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Kevin_Energy
Starting Member
United Kingdom
4 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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 Posted - 2007/12/11 : 17:02:19
Hey everybody. 2007 has certainly been a hectic year in many ways. There’s been some great happenings and some down right frustrating happenings. I’ve kept quiet about most things for a while but I feel now it’s time to speak out about a few issues both in-house to the N.E.C and more importantly to the scene in general. There’s a lot to say so I will keep it as brief as possible.
I’ll stick to the in house news first. At the end of 2006 the old store could no longer be developed as the creator had moved on in life and built it in a way that no other developer could add to it. On top of that I had lots of plans for simplifying yet expanding the general N.E.C site.
I worked hard on a draft for the new and now live store www.hardbeatstore.com keeping it separate from the N.E.C site so I could keep the focus of N.E.C to representing artists and music. I handed both drafts to my developer who assured me they would be ready for Christmas 2006. To cut a long story short I was completely messed around by the developer. Heading into March 2007 I was still being flooded with excuses and promises that both sites would be ready that week. Week in week out the same promises and excuses completely frustrated our day to day running as our old server became increasingly slower and un-updatable.
The new store www.hardbeatstore.com ended up going live 90% complete as the old store / server could no longer function. This also meant taking down the N.E.C community site but I was assured that both the store fixes and new N.E.C site would be complete that week. This did not happen and I was lead into the same trap of excuses and promises like before.
I ended up taking a management decision to hire a new and much more professional team to take on the work. It was easier said then done seeing as the original developer took offense to this and threatened to lock me out of my own server.
The store database is currently being built 100% from scratch. Due to the over complicated procedures used by the previous developer this was the best option. The same goes for the NEC site. Both are making great and much faster progress and I really can’t wait to be back on track. The current live hardbeatstore.com still offers you great and upfront music but the updated new version will be much smoother and user friendly.
The truth is that while being plagued down with these troubles, the N.E.C is actually firing productively and as positive than ever before in both the Hardcore and Harddance scenes. Our Freeformation and Elevate CDs have had an awesome response. We have some great artists from around the globe that are all coming into their own like; S3rl, Technikal, SQ, Arkitech, Hoopz, Synthwolf + many more, plus not forgetting Sharkey being on top form with his album tracks and our rave night Freeformation completely taking off like we could have never expected. The dancefloors are alive and creating great energy all around the globe. Just imagine how much more we could have made of all this with our completed community site pulling together both the artists and punters alike. I’m happy that our re-launch is just around the corner but very frustrated at how much we’ve been let down by not reaching the full potential of where we had planned everything to be at. Unfortunately the worst hit project was our www.nuenergyusa.com plans that have currently had to be completely put on hold till the site can represent it in full form. Simon and Angela in the USA put a lot of effort into what could be a great portal to the USA and the only set back was the main frame site structure.
So I hope this brings you all up to speed about what’s happened and what you can expect. I hope 2008 to be the year that the artists of the N.E.C can have the representation and respect that they deserve and I personally can’t wait to have more spare time to write music rather then solve office conundrums!
Now moving onto the scene in general…and this is very important indeed. The success of any artist in our scene relies on your support. One key factor is having a huge effect on the whole industry. An effect so huge that it has had a hand in bankrupting one of the biggest distributors for hard dance and hardcore vinyl as well as bankrupting one of the best and most respected album companies. Both Amato Distribution and Resist Music are no longer trading. What does this mean…..? No more worldwide distribution for vinyl singles from a previously trusted and tight outlet and no more great + timeless albums released from Resist…like Bonkers, Hardcore Heaven and many more. Sure a new solution may be found but the knock on effect of this to the N.E.C and other small independent labels is huge to say the least and the overall effect to the industry is even bigger.
It’s easy to pin a number of reasons to the fall of these companies but the main and real effect that is causing the most damage IMO is file sharing. 90% of the people reading this would have at some point copied a CD from a friend, accepted a track via MSN, uploaded / downloaded a file to a peer to peer site or found some other way to share / accept music from somebody. It’s easy to think…. ‘ah this one copy won’t hurt’ or ‘they must sell loads so what difference is this going to make’ The truth is our scene is much smaller then you think. 12” single sales are barely high enough to warrant manufacturing in the first place. Download sales are extremely low and are a long way from replacing actual 12” sales. Last week I released two exclusive tracks on our N.E.C digital labels. After selling just 6 of each they were up on file sharing sites for the world to download. This is not support but blatant robbery from artists and labels that have so much to offer long term if given the chance. This has to stop right away and a level of respect among these sharers needs to be reached.
