12 May 2024.
Well it's been a minute since I posted to the blog but I've been dealing with this thing called life that keeps taking up all of my time. Nevertheless much has happened in the interim so there's a bit of catching up to do...
Firstly I'd like to clarify that this post is totally organic and was written by a human and not AI.
In fact in anything I'm moving away from automation and doing things manually where possible, the download store being a prime example. The only automated process is the payment transaction but the delivery of the orders are now all done manually by a human.
With this being the case it means that download purchases are not instant and there might be a gap of a few minutes to a few hours (depending on when the order was received) before downloads are delivered to the customer.
Which brings me on to the main topic of this post; the current controversy surrounding music streaming services and digital distributors.
I've been watching a lot of content from certain You Tube channels that are championing the DIY ethic and encouraging independent labels to dismiss commercial streaming sites with their low pay-out rates and instead focus solely on selling direct to consumers.
It's interesting to see that people are now waking up to facts that I had figured out many years ago when I made the conscious decision to dispense with any third party involvement back in 2009.
Back then I was in talks with a major download site about getting my music placed on their platform but I was told that I wasn't big enough and in order to have my tunes placed with them I needed to go through an aggregator - more commonly known as a digital distributor.
It was my reasoning that I didn't need to use a digital distributor when I had the tools and resources to create and upload music to my own website.
I, or anyone for that matter, can also upload material to You Tube - one of the biggest streaming sites on the planet - for free without the need for any distributor. The same goes for Sound Cloud, which is why these are the only two streaming sites where you will find music from Fine Balance.
The way I see it, it only takes a mouse click (or finger tap nowadays) to travel around the internet. There's no need to physically get up and go anywhere so why the need for a digital distributor?
What will more than likely happen is you'll get included on a bunch of streaming sites that already have thousands of artists, all scrambling for attention with the vast majority getting few if any monthly listeners. And then you have to pay the distributor for the privilege.
If you're a major recording artist with big label backing then you can bypass the middle men altogether and will get placed directly on all of the streaming sites and will automatically be in the top play lists.
For the remainder of us we must go and form an orderly queue with the rest of the peasants - i.e. go and deal with the distributors, pay your money and do as they say or else they'll accuse you of using bots on your account and kick you off their service!
Some may counter with argument that there has to be some gate keepers to stop the streaming sites from getting inundated but as far as I'm aware there isn't much in the way of quality control from the distributors and they're happy to take anything so long as it's not already copyrighted and you pay the fees.
So with that being said I'm more than happy to continue down the DIY route. To go fully independent does however take a lot of time and dedication and you must be prepared to wear many hats, but as a wise man once said,
It is better to travel your own path, no matter how humbly, than to travel the path of another, no matter how successfully'.
You can't beat the freedom and piece of mind you get from knowing that you are in complete control of your releases and release schedule. No one can take your music down or manipulate the figures or suddenly change the terms and conditions.
If I'm honest I kind of miss the days before social media when the internet consisted of just individual websites. Most of them used to have a dedicated page that consisted of links to other websites that shared the same or similar interests.
Things seem to be coming full circle though with what appears to be a backlash towards the streaming industry and their dubious practices.
A lot of people are catching on to the fact that music streaming sites and their associated distributors are businesses first and foremost and their services are just vehicles that are being used to generate profits under the guise of 'convenience'.
There's also the question of privacy and that of big brother knowing everything about you including your music tastes, what you listen to, when you listen to it, where you listen to it and how often.
Downloads live on...
However despite what the mainstream media and social media influencers who have sponsorship deals with digital distributors say, people are still buying downloads and physical media.
Many people still prefer to own their music outright rather than rely on streaming sites that can move or delete tracks at will and are forever increasing their monthly subscription fees and making alterations to the platform that the end user has little choice but to accept.
DJ's are also much more likely to want to own their music files. DJ specific sites such as Beatport, Traxsource and Juno Download are still alive and kicking in 2024.
Bandcamp is also another option for buying and discovering new music.
