As I said to Tony in the aformentioned thread, we're viewing it from 2 very different angles...
Personally, I did a couple of releases this year, that, whilst being competent, I didn't feel were really me, or what I wanted to be doing... I went for the dancefloor jugular, and while it worked, I felt the material was generic.. it's kind of ironic, as for one of the releases I was supposed to receive a reasonable sum of money as an advance, and I did feel like I was doing the records to earn some dollar.. I never got the money, the label seems to have taken me for a fool... now I feel that was a bit of a wrong move, and I should follow my heart, and just do what I want to do.... Giving in to commercial pressure is letting the tail wag the dog, and to be honest, after my recent experience, I'd rather have to take a day job, than sacrifice my artistic integrity... I have now secured 4 releases which take me back to my more experimental roots, and I must say I feel a lot happier for it....
As an artist you should be respected for what you do... If the distribution people feel they have to market it to sell it, that's no concern of mine, and to be honest, I have no interest in it... this is what the distribution people get their percentage for... I just write the stuff!
I do get what you mean in some ways about having an identity, but thinking about this too much can make you limit yourself in the diversity of stuff you put out... I've always been interested in a wide variety of music, and I'd like to think my productions reflect that...Maybe this has worked against me, because someone my hear one record of mine they don't like, and assume they wouldn't like any of it... but I'm not just going to stick to one thing to fit in comfortably... I think the thought that getting more money doesn't neccesarily makes the music better.. I think some of the best techno has been written on very limited kit, when the producer is hungry and skint, on the edge....
As I have said before, it seems to me like a lot of companies trying to earn a crust out of this scene are trying to play it safer and safer, and as a result, the music is less exciting, so less people buy it, so everyone plays safer repeat ad infinitum etc etc....
Personally, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, I'd rather be broke, and pushing the boundaries, than not feeling happy with myself because I didn't do what I felt I was truely capable of... Doing my own thing seems to be paying off for me more anyway....
