Is the whole AV industry going through massive change?

[The Red Bladder]

Presteigne equipment hire is the latest UK-based media company to close following the collapse of both Televideo and ProCam Take 2 last year. ProCam employed 150 people, so not small beer. Presteigne's collapse puts 40 out of work. Televideo put 44 out of work.

Yes, I do know that the C19 shut-down caused a nasty bookings drought, but at the same time, new facilities seem to be sprouting up everywhere - next month we hear that Dimension will officially open a new virtual production complex in West London, in collaboration with DNEG 360 and Sunbelt Rentals. Pinewood is expanding and has been acquiring facilities worldwide.

And yes, I do realise that AI generation and virtual studios are far cheaper and easier to use than hiring an entire studio and building sets and hiring crews and/or getting location clearance and schlepping all that paraphernalia and crew to heaven-knows-where.

Is this just the terminally ill being given the last rites, or is the whole AV industry going through massive change?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Is this just the terminally ill being given the last rites, or is the whole AV industry going through massive change?

Its been in constant massive change ever since the industry started — both constant technological change and constant operational practices change, and constant production method change.

There's nothing new here... just companies that became too inflexible to cope with the changed working practices post covid.

[N i g e l]

not AV related but the festival industry is also struggling post covid and were chasing a VAT cut from the GOV.

[The Red Bladder]

Its been in constant massive change ever since the industry started — both constant technological change and constant operational practices change, and constant production method change.

But it seems to have been going a bit nuts lately - AI and virtual sets are being hailed as replacements for almost everything. I was talking to a VFX guy about building a school corridor for a one-off scene and he said "If it's only a one-off and we don't see the guy again, why not AI it?"

So now we are entering a world of bland AI music, bland virtual sets with that surreal luminous quality they all seem to have and me-too boiler-house scripts and TV shows - and every damn film has to be part of a franchise.

We are losing something here!

[Hugh Robjohns]

I agree... but we lost it long ago when the industry became all about the money and nothing else. Cinematography, characters, storylines and scores became irrelevant as long as it made money through merchandising, games, or whatever. It's now big news when a director eschews the green-screen and CGI for real images and stunt performers!

And the major Studios won't even commission a film unless profits are guaranteed, which is why they live on redioys, unimaginative woke remakes rather than risky original scripts.

[OneWorld]

I think more than ever, to prosper or even just to put food on the table, in the music industry, you have to become a live performer. No matter how realistic AI is, and it is getting surprisingly good, when it comes to performance will watching a singing robot be a more enticing watch than seeing Taylor Swift leaping about in her skimpies or some bronzed adonis strutting his stuff. Though the issue of BlandDroids, Hollowgraphs (or whatever they're called) that are 3D digital images is there snapping at the heels of organic performers, as the ABBA show in London has demonstrated.

I went to UDIO after seeing a post on here and thought, here we go, I'll type in the lyrics of a recent ditty, which I wrote for a friend. And UDIO came back with a version of the song better than my own, my friend saying straight off the bat - "WOW that's so catchy" I thought there's a peep through the door called the future if ever there were one.

Will AQ supplant music writing? Nope, it will run alongside the organic alternative. But if, say, a library music company wants some tunes to flog as background music in supermarkets etc, easy peasy, let AI do it.

Anyone making themselves an expert in the use of UDIO etc might well find themselves in demand.

[Forum Admin]

I went to UDIO after seeing a post on here and thought, here we go, I'll type in the lyrics of a recent ditty, which I wrote for a friend. And UDIO came back with a version of the song better than my own, my friend saying straight off the bat - "WOW that's so catchy" I thought there's a peep through the door called the future if ever there were one.

I've been super impressed with UDIO.ai over other AO offerings thus far (though it's like the DAW Wars, with products leapfrogging each other with new/better functions until the other DAWs catch up).

BTW I edited your post to spell UDIO correctly (not UIDO) - it's AUDIO without the A.

Suno vs Udio
You have to check out the song the host of this Future Of Music episode 51 gets UDIO to create for him - super impressive!

https://futureofmusicpodcast.com/suno-a ... -showdown/

[OneWorld]

I went to UDIO after seeing a post on here and thought, here we go, I'll type in the lyrics of a recent ditty, which I wrote for a friend. And UDIO came back with a version of the song better than my own, my friend saying straight off the bat - "WOW that's so catchy" I thought there's a peep through the door called the future if ever there were one.

I've been super impressed with UDIO.ai over other AO offerings thus far (though it's like the DAW Wars, with products leapfrogging each other with new/better functions until the other DAWs catch up).

BTW I edited your post to spell UDIO correctly (not UIDO) - it's AUDIO without the A.