It's a bit like the book industry. Many people still have their own private collections at home despite the fact that they could easily go to the local library and borrow a book for free.
It's all about individual preference and how you prefer to consume your media.
Those who aren't into downloads or don't have the facilities have the option of streaming Fine Balance material for free via You Tube or Sound Cloud but there is also the chance that tracks could be moved or removed at any time without notice either by me or the admins of the host site.
Also the music uploaded to streaming sites is encoded by those sites and although the sound quality is reasonable it cannot match the quality of the paid downloads which are available in a choice of uncompressed WAV files or DJ friendly 320kps MP3's.
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10 August 2023.
Rave FM part 2
Back again after another pretty lengthy break for reasons I shall save for an upcoming post. I'll just say that we're living in very interesting times in the music industry and in life in general. Things are not how they used to be.
Speaking of how things used to be I have uploaded the second and final instalment from Peterborough's short lived pirate station Rave FM, featuring the House and Techno resident DJ K9.
This instalment kicks things off with Frankie Bones' paying homage to the Techno sound followed by some unknown track that I've only every heard once, which was on this show.
We then have a couple of Shades Of Rhythm classics before finishing off with more underground Techno of the day.
Although it was fun while it lasted the station was always going to struggle due to a combination of lack of funding and no permanent residence and by the summer of 1990 the station was no more unfortunately.
There were rumours that the local commercial station had become aware of Rave FM's existence and were going to inform the authorities so I guess it was best to quit while you were ahead...
Another reason for the stations demise was the fact that the DJ's were becoming increasingly more busy as the local club and music scene started to grow and they became in demand elsewhere.
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08 May 2023.
Peterborough Pirates
Rave FM part 1
While going through the archives here at Fine Balance HQ I stumbled across some rare recordings from back in the day when there was a pirate radio station broadcasting in the area briefly for a few weeks during late 1989 and early 1990.
The station was called Rave FM, broadcasting on the frequency of 105.5. Although it was primarily an underground rave station it played music from across the board with a mixture of early rave, soul and Hip Hop.
Above is a set from DJ K9 playing a selection of early breakbeat and techno recorded live in January 1990 at the start of a new year and a new decade.
Part 2 to follow soon.
The below track list from the show is off the top of my head. I will fill in the blanks as soon as I've got the rest of the titles.
1. Original Video Clash – Lil Louis
2. You Ain't Nobody – Kool Rock Steady
3. For Those Who like To Groove – Twin Hype
4. ???
5. (Still Life) Keeps Moving – Nexus 21
6. ???
7. Depth Charge – Depth Charge
8. The Phantom (It's In There) – Renegade Soundwave
9. ???
10.???
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08 December 2022.
Digital Store now re-opened
After an extensive period of downtime the digital store is now open once again. There has been some extensive work done behind the scenes to fix some bugs and issues that were present on the old page.
All being well the rebuild should result in a much better and smoother user experience.
Another important change to the store is in how the download files are delivered to the customers. The store now has designated 'opening hours' where someone will be monitoring it and dealing with orders as they come in.
All orders are now being manually processed meaning that there may be a slight delay from when an order is placed to when the download links are sent.
If orders are received during the store opening times then they will be process immediately, or at the latest by the end of the day before the store closes.
If orders are placed outside of the opening times then they will be processed as soon as the store opens the following day.
There are a number of reasons behind the change. Firstly it allows us more control over the pricing and delivery of the downloads and it also gives us more flexibility in the types of products that can be offered.
More importantly, customers will have a more personal and direct link with the label (now that we have removed ourselves from most social media platforms.)
The store only has a few tracks for sale at present but new material will be added regularly.
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25 November 2022.
As we continue with the vintage radio broadcasts from the archives, next up is a snippet from Kiss FM back in 1993 featuring the late Colin Favor whose show consisted of a mixture of techno, breakbeat and experimental material.
This segment was recorded back in February 93 while I was staying in London and captures an interesting time in Kiss FM's history.