After the fall of Amato and Resist I’m now forced to completely re think the operation of the N.E.C. After the 2007 web troubles it’s the last task I’d like to be faced with but I have no choice. There’s no doubt I’ll find a solution as I’m not ready to hand it all in and be beaten yet. I know there’s so much potential out there but if the scene carries on as it is my business and others alike will be gone and buried. It’s certainly no joke anymore and a reality that I hope can be avoided with some level- thinking by all.
Taking the above into consideration there will no longer be N.E.C artists or music appearing on CD packs until there has been a solid way to route some income from them back to the featured artists + music. A plan for this is being discussed.
We can only continue offering great music if the support and love for it is shown back. We are not pop stars with huge offices and payrolls. We are underground, taking risks with fresh ideas and sounds, creating a buzz for new talent and keeping our scene progressing so we can enjoy it for years to come…..But for how much longer..? It’s in your hands.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,072 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/11 : 17:13:44
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin_Energy:
It’s easy to pin a number of reasons to the fall of these companies but the main and real effect that is causing the most damage IMO is file sharing. 90% of the people reading this would have at some point copied a CD from a friend, accepted a track via MSN, uploaded / downloaded a file to a peer to peer site or found some other way to share / accept music from somebody.
and 90% of said readers will deny that, considering this site is as anti-piracy as you can get I keep getting warned for saying it (and this).
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin_Energy:
12” single sales are barely high enough to warrant manufacturing in the first place. Download sales are extremely low and are a long way from replacing actual 12” sales.
And trying to compare Vinyl sales to Digital sales are horrid. Hardcore still (what I've noticed) orbits around DJ's buying the music, not listeners (like most other genres)
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin_Energy:
Taking the above into consideration there will no longer be N.E.C artists or music appearing on CD packs until there has been a solid way to route some income from them back to the featured artists + music. A plan for this is being discussed.
You consider fileharing the worse problem, but in the end, someone actualyl bought a track to fileshare it, but with cd packs, you never got the money
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Edited by - Samination on 2007/12/11 17:16:24 |
Audio X
Advanced Member
United States
670 posts
Joined: Feb, 2004
13 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/11 : 22:27:07
There are a whole lot of valid points in your post, Kevin. However, I think that the solution isn't to try and stop the pirates (because we all know that that has become entirely impossible) but rather to change the way our scene operates.
Hardcore relies far too much on 12" vinyl sales. It is a DJ-lead scene that really isn't all that accomodating to average listeners. Things like Bonkers, Hardcore Heaven, etc. have really been the key to selling the music to the average punters. Your Freeformation albums seem to be going in the right direction in that respect, so kudos to you on that one. We're making some progress at least.
At the same time, that's not enough, however, because they're not openly available except to people "in the know"... you know?
I think it's time to put radio edits of the singles on iTunes, along with downloadable versions of the albums. That way you reach out to a listener-base that is statistically more likely to buy the music in a digital format as well as gain massive exposure in the process.
My 2p
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Pope C XXIII
Advanced Member
United States
1,935 posts
Joined: Oct, 2006
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 01:56:00
quote:
Originally posted by Audio X:
There are a whole lot of valid points in your post, Kevin. However, I think that the solution isn't to try and stop the pirates (because we all know that that has become entirely impossible) but rather to change the way our scene operates.
Hardcore relies far too much on 12" vinyl sales. It is a DJ-lead scene that really isn't all that accomodating to average listeners. Things like Bonkers, Hardcore Heaven, etc. have really been the key to selling the music to the average punters. Your Freeformation albums seem to be going in the right direction in that respect, so kudos to you on that one. We're making some progress at least.
At the same time, that's not enough, however, because they're not openly available except to people "in the know"... you know?
I think it's time to put radio edits of the singles on iTunes, along with downloadable versions of the albums. That way you reach out to a listener-base that is statistically more likely to buy the music in a digital format as well as gain massive exposure in the process.
My 2p
Audio-X definitely has it right. Just look at how successful more radio edit/album based groups in house music like Justice, Hot Chip, or Simian Mobile Disco are (and how many groups are flourishing in a scene with some really rapidly growing support) . Hardcore's definitely having a problem with restricting itself to a DJ driven business model and restricting the sound to only appeal to fans, rather than branching out and letting in new converts.
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www.myspace.com/djtaumi
Hardcore & trance inna oldskool style
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Future_Shock
Advanced Member
Australia
2,483 posts
Joined: Apr, 2007
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 05:52:10
It just makes me sick and disappointed that we have to come up with a strategy to keep the scene moving forward. Its just so depressing.
That being said, im the most passionate person i know in regards to Hardcore. I have been responsible for file sharing in the past - thats how i learnt about Hardcore - by accidently downloading Angel Eyes. Being a producer now and trying to get a name for myself in production i think it would be blatantly hypocritical of me to file share.
