What do you find frustrating about discovering new music?

I am so sorry to see it oherwise than you guys.

Producers are flooding the market with their productions and DJs pick out what they Need or think will be working for them while mixing. Or maybe saying Labels are Setting Trends is righter (but as Producers and Labels work Hand in hand)

Best example is the emergence of EDM a few years ago.
No DJ (and when I say DJ I do not talk about DJ/Producers) would ever have asked for this shitty Music style.
EDM was pushed by Major Labels which were in a financial crisis (due to illegal downloading and Streaming if you accord to their Statements) and had missed the trend of electronic Music in the 90's.
Those Major Labels who didn't even think about signing an Electro/House Artist in the 90's suddenly realised there is a market to get Money of.
The success and rising of a Label like Spinnin', for example, which was nowhere 20 years ago, in exactly those times when their sales were in Freefall must have woken up more than one Major.
Then a big Advantage of the Digital Music Revolution that led to affordable Price in Home-Recording gear, was also a real Advantage for those Labels. Tonns of Producers were Standing in Line to get their cheap production signed or bought (yes I am talking about ghost producing) by a Major which didn't have to make the whole artistic part of producing anymore, the one we can call creation, but only the fine Tuning. (happened to a friend of mine, they bought a song he made, left him 10% of royalties, it came out under their Artists Name and became a Hit).

Since the year 2000 Music went strongly (more than before) into an Industry and Industry sets the standarts, it's so simple.

Sorry if I do not look at this thru pink glasses, I might be too pragmatic but I like to believe that I am realistic.

I must admit I do think DJs are still trendsetters, what I'm seeing is a lot of DJs also producing but also a lot of DJs running their own labels or at least being heavily associated with a single label. That way they can play out tracks from their label before anyone else and use that as a USP.

I still think DJs need a way to get exposed to new music without the hype that sometimes comes with some of it. Discovering that track that starts you down a journey of changing your sound even ever so slightly or finding stuff that fits with your style when you're very different to the "norm". If you're following charts or a popular label then maybe you're following a trend rather than creating one. I can't think of another way to not be influenced by existing trends other then being aware of everything that's out there as soon as it's available.

What I'm looking to do is try and make that possible not make people lazy, it's still going to take effort to keep on top of everything but having to ability to stay aware of everything that's out there surely must be desirable?

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Originally Posted by keithace

This doesn't make sense to me. Please explain.

You download a bunch of music you haven't previewed, load them all onto a playlist and then make your way through them?

Do you get your music from records pools? torrents?

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So here were I live the legislation says that downloading or Streaming isn't illegal as Long as it is for private use.

For Commercial use (like us DJs) the Music has to be bought.

Not that I agree with the law, but if the rules are that way I use it to my Advantage.

What I download/Stream is for my private use on my mp3-player.
When a Song attires my Attention, I buy it on a legal Platform and then use it for Mixing, this is the Commercial use.

So I do not break any law.
I know where the Limits are and know how handle it.

But thanx for letting suppose that I am a cyber criminal before knowing the Details.

This is the fine difference between USA (Where People have to prove their innocence) and Europe (Where Peoples culpability has to be proven).

Finding tunes doesn't have to be frustrating - one just has to fine tune their digging method.

Use Youtube and like songs that you like. Youtube's recommendations can be pretty good and turn you on to different tunes. Listen to mixes on youtube, coundcloud or mixcloud of DJs you like and get the track IDs of the tunes you really like.

Now go to discogs, beatport, juno, bleep, whatever and find those tracks. Then find everything else on that label or by that artist. Check out all their stuff. Be sure to "watch" the artist and label on juno if the label does some other stuff that you like. They'll send you an email of any releases by the artist or label including releases. This kind of digging will keep you listening to more stuff in your "strike zone." Obviously, if you're playing vinyl, used record shops are a gold mine, but it takes longer. If you don't like a tune, just move on to the next one.

