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i really want to get tracks signed onto labels some day, it's kind of my dream. what i'm wondering is if i get like a dubstep track signed, if a neurofunk/dnb label wouldn't want to sign me or vice versa. i know quite a few producers do multiple genres (chase and status) but would labels look at your affiliations and decide not to sign you based on the labels you have releases on?

yes

that's a bummer. i produce both but i think if i had to decide which one to choose to go big for it would probably be DNB...it'd be sh*tty to like have, for instance Play Me say "oh yeah man good song, but we don't like that you're releasing on Dangerous New Age and Ganja Tek." (awfully ambitious i know haha)

i would hope that it would be more about what kind of tunes you push out but i guess the business side of it has a huge impact too.

just make whatever you want, no one is gonna see your track and then be like 'oh yeah this is sick, I must sign this, lets see his other tunes' 'oh shit he makes dnb aswell, man fuck this, i dont wanna sign this track no more, even though its really good.'

haha true

i think that dnb artists and dubstep artists tend to have conflicting tastes in their sounds, like a lot of dnb artists go for like sci-fi sounds and energy and dubstep goes for pure filth and aggression. my goal in production is to bridge that gap and make filthy, energetic dnb and energetic, sci-fi dubstep. i like to take my favorite parts of both genres and use them together. i know that's what nero does and chase and status.

on the topic of stuff getting signed, what are a lot of the criteria that a labelhead will look at when they listen to a track? i'm sure it's a lot like a job interview too in the way you make a first impression.

redshiftdubdnb wrote:haha true

i think that dnb artists and dubstep artists tend to have conflicting tastes in their sounds, like a lot of dnb artists go for like sci-fi sounds and energy and dubstep goes for pure filth and aggression. my goal in production is to bridge that gap and make filthy, energetic dnb and energetic, sci-fi dubstep. i like to take my favorite parts of both genres and use them together. i know that's what nero does and chase and status.

You don't sound like you've explored either drum and bass or dubstep if you think they're so different. They're just different tempos. Nobody's forcing you to make 'sci-fi' at 170 and 'filth' at 140.

redshiftdubdnb wrote:on the topic of stuff getting signed, what are a lot of the criteria that a labelhead will look at when they listen to a track? i'm sure it's a lot like a job interview too in the way you make a first impression.

You're making the music industry sound like a computer game or something. Kode9 isn't going to sit there listening to your track with a clipboard, ticking boxes. Just try and make unique music. If there were a magic formula, everyone would be doing it.

dude, i'm saying in general, the sci-fi sounds of neurofunk and the filthy sounds of dubstep. i've looked into both genres very thoroughly, been listening to both for something like 7 years.

and of course i don't mean a formula, but what KINDS of things would a label be looking for?

have different names for different genres, works for other producers?

redshiftdubdnb wrote:dude, i'm saying in general, the sci-fi sounds of neurofunk and the filthy sounds of dubstep. i've looked into both genres very thoroughly, been listening to both for something like 7 years.

and of course i don't mean a formula, but what KINDS of things would a label be looking for?

Labels aren't looking for anything in particular. You need to develop your own, unique sound that no one has heard before. There are no instructions on how to make the next dubstep banger.

alright, thanks guys this is actually really helpful.

so it's more about sending em a song that makes them double take than sending in a song with immaculate production then? (of COURSE the production has to be good, i've also heard that a lot of times labels will reply to submissions with a list of small revisions or minor corrections to make before they sign it)