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deep house has lost economic value

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  • March 25, 2013 at 1:11 pm #38309
    Jahit Halil
    Participant

    Great post and a timely one too.

    İ agree with the article in general, firstly it depends on what we mean by Value, if its economic then this applies to ALL genres of music thats available digitally not just house music. İf on the other hand we perceive value to mean something more personal based on love for the music/genre then i dont agree that value in general has been lost. İ value my digital collection as much as my vinyl collection and digital has meant that as a DJ you have to search and listen harder for music that is the best one can find. İ also love ‘Deep House’ whatever that means but İ never search the ‘charts’ provided by the online sites. Digital has almost destroyed the traditional economic model of music buying but i also believe that its helped create a whole lot more passionate consumers too. Economics devalued yes, personal value no.

    March 25, 2013 at 2:05 pm #38313
    aaron altar
    Participant

    I agree that the economic value of music has decreased with the dawn of the digital age but other than that the article is just another whiny dance music article. Music is the same as everything in life, change is inevitable. If you don’t keep up and look forward you’ll be left behind. I spent years complaining about the downfall of vinyl, first to cds and then to digital files and eventually I realized that I was becoming a sad, angry old man who had been left behind with the excuse of being a “traditionalist.” Wake up, see the future, and be the change you want to see. For the writer of the article, dig deep, play the underground stuff you like, create parties with a different vibe and for the love of god quit promoting theft and the economic decline of music by sharing music files amongst your circle of friends.

    March 25, 2013 at 5:02 pm #38325
    D-Jam
    Participant

    This video right here was probably the earliest time I ever heard the term “Deep House” (mentioned when Joe is interviewed after singing):

    [media=youtube]Y1WEW9GZJTo[/media]

    That was around 1989 or 1990. Here we are 23-24 years later and the sound has only evolved.

    My viewpoint is that the problem is Deep House is more or less on the bottom. It’s not in the spotlight. You can’t imagine deep house working well at the big festivals. Deep house has always been something that worked better in smaller more intimate venues. Lounges and such.

    Nowadays, with “EDM” as the big flavor of the moment, you can’t expect people YET to go deeper. They’re too enthralled in bright lights, big names, and big events to go deeper down the rabbit’s hole. As I’ve said before, roughly 1/10 of those thousands who spent the weekend at Ultra will end up being tomorrow’s promoters and producers. They will go home and try to spread the gospel of the underground the way Oakenfold and Danny Rampling did after their Ibiza trip.

    I don’t believe digital cheapened deep house in as much as EDM popularity merely made people desire “deeper” stuff less. I know for me it’s hard to go play deep house when trendy folk flock to a lounge and demand Guetta, Harris, Skrillex, etc. I’ve had many deep house gigs even before the big mainstream explosion go sour because the clientele didn’t understand it. They went to the smooth cozy lounge or intimate club and wanted big club anthems pounded. I know many Chicago deep house DJs who lament on how it seems they’re stuck playing mainstream or now get older people harassing them to play 90’s ghetto house and WBMX anthems.

    I’m honestly growing tired of critics, bloggers, and journalists claiming the music is dying or dead, like it’s going to vanish and never return. I’ll go on Traxsource and find plenty of new deep house worth buying, and thus I more see this as people complaining and lamenting how the mainstream popularity of EDM has “ruined things”. Give me a break. I’ll never forget when I was going to play a lounge in 2001. I played deep soulful house there once and it went well…but this time the crowd kept badgering me for popular music (at the time) like Ian Van Dahl or even ABBA.

    This is the unfortunate problem of dealing with the public who doesn’t “get it”. Thus I reiterate to the “build a scene” logic I keep bringing up. Plus there’s other outlets besides clubs. You could do chillout rooms at bigger events, or boutique shops, or online radio, podcasts, or even make soundtracks for lounges and cafes that don’t have DJs. My favorite cafe in Chicago constantly plays streams of deep house, garage, and 2-step.

    It’s been over 20 years, and deep house IMHO is the backbone foundation of all the other house we have now…even the trendy stuff. It’s not going anywhere and people need to stop worrying. Just stick to your guns, evolve, and let the wannabes quit and move on.

    March 25, 2013 at 6:36 pm #38326
    Jordylu1007
    Member

    I thought this was a pretty good article although I can certainly see the whiny aspect as mentioned in the responses. From my perspective house and deep house specifically was always, and again this is just me, one of those you have to be hip to it genres. Not saying it was stuffy or so very sophisticated that not everyone got it but rather that the style of music just isn’t for everyone. I remember buying deep house vinyl cuts and there was either a limited number of places to really play it because lots of folks didn’t really appreciate its underground, jazzy different feel or if you did play it you would end up using a specific portion of any given 12″ in your mix. Most of the spots I can remember that played deep house on a regular basis didn’t get huge crowds although some spots that would have a one off night of deep house a couple of times a month and be packed. The same can really be said for most genres. Underground backpacker hip hop can do 1 maybe 2 nights a month at a club and end up packing the place because the scarcity motivates that crowd to show up. Again though same can be said for most genres. Tell people you like Jazz and they start telling you about their love of smooth jazz and look at you like you have 2 heads when you mention Miles Davis or John Coltrane, to them Miles Davis is other(why is he playing a 3 minute solo??? Why is he giving the drummer a minute and a half solo???) and it isn’t as accesible musically as that Dave Koz cut where he gets in and gets out and the whole song is 4 minutes. Neosoul and R&B…the R&B cuts are more of the mainstream cuts you hear regularly on the radio while on the other hand Neosoul only had a handful of breakout must hear cuts so when you tried to do a full night of neosoul the casual observer would leave disgruntled because to them the music was just too mellow jazzy whatever the adjective. Same with deep house to a lot of folks the music isn’t nearly as moving to them and so while they may appreciate some deep house tracks that caught their ear to have a full night of it becomes too much unless its the loyal deep house head in which case they love it. I have been a deep house head for a looooonnnnggg(Love it flat out love it) time but I know that the larger venues need to pay for all those drinks and floor space and they couldn’t do it playing some deep vibey cut from Casio Ware that was beautiful and cinematic with its 4 minute drum track build up followed by the introduction of strings and rhodes piano, we are 8 minutes into the song and it really hasn’t kicked in yet because he still needs for that french horn snare drop to occur at the 10 minute mark hahaha when what the crowd really wanted to do was cut loose to an anthem track that was 4 minutes long total that allowed them to sing at the top of their lungs dance and get sweaty and knock back a few drinks.

    March 29, 2013 at 7:04 pm #38526
    DJpeachfuzz
    Participant

    This is the unfortunate problem of dealing with the public who doesn’t “get it”.

    -Well said D-Jam, me and some friends use that term all the time.

    My 2 cents is regarding the patience levels of the majority of people today and the energy in the music they want to hear. Most are accustomed to instant gratification when it comes to music, as per the repetitive pop on the radio. This is reinforced by a lot of DJ’s playing the same formula. Be the change you want, if you have the power to do so. I for one don’t look forward to going out sometimes because every bar is turning into the “wanna-be” club, with every DJ spinning big electro house. (For god sake it’s a sports bar). okay, done venting.

    Anyway, If you value a genre then promote it. Don’t assume everyone knows what “Deep House” is.

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