Not gonna watch the video or your garbage advertisement. Everyone knows the entire entertainment industry, movies, music, and television is satanic pedophilia. Based on the title of your video alone we already know.
There's definitely a discussion to be had about the state of AI and music, I've only heard the insane advances in it in the last few days. Should I make a video on it????
The pace of development is frightening. It won't be long before personalized music is auto-generated on demand for the listener. No royalties need to be paid to pesky musicians.
Yes definitely, what's interesting about AI and art is that yes people will be able to make insane music using AI and for some that will be the end goal. However, art/music is partially about the journey. I personally, have only played in front of a live audience very few times, yet I still play guitar almost every day for what? Well, mostly for me. On the other side of that is an audience. Some people will only care about the end result to listen to stuff they want AI or not, yet there's going to be a lot of people that are more interested in the "handmade" music. Pretty similar to paintings, technically with computers, digital art, fractal generations, printers, and now even AI art, a handmade painting is still more about the journey than the destination for the painter, and people appreciate handmade paintings more as well. There is going to be a market for AI art, but we still have people that appreciate the craft.
Classical guitar teacher for 28 years, my current students do not listen to music and they have zero guitar heroes. I have to beg them to check things out, it is really sad.
Trust me if you do come across a student that DOES have a guitar hero....you will throw up in your mouth when you hear answers. On the other hand a kid at work thinks Edward Van Halen is some old classical composer from back in the day. I comended the kid
@@skatertrev7 there are plenty that I don't like subjectively but possess and cultivate musicianship. I'm not a fan of Django (Reinhardt) what so ever but he's an incredible musician. There's a difference between someone like that and Tom Delonge.
I grew up during the album era. I learned to play guitar and bass, got pretty good at them, and dreamed of getting signed and making a living as a rockstar. I jammed with a lot of friends and had a great time, but due to the fact that I use a wheelchair and have some mental health issues, there were just too many barriers to properly pursue that dream. A few years ago, I starting learning to sing and in 2022, at the age of 50, I started releasing my own original music. It's very nichey (just vocal and ukulele), I still haven't found much of an audience, and I seriously doubt that music will ever be my job. But the fact that I can record a song at my dining table and have it on multiple platforms, among the music of my heroes, in just a couple of days is honestly satisfying enough. From a purely artistic standpoint, I definitely think it's better today.
You could have completely made up attributing that to Marley (I don’t think you did, just internet and all), and I haven’t yet looked it up, but that is a great quote either way. Thanks for that one.
You are free to expose yourself to things you are not good at Yeah it sucks, people might say hurtful things or are mean, but if you know what you're bad at, try to get better at it. Do something that requires you to knock on doors or talk to people, consult someone who's good at exactly that. You've got the creative thing down already, nothing wrong with focusing on weaknesses
Lately i have been going through my mom's old cassette collection and man let me say i have been having way more fun with that listening experience. Especially with mixed tapes that are unlabeled. To quote Forest Gump "It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" and that reins so true with old tapes and CD's sure spotify playlist's are great and convenient but not even knowing what is about to be next is a whole new level of excitement in music listening, Has really pushed me to be more creative with my own works. So i 10/10 recommend giving it shot. Just might walk away with new retro fav's you never knew existed.
I used to love making mix tapes - as John Cusack alludes to in High Fidelity, it's a labour of love. Sending someone a playlist really isn't the same thing is it? You get a real snapshot of the person who made it in terms of their tastes, and what they're trying to say, if they put any effort in. It's definitely something that'll come back due to the human/emotional connection element of it.
@@P.B.R._S._n_C. Nah it's not even discovery for me more just realizing my dude. I was born 91 so this ain't ancient alien tech to me like it is with Gen Z lmao. But i get it my little brother was mind blown at the mere concept of physical music.
@@tommykruesofficial I’m with you now haha I guess I just assumed you were way younger there! I was born in ‘88 so we aren’t far apart. Anyways I get what you mean in a way because my dad let me go through the attic years ago and I found a milk crate full of old records as well as a set of ‘87 AKAI speakers that somehow survived about 20 years of attic life. which started my vinyl hobby. Went and spent like $160 on a receiver with a phono input and the rest is history
I like that introverts were mentioned. I'm not just an introvert, I'm mentally ill. It's very difficult for me to go anywhere for any reason. It's difficult for me to deal with people (though, that doesn't mean I don't care about people.) I was in a band in the late '80s and early '90s and we had performed at our first gig. The guitarist and the drummer were thrilled by the experience and I absolutely hated it. I just wanted to record music. I hadn't played music in a very, very long time but recently, I've been re-learning guitar, bass and a little keyboards and there are so many more possibilities now. Okay, so maybe I won't become a famous musician but once I've got things going and can record again, I can put music out into the world and if anyone happens to hear it and like it, that would make me happy.
