This is the greatest and last golden age of recorded music

[Hard Truth]

Many of you think that file sharing will ultimately kill the music industry and reduce the quantity of professional musicians. If you are correct, then it will probably never get better than it is now. There are more CDs, downloads and other forms of recorded music available now than ever before. If you don't have access to a one of the great megamusic stores like Amoeba, which have larger inventories and more variety now than ever before, there are still all of the online sources, ranging from Amazon to iTunes. The thrift shops are filled with cheap LPs. It has never been easier to access music from all over the world. There have never before been as many older releases reissued. It has never been easier for small time local musicians to make their product available thanks to the internet.

 

Since the world's population is larger tha never, and the death of the professional musician hasn't occurred in a big way yet, there must be more professional and amateur musicians than ever before. The major labels may be signing fewer acts, but there seems to be as many, or more, smaller labels than at any previous time.

 

So it has never been better, and many think it will only get worse. So go out there and buy a lot of content and enjoy it before its too late.

 

P.S. If lots of people buy good musical content, they'll make more available.

[Jeff da Weasel]

I'm full of optimism for the present and the future of music, both recorded and performed live. The great democratization of artistry is happening now. Never have there been more tools in place for a person to have a successful career as a musician. It's just not anything like it was for the past 30-40 years.

[blue2blue]

 

Many of you think that file sharing will ultimately kill the music industry and reduce the quantity of professional musicians. If you are correct, then it will probably never get better than it is now. There are more CDs, downloads and other forms of recorded music available now than ever before. If you don't have access to a one of the great megamusic stores like Amoeba, which have larger inventories and more variety now than ever before, there are still all of the online sources, ranging from Amazon to iTunes. The thrift shops are filled with cheap LPs. It has never been easier to access music from all over the world. There have never before been as many older releases reissued. It has never been easier for small time local musicians to make their product available thanks to the internet. Since the world's population is larger tha never, and the death of the professional musician hasn't occurred in a big way yet, there must be more professional and amateur musicians than ever before. The major labels may be signing fewer acts, but there seems to be as many, or more, smaller labels than at any previous time. So it has never been better, and many think it will only get worse. So go out there and buy a lot of content and enjoy it before its too late. P.S. If lots of people buy good musical content, they'll make more available.

 

 

One hears a lot of crap on the airwaves (and presumably sees a lot of crap on MTV) but there's also a lot of good music.

 

And there are some great new ways of getting it, too.

 

In general I'm absolutely delighted by my music subscription service. It allows me access to a huge array of music in relatively hi fi (about 192 kbps average bitrate WMA, far higher than the most popular store through most of its history).

 

 

What I do seriously worry about, though, is the current tendancy to squash all dynamics out of music... some of the new music I would be listenng to otherwise is simply too damn unpleasant to listen to in its release form (with harsh highs and no dynamics).

 

And the tendancy to "remaster" past classics to these new competitive loudness standards is worrisome at best. As long as the original masterings are still available -- and new remasterings are clearly marked, I can live with it. But when the only versions available of old favorites are brittle, harsh, and almost violently loud (compared to the rest of the tracks in my playlist, that is -- my ears literally ached for hours after the new Interpol record came in on my playlist and it was, oh, I dunno, about 4 times louder, effectively, than the tune that preceded it), I consider that an artistic crime comparable to the colorization of movie classics. And that was all but banned by the professional guilds in Hollywood.

 

Are we, as members of the music industry, going to ignore the valuable lead of our colleagues in the film industry and allow our classics to be destroyed by the tin-eared, music hating people behind the loudness wars?

[UstadKhanAli]

I'm always flabbergasted when I hear someone saying that no more good music is being made. I feel like I live in a different world from them, as I'm really excited about a lot of the music now. You just have to dig a little more for it since there is so much music out there now, largely because of the democratization of distribution.

 

For those who love adventurous music of all different kinds, I highly recommend that you check out Aquarius Records.

[slight-return]

If you are correct, then it will probably never get better than it is now.

 

I suppose there are alternatives...like a renassiance (which I kant spel ) of the amateur

[i suppose this is where we post the interweb chestnut essay abt the change in the sense of "amateur" http://www.studio360.org/yore/commentary070602.html

 

man, thats become about as de rigeur as the Albni essay on major label contrats or the negativeland stuff on sampling ]

 

Some of the deep future sci-fi goes with the "twilight", "with folded hands", etc idea where liesure, as opposed to profession becomes the primary mode

 

 

 

Since the world's population is larger tha never, and the death of the professional musician hasn't occurred in a big way yet, there must be more professional and amateur musicians than ever before.

 

From a math pespective, I'm not sure we can make a truth perserving inferrence that population growth and continuation of the professional musician requires (ie "must") that there be an increase in professional and amateur musicians

[there could be a structure where, for instance, the absolute number of musicians stay the same...but the muso/non-muso ratio changes as the total population increases]

 

 

eh, take it for what it is, just a comment on the numerical analysis - not a disagreement with the position

[Anderton]

All I know is that we're going through a period of transition. Transitions are never easy, but what happens afterward can vary from sucky to magnificent. It'll be interesting to see how this all ends up...

[John Sayers]

we tend to forget that of all the musicians that have ever lived 99% are alive today and competing with you

[Hard Truth]

Anderton wrote "All I know is that we're going through a period of transition. Transitions are never easy, but what happens afterward can vary from sucky to magnificent. It'll be interesting to see how this all ends up..."

 

That reminds me of this:

Duckworth: "Do you think everything works out for the best?"

John Cage: "Maybe not the best, but everything works out to something."

[Phil O'Keefe]

we tend to forget that of all the musicians that have ever lived 99% are alive today and competing with you

 

Based on my experiences recording a bunch of 'em - "Bring 'em on!"

 

Then again, there IS a lot of good music being made today, and a lot of new avenues for exposure for artists. But like always, there is a high percentage of muck and "average" compared to the amount of gems to be mined. The new gems are definitely out there, but you have to dig through the so-so stuff a bit to find it; things are not going to be spoon fed to you via radio like it was when I was a kid, so the new paradigm is both a blessing and a curse IMHO.

 

I never thought of the studio down the block, or the band across town as my "competition", or the standard I tend to judge myself and my work by. I always tend to look to the masters - records done by artists I admire (it always starts with the song for me...) and recorded by my "heroes" - GM, Bruce, Phil Ramone, Geoff Emerick, JJP, etc. etc.

 

By that standard, I always feel like I have more work to do... sometimes, a lot more work to do.

 

OTOH, the better the songs, and the better the sound sources and musicians, the better I tend to sound.

[John Sayers]

we tend to forget that of all the musicians that have ever lived 99% are alive today and competing with you Based on my experiences recording a bunch of 'em - "Bring 'em on!" OTOH, the better the songs, and the better the sound sources and musicians, the better I tend to sound.

 

 

very true Phil if you want a great bass sound - get a great bassplayer works every time.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Hey John, I've got a couple of questions for you mate. Mind if I drop you a PM or email?

[John Sayers]

sure Phil- no worries

[slight-return]

I don't think it's a great great comparison, but audio(radio)drama has gone through some transitional humps...maybe there's something in there to look at

[Phil O'Keefe]

sure Phil- no worries

 

HC PM sent - thanks John.