Unhealthy obsession with sales charts
I’ve seen many changes over my career but one that stands out recently is DJ’s and producers getting obsessed with sales chart positions, and when they proudly show off that trophy of their number on their socials what happens next? Well they soon find out, not a lot. That big euphoric burst of excitement soon gets replaced with frustration, its like they are waiting for their inbox to fill up with gig requests from promoters as they prepare in their heads to go on a world tour, but unfortunately it doesn’t happen and soon come crashing back down to earth.
Its really easy to reverse engineer all of this, in this current day of digital sales/streaming we now have daily chart positions , meaning each day/week in every genre we have fresh charts with hundreds of producers celebrating their success, but we don’t see 100’s of new producers and DJ’s suddenly ending up on tour. Go look at the charts now, take note of all the names, in six months times those names wont be on tour either. Many of those producers and DJ’s will be sending screen shots of their chart success to clubs, promoters, agents, managers, magazines, but imagine being the recipient of this each and every week, as you could imagine it falls on death ears. Those industry players are looking for something that stands out, something different, something that will sell tickets, create clicks, hype and excitement. A chart position doesn’t excite them, especially when their inbox is full of them.
Some of the greatest tracks in the world didn’t chart at first, like Queens ‘Don’t stop me now’, The Clash ‘should I stay or should I go’, David Bowie ‘Changes’, at the time these releases were way ahead of their time, they were forward thinking as they pushed new boundaries experimenting to move forward musically, they didn’t resinate with the commercial masses at the time, but did with the next generation whom embraced the new music that in return created new cultures and movements pushing the scene forward, yes those singles did eventually have their moment, but organically happened from their investment, forward thinking and support from the next generation/movement. The point being these artists evolved, pushed new boundaries and thats what made them stand out, thats what made them sustain long healthy careers, being leaders, identify when change is needed, being bold and brave enough to step away from what was perceived as being popular and trying something new. '
Many well established and respected electronic producers releases don’t chart (including many of my own), but the important thing they have long healthy careers and have created cult fan bases over the years due to them constantly moving forward musically, experimenting and playing their role in creating new music, new scenes and gaining trust/respect. Importantly thats what many DJ’s are looking for when looking for music to play out (and avoid popular charts), many clubbers want this experience on the dance floor of being propelled into the musical future that in return crates that fan base, that cult following is the exact thing that promoters are looking for. Many people buy club tickets for the experience they will get, not off the back of a chart position.
The roadmap to success isn’t always the one you think.