1. Artists make too many tracks

I make as many tracks as myself and my partner can bang out. Some are home runs, some are bunt singles, all are tested in front of crowds and only get sent out if they consistently get good reactions from crowds. That said, I’ve had stuff I thought were home runs did absolutely nada on beatport, and other stuff which was basically a b-side at best, chart. Sometimes its the intended B-side that catches on beatport. The truth is you never really know whats going to ultimately catch on with the public, not you, not the label, and not the “tastemakers” on blogs either. You do make as much as you can and hope something sticks.

2. Artists design for the label.

Yes they do. The label has a brand to protect. If it doesn’t reflect their brand, they don’t put it out. Nuff said. Artists who want their stuff put out send it to labels that are at least close to the style they have created. Learned this the hard way believe me.

3. Artists have five tracks out on five different labels.

You never know who is going to put your music out and who isn’t, and when. When it goes out is up to the label. We’ve had labels sit on tracks for nearly a year, some labels sign tracks and NEVER release them. Its completely out of the artists control for all practical purposes.

4. Need for the labels to be gatekeepers.

Careful what you wish for. I have some experience in the commercial pop world too, where labels control everything. They are responsible for that autotuned mess we call pop music. The people who are the gatekeepers are business guys in suits who care very little about music. Artists get ripped off really bad, and its almost impossible to get your well crafed music to anyone who would ever give a rats. As bad as the electronic side of things can be its disneyland by comparison. I’ve given my music directly to big DJ’s and they’ve played it, charted it, and in

5. The cream rises to the top (so spend more time making really good records)

C’mon, no it doesn’t. Go on beatport right now and listen to some of the top 20 on the house chart. You’ll hear tracks that no true “underground” DJ would ever play. You’ll hear rips for popular disco tracks like stars on 45 and KC and the sunshine band that have been lamely filtered around. I have half a mind to call the respective copyright owners. The taste of the track buying pubic on beaport is sometimes a little more simplistic than what music critics would think are good tracks.

6 Regarding the fast track to fame.

From what I’ve seen the fastest way to DJ fame is to have an A list guy go to bat for you, like Richie did for Magda (as an example) Very few guys who have labels also have the clout with promoters to booking people they frankly never heard of and their audiences haven’t really heard of (despite often having the best of intentions I might add) Thats why some people are able to parlay a release into a successful DJ career, and others have to see what happens with the next one.

In sum you can just say it isn’t easy. As a wise old studio engineer said to me when I was really, young. “Its a long road kid, and success always seems just around the corner.”

Anyway, it’s only house music, we’re not exactly finding the Higgs-Boson or eradicating poverty.

Which dovetails with my thoughts on your second point, about becoming “design music” at some point. Although it’s imperative for producers to keep people interested with new releases, I think all of those releases need the sort of attention given to one’s best work. To me, that doesn’t mean making everything sound polished or quantized, but just care paid to the fidelity of your music. Most people I know releasing music have their stuff mastered by someone, which doesn’t necessarily smooth out the rawness so many of us crave from house and techno, but should accentuate the qualities people want to hear most. Some will always go for the rough and ready vibe without it, but for me it’s not often to the record’s benefit.

Thanks for your thoughts.