What is the music business climate like in your area?

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:35 am

LOL- Thanks Davedog, how about this idea mics with servo motors that move themselves into the best postion Wink

Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:59 am

Rolling Stone said the scene of the year was in Baltimore.

I guess. I didn't really read the article, I was too entranced reading about The Mars Volta on the next couple pages.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:10 pm

i produce, engineer, play and mix in my studio- whatever is needed. i've mastered a few things but i tell em upfront that it's not my specialty and advise them to get someone else-- but sometimes people are more comfortable with someone they know and trust already. i've been lucky b/c my clients come to me for what i know-- not just the gear. i have a few who for financial reasons track at home in this DIY age (the engineering on the tracks is pretty rough i can tell you!) but in that case i'm all too happy to mix for them-- and they know they can't do better b/c they all have tried! Smile

i dunno where it's all going but i do feel like i am just starting to hit my stride. i try to only think of making something of beauty that will last-- not the biz side too much for fear it will depress me!

Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:48 am

I am in the Hudson Valley NY / Fairfield County CT area have been for a while. As a local performer things have not changed much. To get paid locally you still need to do covers and you complete with every other kind of entertainment from pool to Djs.

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:58 am

Here's another facet on the reality of "music" that I see quite a bit of...

There is a growing number of folks that actually listen to the music in their lives. But they are the minority.. and may very well be that minority for another half generation.

The music industry is no longer about the art. It's no longer about the music being a soundtrack for your life. It's about the delivery systems and the profit from the sale of those items.

Problem No. 1 - Where to get new music?
Clear Channel now owns the majority of the public airwaves. Congress sold out the local markets when they allowed the monopoly of Clear Channel to buy up as many US radio stations as they could.

You get nothing but the same generic crap on the radio in every state with a major market... and even minor markets.

The ISP's and tech companies are doing what they can to own what used to be the radio market. Granted, it is a much wider and diverse audience, but the truth is, these outlets are trying to do their best at delivering content at the lowest cost possible. So who gets shafted?? The artist.

I've said this before... I see young adults who are more interested in the latest MP3 player that can hold a bazillion empty3's, than ANY of the songs they actually put on the damn thing.

Hopefully the RIAA's change in attitude of lawsuits will actually get the ISP's working towards establishing real value of copyrighted materials.

While I don't see a quick end to empty3's (and poor quality sounding audio files) I do see them eventually dying. This is because bandwidth costs will eventually render them obsolete as the costs come down to deliver higher quality audio and video.

Studios are going to start to see, (if not already) the need to plug into multimedia services to draw better or more serious clients.

While I don't think these changes are immediate, I do see them happening within the next few years.

The real wildcard in this is whether the technology companies can be prevented from taking over the entertainment industry, and let the artists and their craft actually control their own destiny.

Until this final shakedown happens, the home recordists will still be pumping out mediocre quality as the standard and professional studios struggling to survive.

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:00 am

"I see young adults who are more interested in the latest MP3 player that can hold a bazillion empty3's, than ANY of the songs they actually put on the damn thing."

Brilliant, sometimes I think your just some hard ol' expat. Then you share nuggets like this.

I agree with a lot of your sentiments but then sometimes I wonder if you can ever get a good recording in a home built to be cheap and hopefully not fall over.

Studios are like sonic temples, rooms designed by people who've done the hard yards. Also, built with materials chosen for properties other than it being sheetrock.
Call me a purist but yeah I'm ranting.

To venture into on topic, I would have to say the music business in Melbourne Au is pretty hit and miss. Sure clubs still run things, there are festivals every other weekend... But there is no cash, still no cash. Even after fuel prices dropped like crazy and money became almost free, just an I.O.U and like 6 points to an average Joe with 15 pence for collateral... Anyways, huge drives sweeping the nation by banks selling credit cards and upping limits, sucking up all that loose change that's become available recently. This could all just be for Shoptember. So, all these factors aside. Things are running smoothly, no ones rioting in the streets that I know of. I just figured out how to deep fry chicken that tastes better than what Harland the Pretender could...