During this time the station had recently become legal but still had a pirate vibe to it because all the original DJ's were still on board.
Even the included advert has a mixed tone to it as it advertises an event featuring a bunch of underground DJ's but the event itself is sponsored by Holsten Export lager.
Colin Favor recorded February 1993
It wouldn't be too long however before the original DJ's began jumping ship due to the direction that the station was taking under its new owners.
Back in the day many pirate stations aspired to become legal so they could be a legitimate business and not have to worry about being raided by police and receiving hefty fines etc.
But as Kiss FM would go on to demonstrate, going legal came fraught with other problems. Although they no longer had to worry about police raids they were still in effect raided through the back door by the corporations that took them over.
The station would eventually lose all of its original DJ's by the turn of the millennium and its playlists were eventually brought in line with the larger UK commercial radio network.
Today the station exists in name only and although it likes to claim that it was an integral part of the UK's dance music history, any connections with its roots were severed many years ago.
Back in the days. Capturing Kiss broadcasts from afar.
Listening to the old Kiss FM show above brought back memories of when I used to tune into the station back in 1990. Back then Kiss was still a local station broadcasting to just London and the surrounding area.
At the time I was still living at home in Peterborough which is around 70 miles away from north London and was outside of the Kiss FM broadcast area.
I was living in a three storey apartment at the time and my room was on the top floor and was also facing south, meaning that it faced towards London.
I discovered that during the evenings on a clear night if I adjusted the antenna on my hi-fi I could actually get a signal from Kiss FM in London and often it was even clear enough for me to make recordings.
2nd building on the right, top floor. Where I was able to catch signals from Kiss FM back in the day from over 70 miles away. It would have been nice to have had access to one of the many satellite dishes that have since popped up.
It was by this method that I first heard Colin Dale's Abstract Dance show. I will always remember that night in 1990 when I stuck the antenna out of the window and heard a crackly signal coming through for the first time, “Ragga twins deh bout!”
For the next few weeks my mates were amazed at where I was getting these cassettes of brand new Kiss FM shows from. :-)
I wish I still had those original tapes but they unfortunately were lost over time.
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17 November 2022.
Continuing from last month's post below, as promised I've uploaded a couple more sets from DJ's Superior and Confusion from their show on pulse FM back in 1993.
Show number 1 dates from late October 1993 and starts off on a darker note with some hard industrial type stuff then into some early Basic Channel, who are now regarded by many as the inventors of dub techno, with their rendition of the classic track Lyot by Vainqueur.
The show also features tracks by the likes of DBX, Dave Angel and Plastik Man to name but a few.
Show 1 from 30 October 1993
Next up we have a show that was aired a couple of weeks later on the 13th November 1993. This show features plenty of avant-garde experimental techno along with a sprinkling of early Detroit Electro.
Show 2 recorded 13 November 1993
Featuring offerings from the UK's Peace Frog records along with tracks from Detroit's Alan Oldham (aka X313) and Juan Atkins (Model 500) and also featuring material from Ken Ishi with his unique brand of Japanese techno.
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27 October 2022.
I recently did a post remembering 1994 in which I was reminiscing about the pirate radio stations I used to tune into when I was staying in London, namely Pulse FM and DJ's Confusion & Superior, who had a weekly Techno show on the station.
The post was seen by one of the original DJ's from that show who reached out to me and offered to send me a copy of a show from back in the day to upload to this site.
Below is the show that was sent to me dating from December 1992. Many thanks to Paul for sending me the file.
After receiving the above Pulse FM show it got me searching through my own tape collection and I pulled out a few old sets that I recorded from Pulse FM and Kiss 100 FM back in the day (before Kiss became the watered down commercial BS that it is today.)
I'm currently in the process of editing and cleaning up those old recordings and I will be uploading them here in the coming weeks, so please remember to check back for those.
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Page 2
THC mix part 1. VFT live in the mix April 2017 and celebrating its 7th anniversary this year.
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THC mix part 2. Casey Tucker aka VFT live in the mix September 2020.
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