Dubset are at it again – in another clickbaity scare article, this time from Mixmag. Those of us in the DIY remix, mashup and DJ communities have seen these systems come and go, the same hype and fear cycle. And like so many times before we are waiting for the ‘end of the world’ – or indeed this promised trickle down from all these people parasitically using our work as free promotion.
It never happens – good or bad. So count me as sceptical – Mixcloud isn’t blind, it can see it’s similarly monikered Soundcloud slide into total irrelevance as it pisses off the creators, the DJs and the audience alike. I don’t think they are dumb enough to lose the free tier completely. If they did, as one of their major longtime users I would abandon them in a heartbeat. They know that.
I love that they pay royalties to the artists, but as someone who actually loses on the podcast and online mixes, I cannot afford premium subscriptions and Mixcloud Live. Where does this magic money stream come from to pay for all that? I don’t even break even on tips.
And talking of end of the world – this clampdown – along with live streaming such as Twitch and and Facebook and YouTube muting streams – comes at a really bad time for DJs struggling with no income and no events during lockdown.
Who does the EU and the major labels want to protect exactly?
Apparently they’re fine with DJs leaving the industry, venues going bust and losing all that free publicity – while taking millions in handouts from various governments.
Where do they think people will hear their music? Do they think the DJ and podcasters are irrelevant now? Where do they think their younger and upcoming acts will get gigs if they allow the industry to die?
They pay lipservice to the wider industry and topical events with things like #theshowmustbepaused but practically it feels like they do not give a shit about us. The Music Industry Does Not Care About Other People…the people not employed directly by them.
It seems the big corporates don’t care…but they will care when it dries up for them. There are only so many stage-school reality show upper-class acts you can tout, especially not in underground scenes and dance music culture. SME might think Simon Cowell is god, but just wait when things radically change musically and culturally cos of lockdown. As I suspect they will. You heard it here first, but I think they will struggle to keep up, a bit like old 4Channers struggling to react to teen K-Pop stans as they blow their bigotry out of the water.
Interesting times, horrible times.
Edit – a friend BigBadBaz pointed out that Dubset as a thing is basically dead since it was bought by PEX, a massive rights company. Check out this comment for why it’s basically a big FU to DJs and mashup artists now…. original article via @hinoirocks
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