I've all but given up spinning at the moment because techno is sooo subject to fad and fashion it's becoming another consumer rat race. I produce more than spin these days purely because I can't afford records and since the big name artists have their own little production cartel I'd rather make my own stuff than stick to the same limited artistic pallette as all the rest of the DJ's.

I'm finding more and more records are the same few presets with little variation and most record labels have realised that they can get away with it so thery keep on doing it. Hardly the spirit of techno rave.

Techno is about ideas not just who's got the poshest equipment for sound production and I'm not hearing much in the way of ideas recently. Live PA's are more experimental these days and certainly more likely to break from genre than DJ's as DJ's only really buy what they can mix. That usually means th same stuff we've heard for ages.

Who wants to hear an hour of the same stuff at the same tempo repeated by every other DJ on the bill? (However if I did a quick hypocrisy check I'm sure I'd find my meters well into the red.))

Sure there's a lot of skill in DJ'ing but most people aren't that deck savvy and don't really know that much about what the dj's doing and so to them all these minimal DJ's are playing seemingly just kickdrums and high hats for their own personal amusement and don't really give a **** what the crowd is doing. Ive seen some very talented DJ's lose crowds this year because they're too busy indulfging themselves with their skills and forgetting they're there to entertain the full spectrum of people in the audience, not just the DJ anoraks and promotors. That's why many techno parties I've been to recently have been somewhat lacklustre..

If a DJ is playing their own stuff then fair enough but I'm just not that bothered about going to see joe bloggs playing a bunch of records I've already got. I'd rather go and see what joe bloggs makes himself.

I really love DJ'ing but I'd rather take my own stuff out to play and promote other artists on the web via my home mixes I do for my own pleasure.

Live PA's of new stuff is always great because you get to see what people do with kit you havent even seen or thought about using. It's educational and fun.

I will probably always buy records to support producers I like and respect if they continue to make high quality music but given the opportunity to play I'd choose my own stuff any time.

We all support producers who make records by showing up to see them countless times which is as good as buying their records. After a while if you work as hard as they do there comes a time when you have to support and promote yourself as much as you have others who've inspired and entertained you.

"There's just something about having the music in finished form that an mp3 will never do for me. "

agreed. You aint got it until you've got it on vinyl.