Kniteforce Revolution

The History of Kniteforce - Chapter 10

Nov 22, 06:02 PM

Chapter 10


And so, here we are at the end of 2008. By late 2006 and early 2007, I could see that record sales would soon fall even further, and the act of releasing a record at all would be almost masochistic. With this in mind, I put more effort into my sets, realizing that in the future, live performance was going to be the only sure source of income.


Many of the pop stars of today have already realized this and prepared for it. It is no coincidence that Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Madonna and the majority of the top tier stars and bands are concentrating on live shows. Or that the price for tickets to these shows has gone up and up. And the wiser ones have realized that the change in the industry is total. Its not a few things here and there that need to be fixed. Downloading has crippled the industries ability to make money from sales. Sure, many do still make some money this way, but the change in scale is unbelievable. Put it like this – sales of Sesames Treet were 100 thousand in a week, and we got to number 2. Getting to Number 1 now can be done with a fraction of those sales. The drop is huge.
The single no longer promotes the album, and the band no longer tours to promote the album. Now, the single is almost pointless, the album promotes the band, and the tour is where the money is.
MP3s are still selling, its true. But again, it is scale that matters. I could sell 500 records on a new release, but when I sell a new MP3? 50, maybe. If I am lucky, maybe 100, but I doubt it very much.
This is a terrible state of affairs if you are clinging to the old mode of business. However, if you embrace it, it opens up startling possibilities. Radiohead made an album where people chose how much people wanted to pay for it. NIN gave one away for free recently. And they could both do this because they were no longer fixed into contracts with their old record labels. They dealt directly with their fans via the websites. There is a freedom in the ashes of the old music industry. And if its good enough for two of my all time favorite artists, its good enough for me!

Bearing this in mind, at the end of December 2007, I decided to close the main Kniteforce site and build the Kniteforce revolution. For a while, visitors would only see the holder page…




18 months or so before I did that, I made Supaset 4 a commentary on the rip-offs and the idiocy of the current hardcore scene, which I was enjoying very much :o) I made a radio show that I could play live, complete with news reports and adverts, which is a daft idea whatever way you look at it. I deliberately chose the most inappropriate records to remix – “Help” being the pinnacle of unsuitability. This set was a huge success for me, and also a great deal of fun both to make and play. I know that the future of my career, like many in this industry, is based on the live show. So I better be offering something that no one else can offer. Mixing one hardcore tune into another just wont cut it. I think I knew the change that was coming on a subliminal level, before it got to this day.


And I have, and will, continue to push the sets forward, and in different directions. At the time of writing, I am up to Supaset 8 and have just started work on 9. You can download these sets from this website. And then there is the monthly podcasts of course, and, most importantly, the free music!


As for the future? I am still releasing vinyl, but simply for the pleasure of it as it is now a guaranteed loss to do so. Thats fine, because I long abandoned the idea of selling records as a way to earn a living. By 2007 I could see that I was reaching a point where I would have to go out and get a normal job if I was going to continue to run my business that way. This was not something I wanted to do as it would mean working hard at a poo job for little money to live in a dump area of the UK. And that I wouldn’t have time for music so much.
The other option was to leave the UK and live in the USA. This was appealing because there is the potential for more work musically, and at the time, the dollar was worth half the UK pound, cutting the living expenses considerably and giving us the freedom to make big changes to the site and the business.
So thats what Becky and I decided to do. It took 10 months of paperwork and sodding about, but I finally got here a month ago (at time of writing).
Here are some pics of the leaving party I held…














And so, here we are, at the latest reincarnation of the website, with the music I spent the last 15 years of my life available to download for free. Its a new future, where I can podcast to you, promote sets and music, and do what I want with them without the burden of selling a physical item. Its going to be interesting to see what happens – it may all end in tears. But for now, I am having a great time, and hope you will enjoy the site and music as much as we are!

Luna-C

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