Hot Topic: The Net Killing Techno

A mad idea I know BUT - remeber when we all had to search for underground music? Remember when we all had to get up off our little stoned asses and record shop?

Don't you think these days it's too easy to find new music?

Record shopping is ridiculously easy these days. Why bother? You're not finding anything new!!!

I have my ways to find new techno music I'm sure those of you that care have yours. But the time scale between finding techno and everyone else doing it has reduced like crazy. Perhaps music is not as creative as it used to be because of this?

Or perhaps you think the net has made us all alot more creative???

Let's get really serious discussion going here ppl......

I think that it has had some effect, but I also think that a lot more people are making music, there's a lot more music, more labels, a lot of people doing the same styles, You have to wade though a lot of stuff you may not neccesarily into to find what you want.... also it means people go through records in a shop, find nothing they like, and get the impression that there isn't anything good about anymore.... I think the internet had definately killed off a lot of the more interesting side of the music media, all the magazines are playing it safe, so people into more underground stuff don't bother with the magazines anymore....

on the plus side though, the internet makes it easier to communicate with people, work out projects, gigs, find out about stuff you never heard before, and make it generally easier to wade your way through the sheer quantitiy of releases that come out every month...

Hmm, interesting comments! I think the main thing about the surge in MP3 is that the men in suits have latched onto this whole "get your music heard by millions" idea and, unfortunatley, too many people are falling for it which means it is increasingly hard to find GOOD music.
I am actually starting to find I am sticking to producers I know and respect and have lost some of the excitement I once had for sites offering unsigned material as I know I will have to sit and listen through hours of Sash! or DJ Sammy type bollox under the catagory of "Techno" or "Trance" just to find one good piece of music.
So maybe yes, the net is killing techno but that is just one avenue of just one persons experience.
I guess it is the same as the whole advertising boom reaching overkill on the internet, and I think the whole idea of MP3 will reach saturation point and the hype will just build, explode and die, leaving a residue of hopefuly, half decent music!

"everything is underground until you know about it. then it's common place."

being in a remote place like canada, where finding good hard beats is somewhat hard to do. The internet has opened up a new and better world of music for me.

I protest against the 1,000,000 and a half progressive house only record stores here in Toronto by taking my pocket book to the internet!

-Patrick DSP

Yeah finding those sneaky tunes just isnt that easy anymore, thats why I try to get on as many mailing lists as possible to increase the chance of getting some tunes before anyone else does...

For example I had a trance tune called 'Devotion' months before it came out on germantrance and all the other internet stores...but as soon as it came out everyone cained it...

Moral of the story is that you really have to work harder to get new, unragged records...

I don't think it's killed techno - it must be helping to reach a bigger audience surely....although wether this is translated into sales is debatable, as your average techno bod is going to download mixes before buying them. I was having an interesting debate with a colleague recently who said he thought that live performance is the only way for the musician now we have the net, in much the same way as it was before recordings existed i.e. 80 or a hundred years ago! wether this be a band or a dj. I think most people in techno would agree - your performance fees make up most of your income. In terms of having the newest sounds - well having your own label and whites, test presses etc is the only way to keep ahead. Most of the biggest people in techno probably play a decent percentage of their own forthcoming tunes before anybody else gets them - and if you throw final scratch or cdr's into the equation then you can stay ahead. Anyway making the bigger names less complacent is a good thing - make them work for their money I say....thats why they're on £500 a set , and the residents are lucky if they get a few beers and a taxi.......... it's tough at the top !! :lol: :lol:

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Originally Posted by elyzium

"get your music heard by millions" idea and, unfortunatley, too many people are falling for it which means it is increasingly hard to find GOOD music.

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yeah very good point..

i think the benefits of the internet however do outway the negatives.. music, such as techno, that has a pre dominantly "underground" following has benefited i would argue more than any other art form.. But this is mainly the fualt of the music industry and the markets as a whole... In terms of information for the average techno junkie the market was failing to provide, most modern record stores are full of pop/rock etc. because it's marketable and it, sadly, has a larger following, and in business those too facets rule... The internet however has given me and all of us access to music prior to the internet i would argue we would have very rarely heard.. I can access detailed information on most of the youngest producers/dj's on the scene and that is what sways me in favour..

granted an offshoot of this has been that we have to filter out a lot of crap, but haven't we always? god knows were surrounded by bullshit in our day to day lives in terms of music...

dan

If anything I think it's helping to inspire new fans of the music into becoming the next artists. They have access to what's new and exciting, and they may want to contribute to this!!

As far as the quality & creativity, I doubt it will nessacarily decrease or increase.

There will just be more music.....

