A Working Theory on How to Fix the Music Industry

This is not meant to be a know-it-all post, but the start of what I hope to be a discussion on how hard it is to make money as a musician, and my thoughts about ways this can be fixed.

I want to start with a couple of generalizations that I am basing my ideas off of:

1. Most music consumption is done through streaming
2. Music has become more popular in the background (e.g., in the car, in coffeeshops, malls, etc.) than it was in the 45 era, or even in the album era
3. Many popular musicians spend lots of time and money on recording
4. Music doesn't have the same dynamic range as it once did (in part due to the loudness wars)

As these are generalizations, it's not hard to argue that some of them are not completely true, and may be overly simplified. #1 and #2 are likely something you may have noticed, while #3 and #4 would be less obvious; #4 in particular may not have been something that most would have noticed, but is a phenomenon that has been subtly happening in the mastering of popular music for the last 30 years or so. Greg Milner's phenomenal book, Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music does a great job of contextualizing the history of where and why the Loudness Wars began. For those unfamiliar though, my one sentence summation: in order for a song to sound louder (without the volume actually increasing), a song is mastered to have fewer dynamics (the differences between highs and lows) in order to sound (but not actually be) louder, and therefore have a higher chance of being heard. Bass especially is significantly increased on most modern music so as to be more easily heard in the background.

Caption: from Wikipedia's page on the Loudness War; 3 different remasters of Michael Jackson's song Black or White.

I should interject by saying that this is not an indictment of how we listen to music, or the quality of the music that gets mastered to sound loud. Instead, with this in mind, I have some ideas on how the music industry needs to begin re-thinking itself in order to make money.

A straightforward approach to re-thinking the music industry model

Twenty years ago, using computers to record music was something only those with decent technical know-how and impressive processors were able to even think about. Now, between free software like Audacity and Apple's Garageband, making music has become so easy and cheap. Moreover, recording equipment has become increasingly affordable and easy to use. The $200 Blue Spark Digital microphone or Audio-Technica AT2020USB may not sound the same as a $4000 Neumann microphone with a $10K preamp, but listening on low volume in a car or in a noisy coffeeshop, I'm pretty sure nobody would be able to tell the difference.

Musicians need to spend time learning how to use recording equipment, and begin recording themselves, rather than using studios. This allows them to create music for a lot less money, and with almost the same end result. Semi-professional musicians and independent record labels should move away from the idea that recorded music needs to sound perfect and polished.

Unfortunately, my idea would cause the role of the recording engineer into near obsolescence. However, the increase of home-recording over the last fifteen years, coupled with the digital music revolution, this has already begun. Moreover, this isn't to say that nobody should use a record studio - popular musicians, celebrities attempting a music career, and those without any technical know-how may need access to a proper studio.

Home-recorded music has other added benefits too. Often the precision and clarity of the studio obstructs the potential for more emotion and personality being put into the music, which can be rectified by finding the right moment at home to record.

Sometimes I listen to studio-recorded music and wonder how many takes were done in order to capture the most precise sounding take. Drums are more often created through samples rather than real performers, and guitars are recorded in such a technically adept way that the sounds of fingers moving are practically nonexistent.

I'm not suggesting that finished recordings should have wrong notes, out-of-tune vocals, or flat-out guitar feedback (unless that's what you're going for), but music can and should have a little bit of soul in it, and hearing the sound of fingers moving up and down a fretboard can sometimes make songs sound so much more real and personal. Even free digital recording tools allow for overdubs, touch-ups, and creative editing.

Mastering matters. Getting the right dynamic balance at the right volume can make a song sound radio-ready no matter how little it cost to record.

Perhaps in an effort to continue to find work, our hardworking recording engineers can begin to learn how to master music. It is a far more difficult skill than it seems, and even though there are web-based platforms that master for you (e.g., LANDR, the nuances of a professional mastering job can make a bigger difference than an expensive microphone.

Lower cost recordings can result in more money from streaming, and can make it easier to increase output in shorter amounts of time.

Some artists release multiple albums or mixtapes per year, while others release a new album every few years, sometimes waiting for financial support from record labels or touring cycles. If stopping a tour to go to the studio is a costly endeavor, then learning how to home-record eliminates the need for the total slowdown.

If more artists recorded at home, it would likely become closer to the norm, and most people wouldn't even notice the difference.

Okay, so maybe I am saying that recording studios are the next Blockbuster. I mean, if video rental stores were replaced by Netflix and Hulu, what's not to say that the recording studio's natural successors are Spotify and Tidal.

In summary: if more musicians learn how to home-record, the cost of making music goes down, and allows for the greater potential to make money even from the limited payouts from streaming services. Moreover, music becomes more personal, imperfect, and honest.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Let me know what you think about my ideas.