Definitely Not Amateur Hour

This article explains, in very clear terms, how the view of bands playing SXSW has changed. Those playing SXSW are not trying to gain instant success; they are using the platform as a stepping stone in their career. 

I think this is a fantastic view. Instead of aiming for instant stardom, artists need to take a long-term view of their careers. This slow burn generates true fans that can support an act for decades.

One sticking point however came in the closing paragraphs. The author explains that Deadmau5 admonishes major labels for putting out made-for-the-masses EDM. The very next sentence (literally. The. NEXT. SENTENCE), the author describes a set by Nicolas Jaar as breaking the EDM mold. This strikes me as a prime example of how the mainstream media, the WSJ is definitely mainstream, is completely out of touch with what exactly EDM is and how it differs from other electronic music genres.

In an effort to fully show what I mean, I’ve include two examples from SoundCloud. I’ll let you decide if you agree with me.

Here is Tiesto, a producer undoubtedly well within the EDM genre:

And here is a sample of Nicolas Jaar’s music:

I briefly worked at Tuff City, and it does not surprise me that they are suing in regards to the samples. It will be interesting to see how this case turns out

The Chronic turns 20 next month. The company that did the 2001 documentary behind Death Row Records is releasing a book next month on the same topic. The LA Times presents this Cliff Notes version of the making of The Chronic taken from some of the source material.

The link above is to a short article, but I’ve embedded the full doc from YouTube below:

and the link: http://youtu.be/YTaxGPrg5ew

Ptch, an iPhone app that lets users compose multimedia mash-ups of photos and videos, is teaming up with Kaskade for his “Freaks of Nature” tour. There is a lot of social media interaction happening, so it is worth reading the article.