Future of DNB

Q

Quotec

Active Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
I am a little concerned. As some folks mentioned in BCee production thread drum&bass is in a complex situation where it is struggling to bring up something new(both technically and creatively) and progress as a genre. So many producers just copy success stories over and over again and general flavor just prefers those tunes so there is little motivation to get out of comfort zone. It is stuck in reese bass riffs and similar build-up drop patterns. People around admit that tracks are getting boring because they are all about same predictable shit! On the other hand experimentation is not advised because labels risk their money by signing tracks that might not appeal to crowds. Its all about fkin money! I like how our community here is not afraid of doing something completely different but most of us swim in amateurs sea too. I have heard that many ex-producers have already abandoned dnb in favor of something else, mostly minimal stuff? It seems like dnb is about to reach its performance peak(mby its already reached) and then will start to slowly decline in popularity.

The whole situation is really wrecking me. I love drum&bass but I also love music production and as I desire to stay in business for a long time I need to keep an eye on general trends in music. At the moment the trend is clearly shifted towards something else but not dnb.

It might be my personal(and kinda restricted) prospect on things but that is what i see now. Would like to hear your thoughts.
 
Interesting outlook on dnb.
Never let a Labels image get in the way of your creativity. If they are not willing to release music outside of their comfort zone,
then they are not willing to take the same risks you taking are with your musical creativity.

I regards to musical trends. I sort of think that the shift in popular genres (money-making) is just dictated or manipulated from somewhere else.
I don't let that affect what I'm producing or how I produce, I simply ignore it. The minute it gets to you, you fall in the trap (no pun intended).

chin up.
 
Trends? lol Forget trends make the music you like. I still produce 90s style techno and house along with d&b. And where I'm from d&b isn't even on the popular music radar. The only popular electronic here is that shitty brostep/electro house crap.
 
Unfortunately not all genres last forever...
Jazz is largely dead, Rock is on the way out. There are a few keeping it alive (Arctic Monkeys, michael buble (even though he's a bit shit)) and I think there always will be, but the age when they were the thing has gone.

I think that electronic music has a while to go yet, but maybe it won't be in the form of dnb... I keep thinking that mankind must have discovered all the different kinds of music, then I find someone like Burial.

Maybe there is a future in electronic music with real singers and good lyrics rather than samples: Om Unit: 'Dark Sunrise', some Disclosure tracks too... there are loads of really cheesy EDM tracks with vocals, but they don't have to be cheesy.

Find yourself a good singer-songwriter who doesn't hate electronic music. Then make backing tracks for them that fit with the vibe of their vocals, make the singer the focus of the track rather than the bass/drums.
I would be doing this if I could, but a) I'm a shit producer and b) I don't know any vocalists.
 
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LikesItHardware said:
Trends? lol Forget trends make the music you like. I still produce 90s style techno and house along with d&b. And where I'm from d&b isn't even on the popular music radar. The only popular electronic here is that shitty brostep/electro house crap.
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Yep, make music you like and go from there. You might discover your own unique take rather than following a trend you don't like. Unless your in a position where you need to pay the bills but if that was the case you wouldn't be posting on here!

One good thing is that D&B does seem to have become acceptable to mainstream listeners (Rudimental, Sigma, Wilkinson) and Deep House seems to have overtaken Electrohouse & Dubstep.
 
heard of frederic robinson or fis (though the latter one is debatable if its dnb)?

theres plenty of new ideas about, just not from the biggest labels

i really dont see whats everyones problem with dnb becoming stale, to me it seems like the only thing that was capable of taking on so many forms and hasn't stopped to this day
 
Holy crap. One thing: there will ALWAYS be market for different genres, and by market I mean people listening.

On today's standards, music has become pretty much disposable after it's aired a couple of times on radio, or played a couple of times in gigs. Why, you ask? Because that's how things are. There will always be trends. And there will always be people who follow trends.

You just need to make the music you like, and there will be people listening to it.

Now, we wanna be a bunch of Biebers or Gagas or Cyrus, who will be forgotten after a few years, or we will be Led Zeppelins, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyds that will be remembered forever? That up to each one of us.
 
you guys must listen to really shit music if you think that way about it. Dnb is still fresh, still rollin. there are less innovators, more immotators than before, but that was a given with the rise of digital.
Just listen to right stuff, its out there.
 
Quotec said:
The whole situation is really wrecking me. I love drum&bass but I also love music production and as I desire to stay in business for a long time I need to keep an eye on general trends in music. At the moment the trend is clearly shifted towards something else but not dnb.
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Didn't that already happen ten years ago, and didn't we already had more or less the same discussion then?

On a more constructive note; ignoring trends has been the main reason dnb is still kicking it today.

imo
 
Mania said:
you guys must listen to really shit music if you think that way about it. Dnb is still fresh, still rollin. there are less innovators, more immotators than before, but that was a given with the rise of digital.
Just listen to right stuff, its out there.
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This. . This. . AND THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!
 
