Contacting producers - yay or nay?

[TW1306]

In my time surfing Discogs I've seen quite a lot of still-active trance/progressive producers who were around in the 90s/2000s have links to social media etc on their artist page, so I was wondering if it'd be considered rude/'taboo' to get in touch with some and ask a few questions about production? I would love to get some tips from people who were producing at the time, but I definitely wouldn't want to end up annoying them.

(To clarify I don't mean big names like Armin, Ferry, Matt Darey etc - I'm not naive enough to expect a response from superstar DJs of course - but maybe 'lesser-known' artists who are still active)

[vurt]

it's always worth a try
some may ignore it, some may just say thanks for remembering me! others may have the time to share

dont know till you ask

[GaryG]

I tend to think if you're on 'social' media then you're open to being contacted, kind of weird if you put yourself out there then get annoyed when people actually contact you... Maybe some are weird, only interested in business opportunities, I'd wager most would be rather flattered at having their ego stoked.

[ralfrobert]

Just try it. In other areas where I am active, I was surprised which of the people took some time to assist and which ones ignored me.

[Unaspected]

Don't ask; don't get.

[TW1306]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'll see about sending off a few messages then I'm not too sure what exactly I should ask in regards to improving my stuff but I'll figure it out.

[thecontrolcentre]

"Shy bairns get nowt"

[ProdByOJ]

Idk but I think some of these producers would be happy seeing someone still cares about them and appreciates their work

[CrystalWizard]

Go for it, even the "famous" ones might surprise you. Anybody that gets bothered is probably not worth contacting, but it's more likely they would be happy to hear from a fan.

[MsFarith]

it's definitely not rude to get in touch with people, but if you keep messaging them and they leave you on read then that means you need to move on

[TW1306]

I'm not sure what exactly to ask honestly, I'd like to get some advice from contemporary producers of course but asking 'how did you make this specific sound from this track' or something like that wouldn't really be helpful in general, if that makes sense.

[vurt]

something like "what advice could you offer me, im struggling with : arrangements:"

obviously arrangements could be anything, i don't know what you are struggling with particularly.
maybe also include a few sentences about why you struggle with it.

then see where the conversation goes.
just be courteous and friendly and im sure you'll get a few replies here n there.

[olis224]

I tend to ask about advice how to finish tracks and got one really helpful from Nhii - finish track in 2 days if not - leave it - come back in 2 months

[Unaspected]

I tend to ask about advice how to finish tracks and got one really helpful from Nhii - finish track in 2 days if not - leave it - come back in 2 months

That's pretty good advice. Stay with the energy but when it's starting to roll off, keep inspiration burning with something new or an old track that you want to work a little more on. Eventually, you'll finish something. Hehe.