My answer is a question : Do you really want D&B to become commercially popular? ;-) Come on, that is a doom for any underground music genre. You should be glad where it is.

 

Well it depends on how you define 'Commercial'... which is a convoluted word in itself... Think about if there was a professional charting.rating system (like the National Music Charts), more money available through cohesive sponsorships etc.

There is a lot that can be done, by taking a more 'Commercial' approach,

Dan - NexGen.
 

Ez Famz!! Well?!! Hhumm!! this is a hard question? .. There are a lot of people that wouldnt like to see Drum&Bass go as commercial as other forms of music u stated, Because i ges the music was underground way back in the dayz an not very commercial atall!! an should maybe stay true to its roots?!! but as we all know D'n'B has moved on leaps an bounds since those dayz an the scene has grown an grown an is now world wide..!! Drum&Bass is a way life! well is for me anyway!! lol .. but personally i wouldnt mind if it was much more commercial > i think maybe the answer is .. for us all to keep doin wat we are doin an to see how far we can push the boundaries of this muzic?! Drum&Bass is alot more commercial than it used to b so that must say sumthin?? i ges wen u look at genres like hip hop an RnB? U WOULD THINK DnB would b alot more commercial as it uses alot of these flavors an ..style..s within the sound.. I think one of todays problems in DnB is that there are way to many diferent ..style..s of this music.. so maybe thats a point?? ..
 

i think drum&bass is already commercially popular.
not all subgenres, but some parts
 

This is a good question. One that I've been pondering for quite some time. And the answer, I think is: in order for D&B to be come more popular commercially, it needs to touch a broader range of people. Why not incorporate performers from different genres to perform on D&B tracks? People with followings. then, when the "re-mix" comes out, people who normally wouldn't have listened will hear a hint of familiarity. Think about what the Roots did with Eryka Badu on "You Got Me". The end was amazing with ?uestlove beating out the D&B while Eryka Badu sang. Most people I talk to about that song, immediately remember that part of the song.


Roni Size on Red Man
Bahamadiah on Roni Size
KRS One on Goldie
Ronni Size on Cypress Hill

The list can go on for days, but why does it have to be pigeon holed to Rap music?

Where are the collabos with Mariah Carey? Michael Jackson? Heavy Mojo?

All this can be done easily. Most of the music is right at about half speed anyway...

I did a D&B remix of a song for this artist in Brooklyn that sang R&B and played it for my mom, its now theis nearly 60 year old woman's favorite song. And not because it's mine, )my family in general doesn nto like anything that can't be found commercially on the radio) but because it's something that she can relate to while being introduced to something she's not.


Just a spoon full of sugar, makes the medicine go down.


Another point is this:

D&B needs to evolve beyond what it's become, and what it's become is monotonous. It's lost musicality. It's now become a constant stream of arpeggiated synth waves with no life.


Back in the day, D&B was a nice comfortable 165 to 175 BPM, now, it's pumped up to sometimes nearly 200 bpm. It's become music for the speed generation (Not saying that I don't like it, some of my songs are 195 bpm). I've started changing things up a bit for the music I produce.


I've started incorporating more music and movement; Stereo separation; subtle and loud noises. panning, less compression. The tings that made music great in the past, can revive the future. There's no doubt that D&B is future music, but people aren't ready for the future. they seem to be perfectly happy with living in a plastic bubble. they need something that feels good to make them peek outside the bubble.


i think the music could be more commercially viable as soon as the radio stops taking payola and actually showcase different kinds of music. Showcasing new artist... Like they used to. Until then, it's up to DJs to spread the word, but even they have elitist attitudes sometimes. Most won't even listen to the CD from a new artist coming up. Or if they do listen, even if they like it, they never contact the producer and let them know that they do. And if they don't like it, they don't call to say what they think is wrong.


I kind of feel like the industry is eating it;s self. soon there will be nothing left but a head. and you can't make music like that.

 

FANTASTIC INPUT MR MURPH, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!

DAN
NEXGEN.
 

Oh, I've got a million ideas, man.
LOL!
 

