Dubstepforum.com

what are you guys feeling about major labels?

dubstep is going to get hugh, but i for one would like it to stay DIY and to ruffly stay the same size (gig wise) but with a wider audaince. so for example you could do a tour of uk, or where ever in the world and have a good crowd.

basicaly all im saying is dont sell it to a major, this would be a bad thing, dont really know why im saying this, you people seam to have your heads screw on. its just i got a feeling it migth happen thro some peoples posts on this board.
mayb im just parnoid a scene i love will become worthles, i dont know...

no majors.no t.v . .every1 knows the deal.
pirate radio n 3rd base
dmz needs to stay @3rd base.

LOL @ the majors showing any interest in dubstep.

LOL @ yet another paranoid post!

think positive!

this is good to know.

More likely a bigger indie like Rephlex, Warp or Planet Mu picking up albums and spreading the sound around. Already happening with Mu - I wonder if Rephlex are going to do anymore? Any one seen Richard James at a DMZ?

Warp seem to really like Mystikz, always pushing them on their website, so who knows...

J_J wrote: dmz needs to stay @3rd base.

It certainly doesn't!

It needs a bigger venue and a ruffer rig!

When jungle went massive in the early 90's the majors all wanted a piece of the pie, there were signings by big artists like goldie, i dont think majors know what to do with underground genres but the jdb scene is still alive an kickin

people keep making analogies with 90s d&b, but the time when a producer (ie not an artist/singer/band etc) like Photek, Dillinjah or Grooverider can be signed to a major label are long since dead.

the majors are not going to touch anything without vocals, anything that can't be played live on the rock circuit and anything that can't be played on daytime radio.

since the advent of downloading the margins have got less for the majors and they have be come increasingly conservative. even the late 90s fad for signing one-off hit dance or 2step singles is gone. it's live-playing, artist-lead safe vocal acts or nothing ... hence why no one in grime can get a deal.

unlike grime, dubstep's progressed because the scene has built it's own infrastructure (Ammunition, Forward>>, DMZ the club, DMZ the label, Big Apple the shop (RIP) and label, Rinse FM, blogs and forums, self run, sustainable labels like Hyperdub etc).

J_J wrote:no majors.no t.v . .every1 knows the deal.
pirate radio n 3rd base
dmz needs to stay @3rd base.

nar man it needs bigger venues than that trust last 1 the doors got shut
it was amazin tho i had fuckin gd time

Good point blackdown.
Any thoughts on the future of grime?
As mentioned above the majors want nout to do with em, and venues dont want to put on acts that bring trouble, not to stereotype a genre or anyting, i just think it wont last

I kinda put my thoughts http://pitchforkmedia.com/features/them ... 7-05.shtml .

but in a nutshell i think grime MCs need to build their own infrastructure too. Skepta's talking about putting his own album out. Perhaps others will then follow fashion...

Blackdown wrote:people keep making analogies with 90s d&b, but the time when a producer (ie not an artist/singer/band etc) like Photek, Dillinjah or Grooverider can be signed to a major label are long since dead.

Yep. The lessons from jungle are clear - sustainability is the key. Those artist mentioned did all their best work on independent labels anyway.

I think to survive the grime guys need to stop equating artistic success with signing to a major and getting an advance. Obviously the idea of 'blowing up' is a big theme/trope in grime but apart from Dizzee the guys who have got signed to majors have only decided to, or been forced to compromise the quality of the music that got them there.

I'm surprised that there haven't been more self-financed Grime CDs.

I know were going off on a non-dubstep tangent, but you make an interesting point about migration, are people in NYC, Paris, etc going to want to listen to lodoners? Take hip-hop, originating in the states but now popular in the UK, France etc. Im not really into hip-hop, but i only really prefer UK stuff. Will grime make this transistion? I dont know, just thoughts.

Back to the original thread - fuck the majors
my 2 pence

Blackdown wrote:
unlike grime, dubstep's progressed because the scene has built it's own infrastructure (Ammunition, Forward>>, DMZ the club, DMZ the label, Big Apple the shop (RIP) and label, Rinse FM, blogs and forums, self run, sustainable labels like Hyperdub etc).

thats 1 of the reason i love this scene...its got a massive diy factor to it(and of course the music)

people aren't into this scene becaus of the money. in fact it's the opposite - it costs money and time to be involved. right now that meens people are only in it for the music, which is perfect.

Blackdown wrote:people keep making analogies with 90s d&b, but the time when a producer (ie not an artist/singer/band etc) like Photek, Dillinjah or Grooverider can be signed to a major label are long since dead.

the majors are not going to touch anything without vocals, anything that can't be played live on the rock circuit and anything that can't be played on daytime radio.

since the advent of downloading the margins have got less for the majors and they have be come increasingly conservative. even the late 90s fad for signing one-off hit dance or 2step singles is gone. it's live-playing, artist-lead safe vocal acts or nothing ... hence why no one in grime can get a deal.

unlike grime, dubstep's progressed because the scene has built it's own infrastructure (Ammunition, Forward>>, DMZ the club, DMZ the label, Big Apple the shop (RIP) and label, Rinse FM, blogs and forums, self run, sustainable labels like Hyperdub etc).

You said all!

The key is... Infrastructure... Like most DIY scenes...

Blackdown wrote:people aren't into this scene becaus of the money. in fact it's the opposite - it costs money and time to be involved. right now that meens people are only in it for the music, which is perfect.

For a lot of people i think this is the music they have been waiting for a long time...i know it is with me. I got dissollusioned with lots of electronic music a while ago and when i first heard dubstep i was amazed...someone had hit the nail on the head!!

I think (hope) peeps feel the same way about the music...and due to what we have learnt from seeing other music engulfed by the majors etc i think everyone into dubstep will (hopefully) play their cards close to their chests and keep this a sound for the people love it and respect it.