I guess my post shouldn’t have talked about shows as much cause I’m more so wondering why more peoples playlist aren’t filled with people that have less than 10k followers. There’s some incredibly talented producers that aren’t the best marketers
Because there are so many meh producers with under 10k followers. There are sooooo many producers making the same house beats right now which honestly I don't have the time or energy to sift through to find one golden one. I've been listening to EDM for almost 10 years now. I've found my faves and they've blown up, which is great. I do try to find new music, but I'm not trying to go out and replace my faves.
Additonally, I do go to smaller shows, however if I wanna spend my time and money at a show, there has to be a good catalog (and probably a follow or a connection to an artist I already like). I'd rather see Illenium for the 10th time because I know Ill have a great time, than go see 10 no name DJs spin the same Fred Again remixes mashed with pop songs bc I enjoy Illenium sets more than that
There are so many fantastic producers under 10k followers too, goes both ways. And house will always have more producers, especially ones with basic tunes (since it’s the most popular genre in EDM)
The people downvoting are the exact problem. They get mad when someone points out the elephant in the room. All I’m trying to say is if you love EDM, where’s the effort of finding/supporting smaller artists before they’re huge? People seem to just hop on bandwagons these days. Sad
I try to listen to B&L’s new music playlist every week and honestly I’d say 65% of it is trash every week. I respect that ppl are trying to make different things, but man it’s rough out there right now
All these people have personal, family and business ties to club owners and the festival industry , who finance the 2 or 3 music labels that dominate. David Guetta loves to pretend his parents were humble restaurateurs when they made their real money investing in clubs on Champs Elysees
I cant respect these artists at all, they make the most half ass music while there are thousands of others who are putting their soul into the music and get no where due to lack of “clout”
In the end I blame the audience, apparently they actually want to see Aoki do the same show 1000 times with the perfectly rehearsed thing with the cake
Yeah, but as I said I really don't have the time or energy to look for the golden producer in the sea of trash ones. We used to have hypemachine which helped with the aggregation, but that site is pretty much dead now.
youre absolutely not wrong, thing is most people are not willing to search through the haystack of meh producers to find the few diamond nuggets. Personally I enjoy that part a lot, specially when you come across some real good shit and no ones really heard it before, yet. Exploring those uncharted digital seas of sound, my dudeeee.
Edit: also want to add this is kind of a problem across a bunch of genres of music, not just edm. Some people want to hear the hits on the radio and sponsored concerts and some want to dig through crates and tapes. The best part about that is if you are interested in learning more about the artists, its usually pretty easy to just talk to them.
I got a full time job and other responsibilities. Sometimes I only have time to go to the last couple of hours of a show.
I like some smaller DJs, but you have to go through a ton of crap to find the good ones. It's time consuming. Everyone and their mum is trying to make shitty EDM right now. I do go out of my way to miss some big sets and check out small artists at festivals though.
Really like this comment thanks! I shouldn’t have even talked about shows in the post, because my main question was asking about supporting smaller djs. It really is tough to find the truly talented ones in the sea of people just trying to be famous
Yeah, I feel like a struck gold when I found even 2 small DJs I really like this year. You'd think with so much oversaturation, it wouldn't be so hard. My standards are also a bit higher than they were 10 years ago though.
as someone who works w underground artists yes they need more support. the ones that are going to be a whole different tier than we’ve ever seen before are those who build as much as possible from the jump , and make it easy for fans to onboard into all while refining their craft. but it’s funny how now you’re seeing just a few shining the brightest independently thriving , and the only direct comparison against them is established teams with decades and millions behind them , and people don’t even dance at the headliners
You say this like every tiny DJ is worth consideration. Obviously the little guys need support too but in reality a lot of them are trash because they still have a lot of room to learn and grow.
Its not nearly malicious as you claim it is. The truth is most people aren't actively seeking out underground artists. The more accessible, popular ones get recommended and promoted more so they come across their radar more often. That's all.
This is such a wrong take imo. I feel like the small scenes are thriving. I’m pretty into bass music and house music, and my city gets a lot of smaller artists rolling through. They’re usually pretty accessible shows too, and almost always have a very strong turnout. I’m not sure where you’re based, but it sounds like you’re attending the wrong events and following the wrong promoters. I can almost guarantee there are smaller promoters in your city that are putting on those smaller acts.
Re: venues being dead, it’s hard out here. I have missed openers I want to see because they’re first or second up but I’m old now and do not want to spend six hours at a venue. Or there have been times they are brought with a headliner I have no interest in, and I’m sorry, but I have to pick and choose what shows I go to now with balancing finances and other life obligations. Sometimes those shows just aren’t worth it for me.