This is a hard question to answer in a short time.. I think in order for D&B to become as popular as some of the other genres the first question you should ask is why do you want it to become more popular? If it's strictly because you want to hear it more often in the everyday things you do (like watching tv) then you're probably going to be dissapointed in the answers, and more importantly in the music itself. If you want it to become more popular so that it wil gain the attention of more people therefore broadening the input it gets which will in turn help the music eveolve in a more progressive direction then the answer is simple: You need to be able to relate it to something people can associate with. I think it was mentioned above that R&B and D&B are a great relationship. I personally almost always hear R&B influences in *GOOD* D&B. Beat structure, melody, etc. If you can get some good R&B artists to spend more time working with D&B artists to remix some of the more popular songs then you have your foot in the door.

Does anyone remember right around 1998-1999 when we started hearing Pop songs remixed really hitting the radio? Remember how fast house and Breaks started flooding the radio stations? I clearly remember hearing Madonna "Ray of light" and thinking "holy crap, I'd spin this at a party"!! Then some other big name pop stars jumped on the bandwagon and it just took off. If some big name R&B (which seems to be the big thing right now in the mainstream) stars were to sit down with some D&B producers and do the same thing then you would have your commercial footprint.

 

YEAH MAN!!! MR MURPH AND ALLEN ROBERTS HAVE BOTH GOT WICKED POINTZ!!

Remix's of well known artists an so on Hhumm!!! now theres an idea.. lol ... soundz like a plan!?!

im ready to bust a little remix of the song> whos johnny < from the film short Circuit....lol

.....
 

Attract an older crowd and cut down on the genre's, more vocal flavas on ALL platforms would also help, alsodj's, promoters need to share the love more instead of keeping things 'in house' all the time.


It should be more commercially available, seems like everything is on dub far too quickly and for far too long

jus an op
 

an image overhaul? better p.
r? more time to mature? community say in who gets to be program director at the radio station? maybe name association is the key to get the wheels of mass-consumption gears turning,timbaland dillinja remix anyone?

perhaps time to mature is the key? punk rock had been around for 15,16 years maybe before gaining "popularity" in the states then again, dnb is not punk(well, sometimes)

but on the other hand the cd is dying, mp3 sales bring less rev for the labels . Most Major record labels are still whining about teh innernets and record sales are making up smaller percentage of an artists wealth these days. you gotta tour, ya gotta do shows. so maybe its a cocktail. more shows more fans creating other fans by bringing friends, all there different types of friends(and I am hinting at that holy-than-thou-underground attitude;).


There you go. Problem solved. Venues will want to more shows if more fans come with their friends(who have a wanting something different,but familiar) and break the bar and/or the attendance quota. More venues doing more shows means more people will be learning and loving the music. dnb is not dead or vanishing anytime soon and even judging by the wiki definition the roots go deep. Drum&Bass is future music, it is 2008...any moment now..
 

I wish i knew the answer to your question, what does dnb need to become as popular as other electronic music genres!
Sadly i think it needs more commercial and get more media recognition!
If rappers were repping dnb, than everyone would be on it, rappers and people of influence are featured on so little tracks, that it doesnt break out of the circle of dnb heads.

Dnb being commercialised isnt such a big deal, yes the vast majority of people would know about the genre, and the only down side i can really think of is if it was commercial, more artist would produce shitty dnb. And the most shitty dnb, would be the most populare, more commercial dnb BUT, we are lucky enough, that there are a few record labels, (Nexgen Recordings), that no matter what, would continue to put out this real soulful, music, no matter the condition of the scene. So really if there is more money going around, to support the real, and true labels (nexgen) than why not, just means that you can talk about this genre with more people, and more parties and more fun all around, come on! I say spread the word, to real people that you know, and invite them in, to enjoy our wonderful scene, before depleting record sales, and lack of money destroy it.

 

I have to say Massive Respect to Lord & for his comments., absolutely true Bruver....

Dan - NexGen
 

Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Yes Bruv! DJ ROUGH-CZ - Truth -

Y'know what? Kyro, Dan and the other contributors are all spot on about the general scene and the way that the industry works (although I've got to say that the BPM issue is a lot more important that people realise - the fun went out of D&B the day it went over 173bpm for the simple reason that in the past you could dance half speed - to the bass - or full on crazy jumping around speed - to the breaks. At 175 and above you can't do that unless you just want to pogo or spaz (which the drugz crew don't mind) and that took away the groove, and what is it that makes D&B so different to Techno? The groove and the funk).


