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Should producers always keep their fan base pleased or push the boundaries and try out new sounds, even if it means loosing some fans along the way? I’m sure that’s a question that often pops up to loads of big producers out there.

Building up a faithful fan base is not easy. It takes a long time and hard work to build up a brand. And the question you should always ask yourself is: why are they your fans? Oh, well. Because they enjoy the music you make, right? So, the answer to this question should be as simple as: “They like the music I do, therefore, I must stick to it. Why not?”

Not so easy. When you dig deeper and think about how you’ve built up this fan base, you need to find why they like your sound, exactly. Is it because you always stick to the same beats or is it because, you are constantly involving and sometimes just choose to go with your instincts?

Every producer is a brand and, obviously, has to care for it. They can’t go from one sound to another one completely different with every release or you wouldn’t know what to expect of them and you’d lose interest. The have their uniqueness and that it is what drives us to them every time they announce that a new single is out. Just by hearing their name is involved in a new production, don’t you get hyped, excited, and crazy to listen to what they’re going to deliver this time? That’s because you have their repertoire already, so somehow, you are already expecting that style that you know and love.

FIND YOUR OWN SOUND BUT NEVER GET STUCK

Coming across your own sound and sticking to it, it is one of the most extremely hard things to achieve within your musical career. One of the artists I find to be extremely successful in this aspect is Deadmau5. He’s a sound designer and it’s perfectly noticeable that he knows his sound and you can recognize his synth-driven beats by just listening to a few seconds of a tune. During WMC 2010, he gave MTV an interview telling that there are no limits in creating a sound. “Lord knows there’s enough sample libraries to get a clap sound, but you can take an SM57 (microphone) and slap your ass and record it and then put that on the track. It sounds like a normal clap!”

And this is beautiful. Mau5 is one of the few producers who doesn’t get trapped in the same line of production and ends up becoming a trendsetter, thanks to his outside-of-the-box approach to music. He has that infamous bass line found in every track his produced, yet he has managed to conquer to mastery of not sounding the same. Listen to ‘Reward Is Cheese‘ and ‘Ghost’N’Stuff‘ to check it yourself.

If that wasn’t enough for him to stand out in the crowd, the house producer goes even further in terms of creating a personal brand, that goes beyond the name and unique sound: that big mouse head that he uses on his live performances has turned into his trademark.

Now, I throw you a possibility here: what if he produced something completely non-related to his current style, let’s say some hard dance? You certainly would trash him to death and ask what the hell he’s doing! Probably, I would too. That’s why when DJs want to try out different sounds, they wisely come up with alias – they can go off without tinting their brand and destroying a faithful fan base.

Tiesto, on the other hand, had a different approach. Over the years he has proved to be the king of Trance music. His first studio album, in 2001, brought us not one, but THREE trance anthems ‘Flight 643’, ‘Lethal Industry’ and ‘Suburban Train’, which led him to become the world’s most famous DJ, during 2002, 2003 and 2004, according to the DJMag poll. In 2004, his second artist album delivered yet another classic anthem, ‘Adagio For Strings’, the first instrumental track to reach the top spot of Holland charts in 23 years.

Oh, I could write a whole article about how Tiesto has changed the Trance scene for good with his magical productions, but I’m interested in the way he has smoothly evolved his sound. Ever since the release of his 2007 artist album ‘Elements Of Life’, we could notice his Trance beats have spiced up with some electro and techno elements. It’s evident he’s experiencing with other genres when he delivers ‘Carpe Noctum’, perfectly blending electro beats with his renowned stadium feeling trance sound.

In 2009, after a run of four top-selling artist albums, the electronic pioneer has made ‘Kaleidoscope‘, an artist album in the truest sense: a stunning collection of songs written and recorded in collaboration with a variety of music talents from the worlds of dance, pop and rock: Jónsi Birgisson from Sigur Rós, Kele Okereke from Bloc Party, Nelly Furtado, Calvin Harris, Emily Haines from Metric, just to name a few.

In Kaleidoscope, he crossed the boundaries of trance music and boldly turned himself to an electro driven sound. It’s unlike anything Tiesto has done before. He was risky coming on so hard with all these indie artists and delivering more of a mainstream sound. And he’s done it again on his collaboration with Diplo on C’mon, that has been unfairly condemned by most critics. I’m sure if it was Guetta’s productions, it would not have become such a buzz.

“When you see me DJ you know I feel it and I love what I do. The real thing. When you see me play you know you are seeing someone who plays not because he has to but because he loves it”, Tiesto says. I can feel his passion for music when he broadens his style with no fear of loosing some narrow-minded fans along the way.

So, should producers choose to please their audience or experiment? They should find balance. If they always stick to their same sound, they’ll eventually becoming boring. Musicians should evolve and take risks, yes, after all, they are the ones responsible to throw us pieces we’ve never heard before. If not, we got the mainstream radio to keep overplaying the same top 40 songs over and over again.

These producers are the ones who create new styles, new genres, new experiences and we should keep supporting them for that, not keeping them trapped in their own sound. But let’s be honest, how hard is it to find an artist who has the guts to experiment so freely?

Posted in: Special | Posted on May 24, 2010 by Carol