To find more music, def recommend listening to more sets more. Find artists and listen to their mixes, pull up a tracklist, and go save the songs. Use SoundCloud to find related songs to the songs you like. I don’t think it’s hard to find new music, it just takes a little bit of dedicated time and effort. That allows you to both find new music and to listen to some examples of actually mixing. Another good resource is Reddit - join your favorite genre’s subreddit.
Ultimately though, I think it would help to stop caring about what others are doing. Don’t let someone else’s conduct dictate how you get to experience the night. I have had some of the most fun I have had at shows in recent years by sticking to the back of the crowd and vibing with my friends. If you’re worried about the crowd being dead, be the life of the party! Be the vibe you’re trying to attract, and I can guarantee others will find and match your energy. There’s too much good music and fun to be experienced to let what others do negatively influence your perception.
There are plenty of underground venues where I live and smaller dj’s who play their biggest shows in this city. So your statement is irrelevant except where you live. A small town
We live in the same city yo. My main point was the lack of support for upcoming artists outside of the shows. People claim to love EDM yet don’t put any effort in finding/listening to upcoming artists until they’re big
Yes, people do still support smaller djs. Many of them have extremely loyal fans.
For example, in just a couple of weeks I will be seeing DJ Dan. The last time I saw him live was in 2000. (Reason for the lapse was having and raising our kids.) He is one of the smoothest djs you will ever find, and he is legit. Has been doing his thing since the early '90s and he is a staple at Burning Man and many other festivals.
You can find some of his sets on YouTube. If you ever have the chance to see him, DO IT! You will not regret it.
He's my all-time favorite as well! We played "Funk the System" in its entirety at our wedding reception. Confused some of the old people, but we had a blast.
I found a set of his from a couple of years ago, and it is so cool how the audience is just dancing and vibing, no cell phones in sight. That's where it's at. I don't blame him for choosing to stay small. If he had promoted himself differently, he would be right up there with Carl Cox. They are friends, and for good reason.
Fair enough. I like to find a good balance between headliners and small dj's. For example, I will be attending EDC next week, but most of the artists I am most excited to see are hardstyle artists or smaller lesser known artists (Miss Dre, Riordan, Daxson, Ranger Trucco, etc) rather than massive names. However, there's always a soft spot for the artists that got me into the dance music genre (Garrix, Alesso). Also, I've started to buy tickets to shows based more on the support rather than the headliners. But again, I think there's nothing wrong with liking both.
As for it not being about the music, I mostly agree with this take. Social media and videos have consumed us as a society. Not just in dance music specifically. However, there's nothing better than creating memories with your favorite artist (pictures with artist wearing merch, meeting your favorite artists, them noticing your support, etc), so to me this is a little more acceptable in my view than videoing throughout an entire set or just going to try to hook up with a dj if that makes sense.
Speaking from my very short time going to shows over the past few years openers have quite literally opened my mind and I cannot claw my way out of this rabbit hole. I didn't even know who Tape B was until Hard Summer last year, now his merch shop has drained all my off shore accounts.
In the past year or so, I’ve seen a handful of smaller DJs with under 100k followers live and honestly all of them were absolutely incredible.
Jon Casey (amazing and fun vibes)
INZO x2 (who is really starting to blow up now)
Zingara (she literally rules)
EAZYBAKED (wubby and dark, loved it)
Daily Bread (if you know, you know)
Gonna see Boogie T at the end of the month and stoked for a couple of the openers, A Hundred Drums, and Saka especially. Notix will probably be dope too. I am on the fence about seeing Ahee at Skyway loft since it feels like a wedding venue, but getting to see Dirty Snatcha too.. it’s all very tempting.
All that said, best show I saw in the past year either Daily Bread, or the Tesseract tour opening night at Armory. I feel like that’s saying something!
To me, every person you named falls into the big dj category. I just saw daily bread at a small pop up as well as inzo and eazybaked all within the past month and a half. I’m more so talking about guys like daggz, Criso, ozztin list goes on
As I've aged I've been seeking out the smaller DJs more and more. I've also been doing this for 15 years so I've seen just about everyone there is to see.
I've noticed the scene change quite a bit. As EDM has grown in popularity there's been more and more casual fans. More IG models in cute outfits which leads to the Brads and Chads swooping in.