Aaaanyway, the biggie is stupid "promoters" etc playing to what they think is the crowd and filling raves with the lowest common denominator i.e. drugged up 15 yr olds who don't give a f@k what they are hearing as long as it's hard, noisy and goes boom boom so that they get a rush. Also responsible are the Bullshit "DJ's" who play this shite and think that they are somehow cool because they have a room full of people “dancing”.
What they don’t realise (and believe me I know cos I’ve done tests in France – which has one of the worst D&B scenes in the world with some of the most deluded DJ’s and Promoters on the planet) is that they could be replaced by a washing machine on spin cycle connected to a mic and the crowd wouldn’t notice………

The point is if your night doesn’t have an even Male / Female split, the people attending don’t know who’s playing and don’t care, the sound is distorted and treble heavy, the MC’s are shit, the bar is shit and whenever there’s a beautiful deep breakdown that runs too long without a kick drum everyone shouts (or goes ‘alllléééééé’ if you are in France) then you are wack. Your night is wack, and you need to stop or at least be honest and piss off to run grimecore nights.


To appeal to more people D&B needs to sort out its image because the beauty of it has always been its variety and depth. Heavy is all good, but not for 8 hours straight. If you want some 30 year olds in your club (which I do as I’ve grown out of fancying teenagers) then you need to provide a deeper vibe. D&B excels at funky, deep, soulful, dance-inspiring beats and melodies but that’s not what you’d think as a novice. And that’s why we don’t sell more tickets and tracks. Keep on keeping on. Make the beats, run the nights, do some pirate and keep on preaching diversity and things will come around. Just don’t expect the sweaty speedcore crew to convert. The people we need to touch are sat at home avoiding D&B like the plague because the one time they got dragged out to a D&B night it was shit and now they think that badly mixed nosebleed D&B is what it’s all about…………………WRONG.

 

OK PEEP'S GETTING REAL INTERESTING NOW - BUT LET'S KEEP THE LANGUAGE AS TIDY AS POSSIBLE.......!!!

DAN - NEXGEN.
 

1. I think many people would accept it more in the mainstream if there more and more original vocal tracks, and also people need to see that not all junglists are drugged up ravers.


2. i dont really think that dnb should be commercial, because then we'll end up with my rock starts like pendulum making the same wank beats over and over.

 

.... LOL .... !!!!!!!!!!!
 

If I could add my two pennies worth to this interesting debate...I would blame the media!

I would cite the fact that there are so many media created 'genres' within this music as being a major problem as to why the scene as a whole hasn't progressed as much as it maybe could have done, although I think it is in a healthy period right now!! I think the media is to blame for creating the splits that occured within the scene around 1994'ish (Mixmag, Muzik mag etc)

As we all know in the early nineties the music wasn't pigeon holed as much as it is now into different sub genres. Think of when you bought records at the record shop - they were mostly all under one place or section. The first major split was the jungle/hardcore one. It is true that the jungle sound was a new development but the fact the media labelled it 'jungle' meant that you had two camps developing already from what was originally 'dance' or 'hardcore' music. From then on, it became slightly ridiculous as the next sub genre label which had a massive effect was the word 'intelligent'.
This word has connitations because it assumes that if you liked this 'genre' then you are obviously cleverer than other people! I think a lot of people were angry at this label but all the people who made 'intelligent' music denounced the term as ludicrous too but the damage was already done I believe!

The media came up with this term yet again for the deeper side of the music but I think that this term had a massive detrimental effect on the scene.

But, for many, many people (myself included) I loved 'Scottie', 'Ricky' 'Mothership' tunes as well as PFM or jazzy stuff for example because it was all good music!! I didn't care about what category it was in if it made me dance etc
I remember going to AWOL and having a wicked night and then going to somewhere like Speed and having a great night too because to me it was great music with drums and bass and pads and ragga lyrics and tear out Amens etc etc The media would cite the two clubs as being opposite sides of the music but why???! Surely, by labelling the music into different genres created this split of having different places to hear different 'labelled' music!!

