Your final thoughts of 2003!

[MARKEG]

It's fast approaching a new year and I thought it would be nice for everyone to give some honest thoughts on 2003. Let me give you mine:

As far as I'm concerned it's been an up and down year - but nothing different to any other year in the whole history of this music thing.

Speaking specifically of the UK, I think that many of the commercial clubs and commercial dj's have looked upon techno as a way out of their decline and latched onto a form of techno that uses loads of breakdowns and predictable changes and so loads of us have gone the other way. Sure, it's split the scene and we've become a smaller movement but i also think we've become a stronger movement as a result.

Distributors have gone down left right and centre but i think there is now a group of ppl left that really have a reason to be here. We have nothing to fear. I think this will make 2004 a very interesting year for us indeed.

After all the -veity in 2003 I really feel a sense of community here (especially on this board) and I see producers like Amok, Lehman, Natus, Drummer, Wilson all coming together to make a difference.

This is the beginning of the next cycle as far as I'm concerned.

Roll on 2004. We all need to work hard to make the change.

[herman]

from a personal point of view it has been a very very good year from a dj'ing point of view got to go to a lot of places i would never have visited if i hadn't been there playing that is for certain, apart from the dj'ing though it has been a tough one with both of the distribution companys i use going bust in the space of a few months apart both of them owing me money still that is in the past now and like mark says it looks like good things are afoot for the new year. also have to agree with mark on the cheese merchants latching onto the more predictable end of the market just marks the end of a cycle really and there is certainly enough new people pushing to be heard in 2004 along with the more established people.

should be a good one ;)

[Sunil]

also have to agree with mark on the cheese merchants latching onto the more predictable end of the market just marks the end of a cycle really and there is certainly enough new people pushing to be heard in 2004 along with the more established people.

I also think that besides the cheesy stuff there were also a lot of unnecessary labels like Rotation, Jericho, Southsoul that seemed to have lost their way a long time ago. The whole Prime thing was becoming a bit of a joke though as many of the labels just swapped the same producers around to one another up to the point where people like Hardcell and Mateo Murphy were making the most watered down rubbish going.. Certain labels and producers will have to dig deeper to be heard in 2004, as hopefully all the regurgitated shite will not be tolerated as much as it was

[Dustin Zahn]

I don't have much to say as its already been said but I think 2004 will be an interesting year. I don't think it will be a year of major turnaround, but it should spark one at least. To any who wondered, its no longer a secret that the techno scene is not the best choice to make money. With this in mind, I think the people left now are the ones who are the true heads out there.

If us producers, DJs, labels, Distro's, and most importantly the fans can't turn things around with this slowly emerging new school of artists there is two reasons. We're either A) all incredibly stupid when dealing with the business side of things or B) the people just aren't into it anymore.

Or who knows...people may not work together (as usual) and nothing may happen in 2004. :dontevengothere:

[Deacon]

also have to agree with mark on the cheese merchants latching onto the more predictable end of the market just marks the end of a cycle really and there is certainly enough new people pushing to be heard in 2004 along with the more established people.

i honestly do not think this is a bad thing. OK, so its an interpretation of techno that may not necessarily be to your taste, but its going to reach a larger audience, turn peopl onto techno, get them taking notice of artists like DAVE, Guy, etc, then maybe go a little deeper and discover music they've never heard before and possibly be blown away by it?
It also puts techno more in the spotlight which I think is a good thing.

I think exciting times are ahead, gonna be an interesting year.

[Tiptoe]

well for what its worth i think 2004 will be a good year. Think other music genres are starting to appreciate techno a lot more. Look at Dave playin magna mark at goodgreef. I think this is graet news for these gus personally. I see a lot of other people getting the chance to play out more even if its not at clubs you would normally associate with techno, but i don't think it matters as long as the music is good and the people are enjoying it who cares!