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too many compilations and not enough artists albums
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sure_smoke_alot
IsraTrance Junior Member
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45
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6874
Posted : Mar 30, 2007 07:50
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Quote:
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On 2007-03-29 18:00, randulon wrote:
i think compilations are great. you get to discover artists you might never have heard,
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exactly
  the problem with valuing art is, till u dont understand it, it's worthless but wen u do understand it, it's priceless!! |
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maux
Mauxuam
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546
Posted : Mar 31, 2007 04:40
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it wasn't a useless post then.
i haven't said "NO MORE COMPILATIONS".
only noticed that there are too many of them...
i haven't said that they are useless
but if they are the big majority of the releases (just chek this forum) are a waste of energy.
maybe is better to have less releases and more artist albums...focus energy and money on projects instead of continuing with this fruit salad....maybe.
many labels have in their catalogue just compilations...
or mainly complilations...even a queen label like interchill has more comps than artist albums in its catalogue...glad to know from Andrew that the future tendency is different.
i think (without offending anyone) that this is a sign that this "scene" is still an "adolescent"...both artists and labels probably...
mmm...PKS...i don't think that good artists are luckly to give their best tunes for a comp, unless they are new names (like me) or skint (like me again)...and it is very different to compose a tune for an album and one for a comp (very often there are also style directions to respect in the comp).
and i actually think that there is something wrong in the process this days...you (label managers) are now used to think that before you listen to the finished album and after you buy (release it)...instead should be that the label commision an album to the artist,...other way around 
for sure being part of a nice compilation is a good promotion for a new artists like me, and like someone said without it i probably would have not started my "carrier"...eheheh...
but this days there are so many other ways to discover new names...podcasts (honestly many of them are better than many comps), dj mixes, internet radios, online music shops, forums, blogs, usenet, even the evil myspace is a good source....only need to be curious.
vector... nop...not releasing an album, and already working on new stuff not so chilled...i don't want to use this post for self promotion so if u don't want to wait for the next comp, visit my website sometime...some new tunes will be there soon for ur private comp
viva la musica
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain will never improve, and that's here." Aldus |
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shahar
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
155
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2035
Posted : Mar 31, 2007 18:32
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Interesting topic.
First of all I'm releasing my own album and my own compilation and you all should go and buy it right now and than listen well and come back and discuss the topic then. C'mon people- enough with the self promo- there's a promo section for this. If I was still moderator here, all those posts would be deleted.
And back to the topic...
Generally I agree with you Maux, but I see things a bit differently. I agree there are too many compilations, but I think that the problem is that there are too many releases in general, the quality control is way down, and people are fast to release. It's easier to release a compilation than an album (logistically), and so- too many average/bad compilations. But there are also too many average/bad albums, just percentage-wise, less of them.
Also, I don't think that this has to do with digital downloads.
Compilations can be great, but they gotta have something to say. A compilation can many times offer a more diverse journey then an album. While an album is a musical story told by one person (or group of people together) in their own words, a compilation is a story told using other people's words. The outcome can be very interesting. Many times a track can get a whole new meaning in a compilation.
As a compiler I look for good tracks to tell a story with, I obviously look first among the artists in my label. At the same time, I give first priority for them releasing their albums. So the tracks for the compilations come either from my artists' albums (sometimes different versions/edits), from one time out-of-album-context creations, from one time collaborations, remixes, and from new artists that are still not at an album stage in their creations. At times, the compilation has a concept and we specifically ask artist to make tracks for it (a compilation like this is a very hard thing to do). That's why our compilations take long time to make and we don't release that many of them.
As for digital downloads- The effect that I fear here, has to do with both albums and compilations- it is the loss of the musical concept of an album, that is, the musical story that is more than 3-10 minutes long. I hope it's gonna survive. Maybe digital downloads will just clean away the artists/compilers that can't really make a true album- that is, can have a long musical saying. That can be a blessing actually and solve the problem Maux is talking about. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.
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"Be the change you want to see in the world!"
