The future of the pro audio industry?

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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Arpangel »

Airfix wrote:The future of the pro audio industry may not be music - Can you imagine that?

Yes I can, and it’s been like that for ages, music has been an adjunct to other things for a long time, not the focal point.
Yes, there’s still a lot of music being made, but it’s not a major part of the current Zeitgeist, like it used to be.
It’s video, it’s gaming, it’s films, it’s advertising, it’s ring tones, call waiting music, background, not foreground, it’s not a major changing force in peoples lives anymore.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Arpangel wrote:
Airfix wrote:The future of the pro audio industry may not be music - Can you imagine that?

Yes I can, and it’s been like that for ages, music has been an adjunct to other things for a long time, not the focal point.
Yes, there’s still a lot of music being made, but it’s not a major part of the current Zeitgeist, like it used to be.
It’s video, it’s gaming, it’s films, it’s advertising, it’s ring tones, call waiting music, background, not foreground, it’s not a major changing force in peoples lives anymore.

Yep, but it can still have a profound effect at a personal level, and the reward when you're able to reach someone in such a way makes it all worth while. :)
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

As an industry I would agree that the money is no longer in recording artists and bands for their own sake. It's now moved heavily into soundtracks for games, especially, and films/ big-budget-TV.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Airfix »

we await the next Elvis - you never caught a rabbit
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by MOF »

we await the next Elvis - you never caught a rabbit

“ You ain't never caught a rabbit”, a strange lyric. Putting aside the use of ‘ain’t’ instead of ‘haven’t’ it’s a double negative, so the hound dog did catch a rabbit. :lol:
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Airfix »

MOF wrote:
we await the next Elvis - you never caught a rabbit

“ You ain't never caught a rabbit”, a strange lyric. Putting aside the use of ‘ain’t’ instead of ‘haven’t’ it’s a double negative, so the hound dog did catch a rabbit. :lol:
Recorded in Mono!!

True - i misquoted Elvis there - what was i thinking? Thanks MOF. But i think the song meant the opposite. Bloody Americans.
Mono took away nothing from the energy of the tune. My friend mono. I press that button on drum mixes - great for vol balance.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by ManFromGlass »

mono makes you work harder on a mix.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by awjoe »

The Red Bladder wrote:
Fortunately for all of us, it is what goes on in front of a camera that costs real money! That alone spares us from the equivalent of the plinky-plonk noises that pass for music coming from bedroom studios everywhere. (Though there's enough dross on YouTube - some of which I am creating!)

I'd like you to elaborate on this. I don't see a dollar cost associated with what goes on in front of the camera. That's talent, and talent doesn't cost money. It costs something, sure - but that isn't measured in dollars. I mean, I've got a certain amount of talent (laugh if you like, but it's more or less true), and what it's cost me has got nothing to do with money.

The Red Bladder wrote:The cost of equipment is almost nothing when compared to the cost of real talent.

Yeah, but what does it cost, in dollars/poinds/yen to develop talent? It's not financial, it's psychological. Look, one of the reasons I'm engaging you is because I like what you say in your posts. I want to know what you think. What's the cost of real talent?
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by awjoe »

Hugh Robjohns wrote:As an industry I would agree that the money is no longer in recording artists and bands for their own sake. It's now moved heavily into soundtracks for games, especially, and films/ big-budget-TV.

But if you're not a gamer, and if you go to the movies/TV for the story more than the soundtrack, where do you hear your music these days? What's the internet version of pirate radio? And who'd be listening to it? *That* is where I'd want my stuff. Just saying.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Terrible.dee »

The future of the "Audio industry" is this:

Be good at what you do.

Be REALLY good.

Be really good and you will have a "Future" in the "industry"

If you aren't willing to put in the work.....don't bother. Though I made my living in it, I can tell you the "Music industry" will eat you alive if you don't show it who's boss.

It's NOT for the fain at heart.

