Mixmag Declares DJing No Longer Enough
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Thursday, December 20, 2007
"To get Mixmag's attention these days a DJ needs to have more strings to his bow than just being able to DJ," Nick explained, "Having more DJs out there is all very well but it's those that produce themselves or establish sounds or scenes that will get noticed," he said.
The UK's top dance magazine selected LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver as their album of the year and the Chemical Brothers' 'Saturate/Battle Weapon 8' as their number one tune, a choice they admitted was controversial as the EP was never commercially released.
Nick also spoke ominously about the effect free downloading is having on the business, pointing out that while many producers still make money from making music for computer games, films and adverts, others
could soon struggle.
"Music is gonna have to become more of a hobby than a business for a lot of producers who will get their main source of income from the gigs they get off the back of their tunes, as opposed to selling the
music itself," Nick predicted.
"But that's how most dance musicians get into producing anyway," he pointed out.
"Few sit down in front of a laptop and go 'Right, how can I make the tune that makes me rich-' Most are more interested in just making good music. Labels are still important though and if they have control over their artists' music they will continue to do well. Labels like Ed Banger (Mixmag's label of the year) have had an amazing year," he added. Tags