Around that time, again in the music press you would read reviews of some drum and bass music as being for the 'coffee table brigade' - again labelling people who liked the more ambient tunes as beard stroking intellectuals!!lol!! And they would do it the other way around for the 'harder' tracks.

From then on the genre 'labels' became ridiculous such as techstep, darkstep, neuro, liquid etc etc.

If you create divisions within any organisation (such as more than one teaching or nursing union) then the whole becomes weaker.


Another thing is the underground/overground debate. To cite one example I rememeber when Bukem left Speed to take 'Logical Progression' on the road and open up the music to as many people as possible around the country and he was slated by some quarters for 'selling out'.


I've still got an old edition of Jockey Slut from the time with a lengthy interview with him and he was having to defend his reasons for doing it, which I felt astonishing. Here was someone who could have made millions at the time and then just retire but decided to keep releasing his and other artists material on his own independent label because he obviously is passionate about music and didn't want to 'sell out'. But, some people thought that playing drum and bass at 'Cream' was a sacrilige, whereas surely introducing the music to as many people as possible was a fantastic thing to do and brought in lots of new converts to the scene.

However, on reflection there were no direct quotes from people who were apparantly 'slating' him for doing it so maybe it was another media created myth to divide the scene.


Also, anyone who has head a Bukem set knows that he used to play harder stuff such as Source Direct as well as lighter material and if the labels didn't exist then it would just be about the music.


However, I think it is not doom and gloom at all!!!! On the contrary there is so much tremendous music being made all over the world!!! I think the scene is in a very healthy state from that perspective and the clubs are still packed out as they ever were, but that is just my opinion about things that perhaps weakened it and created divisions many years ago!!

j ;-)
 

DnB already has been having its Commercial side for a while now (I mean it in a good way--think of buckem ..style../atmospheric DnB --somehow the one you guys are producing here) but it's TOO FAST for most people to love it as a daily-life sound track, I guess.


I hope there'll always be a wide underground slice of the genre.


I think DnB is just made to be loved by a few, and I love it for this too!

Just Imho
 

Ez!!.. Yeah defo i think JacO---BeaT has got a very good point there about the speed of the music.. an i defo agree with jrumhand.. that drum&bass is still alive in a very very big way indeed .. if not more than ever..!! the sound has progressed sooooo much over these years that its defo peakin right now... the music has matured imensly like a good bottle o wine..> lol.. but maybe the speed of the music is something that stops it reachin the more commercial crowd.. i mean ... maybe bpm's between 165 , 175 , 180 is jus to fast for th average person coming home from work an listenin to the radio in the car?! if u see wat im saying? but on the other hand maybe they will? a few years back i used to live with my 77 year old grandfather .. an my studio was there aswell.. An sometimes wen i was in th studio rollin out some huge breaks .. he would walk past an do a little dance!!!!!!!!! lol.. hhaa so even at the ripe old age of 77 drum and bass sounds good.. !!!! ha lol...

Kyro....
 

good topic, i see you have alot of posts, someone may or may not have posted this but i feel that d&b would be best along the lines of house. If it was anywhere near the popularity of hip-hop, i think i would quit immediately, imo.


cheers matey
 

Ez, its E n D off dnba arena forum...

good question.


personally i feel dnb should not be as comercially popular as the other types of music genres you described.
its an underground ..style.. of music and it should stay that way imo...
but if you were to make it that popular, the ..style.. of dnb would have to change to be more like pendulums, very commerciaised imo. high contrast draws a very commercial crowd, as he gets a lot of air timeon radio 1.


i feel that the dnb scene is runnin at its highest capacity now, and feel its has of late become more commercial, not too much tho, which is a good thing. I know it is a business, but it should all boil down to passion rather than money at the end of the day..

let me know what you think @ skeptic-dnb@hotmail.co.uk

would like to hear these tunes too man, i like what your doing at nexgen, hope all goes well for your label in future...

Respec,

E'n'D
 

Underground music should stay underground, Commercialism ruins good music & artists.