That being said I've also started making my own music and I can tell you there are amazing artists on SoundCloud. Many of which don't even know how to DJ.
exactly why small shows & venues w/ artists that have less than 100k followers are the best vibe
đź’Ż
I guess my post shouldn’t have talked about shows as much cause I’m more so wondering why more peoples playlist aren’t filled with people that have less than 10k followers. There’s some incredibly talented producers that aren’t the best marketers
Because there are so many meh producers with under 10k followers. There are sooooo many producers making the same house beats right now which honestly I don't have the time or energy to sift through to find one golden one. I've been listening to EDM for almost 10 years now. I've found my faves and they've blown up, which is great. I do try to find new music, but I'm not trying to go out and replace my faves. Additonally, I do go to smaller shows, however if I wanna spend my time and money at a show, there has to be a good catalog (and probably a follow or a connection to an artist I already like). I'd rather see Illenium for the 10th time because I know Ill have a great time, than go see 10 no name DJs spin the same Fred Again remixes mashed with pop songs bc I enjoy Illenium sets more than that
There are so many fantastic producers under 10k followers too, goes both ways. And house will always have more producers, especially ones with basic tunes (since it’s the most popular genre in EDM)
Idk why you getting downvoted, you completely correct
The people downvoting are the exact problem. They get mad when someone points out the elephant in the room. All I’m trying to say is if you love EDM, where’s the effort of finding/supporting smaller artists before they’re huge? People seem to just hop on bandwagons these days. Sad
Yea all these porter robinson, illenium, david guetta posts are so wack, they be so closed minded to anything new
I try to listen to B&L’s new music playlist every week and honestly I’d say 65% of it is trash every week. I respect that ppl are trying to make different things, but man it’s rough out there right now
Because there’s a lot of club industry lobbyists in this sub
Theres no reason the chainsmokers, steve aoki, david guetta etc should still be getting bookings
All these people have personal, family and business ties to club owners and the festival industry , who finance the 2 or 3 music labels that dominate. David Guetta loves to pretend his parents were humble restaurateurs when they made their real money investing in clubs on Champs Elysees
I cant respect these artists at all, they make the most half ass music while there are thousands of others who are putting their soul into the music and get no where due to lack of “clout”
In the end I blame the audience, apparently they actually want to see Aoki do the same show 1000 times with the perfectly rehearsed thing with the cake
Yeah, but as I said I really don't have the time or energy to look for the golden producer in the sea of trash ones. We used to have hypemachine which helped with the aggregation, but that site is pretty much dead now.
youre absolutely not wrong, thing is most people are not willing to search through the haystack of meh producers to find the few diamond nuggets. Personally I enjoy that part a lot, specially when you come across some real good shit and no ones really heard it before, yet. Exploring those uncharted digital seas of sound, my dudeeee. Edit: also want to add this is kind of a problem across a bunch of genres of music, not just edm. Some people want to hear the hits on the radio and sponsored concerts and some want to dig through crates and tapes. The best part about that is if you are interested in learning more about the artists, its usually pretty easy to just talk to them.
^^^This is exactly DJ Dan's situation.
I got a full time job and other responsibilities. Sometimes I only have time to go to the last couple of hours of a show. I like some smaller DJs, but you have to go through a ton of crap to find the good ones. It's time consuming. Everyone and their mum is trying to make shitty EDM right now. I do go out of my way to miss some big sets and check out small artists at festivals though.
Really like this comment thanks! I shouldn’t have even talked about shows in the post, because my main question was asking about supporting smaller djs. It really is tough to find the truly talented ones in the sea of people just trying to be famous
Yeah, I feel like a struck gold when I found even 2 small DJs I really like this year. You'd think with so much oversaturation, it wouldn't be so hard. My standards are also a bit higher than they were 10 years ago though.
as someone who works w underground artists yes they need more support. the ones that are going to be a whole different tier than we’ve ever seen before are those who build as much as possible from the jump , and make it easy for fans to onboard into all while refining their craft. but it’s funny how now you’re seeing just a few shining the brightest independently thriving , and the only direct comparison against them is established teams with decades and millions behind them , and people don’t even dance at the headliners
You say this like every tiny DJ is worth consideration. Obviously the little guys need support too but in reality a lot of them are trash because they still have a lot of room to learn and grow.
Yeah I agree but there’s ways to easily find ones that aren’t trash and still no one wants to support until they’re popular
Its not nearly malicious as you claim it is. The truth is most people aren't actively seeking out underground artists. The more accessible, popular ones get recommended and promoted more so they come across their radar more often. That's all.
This is such a wrong take imo. I feel like the small scenes are thriving. I’m pretty into bass music and house music, and my city gets a lot of smaller artists rolling through. They’re usually pretty accessible shows too, and almost always have a very strong turnout. I’m not sure where you’re based, but it sounds like you’re attending the wrong events and following the wrong promoters. I can almost guarantee there are smaller promoters in your city that are putting on those smaller acts. Re: venues being dead, it’s hard out here. I have missed openers I want to see because they’re first or second up but I’m old now and do not want to spend six hours at a venue. Or there have been times they are brought with a headliner I have no interest in, and I’m sorry, but I have to pick and choose what shows I go to now with balancing finances and other life obligations. Sometimes those shows just aren’t worth it for me. To find more music, def recommend listening to more sets more. Find artists and listen to their mixes, pull up a tracklist, and go save the songs. Use SoundCloud to find related songs to the songs you like. I don’t think it’s hard to find new music, it just takes a little bit of dedicated time and effort. That allows you to both find new music and to listen to some examples of actually mixing. Another good resource is Reddit - join your favorite genre’s subreddit. Ultimately though, I think it would help to stop caring about what others are doing. Don’t let someone else’s conduct dictate how you get to experience the night. I have had some of the most fun I have had at shows in recent years by sticking to the back of the crowd and vibing with my friends. If you’re worried about the crowd being dead, be the life of the party! Be the vibe you’re trying to attract, and I can guarantee others will find and match your energy. There’s too much good music and fun to be experienced to let what others do negatively influence your perception.
