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The Death of Dance

I've posted a similar thread on many other forums in the past, but I figured I might as well try it again on the Godfather of all dance sites. The dance scene here in the States is struggling to stay afloat. I am from Connecticut and about four years ago we had this boom in the club scene. Numerous afterhour clubs opened up, raves were huge, and the music was great. I would go to my local record store and purchase a compilation CD and usually I'd be satisfied with my purchase. The Euphoria series was great...Oakey, PVD, and Tiesto were releasing top-notch albums...even Ministry of Sound was decent. Fast forward a few years later...all the clubs shut down (drugs) and are replaced by bars playing top 40, which consists of Hip Hop and Punk. The dance shelves at the record stores have shrunk dramatically and have been pushed to the back of the store. I can't purchase a compilation CD without regret because most of the new tracks are terrible, either that, or they cram a bunch of old tracks on the CD and call it a "Best of..." or "Classics". I see more of those these days than any new material. Also, can we stop with remixing and remaking of those "Best of" and "Classic" tracks. I don't want to hear another remix to Cafe Del Mar or Delerium's Silence. Let them Rest in Peace, or at least give them time to wear off..like about 10 years! Maybe I live in a bad location, my only real connection to this genre of music is through the internet and compilation CDs. I'm just wondering what went wrong? I don't want to hear "the Music style has changed"...because honestly it hasnt really, It's all going backwards it seems. Just venting my thoughts, I hope I made some sense.

What you're describing doesn't sound like the downfall of dance music, rather it sounds like the downfall of the commercialization of dance music. At least in your area.

"Death of EDM" Thread No. 4,251,964,187,318

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/articl...1340315,00.html

Can only mean good things.

I just dont want to see it go the way of Disco. It's not really even the commercialization of Dance music, It's about me getting my hands on some good music. It was easier then than it is now. I obviously have no luck at the record store. I'm not interested in becoming a DJ, and have no use for Vinyl (which everything is on). I do however have a passion for this genre of music, and if I really appreciate a song I want the full version of it, as well as remixes. For example, It took me over a year to obtain the full version of M001 "So Fly" (Hot 22 mix) on Vinyl and had it transferred to CD. I searched everywhere online like GEMM.com and even Ebay. I usually purchase Compilation Cd's to find new songs that I like, or I will do my research online. But lately it has been getting pretty damn difficult. I would even pay a monthly fee to a site like Napster if it offered the music I was looking for.

Retro trends are nothing new.

Remember, back in the day there was no such thing as EDM in a club. You had to throw your own rave. The effort involved and the risk of being busted made each successful party that much sweeter.

You're all just afraid of a little effort...

Excellent post, and many relevant issues.

I won't go into your selections of music that you have bought, or criticise your analysis, nor your musical taste. You seem like a decent fellow and don't deserve a flaming for speaking the truth.

There could however be a truckload of TAs that feel some inner need to argue with you because you are a fan of rather commercial dance music, or because your only experience is in your local area and this is not representative of the whole country or whatever, but they are actually sidestepping the real issue, and letting their egos get in the road of the truth. Ignore them.

Mainstream? Well, maybe some of what I listen to is mainstream, but not everything. I'm sorry I actually bother to go out and purchase a compilation CD, but I'm sure we are all guilty of it. My most recent purchases included Oakenfolds Creamfields...not too bad but nothing spectacular, G&D's Bloom...there music is begining to become a bit too repetitive, as well as Ferry's Infinite Euphoria...dull. I dont know, maybe I just warped my mind with overexposion, nothing really excites me anymore. I may not know as much about the genre as the veterans, I'm only 22, but I do know a great deal from the past 6 years of listening to this.

quote:

Originally posted by Polaroid21 Mainstream? Well, maybe some of what I listen to is mainstream, but not everything. I'm sorry I actually bother to go out and purchase a compilation CD, but I'm sure we are all guilty of it. My most recent purchases included Oakenfolds Creamfields...not too bad but nothing spectacular, G&D's Bloom...there music is begining to become a bit too repetitive, as well as Ferry's Infinite Euphoria...dull. I dont know, maybe I just warped my mind with overexposion, nothing really excites me anymore. I may not know as much about the genre as the veterans, I'm only 22, but I do know a great deal from the past 6 years of listening to this.

