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Thanks for responding.
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The main problem is in your assumption that names like "tiesto" and "paul oakenfold" are going to be invariably associated by the public with the style "trance", when in fact, that is not the case at all. |
I have to disagree with you there. From talking to other club-goers in person, I have gleaned that all of them can strike up a conversation about one of the big Trance DJs, but can't ID Sammim's "Heater", for example. This is a subjective conclusion of course, but one that has come from a lot of time spent talking to others.
Base knowledge of EDM also seems to differ depending on the region that I am in. In Atlanta, the people know about House music, and generally have a more robust sense of what's going on in the scene. In North Carolina, I get a LOT of people that may know a lot about Breaks, but otherwise only know who the top Trance DJs are, and no close to nothing about House (maybe they'll know about DJ Dan).
| quote: | | If you look at what what Tiesto and Paul Oakenfold have been spinning lately, a great deal of it is not actually "trance" anymore (not that much of it ever was, but you know what I mean). |
Being that I don't 'follow' many tracklists besides the ones for the CDs that I buy, I can't agree or disagree with you here. I do remember a TA posting a report on what Tiesto played during the entirety of 2005. The report showed Tiesto playing his own tracks, like Traffic, well over 50 times during the shows that year! From reading the recent posts about these DJs' performances, apparently they are playing mostly their own productions and remixes, which (Pop or not), are not representing the whole of the Trance genre.
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In fact, trance is probably the least popular of all the commercialized styles in EDM, despite the falsehoods blindly perpetuated by a few members of this board.
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Again I have to disagree here, and I have factual evidence that "Trance" is in fact selling quite well in the States:
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http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/char...e+Singles+Sales
Billboard "Hot Dance Singles Sales" Chart for 1/13-1/19/08:
1. ****ry Boner - Puscifer
2. Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same
3. Mindless Self Indulgence - Straight To Video
4. Battles - Tonto
5. Cascada - What Hurts The Most
6. Animal Collective - Peacebone
7. Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up
8. Paul Van Dyk feat Jessica Sutta - White Lies
9. The Chemical Brothers - Do It Again
10. Seal - Amazing
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Unfortunately I don't have much more data than that, because I'm not a Billboard.biz subscriber. Basically, PVD's new single has been on the charts for over 20 weeks, and Cascada tracks have been on the charts ever since "Everytime We Touch" became a big hit.
(I never said it was good Trance that was selling)
The "Top Electronic Albums" chart for this week shows about the same correlation:
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1. Various Artists - High School Musical 2: Non-Stop Dance Party!
2. MIA - Kala
3. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
5. Paul Oakenfold - Greatest Hits and Remixes
6. Nine Inch Nails - Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D
7. Tiesto - ISOS 6: Ibiza
8. Trevor Simpson and Cato K - Ultra.2008
9. Gorillaz - D-Sides
10. Justice - Cross
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Besides High School Musical, Trance is selling well. The fact that Oakie can out-sell Nine Inch Nails says a lot about how well known he is to the general public.
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Almost every club that isn't playing hiphop is playing, guess what, HOUSE MUSIC. Randomly pick a sample of a dozen people and ask them if they know what "house music" is and you were certainly get the majority to give you the affirmative, but ask that same crowd if they've ever heard of "trance music" and you'd be surprised how few actually have -- if any. |
You are right. However, we (club-goers) represent a very small minority of Americans. An majority of Americans would rather go to a plain-old "traditional/sports" bar or a "meat-market" bar than dance all night to a DJ. The Billboard sales are reflecting all of those Trance CDs that are sold to people who are just looking for a CD to exercise to. Those people probably (assuming) have little to no prior knowledge of EDM, so when they go to the Dance section to find a CD, they will look for re-assurance before dropping $15 on some music. "THE NEWEST MIX FROM THE #1 DJ IN THE WORLD!", "THE DJ THAT PLAYED AT THE OLYMPICS", et all are far more convincing of a purchase to a non-EDM fan than the often ambiguous compilations that are sitting next to those Trance CDs. If the person asks a salesperson for advice on what to get, he/she will say "That Tiesto album has been selling well, and my raver buddy told me that hes a really good DJ."
That's how good marketing campaigns work, virally. People are exposed to the brand name and tell others about it, who will tell their friends, etc. "Tiesto" is a term that the public will have heard of from a friend, or a friend of a friend, because that name has been exposed to music fans through good marketing.
| quote: | | House is everywhere...it is the STAPLE club music. Trance may be more well-known in europe, but the mass majority of people in America have never even heard of the name. And if you "show" them what it is, words like "techno" or "dance" or "house" will pop up in their minds. |
Yes, House is everywhere, but the majority of Americans don't know that it is House, or who the artists are. They are more likely to call that jingle that plays in those HGTV "home makeover" or fashion shows "techno" than they are to call it "House", or to know that it is called "House". However, I don't think that most average Americans know that Oakie and co are "Trance" DJs, as I've heard them called "Techno" DJs more than anything else.
In the end, this is mostly subjective. In your area there may be a lot of people who know a bit about EDM, but here its more like  
(Banjo plays in background)
EDIT: LOL, I found a word-filter! c*nt >> ****
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Overload (House/J-Pop/K-Pop): Click
No Pants Dance (Funky House/Electro House/K-Pop): Click
Dark Beach (Deep House): Click
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