And don't forget, you don't just need new releases. There have been plenty of insanely good releases through the years that you may stumble upon.

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Originally Posted by Stephen Nawlins

So here were I live the legislation says that downloading or Streaming isn't illegal as Long as it is for private use.

For Commercial use (like us DJs) the Music has to be bought.

Not that I agree with the law, but if the rules are that way I use it to my Advantage.

What I download/Stream is for my private use on my mp3-player.
When a Song attires my Attention, I buy it on a legal Platform and then use it for Mixing, this is the Commercial use.

So I do not break any law.
I know where the Limits are and know how handle it.

But thanx for letting suppose that I am a cyber criminal before knowing the Details.

This is the fine difference between USA (Where People have to prove their innocence) and Europe (Where Peoples culpability has to be proven).

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you still never answered my question. Do you just download a bunch of tracks without preview and then just listen to them one by one? Like the beatport top 100 torrents?

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Originally Posted by ImNotDedYet

Finding tunes doesn't have to be frustrating - one just has to fine tune their digging method.

Use Youtube and like songs that you like. Youtube's recommendations can be pretty good and turn you on to different tunes. Listen to mixes on youtube, coundcloud or mixcloud of DJs you like and get the track IDs of the tunes you really like.

Now go to discogs, beatport, juno, bleep, whatever and find those tracks. Then find everything else on that label or by that artist. Check out all their stuff. Be sure to "watch" the artist and label on juno if the label does some other stuff that you like. They'll send you an email of any releases by the artist or label including releases. This kind of digging will keep you listening to more stuff in your "strike zone." Obviously, if you're playing vinyl, used record shops are a gold mine, but it takes longer. If you don't like a tune, just move on to the next one.

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I agree with you about having a "strike zone"...I have been at this for too long to just pile up a bunch of mostly crap tracks and plod my way through them.

Which is why we have a sticky that has been viewed thousands of times.

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Originally Posted by ImNotDedYet

This kind of digging will keep you listening to more stuff in your "strike zone."

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I like the concept of a strike zone, following a list of artists and/or labels and then pulling tracks by those artists/labels and also pulling what gets shown as "recommended" for those tracks. That would certainly reduce the number of tracks being pulled and could be a more relevant list.

Obviously there's still room to miss a lot and not everyone is going to want to do it that way but it sounds like an approach that some people would welcome.

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Originally Posted by Trackhunter

I like the concept of a strike zone, following a list of artists and/or labels and then pulling tracks by those artists/labels and also pulling what gets shown as "recommended" for those tracks. That would certainly reduce the number of tracks being pulled and could be a more relevant list.

Obviously there's still room to miss a lot and not everyone is going to want to do it that way but it sounds like an approach that some people would welcome.

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I think you are concentrating on the possibility of "missing tracks" a little too much. I don't think even the best fisherman catches all the fish in the lake or the best cop catches all the perps.

I follow 300 plus artists and labels on beatport and I follow 171 people on soundcloud. I already have my que full before I even start. Plus the post it notes and saved tracklists I have littering my workspace.

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Originally Posted by Stephen Nawlins

I might be too pragmatic but I like to believe that I am realistic.

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apparently far too pragmatic for us simpleton thinkers that been DJing for 20 plus years and have watched the scene rise and fall.

EDM is a terrible comparison. It's all fake bubble pop music made by corporate music masquerading as underground.

Ask Digweed or Carl Cox if the get any pressure from "major" labels to play their tracks. Possible, but I highly doubt it. This isn't MTV or FM radio.

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Originally Posted by keithace

I think you are concentrating on the possibility of "missing tracks" a little too much. I don't think even the best fisherman catches all the fish in the lake or the best cop catches all the perps

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I'm sure you're right, I do think it's worth aiming high though even if you do fall a little short.

Leaving the door open for folks to listen to everything if that's how they want to do it and also allowing the opportunity for a "strike zone" for folks that don't want or have the time to seems like it could work very well.