Dubstepforum.com

Hi,

Im a dedicated Dubstep follower, and decided to use my first post discussing the current financial state of affairs within the dubstep scene.

Iv heard that things are getting so tight with Dj Performance Fee's, that certain producer/d.j's have resorted to making ends meet via other methods.

Iv heard through the grapevine that Seven has taken up porn vid's to keep himself afloat..........



I mean whats next??? Mala working in Sainsburys? Youngsta doin a paper round??

Please feel free to add to the discussion

Jim

welcome to being a musician.

dubstep owes me money

It's not just the dubstep scene. Unless you're a HUGE act, in most any genre you're not rollin' in cash. I mean there are certainly musicians who are a able to make ends meet with their music earnings, but it's not like it used to be. I played in a band with this guy who used to have health insurance through his blues band. all they played was covers and a few originals. I thin that was probably more than twenty years ago, but you don't really hear about stuff like that too much these days.

definitely it's not a dubstep thing, but in scenes like dubstep you rarely can call yourself a professional producer because you can't make this your profession (job) as it can't cover life expenses.
dj'ing is another trade, as proven in the mistabishi thread
you can make music at professional standards, but it's still an after job hobby, and that affects quality and quantity
music needs professionals and they're gonna become extinct if the trends don't change a bit

yeh... not exactly ground breaking news, i mean any Underground music is going to have funding issues, but i think this can be a very positive thing, in that it allows people to get "popular" (within the scene) without having alternative motives. Some people with in the scene are just happy to have their music played on rinse or appreciated by another producer. Case in point, Mala, who openly says he doesn't do it to make money, the night, the label, releases, and that money is just a side benefit, this is clear from the repress of Silkie's album. In case you didn't know, Youngsta does work in Black Market, and only recently has Distance become a professional musician (do it full time).
Everyone has to do things for free in any music scene before they get anywhere near making a profit.

not sure if that was relevant or made sense.... kind of went off on one and forgot the original discussion.... sorry

I have a mate who DJs all the major festivals, electric picnic, glade, glastonbury etc. He gets a handful of free tickets (that's how I blag my way in for free) and just enough money to cover his petrol, food and 'extras'. I think he's mad because sometimes he has to do from 12am to 7am and then 12pm to 7pm for fuck all, but he loves it and does it for the love. I'd love it if he made some money off it because he deserves it... he's a cripple ffs

Here he is hobbling to do a set:

steshine wrote:In case you didn't know, Youngsta does work in Black Market, and only recently has Distance become a professional musician (do it full time).
Everyone has to do things for free in any music scene before they get anywhere near making a profit.

well from here we understand youngsta hasn't done his share of free tings and distance just graduated
you think that's fair?
imagine the things people like that would've accomplished musically if the scene (that's us!) allowed them to be professionals

starting low is the most common way, not the only one, but it's not like you have to.
i think the only thing that "everyone has to" is to treat others and be treated by others fairly

"its not what you , but who you know" is killing music. It hurts me to know that I'll never hear music from a potentially favorite artist simply because they don't suck dick at parties for contacts or have 120 friends to bring to shows that like the exact same thing as they do.

keep that new age nepotism as far away from music as you can.

I'm not that surprised it doesn't put much money in pockets. Since it is kind of limited in scope of listeners and its not easy to dance to (I say 'not easy' because I've recently seen some pretty sick looking dancing to dubstep, not as easy as a girl just going nuts shaking her ass to house music), so it ends up in these underground-friendly clubs and lounges, whereas house and progressive get club-land type places with dancers and bottle service and tables. The clubs that can pay big are the ones that get the dumbasses in there to pay 5000 for a table and another 5000 on ripoff champaigne that was taken to the next level of ripoff.

Even the house and progressive guys, except for the massive ones, aren't getting loaded anytime soon.