 

In order to be more commercial successful dnb needs more Shake Ur Body remixes. Have a look at the charts, they are full of music with a 6 month maximum shelf life, and its all conveyor belt mass produced rnb sewerage. Get a black chick to sing about how she's been "played too many times boy" over a 174bpm track and you're in the money.

 

The problem is drum and basser's alike don't want exposure- part of the lure of the genre is that it is "underground" and fans want to keep it that way, newer fans like the "underground feel" so maybe some play on that
 

Good points about this music always being underground. I suppose if I ran my own label and it was my livelihood and the mortgage depended on how many records/CD's/MP3's I sold every month then I would definitely be looking at ways to make this music more commercial or otherwise I could lose my house! However, I don't and nor do lots of people who enjoy drum and bass so I guess they are happy for it to stay underground...
 

You could say that about any music, as most genres have more fans than Artists...! Just as an FYI NexGen has started this blog not because WE want the music to be more commercial! We do although think that Artists should be compensated for their talents...no matter what music scene/genre you are involved in.

Dan - NexGen. :)
 

In case no one has noticed, the drum and bass ..style.. has been gaining very much commercial exposure. Pay attention; you hear it in radio and TV commercials, and many recent bands are incoperating some of the popular drum breaks used in DnB into their own compositions.


Remixing popular songs is a great idea and I think it should be explored fully. However the drawback is this: if you're going to do a remix that you want people to hear and appreciate, you had better get the rights from the original artist. Many labels are unwilling to sign a tune if it contains unlicensed vocals, which means the only people who get to hear it are yourself and anyone who's in the club when you play it out.


As far as availability, mp3's are what's current. Granted, CD is likely the preferred medium, but it's a fact that CD sales have declined with the increased availability of mp3's for sale. Another thing that is holding back the profit and exposure side of the industry is the dubplate culture associated with drum and bass. We have a system now (thanks to the easy accessability and sendability of the mp3) where new tunes are debuted months before a proper label release is slated. The author and any of his/her close mates in the industry will play the mess out of a tune before it can get into the hands of the cunsumers and fans, so that by the time the tune is available for sale, people don't want to buy it because it isn't really "new" anymore. And for me and a lot of other DJ's, having what's new and hot is one of the big drivers of being a DJ, but if by the time you get a song it's already been played all over, that tune is now less appealing to purchase. You don't see this happening in trance or house or breaks, they put out tunes as fast as they can, but the big name dnb producers for some reason want to sit on their tunes, as if keeping them exclusive makes them better in quality.


Finally, we are at the point now that there are an enormous number of composers in the world (and that number keeps growing) and so much music being put out, that in relative terms, a smaller percentage of it has any staying power. Even popular producers such as Drumsound and Simon Bassline Smith might crank out tunes every month, but only about one out of ten, in my opinion, is memorable enough to not be superceeded by the next big release. It seems that so many of these veteran producers are putting out what some would consider standard or even sub-standard tunes for the sake of not being lost in the winds of change. Too many producers (new and old) are stuck on making thier tunes fit a set formula or having a certain "sound", when the beauty of this music is that you can make it be whatever you want it to be, and you shouldn't be holding yourself back just because you think what you make won't be widely accepted. You won't know that until you make it and put it out there.

 

Drum & Bass has never been, and should never be about making money. If you dj or produce it should be for the love of the music, not to make £.

 

I'm about to say something that's going to offend
alot of dnb heads...and before I say it, let me give
you a bit of background...

I've been "in the scene" since 92.
I've owned a
retail record store, thrown parties, spun dnb
in London, and produced a few dnb tracks.


My critique of dnb is:
IT ALL SOUNDS THE FUCKING SAME!

The reason? No vocals. No hooks.
Nothing that
distinguishes one tune from another, other than
the bassline and drum patterns.


Imagine going into a top 40/hip hop club and
the dj playing instrumental tracks all night.

The club would be dead in two weeks.


Why?

People NEED hooks. They stick with you.

You're thinking about the lyrics or singing
them as you drive home...and if you really
like the song, you can probably guess the
title by the chorus...or look it up on
google.


Psychologically, I think this is the reason
why the girl/guy ratio at dnb events is so
damn awful.


