whats your nick name then?`
would love to listen to those old beats. i heard that colab you did with serum years ago, but even that must have been like 2007 or something. lol.
Not really on topic, but i honestly irk at the disposability of drum and bass. 2007 was barely 3 years ago, and already the tunes are antique. I think it has a lot to do with the DJ driven nature of the scene, because most DJ's try the be the freshest thing on the planet, the newest dubs and all the latest floor stormers. It's not necessarily the tracks that are disposable, but the attitude of ravers and DJ's that makes them so.
Apart from blaming the DJ's, the fault could also be in part in the technological nature of this music. Music tech goes forward in leaps and ever "higher technology" becomes accessible to more and more people, so anything that doesn't take advantage of that tech is instantly labeled old school. Take house-style sidechaining for example. If you'd been told 5 years ago that in 2010 every bedroom producer and their grandma was sidechaining their sub/bass/pad to their kicks, you probably wouldn't have given it much thought.
Just a personal view and not aimed at anyone in particular. Sorry groelle, your comment just got me thinking, and i've given this a bit of thought in recent times. Nothing personal.
There really hasn't been that much development in the scene to warrant 3 years ago as history. The mnml bandwagon thing that's now hip is not exactly new, it was just called "intelligent" dnb before.
Just ranting here, and i'm to blame for this state of affairs just as much as any fan of modern dnb. Who hasn't tried to copy the latest BIG cHO0N!! or just plain start creating a track without any sort of inspiration? Genericity is not creativity.
/rant
edit: and on the topic then:
I think only a few of the big name producers are "signed" to a label exclusively. Most just sign away single/ep releases on labels, and if the quality is consistent, the threshold for getting another release is significantly lower.
For me works quite simply. I send tunes to label AIM addresses until someone responds. If a track is not getting attention, i put it away and start working on another tune.
1 important thing is to have patience with a tune. If you bang out what you think to be the next machete and within 1 hour of completion you've sent it to 100 labels already, you could be sorry later - you might get over-hyped. And if they hear something that is in their mind half-assed, they are less likely to listen to anything you send them later on, even if it is better than your last. Wait at least a couple of weeks after completion, get some feedback on it from reliable sources. "DIRTY" or "nice bass" on a web forum or youtube is not such. Having the opportunity to play a tune to a dancefloor is priceless - getting to hear your track on a big sound system is almost as good, even without the audience. This way you have the most realistic and honest feedback.