Suno vs Udio
You have to check out the song the host of this Future Of Music episode 51 gets UDIO to create for him - super impressive!

https://futureofmusicpodcast.com/suno-a ... -showdown/

Yes I agree 100% and by the way thanks for fixing my tyop, I have dailysex

[OneWorld]

Ooops - dyslexia

[merlyn]

There are still good films made. I saw Civil War, and maybe good isn't the right word, as it was pretty harrowing, but it was powerful. There's CGI in it, but the CGI is used to tell the story.

Before Civil War, Alex Garland made Devs, which is a 'TV series'. Really it's a long film, like a lot of TV these days. We may be at peak TV, as streaming has also changed video, with Netflix, Apple and Amazon now producing media. TV may now be the more weighty medium, as spreading a story out over eight or ten episodes makes a work more like a novel than film's more short story form.

There's certainly a lot of money spent on TV series these days. Some examples are Fallout and The Last Of Us which had a huge amount of money spent on them.

[Forell77]

I think this is nothing new and its been ongoing. Governments worldwide are developing and updating regulations to keep pace with AV technology.

[Forum Admin]

Ooops - dyslexia

dailysex = dyslexia - That's a clever one I have not encountered before.

[Forum Admin]

...streaming has also changed video, with Netflix, Apple and Amazon now producing media. TV may now be the more weighty medium, as spreading a story out over eight or ten episodes makes a work more like a novel than film's more short story form.

Agree with you here merlyn. Streaming video has not brought about the awful greed that the likes of Spotify exhibit with their pathetically low royalty payments to musicians; au contraire, Netflix TV series have generated a ton of work for actors, directors, producers, gaffas, best boys etc and all the production teams associated with any good series (my daughter works for some of them).

In truth my viewing habits have changed, I *only* watch TV via streaming apps these days - never terrestrial TV shows, apart from Sky News/BBC News and ITV News. But I do binge watch all TV content - I cannot abide waiting 10 weeks to watch content 1 episode at a time... that approach went down with the Titanic in my opinion.

Just binge-watched 3 series of Designated Survivor on Netflix (I watched it weekly when it first aired back in 2000s).

[OneWorld]

Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Disnae.....etc etc

Just think we all used to chunner about the telly tax (way too costly I admit, should be £50 tops) now as with the next door neighbour he pays for the lot and is paying over a £1000 a year, just to watch the telly, thanks but no thanks, and his missus still moans says "There's nothing on telly tonight" and the husband is glued to programmes such as "Salvage Crew Heroes" pay £1000 a year to watch a heap of scrap metal being hauled out of some ditch in Milwaukee, I don't think so, come back Steptoe and Son, all is forgiven!

[Drew Stephenson]

...the next door neighbour he pays for the lot and is paying over a £1000 a year...

If you're an NFL fan in the US, to watch every game this season I understand you'll need to juggle your subscriptions between 7 different services.
This fragmentation, and the general nickel-and-diming of the customer base is eerily similar to the early days of cable, and will likely end the same way.
Whilst the new pretenders chase their ever increasing quarterly returns and disappear down the road to enshittification they will open themselves up to either a new set of disruptors or a return to piracy.
And then they'll all swear blind it was anyone's fault but theirs.

[OneWorld]

...the next door neighbour he pays for the lot and is paying over a £1000 a year...

If you're an NFL fan in the US, to watch every game this season I understand you'll need to juggle your subscriptions between 7 different services.
This fragmentation, and the general nickel-and-diming of the customer base is eerily similar to the early days of cable, and will likely end the same way.
Whilst the new pretenders chase their ever increasing quarterly returns and disappear down the road to enshittification they will open themselves up to either a new set of disruptors or a return to piracy.
And then they'll all swear blind it was anyone's fault but theirs.

They are going to push the BBC out of business, and the other free to air channels will follow, then once they have the monopoly, they'll crank up the subscription prices. OK the BBC/ITV etc offerings can be hit and miss but between BBC1,2,3 ITV, C4, C5 and the miscellany of other Freeview offerings, I can always find something to watch, if one watches seletively, I have just finished watching the Women's Fooball qualifiers England v France, far better than NFL, whilst watching that I recorded that documentary about the Amazon, that place never fails to impress, I have also recordfed a few other bits and bobs from tonight, included a film on Film4 - plenty to watch, so Amazon, Netflix, and the rest? nah, here in the UK we produce some of the world's best telly anyway and I for one will miss it when its gone. And some of the 'Foreign films they put on Film 4 and BBC 2/3 are outstanding and thus widen my viewing options even furhter - NFL (Not Flippin' Likely - we got rugby anyway, cricket too, and it's free to air)

[Drew Stephenson]

I'm not an NFL fan either, just using it as an example of how the fragmentation is going to drive unwanted behaviours.