Try this experiment...find a girl who doesnt
go to dnb events and play a few tunes for
here.
I guarantee that 90% of them will at
least kinda like tracks by the following
artists (in this order):

Aphrodite
John B
Ben Sage (his vocal tracks)
Pendulum

Say what you want about aphrodite and John B,
but girls do love their music because they
write SONGS...not just random noise over beats.


The guy who mentioned "people dancing to a
washing machine on a spin cycle" got it right.

If people are fucked out of their minds on drugs,
they dont really give a fuck whats playing.

But the majority of people don't do e, x, meth,
whatever.
They might have a few beers/shots,
but thats it. Noise does not go well with that.


I still listen to dnb occasionally, and enjoy
some of it...but if I'm given a choice between
paying $20 to get into an event with a shitty
girl/guy ratio and a bunch of drug fiends...
...I'll just go out to a mainstream club like
Pure or Dreamz or Aiko, where anyone can get
on the list and get in free before 11, and
there are guaranteed to be people looking to
have a good time dancing, rather than stomping
around trying to look "hard" or giving you
shit cause you cant do some stupid "liquid
glowsticking".


So, to summarize:

For commercial musical success, a dnb tune
must be a song...with memorable lyrics.
A
memorable sample works too.
(While not dnb,
people easily recognize breaks tracks like
prodigy's "Funky Shit", or Chemical Bros
"Block Rockin Beats" or CM's "Get Busy Child")

For event success, mix up the music.
This IS NOT
England, where the entire population lives within
a 6 hour drive radius.
The only cities in the
U.S.
capable of supporting ALL-DnB events are
Los Angeles and New York. ...And I agree with
the guy who was talking about integrating the
hip hop scene.
Book some djs who play hip hop,
or rock or mashups, or more mainstream stuff.

Promotion is an art of gentle seduction...
you don't want a newbie to walk into the scene
and witness a drug fueled noisy horrorshow,
with their only escape being to never return.

Give people the "safety valve" of a dj who
will play something familar.
This actually
happens alot in the UK...they'll have a
"all" DnB party, but they'll have a side
room that play popular house/vocal trance
tracks.
It works well, and creates a nice
crowd dynamic.


Remember...
If all you're concerned with is "Staying Underground",
eventually you'll be buried alive and suffocate to death.



-RockstarRaverBoy
 

I can mostly agree with that.


We have a drum and bass weekly here (Jacksonville, FL), running for three years now. Honestly, a good deal of it being a continued success is because of the venue we have. The club we use is actually part of a multiroom venue, and on any given night they have a top 40/hip hop room, an old wave/80's room, a country room, and a kareoke bar. The fifth room we use for dnb on fridays, and another promoter uses it for house on saturdays. We get a lot of overflow from the top 40 room mostly, and over the course of time we have gained a few supporters, some of which are quite good on the microphone and have found that their talents cross over into what we play. Likewise, a copuple of us are somewhat skilled in scratching and beat juggling (which keeps up the hype), and I personally like to play acapellas over my mixes.


Thing is, there a lot of mainstream people who like drum and bass and don't even know it. Part of that is due to the stereotypes that follow electronic music in general, with drug use and ate-ups and such. Dnb is like getting someone to try a new dish for the first time. If you tell them what it is, they may get grossed out before even giving it a chance. But if you get them to try it before you tell them what's in it, chances are they'll love i more that they thought possible.


I don't agree that a song has to have lyrics to be successful. Yes, a lot of dnb does sound the same to someone who doesn't know the difference, and even if you do know better, a good deal of it starts to blend tegether after a while. Take Aphrodite, for example. Remove the lyrics from all of his "remixes", and suddenly all of his tunes sound the same. In fact, almost all of his production is made at the same tempo, so that he can mix it easier. But a majority of successful dnb compsoers are guilty of the same crime; they make tunes using the same formats or sound banks, so that when you hear a song, you know who made it without having to look at the record. Not saying that it's a bad thing for your music to be recognisable, that's just the nature of the beast.