But thats the point. I started producing 6 months into listening to Hardcore and thats the time i decided i wouldnt file share. I had to be involved with the sounds of the scene to stop filesharing. Before you ask, yes it does make me feel ashamed of myself and yes i regret it and would change it all if i could but whats done is done. I now encourage everyone i know not to fileshare and in some cases where they have, ive actually bought the tunes they wanted for them. Im blatantly against it.
Everything that has been said previously is correct - the scene is focused too much on the DJ's and not the listeners. We all know that. But the problem is - how do we stop it? No matter what we do there is always going to be file sharing. Thats something we can't eliminate. It jsut sucks that for a scene so small we can't support ourselves when this is going on. This is what makes me so angry when people bitch about Hardcore going commercial. To me, making Hardcore available to a MUCH larger audience IS the only way to keep the scene alive. It needs a much larger and stronger fan base of people that will buy the tunes and CDs. Hardcore can't live on vinyl sales anymore. Its time to move forward.
That being said, everyone who i afraid of hardcore going commercial shouldn't be. Look at all the producers who have kept with the scene through the dark times and kept the idea alive when everybody else abandoned it. Do you think these producers will blatantly leave the 'underground' attitude of hardcore and go straight to producing commercial stuff? **** no! Sure more commercial tunes will come out, but those producers who were there for these kind of dark times will still make they Hardcore THEY want to hear - which is the stuff we all love now.
Kev Energy, Sharkey, Brisk and Ham and many others will be with Hardcore until they die (no pun intended). IMO, this is the time where we need to learn from the mistakes of the past so we dont have another repeat of '99, '00.
I have too many thoughts to put on paper to add to this and this reply is already pretty long so ill just leave it at that.
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New Future Shock Hardcore: https://soundcloud.com/futureshockgroup
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silver
Admin
Japan
12,547 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 07:47:56
Kev's right CD packs are a joke, the promotor pockets all the money, hard working artists and labels get zero income, when CD packs first arrived on the scene it was magically decided that DJ's were suppose to get an increase in DJ fees in order to be recorded but this has three problems
1. No one actually agreed to this it just came into effect one day.
2. From what I've have heard no DJ has apparently recieved any extra money.
3. If the DJ did agree to be recorded, the DJ is getting the extra money not the artists that made the tunes. Granted the DJ could actually play an entire set of his own tunes but I'm sure that isn't going to happen 99% of the time... well maybe sometimes :p but you see my point.
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Ravenatic
New Member
United Kingdom
20 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 09:49:51
It's sad it comes to this TBH. But I purely understand what you say Kev.
But that being said - It would be great if some artists/companies can release tracks more quickly rather than having us to wait up to a year for a track. (AATW for one... Raverbaby for two...)
P.S. I love CD Packs
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R a v e n a t i c
Reminiscing On A Rush Is Better Than Any White Powder!
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Edited by - Ravenatic on 2007/12/12 10:07:15 |
silver
Admin
Japan
12,547 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 11:26:17
I might want to add, CD packs are a great idea... just license them.
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Garedos
New Member
United Kingdom
30 posts
Joined: Sep, 2006
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 12:52:11
The CD/Tape pack issue is a really difficult one, but I for one would hate to see these dissapear alltogether. Maybe its not beyond the realms of possibility to have to Liscence all tracks used, in the same way they are for albums? This would probably lead to a lot of the smaller promoters not being able to produce the packs and therefore could even lead to either demise of some of these promoters who rely on the extra income to keep running, or hopefully it would lead to consolidation of the promoters, smaller ones joining together to form a small number of larger promoters that can be self susstaining. If the profits from selling the music dont ultimatly at least get shared with the producers of the music then there are fundimental flaws in the way Hardcore buisnesses are run.
I hate to refer to Hardcore as a buisness because for me it always has been a, and has been about passion. But the only way it can surive is if the people involved in creating the scene are making at least a living out of doing so.
One more point im almost scared to post about on here is about Internet radio broadcasts. I have only in the last couple of months been able to listen to HappyHardcore.coms radio shows by getting a set up to record them. I was very suprised to find I could record two hours of the latest and best tunes totally for nothing. Being a new home owner my cash is extreemly short so for the short term future I am have been given the easy choice of not having to buy released albums to get a new hardcore fix.
I admit I dont know what issues there are for broadcasting this music and whether any royltys end up with the producers? In commercial music its a benifit for producers to have thier music played on the radio because this leads to single/album sales. For hardcore this is not viable, as previous posters have said hardcore purchasers want to listen to DJs playing sets, not individual tracks.
