For the last article of 2017, we decided to team up with Revealed Family, a great page known for bringing interesting news and honest opinions on the table. Revealed Family decided to write a brief analysis of one of the most important labels out there, Revealed Recordings. Despite being slightly in disagreement with their cynical vision, we decided to introduce Revealed Family’s point of view, added our brief final analysis and leave you to be the final judge. Don’t forget to let us know about your opinion!
If you’ve been following Hardwell’s label Revealed Recordings for a long time, you would probably agree Revealed has gone downhill this year.
By that I mean that people don’t really care what Revealed has been putting out lately. Numbers don’t lie – on YouTube, 2 years ago, Revealed releases would almost always have couple hundred thousand views, now barely anything reaches 100K. One could accuse Spotify, which definitely took its piece of cake, but I wouldn’t say that’s the only reason. Add to that our page’s post interaction is multiple times higher on “throwback” posts rather than new music.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Revealed is putting out bad music, but it’s putting out way too much of it and individual releases don’t get the attention and promotion they deserve. Let’s go back to the beginning of 2017 when Revealed changed their artworks to a way simpler and streamlined design – because, for us, they were releasing way too much, way too fast to make a “nice” cover for each track. I wouldn’t say that a cover plays a major role in track’s success, but it’s definitely a sign of cutting down some effort that goes into the release. Having 2 releases every week seemed like a good thing, right? More great music, shorter ID wait.
But over time, this resulted in the artists being unsatisfied with the promotion they got, and naturally seeking out other labels (Mainstage & Maxximize seem to be a highly-desired alternative). 3 or 4 years ago a Revealed release meant a Hardwell live play for at least a couple of months, people talking about it, getting excited. Hardwell said it himself – Revealed releases are all about what fits a Hardwell set.
Now, if you are lucky enough, you will get a play a week before it’s out and that’s it. Some exceptions exist (Maddix & KURA mostly). Many of this years releases were EPs and compilations – another move that minimized the exposure of each individual track and the artists behind it. Furthermore, HOA hype has lost its charm owing to those messenger sneak previews. A huge part of the Revealed hype for me and many others was Thursday at 18:00 CET: a brand new cover would drop and we would discuss and try to guess who is it.
Sneak previews ruined that.
Back then, HOA was my favorite part of the week. Now? It’s Hardwell exclusives you already know, and promos sent out by always-the-same labels. Another sign of this is Hardwell & Friends EP, where Hardwell selected some of his favorite upcoming talents, collaborated with them, very likely in order to get them some attention. Which commonly backfires, because people notice only Hardwell in the title.
Before, when I used to see a Revealed logo on a track I would click on it because I knew it would be a great one. Nowadays I’m not so sure. It could be great, but it could also be a mediocre track never heard in a Hardwell set. I’ve spoken to many upcoming producers who wanna get signed to Revealed. The issue they all seem to face is, when they send something like a progressive house track (which we all still love), they get a reply that “style is outdated, we need something more 2017.” And if they go with “2017 sound” aka KURA or Olly James style ripoffs, they get a “too unoriginal, better luck next time”. Which gets me thinking – since when a good music gets outdated. If something was good for 2014 it would be good in 2017 and vice versa.
I’d take another “Left Behinds” over all the releases Revealed has put out this year combined. Makes me sad to write a fairly negative review, being someone who has been a Hardwell & Revealed fan for 6 years now. Thank you to EDM Reviewer for this opportunity and the freedom to express our viewpoint on this.
Revealed Recordings Releases
Dutch DJ/producer Hardwell presented his very own imprint Revealed Recordings in 2010.
This was Revealed Family’s analysis. You could agree or disagree, but you must admit that they raised some solid points, and we want to thank them for their honesty. However, expressing EDM Reviewer’s opinion, we think that 2017 has been a transitional year for Revealed. The first few months were complicated for the label, so the bosses decided to revolutionise the scheme. This meant losing some of the old “charm”, but introducing new ideas, like their site, their chat system, their attention to demos and producers (like giving acapella, stems, and a lot of sample packs). The music hasn’t been as good as last year (even if that’s a personal opinion), but there is hope. Revealed is changing, and only the time can tell us what will become.
What do you think?
Show comments / Leave a comment