Those are good points, I don't really have much perspective on what the broader American scene is, having lived in Kalamazoo/Detroit/Chicago over the years, the majority of events that I have attended do feature a lot of black DJ's, and the three headliners I personally booked as a promoter were Omar-S, DJ Qu, and Rick Wade, so as far as that I'm trying to be part of the solution. If I ever throw a party in Austin TX before I move, and have cash for a headliner, I'm gonna bring in someone I know from Detroit, like Mike Clark, Alton Miller, or Norm Talley. But as someone committed to growing the techno ecosystem and trying to create more opportunities for musicians and artists, and making sure a diverse range of people are included, I actually think that this topic is worth exploring. Techno is a DIY scene and that means any of us have the power to participate and at least attempt to implement that vision, and so it's worth having serious good faith discussions about the best ways to do that, because it's not just a topdown corporate thing, and the choices I and others make can potentially make real differences in small ways to the trajectory of where things are going, whereas the question of who gets featured in industry publications, or gets the best gigs is a realm that is totally outside my control. If I have the cash, though, I can throw an event, so in that sense looking at questions of audience diversity is not just a theoretical question. I could potentially do a good job or a shitty job with that depending on my vision and choices, so I think it's worth reflecting on. If I did it here I would definitely partner with some nonwhite friends to collaborate on the event so that it wouldn't just be one white guy's personal vision. I DEFINITELY would not want to go to a party full of people just like me---ugh!!! ;-0 Of course, individuals cannot fix systemic problems by making personally virtuous choices. On the diversity in hiring as it pertains to nonwhite DJ's, ultimately, I believe that DJ's themselves need to organize and solve the problem together, collectively. Call me crazy, but I think there should be a "techno trade union" that engages in collective bargaining to ensure more fair outcomes for all everyone involved. I think it should be racially integrated, but work to clearly and systemically address industry racism and when necessary should privilege nonwhite artists, in ways that ultimately lead to better outcomes for everyone. (ALSO--while I'm at it: the existing US musician's union should actually help working musicians, so that skilled musicians have enough work and the average musician income is more than $20,000 a year.)
~David On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 10:22 AM kent williams <[email protected]> wrote: > The thing about solving problems is that you do what you can do. Projects > like House of Altr do what they can: showcase and promote black artists. > > Techno - and the wider world of dance music - originates in the music of > Black americans. What black audiences listen to is a separate matter. They > may be more likely to connect with techno if they see people that look like > them up on stage. > > Labels and promoters CAN address the problem black erasure in dance > music. It's more an issue in Europe than the US, since in the US dance > music is less of a commercial phenomenon, but even here, white artists > crowd out Black music. > > You are right that when DEMF was free, it re-introduced techno to Black > Detroiters. I think Paxahau is doing a decent job, but the fact that the > festival is now an expensive ticket excludes a large audience who are > economically distressed. With the $200+ ticket price for the weekend, it's > absurd to think that the festival is even for the Black citizens of Detroit > any more. > > And not to put too fine a point on it, the subscribers to this list are > overwhelming middle class white people. At this point this is not a place > to go to get a Black perspective on anything. Is this list still worthwhile > and relevant? > > > On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 10:00 AM David A. Powers <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Still, the idea that you can fix the problem of diversity on the >> producer/performer side, without increasing the diversity of the audience >> itself, seems super sketchy to me. >> >