You hit the nail on the head by saying that the music needs to be "musical", but the beauty of art is in the interpretation, and to some listeners, noise (in modration) can be musical. In the US in particular, there a lot of composers and listeners that tend towards the darker/evil side, mostly from hard rock and goth/death metel influences, which inherently condones a level of harshness and coldness within the music; that's where a lot of the pots-and-pans dnb comes from, which I think is part of why US producers catch so much shit from the UK. Not everyone who goes out to the club is a hardcore headbanger, but most clubgoers do like to dance. It's as if some of these producers have forgotten that it was intended to be dance music, not a soundtrack to a horror film. But even European guys are (and have been) making this type of music; maybe because they have more credibility, their music is more accepted? It's like the old tootsie pop query; teh world may never know.

 

We've had some fantastic posts today, some real food for thought...

Don't forget to share this blog with your friends and I don't know about you all, but what I (Dan - not the label per say), am getting out of this - is the fact that collective thoughts and ideas can be shared and discussed openly, intelligently and with great passion. Maybe, just maybe in some way this discussion may trigger some sort of 'Re-interpretation' of the music that we love....

Thank you

D.A
NexGen
 

I don't claim anything as fact, but this is my 2cents.


I agree with most of the above, focussing more on the merging of DnB with other genre's such as hiphop/rock to spark mainstream interest would be a good option, if financial gain is the main objective.


Obviously this is not a new concept, the beginning of DnB being hugely influenced by hiphop, though I wouldn't say it still dominates the sound today.. Many of the scenes most prominent artists, eg roni ..size.., pendulum and dillinja, are very aware of this and as a result are cashing in a lot more than producers who's music I would consider a much truer representation of what the main body of dnb is, simply because their sound appeals more to the mainstream... The tip of the iceberg imo, though I'm not saying it isn't good music. It is this ..style.. that will appeal to newcomers in the scene and probably entice them to explore the less known ..style..s.


I think the majority of drum n bass out there will never appeal to the mainstream crowds off the bat, so it takes music similiar to that of the artists above to spark interest and only from there,will more people begin to appreciate the rest. However a lot of the deeper and darker sound will never reach that level of commercialism. As someone said here, it is made to be loved by a few... Thats what will keep the underground alive; the more commercial dnb gets, the more the underground sound will distance itself from the ..style..s that are becoming mainstream.

For more people to get out there and buy cds/mp3's, it has to start in the clubs. Exposure through radio and commercials is helpful in the sense that it may bring more people through the door, as well as recommendations through freinds etc, though until they have been to a quality gig and loved what they heard and the experience they had, it is unlikely people will develop a passion for it. A lot still won't. Those that take to it eagerly may end up buying records and mixing themselves... a good thing for the scene financially, but from that arises another problem, the lack of true musical knowledge and talent coupled with the rapidly growing number of people getting behind the decks, means many events simply won't deliver an experience that does the genre any justice...
The right events need to be promoted to the right people, in the right way, in the right places. Many people will make very quick and general assumptions on first impressions.


Also, the reputation of dnb amongst the more conservative is very tainted by the drug use associated with it. For it to succeed commercially it would need to be presented in a much cleaner,classier and more sophistocated light.


Personally, though it is a very real possibility, I would hate dnb to become as commercial as some of the genres you mentioned, as I think the overall quality of the music would suffer hugely in producer's efforts to make it attractive to a larger audience. But at the same time the financial gain for those who are producing the high quality is a good thing, only i think the line between the two would become very blurred. Wether it ends up this way not, there will undoubtedly continue to be steady progression as there aready has been.


:-)
 

I'd say that DnB is already pretty popular & definately up there with House as a form of electronica that 1000s of people listen to & buy.

Wouldn't personally say chillout or ambient are anywhere near as popular - but that's just from personal experience.


As for making it more accessable & more popular - only way of doing that (as mentioned above) is making it more appealing to the average person who likes their pop music. Problem with this is it can take away the soul from the music, as you're basically creating tunes for mass appeal rather than tunes you want to make - this happened with Old Skool Hardcore back in the day, which granted, made some money for a few artists that managed to get in the charts, but did taint the genre (as far as I'm concerned).


