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The Trance Industry

This is something I've been wondering about for a while. I would put it in the music discussion, but it's a very producer-specific topic, so I'm going to put it here. If anyone disapproves, apologies and please let me know.

So, when the track Who.Is - "We.Are" came out, I was really excited - as I always get when I hear a new sound and a new name on the scene. However, last week, when I was googling Who.Is to try and find a copy of their remix to Aruna with Mark Eteson - "Let Go", I discovered that Who.Is is in fact Bart Claessen + Raz Nitzen. Good for them - it's a nice project, but it's indicative of the elitism and monopoly that exists in the Trance industry. There seem to be so many producers out there, but very few who are actually signed or who we actually hear. Why do you guys think this is the case? Are less commercial producers just not able to break through? Is their music "overproduced"? Are they just not networking in the right way? I've seen hundreds of people hand demo CDs to DJs and Markus Schulz seems to be the only DJ who actually gives these a listen and promotes newcomers (Thomas Cressine and Pobsky are classic examples).

Second though: This year has been a great one for Benno de Goij, because people finally found out who the hell he is and that the majority of Armin releases are co-produced by him. In fact, Armin seems to have done very little on his own for "Mirage" - working with the Nervo Sisters, Benno, and Raz Nitzen. Similarly, Jochen Miller's new sound ("Classified", "uPad", remix of "Back to Earth") are all a result of collaborations with Benno. So my question is: don't you think there are more talented guys out there who can actually write their own music AND produce it? Surely if Armin was looking just for collaborations, he would credit part of the track to his co-producers? Thoughts?

I don't think trance is the go to genre for new producers these days. Its day has been and gone IMO.

That said, I think the fact that you're looking at the same names over and over might suggest that you just aren't very good at doing beatport research. Its a complaint I usually hear from people who just aren't good at following the connections between DJs, labels and remixers to discover more artists and tracks, and instead return to the same artists over and over again.

In pretty much every genre of music, some of the best music usually gets the least attention, instead giving it to disposable bullshit the mainstream media and general population would rather focus on.

Trance isn't any different. There's plenty of good music being made by a large variety of producers if you look hard enough.

Every ocean has its sharks and its eels. I do belong to the latter category.

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo Every ocean has its sharks and its eels. I do belong to the latter category.

In other words?

quote:

Originally posted by stealthman In other words?

The Trance scene is now effectively divided into several camps which gives the wrong impression that it's dead, and people like me would rather stay off the radar from the big names, that why I'm hiding as an eel at present time. It might take years until the sharks disappear, but those owning your ears right now will fade away, sooner or later.

what makes you say that more sharks will not replace the current sharks?(wait you're not exactly saying that ) the industry is a cool place. businessmen will always seem to be at the forefront, to my eyes anyways.

it's cyclically more or less, but overall the truly greedy peepz inside the bizz have always existed. But the fact there's a true division among the trance fans between the die hard ones and the cheesy-fluffy types proves that something is going to change drastically in the next few years, and I truly hope that club music gets back to the underground. That's how I discovered your music by the way, which I appreciate a lot.

I had the shock of my life today when looking at what an underground label filed in progressive and trance: a remake of ICE MC! I don't know why, how, but no matter, I don't belong to that kind of scene, thanks but no thanks.

yes, but hey, there will ALWAYS be some integrity in the scene no matter, and you are a PRIME example of it. its also special that you're commenting in this thread about the subject. I dont want to ball-wash, but this remix that was just released on mistique REALLY touched me.



all those years, and you're still making music that touches people that dwell deep in the underground type style. That is most respectful. dont stop!(you wont!)

Very nice remix Laurent,no surprise there

We've discussed the content of this thread before on this forum but one thing seems to have been missed by the op, which IMO, is part of the problem. Saturation of the scene with too many labels trying to make a fast buck signing sub-par tracks.

It's good to see Bonzai reducing it's label roster to focus on quality rather than quantity. The rest should follow suit.

I agree with the statement that many talented producers dont get a chance, unfortunately many shit ones do and not just those at the more commercial end.

Interesting note about 'overproduction'. I totally agree, there are many polished tunes out there with little emotive content.