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:34 pm

I like what you all have posted here, but here is me, on the other side of the spectrum, my total equipment being a firepod, AT2020, Rode NT2-A, SM57 & 58, adobe audition, and fruity loops. I record in my dorm room at college, and my bedroom at home. Both are filled with junk, bare walls, and probably the most sonically confusing acoustics you could ever find. What's worse, is I don't even know how to record! I often times will just throw a mic up there, make sure it's not too loud, and record.

If anyone who makes music is like me, the fact that they are doing this themself, and hearing the whole song come together how they want makes them blind to what the recording quality actually sounds like. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, this is very bad, and I'm beginning to realize it. I will go back and forth between my recordings and a professional, and ask myself why it has so much more 'space'. Surely the room doesn't matter, my electric guitar is too loud to hear anything else anyways! Microphones don't matter, it's all in how you EQ it!

So these are what I think, and are hitting me with the hard truth. For what I have, I feel I have a decent recording. But I know that it's nothing compared to a studio. One of the things that I would love is someone writing a crappy little song, and giving out all the .wav files so that I could practice mixing. But I have no idea what a studio quality individual track sounds like, so I keep EQing, compressing, mixing until I find what's best for me. It's not working.

I try not to write "crappy music" but who knows. I can tell you that it's not some emo song with cliche lines, or some rapper spittin' bout da hood, or some nickelback-esque band that yells and sounds like they have the same singer all over the radio. I have probably about 50 songs now, and for what's going to go on my CD, I have about 9 so far. I'm not going to throw crap on it just because crap is what a lot of people want to hear.

I also feel like a studio would be very impatient with me. I do the singing, guitar, drums, bass, everything. It's so fun and fulfilling to make a song completely on your own. I'm not the greatest player ever, so I keep recording until I have it perfect. I want things exactly how I want them before I would even think of going somewhere else.

For me, recording myself is a temporary thing. I want to get my music out there as good as possible, and though it would be nice to be noticed, I'm sure it won't happen. I understand that you guys have to be making a living, but at this time in life, it's not plausible for me to be paying for it. But if I ever get noticed, you can be damn sure I'll be heading to a studio!

Sorry for the long response. Hope it wasn't a bunch of garbage.

P.S. - down with pop music! Evil or Very Mad

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Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:15 pm

I watched this post originally and am still interested in it. Here's my bitter take on the subject:

The music industry is fine and better than ever. (Yes, you just read that right - I know, I'm one of the more cynical and pessimistic cranks on this joint, but hey...)

The problem is:

1 - There are 100 times as many "recording engineers" now as there were in the 80s and 90s. We can blame all sorts of people for this - equipment manufacturers for making equipment cheap (but hey, we engineers like some of that stuff), so we blame MTV for romanticizing the life of a musician but since MTV doesn't play music anymore, how can we focus on them? Or can we blame the younger generation of musicians (ages 8-25?) because they want everything handed to them on a silver platter and don't want to pay for it? So they get cheap gear (or steal software) and claim that they're recording engineers. Then, they do it a couple times for themselves and then they decide to start offering their services to friends...
Wait...that's how I got into the business (sort of) 20 years ago! (Okay, I actually did this in college for a real JOB, but hey, who's keeping track?)

2 - There are 10,000 Xs more musicians (or so-called musicians) than there were in the 80s and 90s. Who do we blame for that? Instrument manufacturers that put instruments in Wal-Mart for $39 for a guitar?? $79 for a drumset?? Or do we blame MTV for romanticizing being a musician? Or better yet, making music more about looks than talent or ability? I kind of think that last one. Afterall, when you had to have talent or staying power, it was hard. There were a lot of "garage acts" but very few made the big-times. Now, you don't have to sing well, play well or have any industry stamina, you just have to be able to make 13-40 year old males get an erection while your song's playing on the radio or make the ladies swoon over you and your bad hair-cut and overly tight pectoral muscles. These are easy to accomplish - any personal trainer and/or plastic surgeon can make this happen for you if the price is right.

