Meteo Xavier Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Howdy - I am seriously considering starting a 5-track EP within the next 6 months or so that would be much, much more focused and conventional than my last two album releases. I'm wanting to do a much more conventional electronica album that focuses on beats and what that genre is known for. The problem I'm having is actually choosing a genre to go with. I have no idea whats actually popular these days besides dubstep, and I want to avoid dubstep if at all possible. The real reason I want to do something more conventional, besides proving to myself that I can do something other than experimental ambient and VGM sounding stuff, is to help build up a fanbase for 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier. I'm signed to a record label in the UK (and the Wardriver Netlabel), and so far I've been pretty blessed with artistic freedom, but as I'm now part of a business with my music, that means its time to take some business-related paths. Experimental Ambient and SNES-style VGM is pretty hard to market and get people excited for. So basically I'm asking, what's pretty popular besides dubstep these days? What are people actually looking for on youtube and beyond? I'd actually like to do something kinda jazzy or downtempo/trip-hop, actually something closer to the Silent Hill 3 OST, as it would be easier for me to do than Drum'n'Bass or Breakbeat, but I fear it would be about the same issue as my other two releases - on paper it seems like a lot of people would love it, but reality makes that a lot harder than it seemed initially. Any suggestions, ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrototypeRaptor Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 uh... well, you shouldn't really be tailoring your music to a trend, you gotta write what's in your head... but if you're talking about "mainstream" EDM, bro-step is fire (see: excision), electro house is a close second (feed me, gartner, mau5), and tech-house always has a rabid following. I would wager that all "breaks" genres have taken a backseat to the 4 on the 4loor stuff at this point though, it's been awhile since the top 10 have been dominated by dnb, triphop, etc. also, "drumstep" is a fairly new thing that combines Dnb with dubstep and people seem to be catching on to it, if that interests you. high energy is the name of the game in the market these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 Excellent - that's exactly what I was looking for. I still hope to go above and beyond genre expectations (I can't possibly imagine people really enjoy House music by itself, it's one of the most repetitive and minimalist styles I've ever heard and I can only stand about 40 seconds of it) and I don't necessarily need to crack the Top 10, I just want to do a release that will attract more listeners. I've actually been leaning towards DnB and Chemical Brothers style breakbeat as well, but now my creative decisions need to reflect smart business thinking until I can get to a point where I can justify being more artistically free again. Awesome, thanks Raptor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambinate Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 moombahton. not joking. within 6 months to a year it'll be huge if it keeps up at the rate it's going now. not top 10 material at the moment but i think it's just a matter of time. other than that, electro house and progressive house styles have been stable and popular for a while and don't seem to be going anywhere, so those are good bets. like prototyperaptor mentioned, breaks-based stuff isn't popular on that level anymore aside from a handful of artists that cross over (pendulum, for example). i don't think downtempo has ever really been big on this scale aside from a few artists. you mentioned dubstep isn't on your radar which may be for the best, because i'm not so sure that the type of dubstep that's popular right now has much staying power beyond the next year or two. the mainstream strain of it is sort of mimicking what happened in the dnb scene like 10 years ago, and they're kinda still trying to recover from that bubble bursting. to be honest, though, you run a risk trying to gain new fans in these genres just because they're so flooded right now. there is a shitload of competition, so it may not be as easy to win over people as you might be hoping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 All these markets are flooded. Every single one of them. They're flooded with artists who are all desperately fighting for the smallest slice of pie because they all think everyone on Earth should hear what they've come up with. The supply far exceeds the demand and even when you do stuff that is genuinely unique or different... well, people in general don't want stuff that sounds different, they want new stuff that sounds like all the old stuff they like. I have accepted these truths to be self-evident and push on anyway. If I'm going to be in a flooded market, I might as well be in one that people are actively searching for. Thank you Ambinate for additional information that is exactly what I'm looking for. I think this is the most successful (in terms of accuracy) topic I've made yet. Thanks again guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidd Cabbage Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 +1, sadly, on moombahton... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 I've never even seen that word before and it's going to be the hottest thing in 6 months? I mean thats common for me, but I thought I would've at least seen it somewhere before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrototypeRaptor Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I've never even seen that word before and it's going to be the hottest thing in 6 months? and probably live for about that long. moombahton is going to die faster than skrillex-step... talk about a "one trick pony" genre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambinate Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 and probably live for about that long.moombahton is going to die faster than skrillex-step... talk about a "one trick pony" genre we can only hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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