Technology has totally reshaped the music business. Twenty years ago it was still common for people to pay $20 for a CD, and you couldn’t give vinyl away. These days, you can’t give CDs away and vinyl has made a retro comeback. For people who understand audio recording, it’s amusing – most of us upgraded from LPs to CDs because the pros (no warps, no clips, no pops, no limited dynamic range, longer recording time, no limit on amount of bass on “inner tracks:, no degradation with each play, more portable, easier to store, better frequency response) outweighed the cons (smaller artwork, slightly less warm sound). I have my doubts about the long term prospects for vinyl, but right now it’s gained a small but loyal following. But for most small time music makers, it’s too expensive to produce.
Nope, the new music model is becoming a girl or guy with a laptop. You write, you record, you produce, you master, you market, you advertise, and you work hard at it and keep going, and eventually maybe you can make a living or get picked up by some company with deep pockets who can help you in exchange for a cut. There are still bands, but let’s be honest – how important is a drummer or a bass player if you’re making your own pop music? You can make something that sounds radio ready on a modest laptop with modest software in pop. It’s mostly drum machines and synth bass.
And so we are in the era of one person does it all. It used to be rare. I heard, my whole life, that you can’t make an album by yourself. And of course you could then, and you easily can now. A TON of music you hear on TV commercials and shows is made by one person with a computer.
So the tools are all there, but you have to be good at so many things. And the thing is, very few people are good at all of them. I don’t know anyone who is a “Jack” of all of those things. More like a 4 of diamonds. That’s why there are so many hobbyists out there (like me) doing it all, but falling short of getting noticed, because there’s a 4 of diamonds in the marketing or advertising or mastering or songwriting or whatever.
Guess what… who cares? If you’re making your own music and putting it out into the world, and that’s your goal, that’s totally fine. Nothing wrong with it. If you make your own music and you don’t release it, that’s fine too. By far the person who benefits the most from me making music is me. To me, anything I get licensed is gravy, and anything that people listen to is gravy.
But there’s not enough talk about this new era we’ve entered. I keep seeing YouTube channels still centered around the rock band idea, like it’s 2002 or something. Yes, there are rock bands, and yes, it’s fun to play with other musicians. But it’s also very impractical. And a whole new generation of music makers is realizing that they don’t have to “find their musical soulmates” to go do music. And if you are a singer and songwriter who wants to make a living at music, the worst thing you could do would be to tie yourself down to a band, where you need 5 people to agree on every gig, every song, every contract, every big and small decision.
Having said all of that, I love playing with other musicians. The only “rule” should be that you should do what makes you happy… unless you want to “make it,” in which case you being happy is secondary to doing whatever it takes to get to the finish line.
