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SEVERAL DANCE MUSIC TRENDS IN 2011
Several Dance trends stand out for this past year. The first is the
large number of charted instrumental tracks. Roughly 16% of our
HITS were instrumental. I think that shows just how important the
music is to our genre. While some artists attempt to sing their
life story (a novel) many Dance lovers just want a simple beat.
Needless ramblings and the like are really not necessary. Crisp
and clean seemed to be the theme most were eager to enjoy last
year. The second trend was the absence of the heavy hitters. So
many of the year's releases were from newer or less known artists.
Most of the usual artists seemed to have taken the year off. When
we compiled our year-end chart (which included recycled tracks) it
was clear that current music actually charted higher (when mixed
with the retro songs) than it usually does. That was our third
observation and it tends to mirror the quality of the 2011 Dance
HITS. This makes two years in a row that the number of charted
tracks increased. 2011 saw 95 or 10 more current chart tracks than
2010. Singles continued to rule the day, as the thought of even re-
leasing an entire solo project seemed to be unimaginable to most.
However, a few David Guetto like projects were released, but none
really stood out. Radio continued to do it's own thing and their
only Dance theme seemed to be trying to convince us that Hip-Hop
and Pop remixes were truly Dance material. Some fell for their
"song and Dance" while others did not. I think the HIT song by Sak
Noel "Loca People (WTF)" (a smash in Europe and our #1 song of
the year) demonstrated the sad state of the U.S.A. Dance scene (be-
cause it only received a lukewarm reception here.)/////////////////

WHO TOOK THE "D" AWAY FROM DANCE MUSIC ?
Are we here to Dance or here to stir cake batter? Many seem to have
forgotten Dancing is what started Disco music. It's all about the
Dance. So what is up with all these so called "Dance" songs that
even a grandmother couldn't Dance to? How can they call it Dance
music when it fails to deliver a packed Dancefloor? Would we still
call it Rock music if it sounded like Opera? Would we still call it
Country if it sounded like a symphony? So why should we allow folks
to call what is basically Pop music, Dance? The foundation of Dance
music is the clubs and songs people can Dance to, not slow jams
with a cool sound or vocals. Don't allow Pop pundits to take over
Dance music and claim it as their own. Educate them as to what is
and is not Dance music. Let's take back the Dance scene and tell
the Pop pushers to jump in a lake. Embrace our roots and heritage
instead of covering it up with Pop fodder. You wanna know what's
wrong with Dance? What's wrong is that many have forgotten what
qualifies a Dance song......and others simply just don't know. Do
your part. Turn the dial on un-Dance. Stay off the Dancefloors.
Refuse to buy, download or even listen to un-Dance songs masquerad-
ing as something they are not./////////////////////////////////////

REAL 2011 DANCE SCENE MISSED BY MANY
I'm tired of hearing from all the Hip-Hoppers, Trancers, Technoers,
Rockers, etc. how great 2011 was for Dance music. IT WAS A GREAT
YEAR FOR DANCE, BUT MOST OF THOSE FOLKS MISSED IT! Radio missed it.
Billboard missed it. Almost everybody missed it. It's much like
calling an oatmeal cookie a chocolate chip cookie. You can call it
what you want, but you're just fooling yourself. The real Dance
deal marches on. So to all the folks who think Usher is Dance,
David Guetta is Dance, Chris Brown is Dance, Skrillex is Dance.....
just who do you think you're fooling? It's very interesting how
some see a couple of quasi-Dance songs go mainstream and then de-
clare that "things are really looking up for Dance." Many are miss-
ing the big picture by focusing on the smaller scene. Just because
50,000 turn out for a Trance-Techno music fest doesn't signal any-
thing. If anything, it singals that some continue to hold on to a
dying branch of Dance music. Call it a revival if you want. Call it
a chocolate chip cookie if you want. But stop misrepresenting Dance
as something other than what it is. You're not welcome on this
Dance train and it's time for you to get off and take your quasi-
artists with you.//////////////////////////////////////////////////

DANCE MUSIC DIRES UP EVERY DECEMBER
A little research will tell you that about 20% of all music is pur-
chased during the month of December. From late November thru
early January many artists release their albums in attempts of cap-
turing a piece of the pie. Just the opposite usually happens in our
Dance genre. Our artists tend to delay most of their new projects
until the new year. December then turns into mostly a blow out or
dry season for us. Sometimes this dry season lasts through much of
January. Is the competition just too rough for Dance music in Dec-
ember? You'd think Dance artists would want to take advantage of
this "weak" period and pull out their stuff. I'd like to see more
doing that. Taking the month off doesn't seem to be helping at all.
Wouldn't it be nice to turn this mostly frustrating season into a
productive one instead?////////////////////////////////////////////

THE DISCO REVIVAL CONTINUES TO AMAZE
We're pretty good at keeping track of Dance trends and fads. That's
why we were perhaps the first to notice that Disco was making a
comeback in the Spring of 2007. The first song to grab our atten-
tion was "Dancin'" by Erick Morillo (see YouTube) 6:29 mix. Which
quickly peaked at #1 on our chart. It's quite clear that the trend
has moved beyond the fad level. Over the past 5 years Disco tracks
haven't been overwhelming, but they have been steady. There are
really 3 types of new Disco releases. One pretends this is 1981 and
the sound simply continues (this has been the least successful).
The second type is the mashup and snip stealing remakes which often
create an entire new song from from just several classic lines or
beats. The most successful have been the releases that move the
sound into the new millennium. They have taken advantage of the
computer age (which was mostly a dream during the Disco era) and
shaped and molded the sound to fit today. Morillo's turn fits into
that category. Many Sonny Fodera tracks are from the middle categ-
ory. DJ Funsko and smiliar artists are from the first category.
So, when you hear that Disco died you can now correct the person by
telling them that in fact it may have moved to the back seat, but
now it has resurfaced in all it's glory.///////////////////////////

DOWNLOAD SITES FUEL DANCE MUSIC ENGINE
Dance download sites have quickly become the engine driving Dance
music forward. Sure, we all thought they were neat and interesting
back in 1995, but today they have probably become the most vital
element of the Dance movement. From iTunes, Napster and Beatport to
Juno, Traxsource and Amazon, our genre is perhaps better represent-
ed by them than at any other Dance publication or website. Although
some sites specialize a bit, most offer tracks for all segments of
Dance music. That is more than most can claim (including us). One
of the best features of these sites is that you don't have to be
associated with a major label to get listed. Many, including us
find these and other sites not mentioned the GO TO points for dis-
covering new music. Each site seems to go through cycles and what
was a hot site last month may not be this week. Downloads available
seem to distinguish one from the other. Traxsource is our current
favorite, but they all tend to do a great job providing the Dance
community with the BEST fuel to move ahead into the future.////////

SONGS ARE GREAT, NOVELS ARE NOT
Whatever happened to just movin' to the music and making a Dance
song? So many now seem to think a Dance track should tell a long,
babbling story. BORING! Lyrics like what you ate for breakfast and
how cool you look walking down the street should only be a part of
Hip-Hop and Country music. Scantaly clad women singing about any-
thing (even if it doesn't fit the music) should be avoided also.
Who wants babbling lyrics about everything on top of their Dance
music? It may work for Hip-Hop and Country, but it doesn't work for
Dance. Leave the never ending tirades to those genres. Often, less
is more in Dance music. Lyrics may be cool, but it's the beat that
has always formed the core of Dance tracks. Just singing blindly
and so fast the words can hardly be understood, is crazy. Do your
part. Pass on these babbling tracks and embrace lyrics that fit the
the music, instead of those that are at war with the beat./////////

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