Group 6 - Steven McGuinness, Darren McLaughlin, David McNeill, Peter McVeigh and Emmet Mulholland

 

The D.I.Y. Generation

A Crisis or a Revolution?

 

Introduction

 

Our concern is with the current musical climate. Together we feel that certain changes in the last 4 or 5 years in the music industry, and in how we access and enjoy music, are leading to a new generation of musicians, producers and consumers. No-one can doubt that music has changed a lot recently, with so much focus now on the Internet and success-stories of unsigned artists taking over the music world in record-breaking time. But how has this change come about? Will it take us in a new direction?

 

More importantly, will it affect how we listen to and critically analyse music in years to come?

 

Who are the DIY Generation?

WE are the Do It Yourself Generation of musicians and consumers. We own computers, we enjoy making and listening to music and we have found a way to combine those things, otherwise we would not be studying this course!

 

How did it begin?

It began as the worlds of music and computing technology merged and developed with the Internet and with social networking.

 

Where is it leading us?

We don’t know but it is interesting to speculate about, which is why we got together to discuss it.

 

How has it affected our musical climate?

Music is freer than ever! In terms of producing music, more people are doing it for themselves. In distributing music, more people are doing it for themselves, using the Internet. In sharing music, peer networking has helped to bring record labels to a state of quiet panic.

 

Has music become diluted?

Is all of this new music just flooding the industry with repetitive, heard-it-all-before rubbish? Are we losing touch with originality, classic idioms and the language of musicology which has taken centuries to perfect?

 

Or are we on the verge of a new musical age?

Perhaps this is the beginning of a new revolution in music, made by people…for people. Could it generate new ideas? New genres? Provoke a reaction from the music industry conservationists? Create a whole new language with which to describe and analyse music?

 

Recording/Production

 

Traditionally, an artist would be approached by a record label with the opportunity of making an album. They would be set up in a professional studio with a team of engineers and a producer who would implement their skills in the recording, mixing and production of the artists songs. Those songs would then be mass produced and distributed to stores by the record label, assisted by an appropriate marketing campaign. Of course, there also exist numerous independent recording studios, run by engineers/producers with industry experience who are willing to hire out their facilities and skills to artists for a substantial cost. Only artists with considerable financial backing could make use of these facilities to record this music, therefore the usual aim was to seek recognition from record labels willing to invest time and money in them. However, this recognition has traditionally been difficult to establish and so the spiraling cost of recording and producing their music has often caused would-be artists to become stifled and lose interest.

 

One of the major reasons for the emergence of this new age of Do It Yourself artists has been the shift in the focus of music technology toward consumers. Manufacturers have increasingly sought to provide professional-level equipment or alternative solutions at cheaper prices. The competition between such manufacturers, along with numerous innovations and new technologies, have seen a massive paradigm shift in music technology in the last 5 or 6 years.

 

A quote from Federico Bersano Begey in his article ‘Getting The Perfect Mix‘ from the ‘The Guide: Music Industry 2007′ supplement of the Independent Newspaper:

“…affordable digital technology has made it possible for a new generation of artists to start producing records - without anyone’s approval…”

 

A New Digital Era

Consider this typical computer setup from a recording studio, circa-2002:

PowerMac G4 500MHz

256 Mb RAM

18 Gb Hard Disk

Digidesign Pro Tools 5.1/ Cubase VST/24 4.0

Numerous outboard hardware processors

Cost upwards of £3000

At that time, this cost of setting up a digital recording studio would have put many people off the idea. As a hobby, it was beyond the reach of most consumers. For experienced musicians, the alternative option of recording in a professional studio with qualified people was a much more feasible solution. So how have things changed?

Huge advances in the fields of music and computing technology have occurred both independently of one another, and in their ever-increasing connection. Originally, combining digital technology with music production was seen as an experiment or a solution for the problems presented by analogue equipment. It soon developed and expanded, with innovation being high on the agenda for many manufacturers. The rate of these developments has increased steeply in the last 3 years on many fronts:

Affordable computers with incredible power

High-quality consumer audio interfaces and controllers

Competitive DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) development

‘Virtualisation’ of the studio space - streamlining studios by removing hardware and virtualising it with software (more affordable than hardware units)

Innovations and competitive manufacturers providing for the new ‘pro-sumer’ demographic, driving down costs

Leading to…

The Project Studio

An affordable home production solution

A new generation of domestic songwriters/engineers/producers

Access to almost the entire world via the Internet

A massive rise in global music productivity and circulation - a mass-production cycle

Now consider this modern computer setup from a simple Project Studio, circa-2008:

Apple MacBook w/Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz)

1 Gb RAM

120 Gb Hard Disk

2in-2out USB Audio Interface

MIDI Keyboard Controller

Passive Desktop Monitoring

GarageBand (free with every Mac)

Logic Studio, Pro Tools LE, Cubase Studio 4 (all under £300)

Numerous software plug-in’s to replace physical hardware units

Cost of around £1200-£1400 (less than half of the circa-2002 setup cost)

What is also interesting about this current situation is that, removing the additional equipment from the setup and leaving the laptop computer alone, it is still possible (with GarageBand and built-in microphone/line-in socket) to record simple songs, mix them and export them for online distribution. The laptop costs £700, this is the minimum possible expenditure for a piece of essential equipment which, as well as providing the many other utilities of a personal computer, can become the core of an artist’s project studio and live performance setup. It is a portable recording studio with a lot of power and capability, which has led to the laptop becoming an extremely important aspect of today’s music technology market and practice. MIDI devices such as keyboards, trigger pads and software controllers are becoming more portable and more functional in tandem with these changes, putting such high-quality devices in the hands of aspiring songwriters and producers at very low prices.

The Impact?

