I haven't read the article yet - maybe later. However, the topic is one that I feel quite strongly about. Been wrestling with it for a while. I think the elitist/tribal thing is very important - well it has always been important for me. These days nothing means anything to anyone unless it's online and has got loads of hit from other people. I think 'underground' scenes/cultures have always represented an oasis of integrity amongst a sea of mass-consumed acceptability.
Look at the state of techno for instance - now it's no better than the pop charts. If it hasn't been featured on RA no-one really wants to know. Whatever you're doing - if you wanna give it to the people, first you have to create some huge following (image of apparent popularity) on facebook.
Also, anyone doing anything remotely interesting will have been discovered, appreciated, followed, plagiarised and then rubbished all within the space of 2 years.
Yeah, internet has truly killed anything underground, imo.
Interesting article about the demise of underground music
The article also alludes to a backlash against this internet mass culture whereby artists build a localised following among a select few. There are more musical events than ever before and people still talk to each other without the aid of the internet so it is possible for acts to grow via traditional word of mouth. There are probably already artists that refuse to have a presence online for the purposes of credibility and are therefore truly underground.
I read about a vinyl label recently that refuses to do any promotion in order to maintain its integrity, (sorry, can’t remember which one).
I think the trick is to limit your supply and that way increase demand. Labels that decide to up their output will probably find that they don’t achieve that many additional sales as the market reaches saturation point quickly (I need one of those economics graphs here). What I’m saying is that creating that underground vibe is about limiting your releases, people can’t blog about records that don’t exist. But obviously it’s a fine balance between being underground and being non-existent.
I read about a vinyl label recently that refuses to do any promotion in order to maintain its integrity, (sorry, can’t remember which one).
I think the trick is to limit your supply and that way increase demand. Labels that decide to up their output will probably find that they don’t achieve that many additional sales as the market reaches saturation point quickly (I need one of those economics graphs here). What I’m saying is that creating that underground vibe is about limiting your releases, people can’t blog about records that don’t exist. But obviously it’s a fine balance between being underground and being non-existent.
for example, ricardo villalobos
no myspace ( it exist one but its actually a fansite not from him )
no facebook
or any promotion page that i know
he dont give many gigs, if you dont live in berlin or maybe in london (fabric) you are lucky if you get him one time a year.
ok he is noway underground, but he refuses to do anything what could made a hype in any way.
For example the "dont play in america thing", its maybe some personal thing but it helps to avoid too much attention.
of course no matter what he do, he is far away from underground and possible never can go back, but his actions say something.
in the end actions like
dont release on mp3
dont give a lot of gigs
dont produce a lot
it leads all to, a kind of less people know about you.
no myspace ( it exist one but its actually a fansite not from him )
no facebook
or any promotion page that i know
he dont give many gigs, if you dont live in berlin or maybe in london (fabric) you are lucky if you get him one time a year.
ok he is noway underground, but he refuses to do anything what could made a hype in any way.
For example the "dont play in america thing", its maybe some personal thing but it helps to avoid too much attention.
of course no matter what he do, he is far away from underground and possible never can go back, but his actions say something.
in the end actions like
dont release on mp3
dont give a lot of gigs
dont produce a lot
it leads all to, a kind of less people know about you.
I know what you're saying but Villalobos' rise began a long time before myspace and facebook. A time when DJs, music lovers and clubbers looked to other means to find out about the music (record shops / clubs / magazines etc.).
I do agree tho at the end of the day talent will shine through and those that dont use the internet to sell or promote will usually blow up through word of mouth via the internet anyway. You cant get away from the net now, no matter how "underground" someone wants to be.
I do agree tho at the end of the day talent will shine through and those that dont use the internet to sell or promote will usually blow up through word of mouth via the internet anyway. You cant get away from the net now, no matter how "underground" someone wants to be.
Villalobos had a movie made about himself and everything he says to anyone always comes up on the internet and it gets everybody talking about it. as Villalobos is the biggest DJ in the scene it's only right that he makes some effort with the media. but if you compare him to Richie Hawtin he don't do much promotion. both ways work for them.
i think Zip and Perlon are a better example... point me to a Zip interview on the web. no myspace, mp3's and a website that has being saying "coming soon" for as long as i can remember.
i think Zip and Perlon are a better example... point me to a Zip interview on the web. no myspace, mp3's and a website that has being saying "coming soon" for as long as i can remember.
But what if Villalobos had only ever DJed in Berlin and refused to DJ in the rest of the world? His internet footprint would be significantly reduced and he might still be underground right? The internet is global but all websites are local to varying degrees. Dunno, am I just talking complete sh¡t?
the internet enables the land of a thousand niche's
each "subculture" has its own heroes, rules, dress code, etc
there is certainly no "mono"culture anymore
no one stop shop for the band of the year, no mtv
now that you know this
how does one succeed in this shifting paradigm
certainly not by 20th century methods
no overnight success stories
but certainly by older methods of
hardwork
knowing your tools
creating constantly
being an artist
being a renaissance man / woman
putting 10,000 hours into learning your craft
sure some noobs are downloading mp3 and playing shitty music
they are all the ones trainspotting me when I'm dropping rare vinyl
some will get out of the game
some will stay and support the foundation
some will lead, most will follow the trends of each niche
be your own brand
and be true to yourself above all others
consider deeply what motivates you to
spin
play mp3
play vinyl
use pirated software
use hardware
ask yourself
look in the mirror
are you the show or performance you would want to see ?
if not, then create it
each "subculture" has its own heroes, rules, dress code, etc
there is certainly no "mono"culture anymore
no one stop shop for the band of the year, no mtv
now that you know this
how does one succeed in this shifting paradigm
certainly not by 20th century methods
no overnight success stories
but certainly by older methods of
hardwork
knowing your tools
creating constantly
being an artist
being a renaissance man / woman
putting 10,000 hours into learning your craft
sure some noobs are downloading mp3 and playing shitty music
they are all the ones trainspotting me when I'm dropping rare vinyl
some will get out of the game
some will stay and support the foundation
some will lead, most will follow the trends of each niche
be your own brand
and be true to yourself above all others
consider deeply what motivates you to
spin
play mp3
play vinyl
use pirated software
use hardware
ask yourself
look in the mirror
are you the show or performance you would want to see ?
if not, then create it