So, we have an overabundance of recording engineers and an over-abundence of musicians. The facts remain, good bands are out there. Many of them are recording themselves. However, many of those that are recording themselves are hoping one day to go to a real studio. The problem is, most people out there don't have a real studio. Just because bands aren't beating down someone's bedroom door to record there isn't a negative prognosis on the music industry. The fact is, many big facilities are still in operation and are doing quite well. Hell, when I opened up my smaller studio in an industrial park a few years ago, I had to beat the business away. If it weren't for the city closing me down (bastards!) I'd still be lining them up and knocking them down.

For that matter, my business isn't hurting. I've been increasing in revenue every year I've been in business (officially) since 1998. I continue to offer new services from VO work, duplication, printing, mastering, mixing, on-location work, consultation, design, etc. I still beat some customers away and still have some of the highest rates in the area (and will be raising them again in the new year.)

I think - if you're a seasoned engineer, hang tight. Also, consider diversifying. I'm doing all sorts of weird stuff nowadays that I would never have thought of before (synching with low-res video in post, making memory stick duplications, installing home theaters and church sound, etc.)

If you're a new engineer or a bedroom engineer, consider keeping at it. It may be tough and require patience, but in 20 years, you may have a steady flow of clients and a bunch of racks of outboard gear.

So, to that, let me add - the industry isn't suffering - it's changing. It always has and always will.

Remember the metamorphasis from mono to stereo (I don't...but some of you will)? LP to cassette (audio afficionados HATED the cassette...I still have a few cassette machines). How about the birth of the 8-Track player and the Quadrophonic systems? How about the first portable CD player you ever bought? How about the first CD you ever bought? Do you remember how bad CDs sounded when they first came out?

Now, who remembers their first computer (a real computer...not a TI or similar...I mean a Mac 2E or a Tandy...). Who remembers the first time you hooked speakers up to a computer? Who remembers computers that didn't have speakers and there was absolutely no need for them?

Now, who remembers the first time they hooked their computer into their TV or home entertainment system? Who remembers the first MP3 they downloaded (legally and illegally)? Who remembers the first MP3 player they bought...

You get the point. There are changes every day in this industry. The ones that are made out of greed usually end badly for those making the change. Those motivated in the spirit of music usually end well. Taking music with us is nothing new. In fact, it only shows how much people value music.

Look on the bright side - I think music is one of those quality-of-life measures that has been around since the beginning of time and won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Cheers and happy holidays!

Jeremy

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:55 pm

Well said Jeremy.

I guess the question one should ask is:

Do people in general still enjoy listening to music?

If they do, then there will always be a place for recording engineers.

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:04 am

I learned audio the same way as everyone else. One step at a time. My first recordings were done on a mono 1/2 track reel to reel Webcor tube tape recorder with a ceramic microphone. My first mixer was a bunch of potentiometers and resistors and connectors in a plastic box surrounded inside with tin foil. I learned electronics at the same time I was learning audio. I built a lot of my own equipment and modified commercially built equipment to suit what I wanted to do with it. I didn't know what I could not do and I was always learning. I hooked up speakers backwards and used them for microphones, I built a terraphone so I could communicate with my best friend across the street. I took courses in high school in electronics and drafting and started designing my own studio and control board and had it all planned out but it never got built. I went to various studios in my town and hung out. I watched and I listened and every once in a while I got to sit in the engineer's chair and listen to a playback. I talked to everyone that I could and learned my craft as I progressed. I had some good mentors and I had a lot of people that would critique my work. The harder I worked the more I learned. I went to college and got a four year degree in broadcasting and also ran my own sound company while I was in school. I got out and spent two years as a broadcast specialist in the US Army. When my hitch was over I went to work for a PBS Station as an audio engineer. I left there and went to work for a college as Director of Audio Services that lasted for 26 years and then I got in to mastering which is what I am doing now. I learn something new everyday and now I am the one who is mentoring young people. I would not trade my life for anything else I could have done.