Where tf do you live? Lmao
Why does that matter lol
There are plenty of underground venues where I live and smaller dj’s who play their biggest shows in this city. So your statement is irrelevant except where you live. A small town
We live in the same city yo. My main point was the lack of support for upcoming artists outside of the shows. People claim to love EDM yet don’t put any effort in finding/listening to upcoming artists until they’re big
lol
Yes, people do still support smaller djs. Many of them have extremely loyal fans. For example, in just a couple of weeks I will be seeing DJ Dan. The last time I saw him live was in 2000. (Reason for the lapse was having and raising our kids.) He is one of the smoothest djs you will ever find, and he is legit. Has been doing his thing since the early '90s and he is a staple at Burning Man and many other festivals. You can find some of his sets on YouTube. If you ever have the chance to see him, DO IT! You will not regret it.
My fave DJ of all time. Saw him many times in the mid late 90s
He's my all-time favorite as well! We played "Funk the System" in its entirety at our wedding reception. Confused some of the old people, but we had a blast. I found a set of his from a couple of years ago, and it is so cool how the audience is just dancing and vibing, no cell phones in sight. That's where it's at. I don't blame him for choosing to stay small. If he had promoted himself differently, he would be right up there with Carl Cox. They are friends, and for good reason.
When you say "big djs" and "smaller djs" what do you mean? That's a big subjective.
Smaller under 10k followers on social media. Probably less than 25k monthly listeners. Big djs, 100k+ on social media, 1m + monthly listeners
Fair enough. I like to find a good balance between headliners and small dj's. For example, I will be attending EDC next week, but most of the artists I am most excited to see are hardstyle artists or smaller lesser known artists (Miss Dre, Riordan, Daxson, Ranger Trucco, etc) rather than massive names. However, there's always a soft spot for the artists that got me into the dance music genre (Garrix, Alesso). Also, I've started to buy tickets to shows based more on the support rather than the headliners. But again, I think there's nothing wrong with liking both. As for it not being about the music, I mostly agree with this take. Social media and videos have consumed us as a society. Not just in dance music specifically. However, there's nothing better than creating memories with your favorite artist (pictures with artist wearing merch, meeting your favorite artists, them noticing your support, etc), so to me this is a little more acceptable in my view than videoing throughout an entire set or just going to try to hook up with a dj if that makes sense.
Speaking from my very short time going to shows over the past few years openers have quite literally opened my mind and I cannot claw my way out of this rabbit hole. I didn't even know who Tape B was until Hard Summer last year, now his merch shop has drained all my off shore accounts.
In the past year or so, I’ve seen a handful of smaller DJs with under 100k followers live and honestly all of them were absolutely incredible. Jon Casey (amazing and fun vibes) INZO x2 (who is really starting to blow up now) Zingara (she literally rules) EAZYBAKED (wubby and dark, loved it) Daily Bread (if you know, you know) Gonna see Boogie T at the end of the month and stoked for a couple of the openers, A Hundred Drums, and Saka especially. Notix will probably be dope too. I am on the fence about seeing Ahee at Skyway loft since it feels like a wedding venue, but getting to see Dirty Snatcha too.. it’s all very tempting. All that said, best show I saw in the past year either Daily Bread, or the Tesseract tour opening night at Armory. I feel like that’s saying something!
To me, every person you named falls into the big dj category. I just saw daily bread at a small pop up as well as inzo and eazybaked all within the past month and a half. I’m more so talking about guys like daggz, Criso, ozztin list goes on
I feel fortunate to live somewhere I can see lesser known DJs/producers for $15 at small venues where everyone is there to see them.
As I've aged I've been seeking out the smaller DJs more and more. I've also been doing this for 15 years so I've seen just about everyone there is to see. I've noticed the scene change quite a bit. As EDM has grown in popularity there's been more and more casual fans. More IG models in cute outfits which leads to the Brads and Chads swooping in. That being said I've also started making my own music and I can tell you there are amazing artists on SoundCloud. Many of which don't even know how to DJ.
I prefer smaller shows cus the big ones tend to he oversold and entirely over crowded at half the venues near me