The unfortunate thing is that there is little you can do to fix the situation, apart from move to somewhere where dance music has not had such an extreme correction.

One thing that is for certain is the fall in popularity is BAD. Some fans might be pleased that edm could get a little less mainstream, less commercialised, less common and so forth, but less populatiry will cause less money and the flow on effects to pretty much everybody that supplies the innovation required to make this whole scene interesting will cause the dry up of things that make me smile.

The cause of this situation is anyone's guess, although I put it down to many things and that includes a resurgance of rock music, R&B continuing to go from strength to strength, a world wide crack down on drugs and associated edm venues, a change of preferences from younger clubbers, and lots of other reasons.

The commercial dance market is really important because it creates money and opportunity for the quality edm and artists.

The music was better when it was made for the love of music, not the opportunity to gain profit.

quote:

Originally posted by Polaroid21 Mainstream? Well, maybe some of what I listen to is mainstream, but not everything. I'm sorry I actually bother to go out and purchase a compilation CD, but I'm sure we are all guilty of it. My most recent purchases included Oakenfolds Creamfields...not too bad but nothing spectacular, G&D's Bloom...there music is begining to become a bit too repetitive, as well as Ferry's Infinite Euphoria...dull. I dont know, maybe I just warped my mind with overexposion, nothing really excites me anymore. I may not know as much about the genre as the veterans, I'm only 22, but I do know a great deal from the past 6 years of listening to this.

I assume by "listening to this" you mean trance, specifically the progressive/melodic/epic sound that started around 97/98.

The answer is simple, really. You're growing tired of it. Not suprising at all. It's time to move on and graduate to something better. There's a whole world of EDM out there. Try some of these DJs:

Luke Fair
James Zabiela
Desyn Masiello
Darren Emerson
Carl Cox
Danny Howells
Sander Kleinenberg
Adam Freeland
Deep Dish
Danny Tenaglia
Dave Seaman

One of those should trip your trigger. They're all pretty popular, so it shouldn't be hard to track down some of their sets, or even a gig of theirs near you.

Here's my opinion or venting for whatever its worth...

I feel for Polaroid21 and I have similar opinions about Trance at its current stage. I have also been listening to Trance for 6 years, and share a similar fustration about the quality/appeal of new material. There have been times during 1998-2001 where I thought Trance was great then 2001-2003 where I thought Trance was bad enough I got away from it.
Now being a newbie DJ (trance+deep house) its hard to find trance tracks that appeal to me. I can go through 50 Trance vinyls in a record store and find only 5-7 vinyl that are I find worth purchasing and spinning. Maybe its my taste I dunno, but according to others my taste is decent.
I agree with tobias there's nothing much that can be done, just hope some appealing trance tracks come around soon. As for me, I really hesitate to spin stuff that I don't like, but is popular. It may get the crowd going, but I'll be like "man this sucks its so cheesy!" in the DJ booth. So far this year the trance is looking up, but I hesitate to be optimistic.

What I hate most is that when you tell people that you are a trance DJ, especially nightclub owners, they kinda go 'Oh', and have a Yukky look on their face, and you most certainly don't get a gig.

Whereas if you say that you play funky house, progressive, they like you, and you can play trance and they love it.

Trance seems to be a dirty word for alot of people..

As it should be.

well...i guess that leaves the U.S and the rest of the world.... But i think i like it only underground...i dont like the idea of EDM being thrown around by big company and have to change the way it sounds so it sells to idiots who'll never understand an underground scene at all. Leave this underground to the true musicians and true listeners. Whats happening in Brit is only gonna weed out the weak...the rest is left up to the strong.

quote:

Originally posted by djeternal well...i guess that leaves the U.S and the rest of the world.... But i think i like it only underground...i dont like the idea of EDM being thrown around by big company and have to change the way it sounds so it sells to idiots who'll never understand an underground scene at all. Leave this underground to the true musicians and true listeners. Whats happening in Brit is only gonna weed out the weak...the rest is left up to the strong.

