DMb | Dance Music blog

Dance Download Alliance Forms Against Beatport

Seven UK dance music download stores have joined together to create the Dance Download Alliance (DDA). The seven members, 3Beat Digital, Audiojelly, DJdownload, Juno Download, TrackitDown, Trax2Burn and Xpressbeats, have joined together to counteract a proposal offered to dance labels and distributors by Beatport who offers an exclusivity arrangement, as an option, on all new releases from labels if they chose to participate.


Is exclusivity the Dance Download Alliance focus? Or is it something more?
The DDA has been quoted as saying that “we believe that the short and long term effects of such a proposal will damage the dance music industry as a whole. Consequences for labels, artists and distributors, as well as download retailers and ultimately customers, could be severe.”The DDA is threatening to dump labels who “join a blanket exclusivity arrangement” since it “would not be economically viable for us to continue to stock repertoire from labels” who [accept said arrangement].” The letter to participating labels also goes on to warn: “The loss of the support and promotion of seven major UK online dance retailers (as well as our many affiliate stores) will undoubtedly have a major impact on your label’s and artists’ profiles across the web, as well as your ability to maximise additional revenue streams such as compilations and licensing. Leaving customers without the choice of where to buy your music could also increase the chances of your music being traded through P2P networks stimulating a rise in dance music piracy.”

Banding together the UK’s leading online retailers to fight Beatport is a savvy move for this new coalition since their combined power far outweighs individual efforts. Having access to up-to-the-minute releases from labels is the lifeblood of Dance music-oriented retailers, both online and offline. The seven retailers are determined to not let this new exclustivity option succeed, which would significantly harm their businesses, and may have taken a page out of the recent online royalty rate hike battle that found instant strength in numbers. “The Dance Download Alliance believes that fair competition and consumer choice are foundations for a healthy and flourishing dance download market,” claims the DDA. However, if you read between the lines, you can smell the desperation. The alliance is painting Beatport as a company who’s following Apple’s cutthroat tactics in order to solidify their top position, and to gain the upper hand against their competitors. Leveraging market position has allowed iTunes to not only dominate the market, but also to control pricing. In addition, prominent positioning on the retailer’s site often makes a significant impact on the fiscal results of a new release, so many labels are forced to play ball. However, this isn’t the case in terms of Beatport.

FutureMusic has learned that Beatport’s exclusivity on new releases is simply one of three tiers that the retailer offers labels. The labels can choose to participate, and are not being strongarmed into a “blanket exclusivity arrangement” as the UK Dance Download Alliance has alleged. In addition, labels who chose not to participate in the exclusive option are not being punished by Beatport, as some have also suggested. The Future: The DDA’s retailers also provide the backend for the Ministry Of Sound, M8, Judgemusic and DJ Magazine’s online stores, which adds some juice to their position, but also unveils some behind the scenes politics. The exclusivity option that the DDA is spinning does have a small chance of hurting the US download concern, but since they are so far ahead of their competitors in both customers and technology, it may not make a difference to dance record labels who want to give their releases the best possible chance for economic success in this over-saturated market.

What’s even more hypocritical is that many of the labels that make up the DDA, beg popular labels for exclusive tracks, which undermines their argument and position. So what’s the real story?
Another take is that the Alliance was formed, not so much as to combat exclusivity, but for survival. Beatport is annihilating most of their competitors in the Dance music download space, and gaining ground all the time. New record labels want to be on Beatport, and are joining the other online retailers just for a little icing on the cake. Now that these UK retailers are finding themselves insignificant, they may be doing whatever it takes to stay afloat.

Friday March 2nd is a landmark date in the history of drum & bass. Ram Records has been one of the most important drum & bass labels in the history of the genre. They have been at the very forefront of drum & bass ever since Ant Miles and a sixteen year old Andy C released the label’s debut ‘Sour Mash EP’ in 1992, and almost immediately wrote the label into jungle history with their genre-defining and scene-shaping magnum opus ‘Valley of the Shadows’ in 1993.

The years since have seen the label become one of the scene’s dominant forces with one of the tightest knit collectives. Along with the founding fathers, the talents of Shimon, Moving Fusion and Red One were soon incorporated in to their stable, and later the likes of Nightbreed and Subfocus were added, creating one of the most formidable collectives in the scene. Their music has been of such consistently high quality it’s possible to pick a drum & bass anthem of the year for every year from the Ram catalogue alone.

The success of Ram also went hand in hand with the development of Andy C’s career and helped shape him in to drum & bass’ undisputed heavyweight champion. Ram will not only be marking their fifteen year anniversary with this monster of a party, but with the release of a commemorative CD/DVD pack that will include live footage from ‘The Executioner’ recorded on the night, along with interview footage with all the crew and much more.

The night itself is a blend of Ram mainstays such as Sub Focus, Shimon and of course Andy C, and a select choice of some of the finest talent from across the scene in mouth-watering back to back combinations including Mampi Swift back to back with DJ Fresh, Bryan Gee back to back with DJ Die and Fierce back to back with Commix.

The lounge dwellers will be treated to some gems too, including the wonky hip hop, breaks and downtempo of Danny Breaks, the no-nonsense party breaks of Jay Cunning, Neil Mitchell’s straight-up house, and the cherry on the cake, a very special AWOL set from the legendary DJ Randall! Not to be missed.

An extraordinary line-up for an historic anniversary in drum & bass, and a night that is set to go down in folklore. Let’s all toast to another fifteen years from the Ram crew!

via: DanceNova

Britain’s self-styled “electro-punks” the Prodigy have a new label home.

The Liam Howlett-led trio have established their own label, Ragged Flag, which will handle their next album release, and projects from any subsequent signings.

The imprint is backed by U.K. indie Cooking Vinyl, label home to Billy Bragg, the Buzzcocks, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Hayseed Dixie.

Howlett says the as-yet untitled follow-up to 2004’s U.K. chart topper “”Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned” is taking shape. “We have been planning this for a while and we are looking forward to building our label up, starting off with the release of the new Prodigy album,” he says. “We have recorded a few songs already for this next album and they are sounding big and mean.”

Cooking Vinyl founder and managing director Martin Goldschmidt adds, “It is a real honor to be entrusted with handling affairs for Ragged Flag. This is a fantastic start to 2007, and it is the start of a new era for Cooking Vinyl.” A release date for the forthcoming album has yet to be unveiled.

The new deal draws curtains on the Prodigy’s long-time recording association with U.K. independent label XL, which stretches back to their first single, “Charly,” the classic “rave” track which peaked at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart back in 1991.