Many of you have made very valid points in ths barrage of opinions, and I think its great that there is so much passion for the scene here. However I do not think one factor can be the underlying cause for techno losing its ground... I remember some1 blaming file sharing programs like soulseek, I would say its the total opposite, porgrams like that allow music to be heard by people wolrd wide, and with the use of a built in chat word of mouth spreads like wild fire... I have personally bought records that people recomended to me through slsk that I probably would not have found using convetional means.. Another problem that I have discussed with my friends is that techno has no image! We live in a world where sex sells and techno for the most part has no definitive image. Hip hop has the thug mentality, rock appeals to kids through its lyrics especially when in school and you are dealing with a mountain of changes in your body/life. Progressive has now been attributed to women in bikinis, and titties sell!! Even D n B has an image.. Unless you have very synthy techno, people just think of it as repetitve music... The answer is not putting a girl in a bathing suit on the cover either because the music does not evoke that image. The key is to give "kids" something that appeals to them to hook them in. Originally it was new music in a non club enviornment, it was new and different, and word of mouth worked very well. Now the scene is over saturated with tons of shit and it comes down to what will allow the fans to relate to techno? The scene is chaging faster than ever and techno which prides itself on being the most current as technoogy changes, seems to be the most left behind. Be it through only sticking to vinyl (which is very expensive now!!!!), its means of promotion, and even the mentality of tech heds themselves. I have been called a techno snob by friends in jest, but I know others who will piss on u if u dont have an awesome knowledge bank of techno.. how it works, where it came from etc... I know too many people who want to keep the scene "pure" and that in my opinion is a major factor hurting us. You need numbers to survive its that simple, going back to an abandoned warehouse with 60 kids.. (as fun as it would be) will not make the scene thrive. You need quality beats pumped out, an easier means to get it to others, and some type of image to get them hooked! Once they are hooked they will discover everything else. I personally grew up as a metal hed and hated all electronic music. I discovered core, and once I got bored of it I found techno. The thing about techno was that there were almost no limits to its sound, and now many things seem to sound the same.. One thign someone mentioned about 8 pages ago was soem type of central location for getting music. I think that would be a great idea. This forum is great for fans and artists aliek to interact, I think the same should go on a more profesional level. Communication is key and if all the channels of production are in the same loop then the end product should e acomplished easier. Sorry for the long post, and believe me I have plenty more to say, but you all have covered many good aspects...