Thats the problem though.

When it is only underground in nature the innovation slows down imo.

Yea thats I agree with tobias again about how "trance is a dirty word" even if people ask me what I spin I say trance and their reaction is "oh..." with this look on their face. Well I wouldn't blame them Trance in North America in general is still a minority in music
Though I think the underground scene helps innovation for sure, but I guess a little combination of mainstream wouldn't hurt just not too much. Like IMO (this is maybe obvious) I think trance last 2-3 years has got much more mainstream and its hurting the genre...should stay more underground from where it came from.

quote:

Originally posted by Radagast As it should be.

Agreed. :P

There's a reason most EDM-newbies listen to (and like) trance first. It's easy listening. But there comes a time when you have to get over it, I honestly can't see how people can stand listening to the same Above & Beyond-type trance (that isn't even real trance to begin with) for 3 years, and nothing else.

quote:

Originally posted by t�bias What I hate most is that when you tell people that you are a trance DJ, especially nightclub owners, they kinda go 'Oh', and have a Yukky look on their face, and you most certainly don't get a gig. Whereas if you say that you play funky house, progressive, they like you, and you can play trance and they love it. Trance seems to be a dirty word for alot of people..

That's the thing. Trance is something that has, at this point, taken on a bad name, when it really shouldn't have. Over the years trance has grown to be more popular and that has fueled more innovation; which means more of the good and bad. Just because there is more bad trance now than there was a couple of years ago doesn't mean the genre is now somehow spoiled or even that it's level of quality has decreased. I think that this recent decline is a product of trance's first step into a more popular area, not the begining of its death or toatal reclusion to the underground. What does worry me though, are the people who have lost sight of what they once loved in trance, and not necessarily because it has dissapeared, but just because there is more bad trance out there now than there was a few years ago. This is what is really harming the scene in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by C3sharp That's the thing. Trance is something that has, at this point, taken on a bad name, when it really shouldn't have. Over the years trance has grown to be more popular and that has fueled more innovation; which means more of the good and bad. Just because there is more bad trance now than there was a couple of years ago doesn't mean the genre is now somehow spoiled or even that it's level of quality has decreased. I think that this recent decline is a product of trance's first step into a more popular area, not the begining of its death or toatal reclusion to the underground. What does worry me though, are the people who have lost sight of what they once loved in trance, and not necessarily because it has dissapeared, but just because there is more bad trance out there now than there was a few years ago. This is what is really harming the scene in my opinion.

The weird thing is that I've met so many people that love Trance music, but seem to hate the name. I have no idea why.

I've even seen times when a club is promoted as house and they play trance, a DJ is listed as house and plays Trance, an inflight audio in a plane is listed as house and funk and plays Trance.

quote:

Originally posted by t�bias The weird thing is that I've met so many people that love Trance music, but seem to hate the name. I have no idea why. I've even seen times when a club is promoted as house and they play trance, a DJ is listed as house and plays Trance, an inflight audio in a plane is listed as house and funk and plays Trance.

I know exactly what you mean . I think it's because people just associate trance with pop, now more than ever, and don't want to like pop.

quote:

Originally posted by C3sharp I know exactly what you mean . I think it's because people just associate trance with pop, now more than ever, and don't want to like pop.

I think thats it.

Either people when you say Trance are thinking Pop Cheesy crap, or Psy Trance for Ravers, or hard hard Trance.

We should launch a publicity campaign to set the record straight..

Or they think of that god awful supersaw buzz. It's like a million bees drilling into your head.

Or the overly uplifting melodies that don't take more than a few minutes to come up with.

Or the cheesy and overused kick drum. Spanky spanky.

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