Dubstep DJ NDAs – Legal Jargon

Artistry is sort of a secret profession namely because you make money from your creativity. This means that when you discuss certain elements of your show with someone else you need to be protected that thus said person doesn’t go out and do what you are planning to do. In other words you want to legally bind the other party to not tell other people, sell or discuss your show secrets to anyone that is either competition or not.

These forms are called NDA’s or Non Disclosure Agreements and are very important if you want to do something unique. Normally businesses use NDA’s when they are dealing with an external business and want to keep their secrets safe. A NDA isn’t just for the time of the show, you can even contractually bind someone for up to a year or two, which is nice especially when you’re planning on using your technique or show secret for a significant period of time.

How do NDA’s apply to DJs?

Well the way the NDA will work for a DJ is when he or she implements something unique within their show. This could be a surprise for the public, but the club or venue will need to know in advance. So if you want to keep the venue’s mouths shut, you’ll need to work on an NDA. What would have happened if DeadMou5 didn’t set up an NDA for using the Mouse head? In no time people would have gone out and started playing with similar apparel. Luckily DeadMou5 was able to brand himself with his gigantic mouse head that anyone else attempting to do the same would have come out to be a “copy cat”. If you have something interesting and unique and don’t have it branded yet, then the NDA is your best ally.

What should go in my NDA?

The NDA is basically a contract that binds the recipient for a certain period of time and thus must specify to what they cannot talk about or what they need to keep confidential and for how long. You should also state within the NDA the punishment for breaking the contract. This way the person signing the contract won’t come out and claim he did not know.

So here are the basics of the NDA:

• Between who and who is the agreement
• What the agreement is, or what is to be “confidential”
• Time the agreement will be valid for
• Punishment if agreement is broken
• Signatures

Obviously the NDA should be written in superb English or whatever the language you are using, so if you are not a writer you should definitely think about getting some professional outside help. People don’t understand the importance of perfection within the professional world and with simple things like spelling mistakes one could lose a lot of potential business.

Get your NDA’s signed and maybe even notarized if the contract or show is substantial. It is always better to go that extra mile when it comes to working on your paperwork. You want to have absolutely every “T” crossed and every “I” dotted. The importance of having the business of your music completely under control is great, without it you won’t be able to break into more professional venues and will be stuck playing weddings and parties. Therefor, don’t simply focus on your music…focus on the business behind your music and you’ll see that when the two meet in perfect harmony…you’ll become a success.

Bassnectar’s “Divergent Spectrum”

Bassnectar has amassed a die-hard following due to his electrifying, intense and trippy live shows.  His use of drops differs in live shows compared to his album versions, and that is typically the only difference between his album and live concerts.  This ability to change what the listener is used to hearing and giving them more suspense than expected is what keeps his fans coming back for more.  It is fairly common knowledge that when listening to dubstep the ideal and really only way to fully enjoy it is while amassed in a crowd of eager listeners at a festival.  The reason to buy such an album without the proper equipment to truly enjoy the range of frequencies and effects I would only assume is to play the album in a slightly more optimized listening environment. (i.e: At a club, in a vehicle with decent speakers, etc).

The First Listen:

On first inspection of Bassnectar’s album “Divergent Spectrum” it seems that an audiophile’s basement equipped with simple 2.1 speakers just won’t cut it to get the full effect of what the music is capable of on the full spectrum of frequencies.  Thus, I have listened to the entire album in a vehicle with Bose speakers and had the eq set at default to feel the full production value and frequency response intended.  Getting into specifics of the album now, many of the tracks garner the formulaic “sine-wave crunch bass-punch” using triplets to offset the eighth-note/sixteenth-note rhythmic pulse.  A prime example of this somewhat cliché, but expected dubstep phenomenon is in the chorus of the first cut “Upside Down”.  This first track is supposed to be the stand out cut off of the album because it hits hard the entire duration. There are a couple tracks that come close to or surpass “Upside Down’s” drive, but the majority of the rest are primarily used as filler.  You don’t need a music degree to realize that most albums are based on this filler, as only certain songs can be listened to more than once and become addicting to listen to them again.  Only The Beatles could write an entire album filled with addictive, non-filler songs in my opinion.

That being said, “Voodoo” is by far my choice for a song that I can listen to again and again, regardless if it’s in the proper listening environment. It has a certain inexplicable way to make it seem like I am in outer space, or listening to a classic space-war video game.  The use the synthesised melody on the keys is very catchy, and the hip-hop drum track lends well to it.  The bass-synth-crunch chords really do add the necessary canvas for the track.

Other tracks worth noting that demand at least a second listen are some of the obligatory remixes. The Gogol Bordello track “Immigraniada” is remixed with the emphasis on the original track and not so much placing dubstep-y synthesised-cruch on top to crowd the melody, form or essence of the track.  This technique is not used in “Red Step” by Bassnectar and Jantsen.  He pretty much makes the original track unrecognizable but it is a remix that stands out from the others on the record.  It has a deeper perceived listening environment compared to his other remixes, and is audible even with car speakers.

The Final Word:

“Divergent Spectrum” is worth picking up if you have an addiction to well a utilized dubstep maker, and a decent speaker setup, and don’t mind purchasing an album almost entirely comprised of filler.  Otherwise go witness Bassnectar to get the full spectrum of the experience he creates at his live shows.