bass experienced was down to the distributors

[seckle]

many of the problems that drum and bass experienced was down to the distributors

totally.

hearing first hand about how some of the distro's would sign literally ANY dnb tune around 2000-2002, no matter how crap or how badly produced really opened my eyes to how much responsibility really lies on their shoulders.

anyone can come up with $1700 to put one batch out, but the distros are the ones giving up the greenlight.

[John Locke]

i really dont c the problem

personally i think tunes like Night and Request Line r complete shit, but I aint gonna start arguing they shouldnt have been released. I just dont buy them

and i think too many people on here r overly caught up in this scene, like it s the b all and end all of everything. its irrational. like people decide "okay, thats it, I like dubstep now, nothing else matters" and then get all uptite about it when people release stuf they dont like or people jump on the nandwagon.

any scene goes down the pan eventually. Jungle/DnB was once perhaps the most exciting musical form 2 come out of the UK. Ever. A music really dear to my heart, something that i was passionate about...but i havent checked a new DnB release in years now. its unlistenable. thats just the way it goes. but there's other stuf 2 check now

my allegiance is to music, not one genre of music. genres come and go. but there's always interesting music out there to be found

and always more shit music available than good. so what?

buy the good, ignore the rest.

and if dubstep aint going the way u want it 2 go anymore, then create something new, how u want it. dont feel like u have 2 defend the genre to the death. or go down with it like the captain of a sinking ship

[shonky]

my allegiance is to music, not one genre of music. genres come and go. but there's always interesting music out there to be found

and always more shit music available than good. so what?

Yep exactly, if labels are going to flood the scene with substandard material, go check out something else.

To be honest, I don't think it's really much worse than it was last year, when I thought there were a lot of uninteresting tunes coming out that seemed to be overhyped by all and sundry - at least this year there's been more effort made to introduce or reinvent other styles. There's more shit too but that's par for the course as scenes grow.

Dubstep's just become like every other genre, was never going to last forever was it.

[John Locke]

...or people jump on the nandwagon.

i seen them down the KFC last week, now they all hangin in Nandos. shocking

[pete_bubonic]

my allegiance is to music, not one genre of music. genres come and go. but there's always interesting music out there to be found

and always more shit music available than good. so what?

Yep exactly, if labels are going to flood the scene with substandard material, go check out something else.

To be honest, I don't think it's really much worse than it was last year, when I thought there were a lot of uninteresting tunes coming out that seemed to be overhyped by all and sundry - at least this year there's been more effort made to introduce or reinvent other styles. There's more shit too but that's par for the course as scenes grow.

Dubstep's just become like every other genre, was never going to last forever was it.

When was Dubstep not like every other genre? Every dance music on the face of the planet goes through the experimental underground phase and then onto the mainstream commercial phase and once the hype settles things begin to return to normal. That's how the world works. Dubstep does not need rose tinted glasses.

[jam-2 [darqsyde]]

and if dubstep aint going the way u want it 2 go anymore, then create something new, how u want it. dont feel like u have 2 defend the genre to the death. or go down with it like the captain of a sinking ship

There's some harsh reality in this post. The surging popularity of Dubstep is unfortunate. Tons of people who so desperately wanted to make their mark in DnB and other genres decided that this was their opportunity. they decided that to jump into this NEW thing. DJs and Promoters who so desperately wanted to build themselves in the NEW world of dubstep
are now scratching and clawing to be "SOMEBODY" in this new thing.

It's pretty sad. spending all their cash on tunes, and bookings but at the end of the day, can't even pay their bills or rent. what's the point? its a friggin popularity contest on the stupid scale. I'm watching this go down right here in my own city. Instead of peeps working together friendships and alliances are being destroyed over gigs, tunes and the claim of "I pioneered this" crap. get a life and for god's sake pay your friggin bills man. it's not worth it in the end. Friendship is far more valuable than any stupid popularity quest.

BOSTON DJS , PRODUCERS AND PROMOTERS I'm talking to you
WAKE UP!

[seckle]

Every dance music on the face of the planet goes through the experimental underground phase and then onto the mainstream commercial phase and once the hype settles things begin to return to normal. That's how the world works. Dubstep does not need rose tinted glasses.

!!!!!!!!!! spot on.

[feasible_weasel]

I would say that there is alot more room than drum n bass had.
see...most music has a fixed beat pattern style.
this is why for example crunk and hyphy sound different than NY hip-hop.
Drum n bass was identified by the amen style break..same as 2step had the familiar drum pattern.
with dubstep u dont have a fixed pattern, u can add anything u want. just as long as u dont stray into another genre too much.

[the wiggle baron]

Ive got no problem with there being more and more labels to be honest (although ive never actually been as interested and on the ball with any genre as i have dubstep, so I cant say I know first hand what might happen) but all I keep finding is that (as a DJ) I just have to sift through more tunes to find ones I like, bit of commitment I think!

More labels = more good tunes, but a lower good/bad tune ratio surely? (And fuck it, ive got enough free time )

[quark]

everyones tastes are wild and varying, with no consistency whatsoever. even my all time favourite artists of any genre have made tracks that i just don't like but thats their perogative as artists and labels, to put out stuff they like.

i honestly dont think people hear succesful tunes and think 'i can copy this and get rich quick'. this seems like a very cynical way of looking at the world. i prefer to think people hear stuff they love, and are influenced by it rather than immitating it.

i also reckon its inevitable that electronically driven music at 130 - 140 bpm which involves atonal melodies and two note bass lines is gonna sound the same somewhere down the line.

but overall i'm positive about originality in dubstep, especially compared to other forms of electronic music.
more music does mean more shit music, but it also means more good music too.

[John Locke]

Every dance music on the face of the planet goes through the experimental underground phase and then onto the mainstream commercial phase and once the hype settles things begin to return to normal. That's how the world works. Dubstep does not need rose tinted glasses.

!!!!!!!!!! spot on.

yeah spot on. indeed obvious.

but surely completely contradicting yr own original post? a plea to release less music so as not to water down the quality would seem 2 me 2 b a plea not to allow dubstep to follow this natural course of events

[linear]

i dont really see the explosion in labels as a problem, if you look at redeye on release day on a thursday theres still only 5-6 new bits a week, its not exactly the end of the world to spend 20 minutes checking them out?!

i think what may happen next year is that people will specialize even more in their buying perhaps? whereas before there were no releases so people jumped on whatever actually made it to wax, now theyve got choice to go deeper into the sounds they like with their purchases. For example, i know i dont really like the ultra-aggressive, drum and bass style stuff coming from a few people, but fuck it, i dont have to buy it. I dunno this doesnt really seem like a problem for me at the moment, but then i dont feel like ive got enough money to buy everything i want already so i dont have to worry about what i dont want.