[merlyn]

I had forgotten that TV is also Gogglebox, Sewing Bee, Bake Off, Masterchef, Pro-Celebrity Tiddlywinks ...

It could be worth getting a Netflix subscription for a short time to watch Black Mirror and Better Call Saul, two classics of the twenty-first century.

[Forum Admin]

We rarely go to the cinema, as last time we coughed up it was so noisy with people in front holding up cameras to film the screen!! Same for many concerts now so I always book a tiered balcony seat or do not attend.

So, we have ended up with subs to most streaming media (Disney, Netflix, NowTV, Prime plus catch-up ITV X, so I can binge-watch ITV series without waiting weeks for episode 2 ....and we STILL buy one-offs like Dune 2 (£15.99 to rent, on Virgin).

I daren't tell you what it amounts to - scary!!!!!£££££

Oh yeah, also renewed TV Licence fee, 'cause apparently you have to have one to watch the streamers you're paying for monthly. Go figure...

[BWC]

I know our countries chose different paths long ago on how to pay for TV, but I'm now paying about half of what the old Cable TV bill was up to (without any premium channels) for Dis+, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, and Philo (which gives me access to all the "Cable TV" channels websites). That, plus a lifetime PlexPass, and I have far more content available than I have time to watch. ...and all for about $75/month. I don't do any renting (I can wait), I don't need any extra sports packages, and I pay annually whenever a discount is offered for doing so. I also pay with a card that gives a nice "cash back" percentage on that sort of spending (not factored in to the number given above). Personally, I've never been more satisfied with my TV setup. I'm sure it won't last, enshittification is already well underway, I have no doubt, but for now...

[Forum Admin]

I know our countries chose different paths long ago on how to pay for TV, but I'm now paying about half of what the old Cable TV bill was up to (without any premium channels) for Dis+, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, and Philo (which gives me access to all the "Cable TV" channels websites). That, plus a lifetime PlexPass, and I have far more content available than I have time to watch. ...and all for about $75/month.

Interesting price.

I'd of course heard over the years about the Cable Guy salespeople hard-selling 'cable' in the US and charging $$$ -- I always wondered what the heck this thing called 'cable' was that I heard being referenced on The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, I Dream Of Genie and the fabulous The Monkees US import TV shows that did air in Britain on BBC and ITV while I was growing up.

Then I discovered it in my US motel room when relaxing after a gruelling NAMM trade show in Chicago in the early '80s. That was an unpleasant first experience (or should I say 'Virgin Cable'?) channel-hopping (200+ back then, when UK had around 5 !!!) desperately trying to find anything at all of real substance to watch amongst the back-to-back game show after game show ['Family Feud', 'Wheel Of Fortune', 'Jeopardy!' and 'The Price Is Right'] mixed between endless news repeating the same 30-minutes of content over and over -- now why does that sound familiar?

"Gawd," I recall saying to myself under my breath, "I hope the UK never suffers this fate." Thanks to Monsieur Murdoch, of course, eventually it did as Sky TV was launched and the entertainment industry and Saturday night BBC TV Sports changed forever.

Personally, I've never been more satisfied with my TV setup. I'm sure it won't last, enshittification is already well underway, I have no doubt, but for now...

Enjoy the moment while you can.

[BWC]

Interesting recollections. Around these parts Cable was still a pretty new thing in the early 80's. The first box I encountered had a dial that went from 2 to 36. I think it was late 80's / early 90's before it got to hundreds (and eventually thousands, but still only about thirty or forty, at best, with anything worth watching). Also, the Cable TV in motels, and such, was a little different (usually worse) from what was available to the home subscriber. It wasn't a bad deal at first, but the price kept climbing, even as advertising density increased, until it was a bad deal. I'm sure things will go the way they always do, but until then, I'll do just as you say and enjoy the moment. In a pinch, I'm sure I could get by on just what's freely (ad supported, of course) available online. I don't think I've ever been so happy to not be a big sports fan, though. Some of those prices are horrifying!

[Drew Stephenson]

"Cable cutting" is a very big thing in the US at the moment. The big companies are consistently losing subscribers on a quarterly basis.
However because the same companies are often the monopoly broadband supplier they're shielded from the impact to an extent. But it is far from a healthy marketplace.

[merlyn]

What do you think is a healthy marketplace?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Oh yeah, also renewed TV Licence fee, 'cause apparently you have to have one to watch the streamers you're paying for monthly. Go figure...

Not quite, Ian. A TV Licence is required to watch (or record) broadcast TV programmes as they are being shown live on TV, or on an online TV service. Its also required to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including via BBC iPlayer.

Its the live-to-air aspect, mainly, that currently requires a licence..... but its clearly a funding model that has been outdated by technology. I don't see the licence fee surviving much longer, and most of what's left of the BBC will go with it along with a lot of other collateral damage to the UK media industry.