2013 in Music

[Djeinus]

Here are my predictions:

The radio will still suck.

Some other genre will pop up.

Even more metal subgenres will be created.

Kurt Cobain will rise again to show us the way to reach Nirvana.

[Freewave]

Some of these predictions, others are possibilities, all are brony centered.

Eventually what will happen to brony music is that the big names will get signed, get bored, and leave OR they may get stuck in a rut of expectation by their fans or in repeating their style and presets. They may eventually be victims of a backlash (which is fair as EVERY popular musician eventually gets one). Brony Pop to appease EQD will continue to be a thing and cause smaller musicians to groan and 15 year old fans to moan. The future of brony music in 2013 relies on it's second wave of talent. Cancel that we're likely on wave 3 now tbh. If EQD doesn't stay hip to the change then the overall fanbase for music will falter but expect it to dominate everything as no one will give it a true run for domination. Expect some brony supergroups to begin and maybe even a few virtual bands. Eventually though the wave of new musicians will taper off if they can't get heard and they expect too much too quick, although it will always SEEM like a neverending sea of new faces (because it still is). Expect for people to stop lookign to show remixes when there's 60 of them every week. Fansites will continue to drop if they aren't popular or are understaffed, same with brony radio.

I have no idea if MLR will be around in 2014 or if Makkon will pull the plug but if it goes expect for it to ripple out to the community and lessen the influx of new musicians. At some point if the show can't inspire the music or vice versa expect for people to tune out and for it all to shrink into a nerdcore niche (but it hasn't happened quite yet). MLP may become a movie and could create a whole new fanbase and phenomena unaware of the previous years of fan action, quite possibly, and that could kill it (if it's a bad movie) or save it. Likewise Delancie's Bronycon documentary release may get national attention or be ignored. Expect more brony tribute albums like Sori 52. Expect the multi-tude of brony event albums arranged on MLR not to come into fruition but die during before the completion stage. Expect for people to try more exotic genres and sounds and be rewarded by sounding different from the rest. Many people will stick around and settle for slow growth rather than leaving. Expect for brony music to remain a huge secret to the rest of the music world unless some major magazine or website eventually starts noticing and "breaks" the news (which could expand it again) which really COULD happen, especially if bronycon continues to expand in size. Will some well known musicians eventually start the first bronycon "tour" or will the summer bronycons continue to be like a batch of summer festivals across the globe with musicians saving up and criss-crossing around? Expect more well known musicians to expect to be paid or for balloon parties to make it all happen (and cause even more drama and ruckus in the process). More than likely we're seeing less interest in the music and that will continue so we may easily start seeing it all come apart. Expect Tombstone to be around until the last fan has left the bronycon building.

[Nine Volt]

Well, I'm gonna post some serious thoughts on the near future of music.

Brony music is dying. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not, but people just are not as interested in pony related music as they were before. I mean, when's the last time we've had a song on the level of Rainbow Factory, Beyond Her Garden, or Discord? Not for a long time, certainly. I'm not sad to see it go, not happy, but definitely not sad about it. I really do want the talented musicians like Glaze or General Mumble to really broaden their horizons, maybe even get signed to a popular label. I expect Tomb to continue declining in quality. I expect (or rather want) Equestria Daily to either keep up with new musicians and feature good music with no care towards who the artist was. We get new musicians weekly if not daily, and some of them really are talented. If EqD can't keep up with the new faces, then people will stop caring about them. Equestria Daily's music thing annoys me because they intentionally discard excellent music for being non-pony or for the artist being relatively unknown, while they showcase Tomb's or Mando's or whoever's latest releases, even if they are shit, just because they've got a popular artist's name plastered to it. Fansites, as Freewave said, will continue to disappear due to understaffing or lack of interest from the community. Eventually even EqD will go under.

As pessimistic as this sounds, I can't say I will mind pony music dying. The fandom is shrinking, despite season 3 starting. There's always some kind of drama going on with the top-tier musicians, especially among the likes of Mic and Cats. Interest in pony music is dying fast, and that's a good thing, at least in some ways. As the desire to get on EqD decreases, people will stop plastering pony labels on generic EDM and will try out different styles in an effort to get noticed. As niches are filled by talented artists, new genres and styles will emerge and continue to be filled by those with the talent to do so. Of course, many will stay in the well-traveled path of genres such as dubstep, drum and bass, and house, and some will gain recognition for it as well, but not as quickly as those who fill niches with unique styles and songs. MLP's glory days have come and gone, and now people are struggling to maintain any interest in pony music. Some of the top-tier musicians have already left the fandom (Alex S. being among the most noticed).

Sorry for kind of jumping around in this little mini-rant, I just typed down whatever came to my mind.

[Mondogreen]

Okay, let's get this straight. Nobody in this fandom is getting signed to a label. As for my outlook, I think that you guys are complaining way too much. Sure, there's a lot of new talent, but instead of pushing yourselves to work harder and stand out, you just sit back and scowl, like it's the new guy's fault that you're not making tracks anymore. If you keep acting this way, then yeah, this whole thing's gonna dissolve and you're gonna have no one to blame but yourselves. It's amazing how quickly the idea of love and tolerance can go right out the window with this fandom.