As I grew up I watched the world of music and musicans change. When I was in high school and college there were a lot of bands some of them really really good some not so good. They traded personnel back and forth all the time and they kept growing in their skill level and what they were able to do musically. I recorded them and had a lot of fun doing it. I learned what it was to do all of this in mono or rudimentary stereo with everyone playing in the same room at the same time and me sitting in the studio and recording them. It was a big hoot. Then the whole world of multitrack came in and we were able to do things we were never able to do in mono or stereo and were able to have the lead singer double his parts as a backup singer. We were able to have the bass player come in an lay down his tracks on a Sunday afternoon since it was the only time slot he had and no one else in the band was even there. Music was not just about playing anymore. It was about what technology could do for the music. A couple of bands I recorded never saw the other members at any of the recording sessions. They still got together to rehearse and write new music but the recording sessions were mainly solo events. Music was becoming very fractionated and as more and more technology came in it seemed like the bands did not have to be as perfect as they once were. Things were still GREAT and I was still having a good time recording and mixing.

Then Roland and Tascam and a couple of other manufactures came out with all in one box recording consoles that not only did the recording but you could edit an manipulate the tracks inside the box. A lot of the solo performers went with the new boxes and soon the bands followed. Now they could do their recording when they wanted to in their homes and rehearsal spaces. My recording business dropped off and more and more people DIY'd themselves but what was missing was that they were not able to have another pair of ears or my skills when they recorded and their recording lacked the professional sound that I had given them. Another revolution was just around the corner. These same bands went out and purchased DAWs and audio interfaces. Now they could use a DAW to change the pitch of the lead singer, they could "pro tool" the drummer and make him sound like he had never sounded in real life, they could do all sorts of effects that would have been impossible a couple of years earlier and it all changed the way music was played and recorded. It gave the average musician working in his home the same level of sound that 10 years earlier would have meant a trip to the studio. They had more gadgets and gizmos than you could imagine and DAWs started being the be all end all way to record, edit and mix your music. The average musician could spend less than $1000 at have at his or her disposal a complete recording system that would do everything they could imagine and more.

So what happened to the music? Well since the singer no longer had to sing on key they did not have to rehearse as much and every wrong note could be "pro tooled" later. Since the dummer could be "pro tooled" he or she did not have to be as precise they could always fix it up later. Since the whole thing was done one track at a time one person could play and sing and be the band all by him or her self. Factor in the loudness war and grunge recording and you have a real mess. All the things that technology could do for the music was instead being used to make things sound IMHO much worse.

The virtually collapse of the record companies as we knew them, the lack of capital to showcase new artist, the growth of the internet sites such as YouTube and the online pirating of music have all changed forever the way music is recorded, mixed, mastered and put out for others to hear. People now worry about having a million tunes on their IPODs but fail to realize that they will never be able to listen to all the songs they have. They spend inordinate amounts of time downloading music (either paid for or pirated) off the internet so they can tell their buds they have 4,000 songs on their IPOD and are hoping to reach for 10,000 by years end. They walk around with a cell phone in one ear and a IPOD earbud in the other ear and say they are multitasking. Most people today don't ever sit and just listen to music. They combine activities so that they are always doing at least three things at once. Music has become the aural wall paper of the world we live in and it is is a fleeting memory because there is so much more just around the next download.

I miss sitting down at the dinning room table with my parents on a Sunday morning after church and listening to classical music. I miss sitting and reading a book while listening to some great music presented in full stereo from a great system. I miss Top 40 stations completing for my listening while in my car by having really good DJs promo new music while still letting me hear my favorite tunes. I guess I really miss music for what it meant to me as I was growing up and have not had that feeling since I heard the CD of Paul Simon's Graceland in my friends car as we were driving in Kentucky and wanting to go out and buy that CD as soon as I could.

Will music ever mean the same to me again? I am not sure but if where it currently is and is going I am not sure if it will ever become such a force in my life again. Too bad but it was a good ride while it lasted.