The remixes of popular tunes seems a fairly decent idea - as long as the tempo isn't too different (or can easily be doubled up on the beats) - there's been a fair few unofficial remixes of chart tunes, and will say most of those just sound wrong when timestretched too much to fit with the DnB tempo - so it'd really have to be tunes which fit nicely already to the tempo of DnB.


For now keep on making what you're making - DnB with soul - so nice infact, I've just bought your cd :)

Anyway, that's my 2 pence worth :)

sales@batbeatrecordings.co.uk
 

It s too much commercial since we ve been able to get ringtone on our ph..> LMAO.

Keep it underground, keep it unreal
 

In answer to your first question, I would say DnB could reach a more commercial/mainstream audience if some tunes had more structure, like verses, choruses etc.
Also that the newer tunes coming out today are generating a more new age electronic feel, and trust me more and more dance music lovers are moving towards this ..style.. which shows us all that DnB is growing.



Second Question:
Yes absolutely, considering the ..size.. and impact DnB has to dance music listeners worldwide it's actually surprizing that there isn't more media outlets containing; club reviews, release charts etc. The main source of DnB media is on the web as most fans know, which they are generally satisified with so there isn't a huge demand for other non web sources of DnB info. However since I am a major DnB fan, I do think there should be more focus on the scene via magazines, radio and even television. Whether or not this will actually can happen, all depends where this whole electro house fad goes to.

 

1. Speed is an issue I think, 170bpm isn't particularly popular.
I think pendulum are a prime example of how D&B can be commercial, they combine a broad spectrum of ..style..s but its still inherently D&B.


2. D&B was always underground and I think it should stay that way, to be true to its roots. Although it is one of the more "Commercially" usable genre's. (It has a radio show on radio 1 after all) and call sell, if marketed correctly.



Nice tunes btw :)
 

D&B has been commercial for years. Don't get me wrong I'm not slating it, but for a good couple of years now I've been hearing ads with jungle soundtracks, Girls Aloud etc using 170bpm breaks. That said, it takes a certain mindset to really get into it, and I don't think the harder shit is ever gonna appeal to 11 year old girls that like r&b.

 

mmmm...

I agree that it could become commerically popular and financially viable to an extent it is with some artists, but it could ruin the whole ethos of it being underground and unique. Early house and rave tunes never seemed to sound as good when they started to creep onto the commercial radio and tv shows in the early 90's it sometimes made me cringe.

Also with commerciality comes popularity which means POP, does that mean d&b will need to be more poppy? It can be done and is again with some artists, but I suppose its knowing when you have reach a happy medium between underground and popular.

I think I like it just the way it is, the more people get into it and keep it alive the better.
It is its own unique culture, with many ..style..s with-in, with many great established and up and coming artists, signed and unsigned, and the indie labels are what make it so unique...

Anyway peace to all

LiL'London
 

HMMMMM !!!!!

1.
) What does Drum & Bass need to do to become (If at all it needs to be) as commercially popular as other Electronic Music Genres like House/Trance/Electronica/Downtempo/Chill-Out etc


Firstly people gotta stop hating on others that are trying to make it in the game !!!!!

they is so much hate in the scene how can anything progress and move forward to even better things

2nd things is

i hear people slagging off about going more commerical but i know for a fact that if a major label came along to them and said right we wanna fund this track and make a video and put it in the charts they would bite there hand off...

If you want my answer on this.....

we make music to reach out to as many people as possible,

music is the only formula to bring us all together

i know we all wanna fight against the system and bring it down

but sometimes you have to use the system too to beat it !!!

work it out !!!!!!

peace
 

1. Imho, Drum & Bass doesn't need any change to be commercially more popular, only that it has to have QUALITY, not like any 'commercial' music, that hasn't got anything in it, only simple music.


2. It's totally ok like this. Maybe depending on the inflation or so, but it's fair.
:)

Cheers! Andrew from mocsokybandi+@+yahoo+.
+com
 

i work at tempest records sellind dnb all day long!
its nearly commercial specially with the likes of high contrast & chase & status's albums were aimed at the more commercial side!
however if feel drum and bass is underground and will always be underground, in 2003 when it was cool all the key players just keep there heads down until the limelight shines off the music!
so its up to the individual at the end of the day!

and im happy to support all types of drum and bass!

peace subdue!