The music industry is perhaps one of the most interesting to follow, as it parallels societal cultures and adapts to thrive in any given time or environment. The evolution from vinyl to CD to digital, the advances in production and the advent of “remix-generation”, the proliferation of sampling, the role of music labels and records sales, it’s all constantly rolling forward. Maybe not labels… they tend to move rather lethargically.
The burgeoning dance music scene has been the primary driver in new innovations, something we should all be proud of, and one of the most notable trends is the formation of artist collectives. Yes, traditional labels still have an important role with bringing together like-minded artists, but there’s a disconnect that is no being accounted for in these newer entities. Hegemon is one such collective, with the idea of bring together artists in a communal family format, where the strengthening of one member results in the betterment of everyone (at least, so the theory goes.) By joining Hegemon, each artist has an opportunity to grow their fanbase alone with the identity of a collective pool, and should lead to exponential innovation. This isn’t only important for each individual collective, but for dance music as a whole; with critics chastising portions of the scene for being uncreative and creating formulaic music for fatter wallets, it’s important to push forward.
An excellent example of what these collectives can do:Â $aturn is only a mere 15 years old and has joined the Hegemon collective. Though he’s only been producing since he was 11, his time within Hegemon has been well worth it; this young man is killing the chill-trap game. Check out his remix of ‘Luv Sick’ from ALEXA & Unkle Ricky, it’s clean and crisp as can be (O yeah and it’s a free download. Long story short though folks, is that we love what artist collectives are striving to do, and with kids like $aturn under their wing, Hegemon is one that looks ready to thrive in the current environment. Now is the right time to be in music, and we’re excited to see what happens next
ALEXA & Unkle Ricky – Luv Sick ($aturn Remix) | Download
