Expanding The Scene: Music File Sharing

It’s been over ten years since Napster rocked the music industry. The online file-sharing movement continues in new forms whether it’s LimeWire, BitTorrent, or other p2p programs. While music file sharing changed how record labels do business, it’s also changed the way street dancers have evolved their dance. This is very apparent for Los Angeles poppers who once danced to old school funk than new school G funk and now embrace drum n’ bass, electro, dubstep, and glitch. Sharing music online accelerated the sensitivity of our ears to different sounds. And it pushed us to evolve our movement in ways that weren’t previously imagined.

Music has always driven new directions in dance. You can look at breakbeats accompanying the rise of bboying. The use of synthesized drum claps inspired the original generation of poppers to hit. And the fierce sound of “dark hip hop” developed alongside the rise of krumping in the early to mid 2000s. But while we can spend endless hours discussing the ethics of music file sharing, we’re focusing more today on how we’re hurting ourselves if we aren’t generous with sharing our musical inspiration. In the turntablist culture, a DJ might keep a few tracks secret in order to maintain an edge over a competitor. There are dancers who are equally secret with their music, but it can only hurt us in the long run.

The more we hide our music from each other, the less opportunity there is for us to interpret the music and introduce new approaches that can inspire everyone. We have to understand that we individually interpret the music in unique ways. While there are copycats and biters out there, a true artist is confident in his own abilities and knows that he can continue to evolve. Sharing music is simply a foundation to start inspiring the whole community. It doesn’t automatically give us moves or ideas. We listen to the music and interpret it with new ideas.

What new directions will emerging music inspire in our street dance community? Imagine if we hadn’t heard of dubstep or glitch or dark hip hop. Where would we be? Being a street dancer today means also being a music enthusiast. And when you enjoy music, isn’t it better to enjoy it with others? The next time you hear an inspiring track, share it with someone who you think might like it too.