YMMV

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:17 am

Aww T.W.B, don't be so down. It's not all doom and gloom. Now, I know what looks to be the plasticification and the definite commercialisation of music has killed off the real point, it hasn't though, it's just like smog. I like how they way you wrote that, you didn't need to embolden the word grunge, yet it stands out like a sore thumb. I kind of know what you mean, Curt rocked but everyone else in that scene is a limp biscuit. ProTooled drums... I think it's got to do with that thing where people are calmed by the beating heart of their mother, you can see it in action when you stick an old fashioned clock next to a puppy, it relaxes them. Well, people are like that too, they like the sound of a clock. Now some people like a really well made, hand crafted grandfather clock, which has a slight shuffle between 4, 5, or even 6 ticks before the mechanism is back to the beginning, this is for descending weight driven clocks mostly, wind up spring clocks are for people who like to jump out of bed and go hard till they fall into a coma at the end of the night... I'm trying to get across a point about rhythm that goes unnoticed all the time. A definition of cadence is "Rhythm, Measured Movement". Cadence is everywhere. People have all sorts of routines, everything runs like a machine if you look at it from far enough away. You are seeking cadence in the presentation of music, in the organisiation and marketing of the businesses that deliver you your entertainment, your imaginations muse... And what a healthy one it is, playing and enjoying music is social, non-destructive (in most cases) and is a good exercise. Now, what am I winding on about, yeah, cadence... You may note how the people who want to be looked at, I'm not calling all "stars" attention whores or anything, just saying after the raping my senses have received from advertising mediums because of marketeers, anything that is now promoted is in the same basket... Hmm, drifting... Back to pro tooled drums... Now I firmly beleive that it is not that simple fact the electronic drums are in time that makes them sound better, it's the measured spaces in between, the bits that peoples imagination fills in. Some people have been bought up on digital clocks and need that digital tick. Back to attention whoring, that's what the music "business" boils down to, a massive amount of "look at me". Not, "listen to this"... Born in the mid eighties, everything sucked from the get go really... Cassette Tapes, this was how everything was sold. All the records had been burnt by people who do that kind of thing... I dunno, tapes sucked, then cd's came along and they were like little shiny discs of awesomeness. My first CD it was like a breath of fresh air to my airs compared to the tapes I had worn down and broken and spliced like a million times... And no phat thick nice yummy recording studio tape, brittle cheap cassette crap... Anyways, then I heard what instruments sounded like in real life... Never looked back. I get it now, music to me is about settling that want for an outside all encompassing heart beat and I want it in the air around me, not just emanating from a speaker but actually all around me. You can trick my mind by using speakers or I can just imagine I'm listening through a portal and imagine I'm in the room being encompassed by that goodness... When I listen to pro tooled drums, I imagine I'm in the dank room with the hunched recording fiend, click click click of the mouse... Ever had to sit in the room with someone playing solitaire randomly clicking a mouse... Hmm, have I ranted enough? Seemed like a nice place to unload. I'm sure I had a point, I think it's that the grass is always greener.

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:17 am

When I teach my students about folk music, (real folk music not the Peter, Paul and Mary stuff called "folk" by the press) I talk about music that is of, by and for the people. Every culture in the world has examples of musical expression that is commentary or essential to who and what those people are or were. It is used as a link to the past, present and future of a culture.

If you look at a culture's language, food and music you can use just those 3 elements to identify and differentiate that culture from any other culture anywhere in the world and anytime in history.
Music as Art is several degrees of seperation from that original folk idiom, although it is often used as inspiration or even material that great composers and musicians draw from.

Where does popular music fit in? It usually begins as some type of folk music or music connected with a particular subgroup of the population- blues, jazz, rock-n-roll, R & B, and yes, even grunge. What happens and has always happened is that whenever music is taken outside of its original "folk" beginnings and an audience/performer relationship is established, degrees of authenticity are lost. In music as Art, that is an attempt to transcend time/ space. In music as commodity that is to sell a product. Music as a commodity is at an extreme right now and (I would agree with greener - agreener?) that the downward spiral really began with the mid 80s and the MTV visualization of music.
Listening was no longer enough - we had to "see" our music, even though this is nothing new either - opera has been around a long time for a reason - its an extremely powerful medium to convey emotion. What has changed is that music is predominantly background to other "stuff" (video, movie, excercising, talking, reading, etc...)