Thanks to bass moneys in the future dnb will be ruled by damn dirty apes. DJ Monkey Andy C will always win the best drum and bass DJ awards. Banana's will be an all time favorite jump up song. Yes our simian overlords will rock drum and bass with their awesome double drops and Reece Monkey basses.
 
dnb always moves with the times, weve probably got the most talented crop of producers of any genre, constantly taking influence from the world around us and injecting it into original and technically awesome music, pushing it in new directions all the time!
That's not to say the rest of us arent playing catchup and copying the styles along the way, Its also way way easier to release crap to the world these days and as such its getting way way harder for anyone who isn't already 'in the scene' signed to wicked labels to gain any kind of traction.
I find the best way to weed the wheat from the chaff is simply to go back to vinyl releases. If its good enough that someone will invest a grand up front to press it, its definitely earn't a listen.
It's fair to say I'm missing out on some gems, but I don't really care, I have enough gems as it is.
 
Howitzer said:
Its also way way easier to release crap to the world these days and as such its getting way way harder for anyone who isn't already 'in the scene' signed to wicked labels to gain any kind of traction.
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Why don't we take a look at that "Noisia - Stamp Out" thread on the Drum & Bass part of this forum, then? The discussion there went further to someone saying that if that song were released by one of us amateurs, we would be completely crushed by the listeners. That's exactly what you're talking about right now: we (the amateurs) can have the best über-banger realeased by ourselves on our soundcloud, yet people will think it's crap just because we aren't Noisia, or Phace, or BSE or any other big name out there.

That said, we have tons of crap today because there's a market for it. Crap people buy crap songs. I remember reading an interview with the CEO of Zimbalam, where he said that Apple Store wants EVERYTHING added to their library. Apparently they don't care if the song is crap or not, as long as we have those "obamas" rolling into their pockets.
 
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Ive thought about a lot previously, its something ive always wondered. But i still heartily disagree.
The reason Stamp Out is getting so many commendations is because its a massive tune, thats it. If i made that tune and sent it to a few labels, i would bet my house that i would signed. I would sound like im imitating noisia, but nonetheless i would get signed.
Obviously marketing and being in the scene for 10 years helps, but imo success is all in the tune
 
Mania said:
Obviously marketing and being in the scene for 10 years helps, but imo success is all in the tune
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I'm not an expert on music industry, but I read a lot about how things happen, and you're partially right on your statement. To be exact, on the first part. Marketing, experience and even a little perseverance can make a difference. But not always the tune have the power to open doors for you, alone. And this is an unfortunate truth: you need to actually KNOW someone, who KNOWS someone, who KNOWS an A&R on a big label, and wait and hope for this last guy to even listen to you tune. Why do you think there are lots of indie labels popping out every single day? Because people can't put their songs on major labels. And I bet MY house that one of us "amateurs who want to croos the line and become pros" have a tune that is more massive than Stamp Out. That would deserve recognition as Noisia deserves. But this guy is hitting on a tall wall, because he doesn't know someone, who knows someone, etc, etc.
 
Mania said:
Ive thought about a lot previously, its something ive always wondered. But i still heartily disagree.
The reason Stamp Out is getting so many commendations is because its a massive tune, thats it. If i made that tune and sent it to a few labels, i would bet my house that i would signed. I would sound like im imitating noisia, but nonetheless i would get signed.
Obviously marketing and being in the scene for 10 years helps, but imo success is all in the tune
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No its not, I am currently listening to stamp out right know. It sounds like a dumb downed version of a John Mist song with a really annoying top bass. For fuck's sake I can't stand it. I have been hearing a lot of tracks like this lately and it pisses me off.
 
hmmm, interesting thread.

from a self-professed D&B head & DJ (not a producer at all), I think D&B is really strong at the moment. I buy and play vinyl, so am restricted to the music in that regard, but I listen to mixes all day at work (as I am right now haha), and am always blown away with all the cool tunes I discover in digital DJ's mixes (and my 'to get pressed' list of tunes continues to grow).

Take this mix I am listening to right now, for example. I have not heard of Nick Solitude before AFAIK, and don't think I have ever heard one of these podcasts before. But man, are there some seriously sick tunes of the deeper/liquid type in here. A few I already know about of course, but tunes like Grifta - Adrift, Will Miles & MC fats - The Last Breath and Roy Green & Protone - Seduction were new to my ears and are sick.

[MIXCLOUD]http://www.mixcloud.com/nick-heath2/planet-soul-2014-vol4/[/MIXCLOUD]

Tunes don't need to be totally different to be great and give you enjoyment - new, experimental sounds and styles gradually get introduced into all of D&B then it merges slightly to a different path. It is the way it has been for years - all the while we all develop different tastes and styles that we enjoy and buy.

I would hate to trawl through all the crap that gets released on Beatport (maybe thats why some people get disillusioned?), so just listen to peoples great mixes and discover tunes and enjoyment it that way IMO. A tune doesn't have to totally break the mould to be great, just has to bring the producers flavour - and in a cool mix you hear tunes that stand out for various reasons which is why I keep listening to this music!
 
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