As 2008 comes to an end, I've noticed more and more that some of the years biggest 'club hits' have had way too much of an influence from previous club anthems of years past. I know this is nothing new when it comes to songs sounding like other songs, but for me anyways it seems that unlike previous years, this year has seen those copycat songs go straight to the top as opposed to getting ridiculed for being rip offs. I've fallen out with the ASOT style for quite sometime as most people have, but I still do keep up with what's going on via beatport/webshops and other DJ's t/l's just to not fall out of the loop. It doesn't hurt either that alot of these DJ's come to Toronto and their vids/track ID's are always posted in the TO forum. I wouldn't say it's a panic stage, but the trend has definetely been a success marketing wise. It would really suck to walk into a club in 5 years and be listening to the 5th remake of a 10 year old song.

An example of one big track this year was Chakalala by Wippenberg. Do people not remember The First Rebirth (Jones & Stephenson)? Or more recently, Miracale (Oceanlab)because more recently it's twin brother (Love Theme Dusk) was being played out every night with the same melody. It's pretty obvious these tracks have a resemblance in several areas, but it's more the point that producers are aware of this and seem to be using the same trick on a different audience. The same argument can be made with other genres. Just look how many top sellers were electro/tech remixes of rock songs, older classics etc.

Which brings me to my point of discussion; do you think the DJ is the one reliable for this success? They are the ones that have the chance to provide these tunes to the audience and get them out there. Is it the labels who sign so much of it that there is little emphasis on newer tracks to have the chance to make an impact?

Discuss.

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Originally posted by ChemEnhanced any party from 2003 and back I only remember bits and pieces...i've combined those memories into one awesome party

Its the same thing in all music. It is easy for the average listener to love a song that recaptures a hit from years past.

Rap (which i am a fan of) does this quite often with samples of #1 songs from years past. They are easy on peoples ear and since it was a hit before it will be a hit again.

Not to mention every melody, every way of constructing a piece of music has been done before. Its just a matter of the person taking that series of notes and making them twist enough for their own spin.

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I will never be forgotten. I will only fade as time goes on from your conscious thoughts

It's the DJs' fault for spinning this shit to their audiences, but on the flip side, it is also a DJ's job to please his audience (within reason). The problem is that crowds, on the whole, are a pack of retarded cunts who only want to hear the same music over and over and over and over (do you get where I'm going with this?) and over and over and over and over, rather than anything new.

Thus it's the crowds propagating the raping of old tracks. The producers know it will be a hit again, and the DJs know it will get the crowd moving.

Nothing makes my blood boil more than playing an absolutely unique, fantastically produced track to an acquaintance and them responding with "can you play something I know?" I have to wonder how these dick heads are ever introduced to new music or whether they would still be listening to Sandstorm fifty years from now given the chance.

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Mix archive | Melbourne club guide

quote:

Originally posted by Imagin Not to mention every melody, every way of constructing a piece of music has been done before. Its just a matter of the person taking that series of notes and making them twist enough for their own spin.

are you sure about this claim? There are infinate possibiites of musical arrangments that lie out there, in my eyes atleast, factoring in harmonies. Well not only my eyes but mathematically as well.

Absolutly 100% sure that every varation of chords and melodies has been done before. Not in modern music but in the history of man somebody somewhere in some time has heard it in one way or another.

Yes as time goes we will get new sounds to play with to make something sound like a completly new thing but its still at its core been heard before. Just with a new spin.

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I will never be forgotten. I will only fade as time goes on from your conscious thoughts

I think it's a bit difficult to pinpoint where the problem lies. Is it the DJ's fault for playing it? The crowd's fault for liking it? Or maybe it's the producer's fault for making it.

Producers remake a classic/old track to "fit in" with today's style...which is a bit irrelevant because today's musical style is VERY reminiscent of the mid-late 90s, so they're essentially remaking tracks that sound identical to the originals That is of course unless they throw in everyone's favorite Deadmau5/electro house kick, then it's just useless.

No idea why DJs buy/play remakes/ripoffs, whatever you want to call them, of older tracks when they could just as well play the original and achieve the same effect. I can't stand that shit at all, I think it's completely tripe and unoriginal and quite frankly a really nice way to play a total cop out of a set.

Crowds don't know any better as it is, you could play a set of entirely new music and a set of relatively old music and only a handful of people would catch on. As a DJ it's our job to play good music, whether it's new or old doesn't matter...if it's good, it's good. These bastardizations of music from years past is NOT good, and the only DJs you ever hear playing them are stains in dance music that have no place anywhere but their local club and maybe a radio show/podcast they started to show off in college.

It's late and I'm rambling, no idea what I'm going on about at this point. Sorry

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