There was a time when Nervous Records was ahead of the pack. The label had its own distinct sound when it launched in 1991 and wasn’t afraid to give new producers their first major platform in the scene. They also weren’t afraid to dabble with other genres, even launching a label in 1994 to promote techno – still a highly niche genre then, as opposed to the behemoth it is today.

However, that label stopped releasing new music in 1997 – with one or two releases afterwards effectively given the dual branding treatment. And sadly, we don’t live in an innovative age for dance music at the moment – so this move by Nervous was depressingly predictable…

So what’s behind the decision by Nervous – run by Mike Weiss – to do this? A source close to the label told Ears To The House that “It’s hard to see it as being anything other than a financial move. Techno doesn’t make a lot of money in itself, but there’s a lot of it about and not that many labels putting it out. I think the plan is to then showcase some of the techier aspects of the other Nervous labels. Get them hooked onto the rest, basically.”.

Whether the likes of Drumcode has anything to worry about remains to be seen…