More music from unknown artists, creating a massive online catalogue of unsigned, self-marketed material available to anyone with an internet connection

Peer-to-peer networking overshadowing traditional music distribution by the industry

Music has become ‘watered down’ by a new generation of artists writing/recording/producing/promoting by themselves en masse

Is putting music back into the hands of the people a good thing? Or has the critical ability of the record labels to spot potential, worthwhile talent been sorely missed?

The Internet and Musicians: A New Art Movement

The Internet and Musicians

• Myspace (social networking)
• Youtube
• Itunes
• Online Radio
• Band Websites

Myspace

• www.myspace.com
• Launched feb 1999
• Over 300 million users
• Local sites for Australia, Brazil , Canada (French and English), China, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latin America (Spanish), India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, UK, USA
• Artist profiles can have up to 6 songs which automatically play upon loading of screen
• No restrictions on quality of recordings that are uploaded; anyone can showcase their music
• Optional free download
• People profiles can display one song of a band of their choice
• Users do not need to be logged into view music
• Sending comments and messages is free
• Merchandise and cds can be sold
• Upcoming gigs, tours and news can be posted on blogs which users can sign up to
• Bands can be searched by genre, name, location etc.
• Myspace runs a competition for the “Gibson/Myspace” stage at download festival for unsigned bands
• Videos can be embedded from sites like youtube showing bands music videos or live performances

Youtube

 

• www.youtube.com
• Created February 2005
• Over 100 million videos are watched every day
• In Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, USA
• Anyone with a user account can upload videos of anything as long as it is not deemed offensive
• Bands can show live performances and music videos but so can anyone who is registered
• Bands success – ‘Ok Go’s video for their song “Here It Goes Again” gained a lot of radio play and airtime on music channels such as MTV because of its recognition on Youtube.

iTunes

 

• iTunes store opened in April 2003
• Has sold over 4 billion songs (over 70% of all digital sales)
• In Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, or the United States
• Artists do not need to be signed to upload songs and only need to fill in an online application form to be considered by Apple and have their songs sold in Apple’s own AAC file format and mixed at 0dB
• At the end of february, Apple announced that iTunes is the second biggest music retailer behind Wal-Mart

Online Radio

• People can listen to an online radio station from anywhere in the world unlike traditional radio – more choice
• Local example – Londonderry trio ‘Fighting With Wire’

Websites

• Most major artists have websites
• Advertise events, gigs and sell merchandise
• Give links to shops that sell albums
• Sell albums independently - Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails

 

Conclusions

 

So we have discussed how and why this change has come about, and heard how it has affected one of our own colleagues in his artistic adventures. The reasons are both technical, and ethical. We now have access to the technology that was beyond our everyday grasp only years ago. We can quickly and effectively put our musical thoughts and ideas onto a hard disk and then onto the Internet for the world to enjoy. We can reach friends and fans worldwide with the click of a button. The old avenues of demo tapes, hotheaded record executives and big-budget marketing schemes seem to be becoming a thing of the past. Our music really is in our hands now, but is that really a good thing?

 

The changing face of music in our generation

Consider the similarities with the musical movements of the 50s/60s/70s etc. and how music broke away from the church and regulation to be free, poetic and rebellious/controversial. Are we getting to that stage now in an artistic and ethical sense? Are we breaking away from the industry to put music in peoples hands the way we want it to be heard?

 

New genres, sub-genres, cross-genres…

The one thing music is definitely doing is developing and crossing over genres (indie and disco for example). An attempt at originality, or have ideas just simply run out?

Consider how this new generation of music lovers seem to reject the traditional musicology and language of music, but are developing a new tongue as well as a new ear for music. Modern un-trained musicians tend to speak in different terms and perform without traditional idioms.

 

New idioms being introduced?

Are we identifying with new idioms? Or just re-working old idioms into something slightly different? Taking the rhythmic ideas of one idiom and the harmonic ideas of another and merging them artistically, for example. The rise of ‘glitch’ music is another important example, as its characteristic sound has developed because of the digital nature of that particular musical idiom. Will this continue to happen?

 

Digital technology allowing more experimentation

Due to the limitless possibilities provided by new digital technology, we can interact with our music in more ways than ever. Consider the work being done with sensors, MaxMSP, the Yamaha Tenori-On device, the Jazz Mutant series of touch-screen interface devices and the fact that MIDI has seen a new revival in a new breed of controllers and instruments. Can we expect this experimentation to evolve into new genres and styles of musical performance breaking into the mainstream musical community?

 

Laptop performance

The laptop is becoming an instrument in its own right. Not only is it possible to record and produce music with one, its also becoming more popular to perform with one on stage. They can be used as samplers, keyboard patches, guitar amplifiers and effects processors etc. as well as instruments for electro-acoustic and acousmatic performances. An important example of this is the amazing development of the Ableton Live software program from a simple performance device into a fully-fledged production suite in a matter of 3 years. Also consider Apple’s inclusion of its MainStage application in the Logic Studio production suite, making performances utilising Logic Pro much more streamlined and functional. Surely this is in recognition of changing trends and the prospect of what is to come.

 

Self-produced and self-distributed music flooding the new online market

It’s more accessible than ever and more portable than ever. Practices have been changed. Consider the change from buying a CD on release from a store and listening on a home hi-fi system to downloading from iTunes and listening on an iPod constantly as you go about your business. Has the art of ‘listening’ changed? Has it just become an autonomous act? Many musicians and industry professionals fear that we are becoming conditioned to this lifestyle and that portable, digital music has desensitised us to our most beloved art form.

 

There are more questions than answers, because the changes are still happening. We can only look at the evidence around us and speculate on the future trends. We can be sure that technology will be the key to how these trends develop and the foundation to a whole new generation of music.

 

The End.