....I must preface this advice by saying....there may not be a "future" in ANY industry. the way things appear to be heading.

So I would recommend getting right with God.

THAT is the only industry with a "Future"

The good thing about getting right with God is that you will find yourself put into the best possible place for you to work and live......seriously....No hand wringing, no "decisions" you just wake up one day, the phone rings and you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

....or you can do things your way......with what the world looks like right now?

Good luck with that.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by Drew Stephenson »

awjoe wrote:
The Red Bladder wrote:
Fortunately for all of us, it is what goes on in front of a camera that costs real money! That alone spares us from the equivalent of the plinky-plonk noises that pass for music coming from bedroom studios everywhere. (Though there's enough dross on YouTube - some of which I am creating!)

I'd like you to elaborate on this. I don't see a dollar cost associated with what goes on in front of the camera. That's talent, and talent doesn't cost money. It costs something, sure - but that isn't measured in dollars. I mean, I've got a certain amount of talent (laugh if you like, but it's more or less true), and what it's cost me has got nothing to do with money.

The Red Bladder wrote:The cost of equipment is almost nothing when compared to the cost of real talent.

Yeah, but what does it cost, in dollars/poinds/yen to develop talent? It's not financial, it's psychological. Look, one of the reasons I'm engaging you is because I like what you say in your posts. I want to know what you think. What's the cost of real talent?

Well, a big name actor or actress will cost you several million dollars for their time. That's your dollar cost. You hope that their name on the poster will pay for itself in terms of getting people to turn up and you hope that their talent will ensure a good set of reviews to enable you to make your next movie.
If you want the proverbial 'all star cast' then you multiply that budget many times.
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Re: The future of the pro audio industry?

Post by The Red Bladder »

awjoe wrote:What's the cost of real talent?

Session musicians start at around £100 an hour. Actors a bit less. Plus costs of course, so if you find just the right face for a role and you get an online audition and it all looks peachy, you still have to fly that actor to the studios and put them up. The same applies to musicians.

If you are a headline stadium act then you must find at least $8k a week per musician for touring, plus a good hotel room and full board. But then you are getting between $5m and $10m for a gig.

blinddrew wrote:Well, a big name actor or actress will cost you several million dollars for their time. That's your dollar cost. You hope that their name on the poster will pay for itself in terms of getting people to turn up and you hope that their talent will ensure a good set of reviews to enable you to make your next movie.
If you want the proverbial 'all star cast' then you multiply that budget many times.

Something like that! It all starts with the script. If you have a killer script (or a killer franchise) in your back pocket and that script has a main protagonist that is a strong yet quirky role such as 'The Equalizer' or 'Die Hard' or Riggs in 'Lethal Weapon' you may get your 500lb gorilla to attach themselves to a project for what is known as 'points on gross' (% of box-office). Very often, it is the 500lb gorilla that is fronting the money and has put the project together.

But you only ever know that a film can actually go ahead when the camera starts rolling and the money is secured with your accountants (or Barclays Film Finance on a sale-and-lease-back deal) - and even then, things can happen!

Getting that star performer is what moves the project forward and shakes the money out of the trees. The first question any backers/investors/studios/distributors ask is "Who's in this turkey?"

If the answer is Mrs Millie Tooley of 17, Oil Drum Lane, Sidcup, you get shown the door. If the answer is Brad Pitt, you get to hear "Please, come in! Sit down! Let's talk!"

Music, film and the arts in general - names open doors. Sam Mendes makes a film and $100m is no problem whatsoever - the angels line-up, waving their chequebooks and the product placement agencies get the Audis and BMWs and Sonys and Apples of this world to front the costs in advance.

You or I make a film - it had better be cheap!

I once mixed a live tour of a big-name UK band that had several number ones to their credit. The venues were packed but the playing was truly third-rate. It transpired that not one real member of the band was in the band. The band leader loaned the name of the band to his cousin for a percentage of the take.

But the name was good enough to get the punters in!
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