Let's face it guys, it's all "in da club" "dutch lead" based and "minimal" "electro" what people play nowadays

so David Guetta, Mark Knight, Wolfgang Gartner, Afrojack, Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia are the new heroes. This is the stuff that sells. They rule the Beatport charts. Whether you like there stuff or not. And then you have the ASOT & TATW "fluffy trance" like Lolo puts it very nicely. that's the FLStudio template type "me too productions" so i guess it depends in which camp you want to be in (or just keep on doing your own thing, regardless, which i think is the best)

dont forget the people trying to charge 50 euro to try and get a "pass" by beatport. anything to make a quick buck. joke.

quote:

Originally posted by MSZ dont forget the people trying to charge 50 euro to try and get a "pass" by beatport. anything to make a quick buck. joke.

Take a deep breath Msz and relaxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzz

In 5-10 years those who love the current stuff will be saying the same things we are now about the current music. It's an endless cycle. Why do we discuss this every single year like jaded old bastards when we know that's just how music works?

Find what you like, ignore the rest. By all means have a vent, but don't expect things to ever go back in time. The only way is forward.

It's impossible to not find something you like.

i thought the same, everytime you see a new name on ASOT you think, hey a new talent. With some research you realize is just a new collaboration. ASOT is a cycle of 100 producers, possibly less, closed circle and they are starting to own the trance market.

quote:

Originally posted by Prototrance I agree with the statement that many talented producers dont get a chance,

As a consumer do you mind that many;

Authors do not get a chance?

Many painters do not get a chance?

Sculptors?

Actors?


Why should lots of us get a chance, why?

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz By all means have a vent, but don't expect things to ever go back in time. The only way is forward.

Exactly.

I remind them of thier fave films and then I say 'tell you what, I'm going to make a very simlar film' they respond 'but I see no point in a similar film, I want something new', but they do not seem to realise that people want new music too, and it really is not all about scales and melody.

It's about defining a brand, an identity and a new sound - how else does the public cope with this wall of musak being released withoutn them employing some sort of filter?

These personal filters enable people to side step the wall of new material and not get bogged down with it all.

Make a business plan > define a sound > make sure it's distinct > sort a unique and memorable branding / identity > then market yourself IF you want to be recognised.

I find myself I am so bombarded by 'look at me messages' in everything I do now - and it's like, stoooooooop, just stop.

As such only the odd poducer will make it through the sieve.

LOLO - something that bugs me is still why more or less all uplifting trance tracks still sound very much the same - do people not tire of it?

The trance scene could potentially be much more decentralized than it is, but the problem is that lots of people want all their new music to come through accepted venues like Beatport and with the approval of accepted authorities like big DJs. People like centralization. They like an easy means of knowing what is hot at the moment, being told the acceptable limits of what sort of tunes to play, even if it makes a few curmudgeonly producers like us complain.

Let's face it, if your not on Beatport and don't have "support" no one will play you. if no one play you, no one will spend money on you. So what do people do? make what the established DJ's fancy, be humble to them, get signed on their label and become part of the ASOT or TATW family.

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles People like centralization. They like an easy means of knowing what is hot at the moment, being told the acceptable limits of what sort of tunes to play, even if it makes a few curmudgeonly producers like us complain.

Centralisation and filtering are very useful. Think about all those offers for cars or holidays - often you njust want a simple filtered hq option so you can get on with your life and not have a wall of info to trawl daily.

All this viral marketing by millions of bedroom folk has had it's day. People cannot cope with the volume of folk all wanting thier time and attnetion.

Filter out grassroots marketing, and you are left with just the marketing by big producers, big DJs, and their PR machines. In other words top down control by the same pop machine that has been around for the past fifty years. Personally, I was glad to see the Internet start to demolish that silliness, and would rather not see it come back in online form.

but then again, both Tiesto, Armin, Above & Beyond all started somewhere. We can't blame them for thier own success right?

quote:

Originally posted by Raphie but then again, both Tiesto, Armin, Above & Beyond all started somewhere. We can't blame them for thier own success right?

I have no problem with their success. I just don't like the idea that they (and their labels) would be considered the main conduit for trance music. There is so much more to this music than what the top 100 DJs decide to pay attention to.

when Armin Tiesto and all the big names started this was much different, like everything in life if you are the first to start something you accept some risk but if you succeed you become rich and famous.

There are very few exceptions of people who become rich following a stablished formula, the exception could be Apple who only improves existing material but well, this is another formula indeed.

They started mixing trance and producing trance, geting exposure is all about networking, and since what they do was new getting the attention was easy.

so? people should just keeping re-invent themselves and if the majority likes it? > They call you a sell-out

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