The question that interests me is not where the recording industry is heading but where popular and classical music itself is heading. Are there still subgroups surviving in our current American culture? Are they capable of creating a new musical movement or idea? Yes, but...they've been sliced, diced, market analyzed and are spoon fed what to buy to be an "in" member of that subgroup by a corporate world that couldn't care less about expression unless it means money, so... the subgroup members will likely be recreating far more than creating, they've been given the same life experiences. 10,000 songs on my "grundge only" ipod.

Think about food? Do you travel much in the US? Almost all major cities are growing more and more alike with each passing year. The large chain restaurants are forcing the mom/pop restaurants to close (sound like Walmart, Guitar Center, Best Buy?) The end result is that regional is becoming less unique - not surprisingly the music is becoming homogenized as well.

Meanwhile Nero fiddles as Rome burns....Merry Christmas and all that.

Phil

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:44 am

....maybe i'm being naive?.....but why can't it be- "if people like it, then they like it"? - i understand the whole culture thing...but that's just people.- we gravitate towards what everyone else is doing....we are all a bunch of followers living amongst a very few leaders and trend setters.- that's how it's always been....especially in music.
i don't know...i guess i just don't see why everyone's getting their panties in a bunch...lol.
the only thing that is losing in music today is the money...most big corporations.....us musicians should be rejoicing!...kinda....i understand all the "downs" as mentioned...but look at the ups!- we have myspace, you tube, purevolume, etc...where millions of people have the oppurtunity to listen to our productions! we have cheap interfaces that can get us decent sounding results!
yes...musicians/recording engineers are just saturating the planet now a days with their DIY style, but like i said- "if people like it, then they like it". it's entertainment. that's the way it's been forever. sorry for rambling...but it just seems to me that the people that get really fired up about todays' music are only upset because of money reasons...not for the love of music.

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:08 am

Quote:

the only thing that is losing in music today is the money...most big corporations

jordy,

Lets take another look at the reality of the music business.

As a musician, sure, there are reasons to "rejoice"... you can now potentially be heard by millions. You can produce an album of music at whatever pace and reasonably decent quality you want. You can even create the end product in limited one-off quantities.

Lets say you spend about $10,000 on your gear, including all the raw materials. (a minimal investment)

You put your stuff on myspace, etc...

Let's say you get popular enough to pay for half of your investment... gigs, CD sales, downloads, etc. in a year. Well... you go and produce another album. But this time it only costs you $2000 for your materials. (You own all the gear right?)

This time, you only sell half of what you did previously. The music's just as good. Your prices are exactly the same.... So what's happened?

Then you find out people are taking recorders to your gigs and making bootlegs. Your music is now out on filesharing sites and no one is buying your music as before because they can get it for free. Then you find out that some company is using one of your songs for a commercial and they refuse to pay you, or to stop using the song... You threaten legal action, but now you gotta come up with a $5000 retainer for the lawyer.

So... now do you scrimp and save up for the attorney? Do you cash in something you own to stop the illegal use of your intellectual property?

Either way, you've invested at least $12,000 of which you've made $5000... you're $7000 in the hole and potentially more. What are ya' gonna do? I don't know about you, but I'd be pissed.

But according your logic, you got nuttin' to say.

Hey... it's only money...

Now try taking the true lifetime of loving music and invest $500,000 in a studio so that other musicians can have a great place to track at a nominal charge and apply the same logic of "it's only money."

Most professional studio owners are in it for the love of music. Few EVER expect to get rich off of their studios. Most just want to recoup their money before they die. The studios are NOT the enemy of the musician as many evidently think. The studio is actually there to provide the musician with as good of a end product as possible... and usually at a cheaper investment than DIY.

The real "enemy" of the music industry is the general public who is being monopolized by deep pocketed lawyers working for deep pocketed corporations that want/need to exploit the musicians and studios.

Just something to think about.