Some which may be amazing... some mediocre.

-jOHNNY

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Originally Posted by KING JOHNNY FUNK

If anything I think it's helping to inspire new fans of the music into becoming the next artists. They have access to what's new and exciting, and they may want to contribute to this!!

As far as the quality & creativity, I doubt it will nessacarily decrease or increase.

There will just be more music.....

Some which may be amazing... some mediocre.

-jOHNNY

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Yeah good point Johnny...well said

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Originally Posted by DSP

I protest against the 1,000,000 and a half progressive house only record stores here in Toronto by taking my pocket book to the internet!

-Patrick DSP

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you ****ing said it dude!

if it wasnt for the internet i wouldnt be into techno as much as i am now. Some techno that was not even acessable to me is now available.

I believe the internet have made record stores more shit. not all just some. as most dj's tend to use the net to buy unkown/ hard to find tunes, the record stores loose out big time. this means that the proper dj's tend to use record stores less.

This in effect makes the record stores purchase records that they know they will sell, comercial records, records that please to the masses in order to keep sales up.

This in turn makes proper dj's go to these record stores even less because there are not any good/hard to find records anymore.

VICIOUS CIRCLE BEGINS.

This is why my two local record stores, apart from a few good records, which ive usually got already, stocks comercial bullshit.

I seriously need a company such as integrale to put listening posts on their site as its a mission to go all the way there just for a couple of records. I think it will cost at the begining but will increase their sales 2 fold.

This is just one area of the internet ruining the scene.There is also the stealing peoples loops debate, too many producers producing shit debate, great producers that might never get the chance to get their stuff out now can due to the internet.

i think techno is as much about finding/playing tunes that most other ppl overlook nowadays. liking playing tunes that aren't every other dj's cup of tea..it keeps your sets unique.

for me its not abouit what everyones playing. its not about playing things that others arnet to be unique.

Its about playing music i want to hear that i think will get people shaking their asses.

Another point that should be made, and King Jonny touched on this, is the ease with which music production software can now be downloaded on the net...i guess this runs against the grain of my first post and shows that statisticaly the more people producing should hopefully mean more exciting music!!

more producers = more talent but also =lots of shit

I find on line record shops a god send as up here in Seffield we have only got two record shops that stock techno. So if any records sell out or just dont come into these shops i can still buy them on the net. Record label websites are also good for finding release dates, but as probably everybody on this forum agrees you still cant beat a good rummage in your local record shops. :D :D :D

I'm quite lucky being based in london, there's loads of record shops and I still use them lot's , I use the net for reserching about artists and getting up to date info and maybe have a listen to some stuff, However I don't actually but much over the net.....I've bought so much good stuff from music exchanges and also get new releaes from a number of good stores (when I can afford it anyway).

The internet is great for communication and being able to hear what other people who are into their techno think on forums like this is great imo. Yeah, it is easier to get access to records, you could be in timbuctoo and still buy lot's of new releases but it still not like having access to loads of record stores. There's more producers, dj's etc etc but as there may be more shit there is also more chance of new good stuff emerging. Before the net I found it very difficult to get info about techno artists i was into and also was frustrated that only a handful of my pals realy appreciate techno.....I don't personnally know anyone on this forum so it's great to see all you techno heads on here form all over the country and the world with true love for the music.

I think the pros of the net outway the cons

I think the internet has helped a great deal in getting the music out there but in doing so it has also opened my eyes to thew particular type of techno I'm looking for. This can only be a good thing.


But also in doing this you are gonna run into problems with the RIAA ( if this ever goes global) or trying to copyright your own mp3s with some type of watermark ...

I think the only thing the Internet has done is helped this music tremendously.

Im in New Zealand and if it wasn't for the internet i wouldn't even get to hear most tunes! not one of the few shops here stock anything like what i play out...maybe one or two of the more well known labels but **** all really.

and here's something to talk about:

i reckon...even if we all had the exact same record collections, we'd still play them differently!!!

techno and everything that is techno...will always be the way it is.

otherwise it would be someting else.

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Originally Posted by Dustin Zahn

I think the only thing the Internet has done is helped this music tremendously.

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Most definitely... would we be able to argue about the state of the scene if it wasn't for the net? I'm lucky to know a fair few techno fans, but if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere (techno-wise anyway) then you'd be buggered without the net to be able to find like-minded people, hear about nights out and find and listen to new tunes.

Hell, I used to live in a town of 6,000 people where the nearest "techno scene" if you want to call it that was about 4.5 hours away. The Internet helped me considerably.

I managed to live in London for all my life and not find the techno scene for a good few years until after I started listening to it... too bloody underground, lol ;)