I think it was said best earlier, maybe keeping money out of it isn't a terrible way to keep it grounded.

hurlingdervish wrote:"its not what you , but who you know" is killing music. It hurts me to know that I'll never hear music from a potentially favorite artist simply because they don't suck dick at parties for contacts or have 120 friends to bring to shows that like the exact same thing as they do.

keep that new age nepotism as far away from music as you can.

Yep, i'd agree with that. It's a terrible situation when everything is so clicky and isolated for the one's who are seriously talented.

maximus wrote:welcome to being a musician.

truth
thank good i work in a gear shop in pro audio, get to talk about the shit i love 24/7
unless you're a huge act with loads of gigs you need a day job
and the business side to being a producer/dj is often shady as hell despite contracts

Sure its always nice to make a few bucks playing out, but i already know its not something to count on, or a reasonable future goal. i just get excited being able to play for a crowd (however small it may be sometimes). Playing at home is just kinda like listening to your favorite tunes, when i dj out in public though im kinda thinking "hey you, you NEED to hear these tunes. you MUST feel what im feeling". i guess i feel like im educating people on what they might not know. then again, dubstep is by no means "big" where i am, so the whole "educating people" on tunes may not be common thing all over the place. If i can get a few heads nodding because theyre INTO what im doing (you can tell between the ones that are into it and the ones who are just nodding cause thats what tempo's being played), then that makes my night. mission accomplished.


might have got off topic, but i was on a roll.

discussing money on the internet sucks. all it does is kick a whole bunch of dirt in the air.

seckle wrote:discussing money on the internet sucks. all it does is kick a whole bunch of dirt in the air.

true but lack of discussion is what turns loads of up and comings into jaded house producers
make what you are passionate about and be thankful if you get paid for what you enjoy doing and any fame/recognition from it is secondary
keep your day job
if you're trying to make music to make cash you should be making pop, not dubstep or edm in general

deadly habit wrote:

seckle wrote:discussing money on the internet sucks. all it does is kick a whole bunch of dirt in the air.

true but lack of discussion is what turns loads of up and comings into jaded house producers
make what you are passionate about and be thankful if you get paid for what you enjoy doing and any fame/recognition from it is secondary
keep your day job
if you're trying to make music to make cash you should be making pop, not dubstep or edm in general

it's not about trying to make cash from dubstep as i see it, it's about trying to get the little reward good work deserves, and some assholes refusing it to you because they envy you for not hating the hours spent WORKING on tunes.
how about everyone who enjoys his work doesn't get payed?
note that behind every really good tune there's usually some days of work and some years of experience

all i can say is out of what i've done djing has paid more than the one label who paid me for a release who is the only professional company i've dealt with and that was uk based
not naming names but music business is shady period and be thankful for what you get even with a good contract and if willing lawyer

this is what i'm talking about
because it's harder to download booze and tickets from torrents, because nobody tells the barman he's happy to work at parties and so on...

alien pimp wrote:this is what i'm talking about
because it's harder to download booze and tickets from torrents, because nobody tells the barman he's happy to work at parties and so on...

yea being a 27 year old producer seeing it all i'm jaded as hell
i mean i get that and get paid but due to scene politics its taboo to name names etc when it comes to shady labels etc which i think is bs
like i said jaded and been ripped off before production wise

deadly habit wrote:

alien pimp wrote:this is what i'm talking about
because it's harder to download booze and tickets from torrents, because nobody tells the barman he's happy to work at parties and so on...

yea being a 27 year old producer seeing it all i'm jaded as hell
i mean i get that and get paid but due to scene politics its taboo to name names etc when it comes to shady labels etc which i think is bs
like i said jaded and been ripped off before production wise

if money were made and not shared, that's not lack of funds so kinda offtopic
you gotta be sure on your case because if you throw false accusations you're done
i've been ripped too, but hard to prove, also had a couple of producers who wouldn't believe the sales they made...
so careful with that and i don't think it fits in this thread (but not like i'm trying to tell you what to do on this one)