i think this is the same as what is happening with every style of music at the mo ie alot of ppl with a nice new computer thinking they can make music. sure any old sod can sample a kick and a bass and stick a few hoovers and screeches on top. it's easy.

but what isn't easy is making music that sounds fresh and exciting.

so what we're finding is the music that DOES have formula's is getting milked more than ever before. and more obscure music is getting, well even more obscure. hardstyle is a victim of formulas and you'll notice that the good hardstyle tracks out there are the ones that dont breakdown where you expect them to and also ones that obviously arent using the same old samples.

i don't know what the way forward here is. i love hardstyle that isnt churned out crap but it's very, very hard to find good stuff. but then again, it's always been the way - as a dj you have to look for your style and sound and that what sets you apart from the rest i suppose.

i know what i look for in hardstlye and it's now 99% production quality and 1% what the tune sounds like. then over time you start to home in on who really is taking the sound forward. you tend to find that anything really super well produced is usually going to have that x factor that all those other churned out releases dont have. over time you see the artist developing either +vely or -vely. then it's easier to buy/find stuff you like.

like someone else said, hardstyle has become popular. but so has an intel pIII with a cracked copy of reason. we've just got to search harder thanever before.