M.K. Gandhi
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
Aldous Huxley
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Justin Chaos
IsraTrance Full Member
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3086
Posted : Mar 31, 2007 22:30
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The thing is... an album track is a part of a story (a good album anyway)
Many times I had the impression with good albums that it was a pity to pick just one track...I rather play the whole lot!!!
Which is impossible for a DJ, so album tracks are not that handy for DJ'S... and we're all DJ's around here, pretty much...that's what is so cool about a good compi.
Nowadays this is exceptional because most albums tell no story whatsoever and it sounds like any other random compilation with the detail that all of the tracks are made by the same artist...but that's another story.
The bottomline is...how bad the situation was with no labels releasing albums, for whatever reason, and average compilations multiplying like rabbits???
Well...quite bad, until digital downloads came to save the day.
I don't remember being so happy about my music since I started filling my caselogic with digital downloads with the artist I've chosen.
I spoke about this with many people, many times...the CD format has an expiration date, and it's not really far away from now.
My fake plants died, because I did not pretend to water them. |
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entalamoska
IsraTrance Junior Member
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128
Posted : Apr 1, 2007 04:59
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Well, i love the process of compilling some tracks and make small storys out of them, but only as a DJ, so i imagine the quantum Leap to work directly with the artists and compiled previously unrealeased tracks.
One of the important things on compilations (in my opinion) is that new artists that arent yet in "the big scene" have the chance to get some work realeased, pushing their abilities to improve their production skills.
I believe that it takes probablly much more time to produce a good Chill track than a full psytrance album, if their arent more albuns is because they take time, and i personaly like that, it means that the artist is looking for improvement.
Its rare to have albuns every year from Chill artists in oposition to psytrance, the compilations are great in order to know witch new directions and ideas the artist is taking.
M&Ms
http://soundcloud.com/m-ms
http://the_wireless_penguin.podomatic.com
http://electrikdream.com |
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koalakube
IsraTrance Junior Member
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437
Posted : Apr 1, 2007 08:09
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I dont understand where this concept of a track having to be part of a "story" comes from.This is a pretty much hippy concept of music spread out by Djs/journalists/invloved with the psy culture.
Many electronic artists,especially the ones that many people recently seems to have "discovered" as innovative ,will disagree with this "journey" concept.
I am not saying that the idea of a "musical trip" is wrong,but lets not judge every release on this basis.
Justin ,not sure who are the many people you spoke with ,but obviously they are not working in the music industry.The cd format is still here,and will be here for quite a while.Cd sales are still more than 80% of the general sales.
Many music genres are unsuitable for the mp3 format (i.e. classical music).
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mouka
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
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383
Posted : Apr 1, 2007 14:09
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I don't see the problem at all, I think nowadays are more artist albums then before. Maybe there are more chill out labels nowadays so there are more compilations, but checking the shops I can not see more compilations. The majority of releases are artist albums. For me a compilation is a showcase for new artists to get out to the listeners and also to try and reach new listeners. I think with a compilation you can reach a new audience.
I agree with Justin, the cd format is on its way to the grave, there is a decline of 20% sales this years 1st quarter compare to last years 1st quarter for the whole music industry and it is more for small/underground labels. There is also a shift from psy chillout labels to non-psy chillout & electro, there is a bigger market to reach I think.
www.ajana-records.com
www.trishula-records.com |
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koalakube
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Apr 1, 2007 22:17
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On 2007-04-01 14:09, mouka wrote:
I agree with Justin, the cd format is on its way to the grave, there is a decline of 20% sales this years 1st quarter compare to last years 1st quarter for the whole music industry and it is more for small/underground labels.