In my eyes the way forward is to elevate these broadcasts to higher priority for the distribution of hardcore by getting the biggest names in the buisness to be making the shows, and publicising them in a bigger way, at Raves, all over community web sites, flyers and any other channels to contact the target audience. Then high profile sponsers could be attraracted and revenue recouped, hopefully then with the right rules in place, the producers of the music would get what they rightly deserve and can carry on producing, keeping our scene alive.
Hardcore will never die (Pun Intended), but without the scene as a whole, getting together and looking forward at a modern thechnology led future of distribution, it will become even more of a minorty pastime than it already is.
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silver
Admin
Japan
12,547 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 13:31:19
Garedos: Totally different, HappyHardcore.com radio is 100% fully licensed radio station, every track played on there is paid basically. The license is paid to SoundExchange, a nonprofit organization that collects royalty payments from digital music broadcasters and distributes them to rights holders. SoundExchange is an American company since we broadcast from there, but artist payments make it all over the world.
Back on topic.... promoters shouldn't rely on sales of illegal CD's to fund their parties. It's like a movie theater selling illegal recordings of their movies because they don't have enough customers coming in. While I'm in support for all promotors and events big or small the end don't justify the means.
While hardcore (and music in general) is a passion, it (like everything else) has a money side to it, if any money is to made from a track at least some of it should go to the person that made the track don't you think?
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,072 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 13:57:33
Who do they actually pay? American/Canadian and British artist, or every single nation's 'RIAA' equal in the world?.
anyways, bull shit Influx... Maybe stopping filesharing/download is a great idea, but saying that you where ashamed of having download it... I have no word for it...
If it wheren't for it, would you have ever heard of hardcore? If so, in the end, would you have put any money into this scene? nuff said.
Not that I'm trying to piss on you, but saying that you hate yourself for have gotten into a scene you propably still like, in a wrong little way.
Back when I got into hardcore, I wouldn't be suprised filesharing actually HELPED spreading hardcore. But today people aren't filesharing for the sake of helping people get into the music... People have become greedy. I wont say that I'm an angel or something (which basicly everyone should know). I wont deny that I still fileshare (take into account that I mostly download Anime), and I'm trying to stop filesharing Hardcore (that's still buyable)
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Edited by - Samination on 2007/12/12 14:03:00 |
Orbit1
Senior Member
Australia
400 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 14:13:28
quote:
Originally posted by silver:
SoundExchange is an American company since we broadcast from there, but artist payments make it all over the world.
Oh does that mean I'm due money then? Thats a first.
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http://myspace.com/orbit1dj
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Garedos
New Member
United Kingdom
30 posts
Joined: Sep, 2006
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 14:32:05
Dont take me the wrong was Silver, Im lovin the way I can listen to 4-5 hours of fresh Hardcore every week, I look forward to wednesday so much now! And if money is going back to the artists as a result of us listening to it then we should be doing all we can to spread the word amonst fans to get as many listeners as possible and help increase the royalties.
Maybe I didnt make my point clear enough, I agree 110% that artists should be getting the money made from their products
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Brainchild
Average Member
United Kingdom
193 posts
Joined: Sep, 2006
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 14:38:20
quote:
Originally posted by Audio X:
I think it's time to put radio edits of the singles on iTunes, along with downloadable versions of the albums. That way you reach out to a listener-base that is statistically more likely to buy the music in a digital format as well as gain massive exposure in the process.
I don't think that'll make much difference. Some DJ's and albums already have tracks on iTunes. Most people who buy Ipods and MP3 players don't purchase their music from ITunes, but stick it on illegally from file sharing web sites. Plus each track on Itunes is only 79p which really is at the end of the day means the DJs and labels are getting less money than they would if they sold it on their own web site at £1.99.
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Ravenatic
New Member
United Kingdom
20 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 14:53:35
quote:
Originally posted by Audio X:
I think it's time to put radio edits of the singles on iTunes
You've obviously not heard about the DRM bollocks then.
DRM is another reason for filesharing. iTunes DRM is crap. Ok its VERY VERY easy to get around it - But not many people know how (It goes with any Audo DRM. Video DRM is different)
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R a v e n a t i c
Reminiscing On A Rush Is Better Than Any White Powder!
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DarrenJ
Advanced Member
Australia
2,626 posts
Joined: Jul, 2003
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Posted - 2007/12/12 : 14:54:29
To be truthful, I didnt know much about NEC this year
most of its labels other then the few run by hhc.com members (denile, haze n such), were just up in smoke for myself
lack of a resource (website) effected myself
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☻hardcore
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Edited by - DarrenJ on 2007/12/12 15:03:54 |
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