Music Industry Bullshit: Its All The Same

It all sounds the bloody same!!!

How many times have we heard people say that? Whether its indie kids complaining about hip-hop, metal kids criticizing dance music, junglists dissing techno or old people moaning about more or less any form of modern music, the "it all sounds the same" argument gets thrown around quite a lot. For the most part there's some truth in it.

Lets look at the pop charts, here we have an endless stream of "artists" manufactured to some extent to fit perfectly into a particular sound and sell as many records as possible. It may be middle of the road whiny alt-pop like Coldplay making sombre depressing music for people that have never really known true misery, gangsta-pop rappers like 50 Cent knocking out the same lyrics about girls, guns and money over identikit beats, obviously manufactured all-style-no-substance pop stars like Lady Ga-Ga singing generic auto-tuned hits about how sexy they are or any one of the hundreds of NME-favoured/Kerrang!-endorsed, rock/punk/indie/emo bands churning out teen-angst anthems for kids too young to remember Kurt Cobain yet treating him like some sort of saint.

Its always the same, find a formula that works and repeat until no-one cares any more then move onto the next big thing. Record company executives take no shame in their blatant destruction of music art in the name of big business.

Of course, we're all freethinking underground people, we can laugh at how rubbish the music industry is, but are we really any better? Take any genre and you will find the same thing happening on a smaller scale. Producers knocking out formulaic tunes, using the same sample packs and software synths as each other. The beats rarely deviate from the established template, the structure is generally the same. Maybe its that 4/4 techno kick with a few sequenced arps or acid loops, that current favourite that is sidechained bass or pads, the wobbly bassline and half-step beats in the occasionally original dubstep scene, reece and amen tearouts in drum n bass, i could go on.

With vinyl sales dwindling and digital downloads hardly showing much in the way of profits its not entirely surprising that record labels, both large and small, are reluctant to invest time and money into artists that deviate too far from the tried and tested. Major labels are finding that the only stuff that sells in large quantities are those indistinguishable, glossy manufactured pop acts, or those artists already well established in their own right. Similarly, independent labels are only really interested in finding acts that fit comfortably in their genre specific roster. Dance labels want tunes that will work well on a dancefloor and hopefully sell to enough DJs for it to be worth the investment, hence the focus on stuff that sounds like the stuff thats already being played. Even many of the most experimental of dance labels have found their own particular flavour of experimentation to stick to.

So, yeah... It does all sound the same. Why is this pissing me off so much?

Honestly, i have sent copies of the new EP out to all sorts of electronic/breakbeat labels, some well established, others less so. Not one of those fuckers has bothered to get back to me, no feedback at all. I spent hours listening to practically identical breaks tunes on trackitdown.net trying to find labels that might just be interested in the Infected Minds sound. Very few... And most of those were foreign. Its all just the same old shit, it really does all sound the fucking same! Actually its depressing to hear the amount of tunes being released with the same beat, the same "Brutal Electro" synth sounds, the same old Vengeance samples. Does no-one care about innovating anymore?

Well, fuck em! I thought for a while before that i wanted to release my own shit, retain full control over my music. Kinda got talked out of that mindset, but since none of the labels i've tried want to know, then i've got no choice.

And you know what, i quite like it this way. At least i can put Deadline out at a reasonable price now. Its a bit late for the summer but better late than never. I know its gonna involve a lot more work for me but thats the way it goes. I've got a few things on for the rest of the week, but if all goes to plan Deadline will be out to download very soon for a good price. I need some decent cover art if anyone cares to donate some, but aside from that its ready to go.

Ahhh, how to end a pretty angry post on a positive note.

Peace, all. Shaun. X

Boredom- The Great Pacifier

You ever get that feeling when you just want something to happen? Anything... You know you could go out and do something, make some excitement for yourself but you just can't be arsed.

That's boredom for you. I shouldn't complain really, i've had a couple of great weekends recently. Thjis year's Glade was probably the best yet, Secret Garden Party turned out to be another great festie aswell. Its not like i've been sat around twiddling my thumbs for the last month. Nevertheless there is a real feeling of boredom. I've even found it hard to muster up the energy to actually sit here and type.

I've said it before, misery breeds apathy. Its like i'm actually too bored to even complain about boredom. I could blame the weather, actually to a great extent i do blame the weather. Once again Britain is suffering another shit summer, its grey and wet outside just like yesterday and no doubt the same as tomorrow. A little bit of sunshine does wonders, no such luck here then.

Being skint sucks! I can't afford to do anything interesting, i can't afford a social life. All i can do is sit here and feel bad as my not-very-profitable business goes down the pan. Even that's a catch-22, working in a dead-end job for some faceless corporation is surely one of the most depressing, soul destroying, worthless ways to spend your time yet it seems the simplest way right now to relieve boredom and earn money.

What about my music then? Well, i'm still trying (albeit not hard enough) to get this last EP signed. I've got some ideas i'm working on for new stuff but nothing even close to finished. Oh well...

So what was the point of me posting all this, then? I'm not really too sure, to be honest. I just wanted to try and do something. Its all too easy to just sit here and follow the same routines as every other day. Its a vicious circle. The title sums it all too well, boredom is the great pacifier, a self-perpetuating sedative. Sometimes it feels like the only way to relieve the boredom is to do something else equally boring and uninspiring.

Anyway, thats enough for today. I reckon its time i got on and actually did something interesting! I promise to cheer up next time you hear from me.

Shaun