Most common struggles the newly signed have with ‘breaking through’

“Breaking through.” The phrase itself is commonly used to describe somebody who has conquered their way through a possible barrier to reach their first notable success. It can also be defined as an offensive thrust that penetrates and carries beyond a defensive line in warfare, but ah, let’s not worry about this one for the time being… In the vastness of the music industry, any professional or musician can vouch that their time spent ‘breaking through’ was probably one of the most challenging, yet rewarding times in their career. This time of hard work and devotion is truly a time where one can either make or break their career.

Let’s break this down to further relevancy. The hard dance scene has grown exponentially in the past decade which outlines one very important observation; it’s a lot harder for young producers to break through now than it was at the conception of the movement. Before hardstyle was dominating some of the world’s biggest stages and had a global following base, there simply weren’t as many artists in the scene, thus making it easier for these artists to gain popularity and be recognised as a pioneer once the genre grew.

Today, the booming popularity of the harder styles has called for young producers around the world to partake in their own experiences within the scene as they strive to fulfil their dreams of ‘making it.’ Unfortunately, the likelihood of these talents experiencing a full breakthrough and dominating mainstages isn’t as high as it used to be. Some classify getting signed to a label as ‘making it,’ however from my personal observations I’m going to put forward the thought that making it is when an artist has a huge fanbase and has enough bookings to live from music. Getting signed to a label is a huge milestone indeed, however the struggle doesn’t end there; if anything these new names are under more scrutiny than ever once their name is beside a renowned label.

Today there are many roadblocks that come along with breaking through and many young producers will know understand these ‘feels’ like no other. I’m going to be going over a few things that young artists struggle with when it comes to breaking through.

Social Media
At the conception of hard dance music, social media wasn’t really a tool that showcased an artists’ whole image. Nowadays, being active on social media is one of the most important things for artists to remember, especially for the young ones who are trying to find their position in the scene. Young artists don’t have a lot of time to build an identity online nor do they have professional knowledge of their own market or money to pay for someone to professionally manage them. The whole social media game sadly exists and sometimes young artists may misuse it by building a strong ‘personality’ online without having good music to match. When these kinds of guys break through it can be extremely demotivating for those whose sole focus is producing good music.

Branding & Marketing
All this talk about social media leads me to my next point. For a newly signed name to become popular they need a solid, recognisable brand to match their music. This can be one of the biggest challenges for the new guys, because good marketing takes up a lot of time and effort and also requires them to understand the market that they want to reach. Back in the days marketing wasn’t as important as it is today; I personally feel as though fans focussed more on an artist’s music than anything else, however today fans want artists to have the full-package. It’s not easy for the younger guys to create an entire look and feel around themselves and their music, so thankfully labels, management and booking agencies are assisting some of the young guys with this.

Other Commitments
Several of the newly signed guys have other commitments such as university or work, which can cut time they’d rather be spend on producing music or marketing themselves. Due to the fact that they aren’t booked as regularly as the bigger guys, many of the upcoming names don’t exactly have the financial means to produce music on a full time basis or a 100% sure-fire promise that they will be able to live from music. This means that they will either have to take up part-time or even full-time work or study as a back-up to their music, which can call for a pretty demanding schedule. I mean, how much would it fucking suck to be halfway into your work shift then suddenly get inspiration for a track and you can’t even jump on the computer and jot your ideas down.

Copycats
Growth in the scene has been amazing in many ways, however it’s harnessed a huge spike in upcoming producers that are simply carbon copies of existing names. With a large number of talented producers nowadays, the competition is higher than ever, which can result in up and comers taking easy routes and copying the guys who have reached a successful level with a particular sound. As of late, many fans and those in the industry can agree that there’s a plethora of guys who are simply copies of the bigger guys and haven’t exactly established something unique on their own.

Finding someone to buddy-up with
You’ve seen it before and it won’t be the last time that you see a newly signed name ‘teaming up’ with one of the big guys in order to boost their career. Pairs like Kronos and Zatox, Radical Redemption and Act Of Rage, Thera and Jason Payne and Atmozfears and Devin Wild instantly come to mind; these guys all share a similar vision on music, have a similar sound and work in a way that exposes the less-known artist to the public’s eye.

However, for guys whose sound is so far out of any box, it can be difficult to find an ‘older’ artist to pair up with and gain support from; which in turn leaves the more ‘unique’ guys behind. A tip for these guys is to try and release your music on various labels. By doing this, it’ll boost their fan-base and expose them to different markets of listeners.

Trends
Trends are something that we can’t fully control. For example, back around 2012 when the upcoming euphoric names where the most-appreciated, who knew that a huge change was coming and that some of them would become completely irrelevant within a matter of years? Current trends can also sadly determine an artists’ future and for the young guys it can be extremely demotivating if the current isn’t flowing their way.

Another demotivating thing and something that particularly angers me is the existence of severely underrated artists who have such a fresh sound, yet don’t get booked as much as an artist who plays it safe and follows formulas. Coming back to the concept of marketing, underrated guys should try to focus a lot more on showing themselves off. Who knows? Maybe the current trends will eventually dissolve and underrated guys will get their time in the spotlight!

 

Let’s hope that this year the guys who deserve it will have their chance to shine in the spotlight. It’s important to always support up and coming talent, no matter how unknown they are..