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Are we talking about psy-release?Certainly you are not referring to the global cd market. |
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Avivz
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
240
Posted : Apr 1, 2007 22:54
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More fresh chilly album would really help.. I agree on that.. but without compliations the artists won't have enough money & desire to keep with the music.. album is alot to do and few single tracks are always can be used and sold to some comp...
anyway i'm still supporting the idea of making more albums! go simon posford ;p |
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randulon
Started Topics :
6
Posts :
143
Posted : Apr 2, 2007 12:06
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thing is maux, you do have some tunes on your website for downloading (i think) but are any of them WAV format? at least with compilations you can be assured that this is the case which when it comes to electronic music is quite an important consideration...especially if, as almost everyone is on this scene, you consider yourself a dj...
now i know people like beatport and trackitdown sell WAVs as well as MP3s but it is quite difficult to find the more obscure artists/labels etc... |
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maux
Mauxuam
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
546
Posted : Apr 2, 2007 18:55
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Quote:
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On 2007-04-01 08:09, koalakube wrote:
I dont understand where this concept of a track having to be part of a "story" comes from.This is a pretty much hippy concept of music spread out by Djs/journalists/invloved with the psy culture.
Many electronic artists,especially the ones that many people recently seems to have "discovered" as innovative ,will disagree with this "journey" concept.
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ehm...I am almost embarassed in answering you man...I may sound like an old fashion hippy but you sound like somebody who worked too long for a market research company...
it sounds like your music culture need a refresh,
give a listen to few albums like:
pink floyd-umma gumma
future sound of london-any of them
monolake-cinemascope
brian eno-any of his
bill laswell-any
deadbeat-something blue
residents-all of them
plastikman-consumed
and i could on for few pages....after you "listen" to them you may find the answer to this "story" concept...
if you don't...then probably our sensibility is different...and simply we can't talk about music.
I agree with Justin instead...bandwith is growing fast and faster...very soon to download a wav will be easy and fast for everyone...CDs are going to the grave....at last...and no saudade for it....crap support anyway,
In Uk last year the download market was bigger than the cds (and we all know that uk is always coming before the others).
infact the industry is trying to switch to 96 khz and 5.1 surround and force us to buy music DVDs...bigger and bigger files....to sell more hard disks....bigger pods...more teknology....and so on......
I personally think that the dvd album with music and video will have a future...not a huge market...but a quality one....this is why I am working on this idea from few years now...and it will probably take ages to get it finished...I am one of those slow ones in a ultrafast reality...not easy to deal with it...
as an artist I defenetly prefer to sell my single tunes directly from Internet...fresh out the computer the day after I mixed it...without waiting ages to find a label who wants to buy it...may take 2 years to finally release it...give me a 100 advance....and probably offers me a ridicolous exlusive contract (not talking about Interchill here)...
randulon: my music will be available in wav soon i hope...it all has a cost...hd space...bandwith...set up an online shop...the website...and as indipendent musician i struggle a bit.
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain will never improve, and that's here." Aldus |
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Quasga
Inactive User
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
498
Posted : Apr 2, 2007 19:44
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Quote:
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On 2007-04-02 18:55, maux wrote:
give a listen to few albums like:
plastikman-consumed
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My recommendation to anyone just now discovering Plastikman is to start with his first album "Sheet One" from 1993 and then try "Music" 1994. Both have better story-telling qualities than Consumed, from 1998, which just doesn't quite have what his earlier creativity did for me in the mid 90's.
Big respect to Richie Hawtin...
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Quasga
Inactive User
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
498
Posted : Apr 2, 2007 19:56
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Mauxuam,
If you were working on your "album" instead of writing in this forum, then you might get it done sooner, and is one step of "action" closer to helping even the ratio of albums to compilations, rather than just throwing around your "words" of contempt for the way things are.
You talk about getting your tracks online directly from your computer as soon as your done mixing them...so when does mastering come in to affect? Personally, I don't want to buy any music, digital or otherwise, that hasn't been professionally mastered.
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koalakube
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
48
Posts :
437
Posted : Apr 2, 2007 20:13
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Quote:
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On 2007-04-02 18:55, maux wrote:
ehm...I am almost embarassed in answering you man...I may sound like an old fashion hippy but you sound like somebody who worked too long for a market research company...
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Why woudl I sound like somebody who have been working for long time in a market research with the comment i made,is beyond my understanding.
Anyway your point is?You should ask Robert Henke,or Hatwin what they think about your music journey.
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