[Freewave]

Okay, let's get this straight. Nobody in this fandom is getting signed to a label. As for my outlook, I think that you guys are complaining way too much. Sure, there's a lot of new talent, but instead of pushing yourselves to work harder and stand out, you just sit back and scowl, like it's the new guy's fault that you're not making tracks anymore. If you keep acting this way, then yeah, this whole thing's gonna dissolve and you're gonna have no one to blame but yourselves. It's amazing how quickly the idea of love and tolerance can go right out the window with this fandom.

Love & tolerance doesn't have much of anything to do with this but i will say optimism instead of pessimism is the key.

I agree that the community has gotta keep it positive and people gotta keep going no matter how tough it is and learn to roll with the punches. Fact of the matter is if anyone joined thinking you'd be popular like Alex S or Tombstone, it WON'T happen, i guarantee that. They were here first, they've been here for 2 years and built their fanbase, they're very talented in what they do, and they were partially built up by the popularity of fellow musicians that were just as talented and who equally created this scene as well. The mountain to climb to get even noticed in this fandom gets steeper every day. This is a marathon and not a sprint and anyone who hasn't realized that is setting themsleves up for failure. If you haven't planned on at LEAST a year or two on the path to be a better musician then you haven't put that much of an investment in how hard this will be or how tough it's going to be to get the feedback you likely may crave. Expect slow growth and be happy with it.

Now the good news... it's still easier then it's ever been to get on EQD thanks to music of the day, the brony community is still willing to give free help, guidance, and training on MLR. There's also a load of new people who are in the same boat as you who would be willing to check out your wips if you check out yours and are also looking for a friend and emotional support. The most important thing is to make good music and to keep doing it. And be CREATIVE and try to be unique in your own way.

If you're on the verge of quitting because no one paid attention to your 2 amateur show remixes then you didn't even give it a real try yet. In the end you will have to do this on your own and be both your own biggest fan and your harshest critic and you will have to know who you are and what makes you unique as a person and as a musician; to be the best that you can be. But yes, sitting around complaining and not doing something about your situation is a waste of time and if enough people do it then either mlr will just dry up until Makkon pulls the plug or the brony scene is just a glut of people who can't BE the next wave of talent. I certainly hope that neither of those happen soon but that's not up to me, that's up to you guys. Be strong, work hard, make friends, and stay positive.

[Raddons]

jesus christ

the "big names" are just guys living in their moms house making music on crap speakers. the thing is that they're having FUN with it, something I don't see lots of on this forum. that's why "brony music" is "dying".

god

damn

ugh

[Nine Volt]

Okay, let's get this straight. Nobody in this fandom is getting signed to a label.

There are certainly people in this fandom who could get signed if they stopped producing pony music.

As for my outlook, I think that you guys are complaining way too much. Sure, there's a lot of new talent, but instead of pushing yourselves to work harder and stand out, you just sit back and scowl, like it's the new guy's fault that you're not making tracks anymore.

You completely missed my point. I'm not complaining about new people and I'm still making tracks.

If you keep acting this way, then yeah, this whole thing's gonna dissolve and you're gonna have no one to blame but yourselves.

Again, completely missing my point.

It's amazing how quickly the idea of love and tolerance can go right out the window with this fandom.

Love and tolerate? Do people still take that seriously?

[ghelded_kultz]

Love and tolerate? Do people still take that seriously?

I don't think that was ever meant to be taken seriously.

-Soft D. String DeHooves

[Freewave]

Should you try to love & tolerate others? Absolutely. Should this be a phrase used by trolls and perverted? No. It's all about when, where, and how it's used.

[Mondogreen]

Nine Volt, buddy, I wasn't targeting you. I just see a lot of complaining and finger pointing going on and I don't really understand why. Giving/receiving feedback and chatting with you guys is awesome, but my real audience is the people that I hang out with outside of the internet. They like what I do and they're always happy to hear new stuff from me, so I don't need to go out of my way to impress a bunch of strangers, which seems to be a major goal for a lot of newbies. They don't understand that it's something to be earned not given, and that it takes time and patience, not just dedication and arm flailing. If you're good, you'll either get recognized or you'll get slept on, but as long as you're having fun with it, then who cares?

[Nine Volt]

Nine Volt, buddy, I wasn't targeting you. I just see a lot of complaining and finger pointing going on and I don't really understand why. Giving/receiving feedback and chatting with you guys is awesome, but my real audience is the people that I hang out with outside of the internet. They like what I do and they're always happy to hear new stuff from me, so I don't need to go out of my way to impress a bunch of strangers, which seems to be a major goal for a lot of newbies. They don't understand that it's something to be earned not given, and that it takes time and patience, not just dedication and arm flailing. If you're good, you'll either get recognized or you'll get slept on, but as long as you're having fun with it, then who cares?

Alright, alright, I'm sorry I was kind of an ass back there. I wasn't trying to finger point, maybe it seemed like I was though.

[ThatRobChap]

People will continue to say that brony music is dead/dying.
Brony music will continue to not be dead/dying.