Tuesday, May 14, 2013

BT Slams Porter Robinson Over Unfinished Tracks

(Inthemix) BT treated his Twitter audience to a rare, lengthy diatribe on another artist, Porter Robinson. After preparing his readers for a “long story,” BT began to explain how he first found out about Robinson via MySpace three years ago. He says he struck up a friendship with the young producer (after talking with his parents – Robinson was but a high schooler then), and the two even worked on some tracks together.

As Robinson’s star began to rise through big room gigs, festival dates, and an official Lady Gaga remix, BT found him harder to contact – shrouded often by a team of agents, managers, and other “advisors.” While BT was understanding of this development, he describes Robinson himself as being “too cool to interact,” placing the blame squarely on the artist, not just his entourage. The tipping point came when Robinson told BT he could no longer finish the tracks they had begun working on together.

BT admits to having his feelings hurt by Robinson after being rebuffed by an artist who he felt personally responsible for bringing to a broader audience. But rather than make this a personal attack on Robinson (he calls the young DJ a “real talent”), BT goes on to use his experiences with him as an example of how the younger generation of DJs are similarly “self focused & selfish.” When he was an up-and-comer, BT says DJs like Sasha helped him, and he “vowed to pay it forward” when he could.

BT ended his “rant” with some advice: “So I hope you (and other young producers reading this) take this as a cautionary tale. Remember to act with respect and pay it forward.”

Tiesto, who BT shared Robinson’s tracks with and became an early supporter, weighed in as well, citing the lack of loyalty in younger producers (though TiĆ«sto’s original tweet has since been deleted).

BT has around 622,000 Twitter followers; Robinson has about 216,000. Thus far, Robinson has not responded.