What is Underground?

[LmnLm3]

So I missed the mark with my example, a bit, but in your immediate response, Mostapha, you talk about corporate evil, and that's where the Rage reference came from in my head. And that becomes a good example - liking and listening to rage does not prevent someone's playlist on their ipod from being "underground".

Think of it like this, though - in big clubs, there are "Main" rooms that play mainroom house. There are small rooms that play dub step (ok that's moving to larger rooms, but a few years ago it was, and still is in some places), then in another room, or maybe at another time (3-6am?) there is deep house, and all the while, imagine the club has a basement - that's where they play "underground" music, so whatever the people want to hear down there, that's what gets played. The stuff that can't make it upstairs.

In a way, I always imagined that this is where the term originated. Can anyone confirm this one way or another?

[R2D2]

Fucking hell is this what cheap controllers and free mp3s from the internet has done !!!! sad days tbh wtf is Underground LMFAO

[The Pancaker]

Fucking hell is this what cheap controllers and free mp3s from the internet has done !!!! sad days tbh wtf is Underground LMFAO

lol

[Le Goat]

Counterculture aka genres with drugs in the title

If you have to ask though its not for you, not yet anyway.

Don't worry, it will come find you when you're ready.

[sarasin]

psytrance sounds pretty normal to me, or at least what i heard of it

Normal and underground have nothing to do with each other.

Its just not commercial, and that makes it underground.

[sarasin]

First rule about underground is you don't talk about underground
Second rule about underground is you DON'T talk about underground....

You get my point

Anything that doesn't get spot on the popular media (radio, tv, game/movie soundtracks, 42342255 blogs) is underground in my books

+1

[thanatos]

underground is where you start when you know nothing..
when you have some connections, knowledge and realize that you know only how to make music and you should make a living of it you then make cheesy pop stuff
Or you if you don't need much money you can stay in the underground

But i think internet as fucked up the underground. underground was based on secret. you should be introduce to the music by somebody who know more. you take time to understand and create a subtile taste for the genre. nowadays underground seems just like a marketing word for marketing constructed hype.
This means that whereas it use to have commercial genre and underground genre you have now a commercial part and underground part into each scene.
like hospital dnb for the commercial and billain or dj hidden for the underground part of dnb

[enorjy]

SO Psy Trance being played on ASOT TATW or Tiesto CLub LIfe ( when it played trance) those radios are not commercial?

[antifmradio]

i used to do a live show and a couple gigs in NYC. And the title for both of these performances was called
"UnHeard"
it was hours of music produced by unknown music producers from around the world.

When i started my radio station, thats all it played as well. "Mainly because i didnt want to pay for the whole mechanical lisencing thing so we can stream music"

But the bottom line was that UNDERGROUND was the basic format in EDMusic.
This stuff sounds GREAT, but because not many people could be reached by the creators, it would never see the light of day (or sunrise at the Tunnel or Ibiza for that matter)

None the less. this is what i always understood underground to be. And today that still stands.

yea, theres a lot of "hipsters and hipster wannabees" who want to coiin the phrase UNDERGROUND for their preferance of music but these same people will think that about David Guetta's lattest track to hit radio
while telling their friends.... DUDE i was listening to this like 3 months ago in a nightclub so you KNOW its underground and i am part of it!"

/....... hardly even close

[sarasin]

SO Psy Trance being played on ASOT TATW or Tiesto CLub LIfe ( when it played trance) those radios are not commercial?

The genre as a whole is not commercial.

Yes, there are a few commercial artists. Skazi....Infected Mushroom, GMS.....Asterix...

However, the majority is underground.

The fluffier stuff is what becomes commercial really. The harder edged stuff stays underground.

What is wierd, is that even though its underground, the shelf life of Psytrance tracks is REALLY short.
Well here in SA anyways.