There are still gatekeepers in streaming music. Think about their "curated" lists, how do you think songs get on those lists? There is so much music being created now the hard part is getting people to hear it. Don't get me wrong, I agree it's better now in terms of artists ability to create music cheaply at home, but the volume of music produced today has skyrocketed which makes the problem of getting it heard difficult.
It's easier to produce music cheaply, but many artists end up creating a cheap product (creativity aside!): Only digital sounds, sampling, modelings, profilings, re-amping, auto tune, you name it At what point in time was a real instrument recorded (edit: ideally in a fully analog signal chain)?
@@m0-m0597 True but I don't think it matters in music in Video game devlopmet absulotly but in music all that matters is, is it good/ people like it... Like you could make a full anlog song littly by geting a sub $100 austic guitar and mic it up and post to youtube with a cheap phone and mic... But making it good is hard and even then it would have to compete with a produced peace using only free downloads on a littlal pato PC. Not saying nonone should I like having one real instrument I played in my stuff but nokone has to make their songs that way.
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough Okay, fair enough. But don't get me wrong, I'm not all about "is it analog".. instead, "is it real" is what I'm trying to get at. For example, when I went to the opera last year, I found myself tearing up a lot. And no I'm not trying to talk down like "I am so cultured", in fact I haven't consumed culture in a long time. But I'm trying to point out the difference between realness and how realness is substituted with digital production tricks etc. so we barely hear real real stuff anymore. I forgot the rest that I wanted to say
Making music with a computer does not make you a musician, actually playing a musical instrument makes you a musician and NO, a computer is not an instrument.
I don't agree on the creativity aside concerning cheap music, nowadays music that sales has no more creative, so, it's cheap in that regards also. Oh, and by the way, music reproduction was born analog! 😉
Nice video, but it always bugs me hearing youtubers gushing about the freedom we have nowadays. Here are a few points that I believe we should think critically about: - The online platforms are the new music industry. You can't bypass them, and your success depends on the algorithm and policy changes. - Being able to upload whatever you want is not freedom, not without a few caveats at least. To make a living, you will have to conform to whatever the internet audience is expecting, and youtube videos are actually more formatted than we give them credit for (topics, length, visuals...). Plus the sheer mass of people competing for attention is a high barrier to get over. - Survivor's bias: just because _you_ made it doesn't mean anyone can, even if they follow your steps. It's eluding the vast majority of people who gave up along the way, who could have been great artists if they had a structure supporting them. - Which leads us to hope labor: working hundreds of hours hoping that it will pay off in the long run. It seems we're accepting working hard for free and in isolation for online platforms, with the carrot on a stick keeping us going. Just because it's our choice to invest these hours doesn't make it okay. I didn't write all this to claim it used to be better, I just think it's important to stay critical and to expect more
Excellent points. And to imagine that this power and glory is pure meritocracy in action compared to the bad old days of the DJ gatekeepers is silly. The in-crowd game of music, 'TV' or YT and money goes on, just differently. Talent can still find a way.. We are fortunate, but the gates to financial success are still there. YT is freer than Spotify for uploading tunes, though.
@@RustyKnorr Please don't hesitate to keep your wisdom to yourself. We're all dying to not hear it, and love the sound of you rolling your all-perceiving eyes.
I’m older than you, but I am reminded by your excellent video just how quickly/suddenly things change-things that seemed such a firm part of society itself. The music industry, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines come to mind. Where they still exist, they are niche products now, like oil paintings, sculptures, and etchings. All were as ubiquitous as cell phones and iPads are today. It will be interesting to see what comes next.
The death of the album is the greatest tragedy. People don't experience the beauty and art of a full album anymore, they just listen to the popular hits.
I guess it's not a tragedy at all. Just a transformation of music delivery. Long time ago musicians travelled from here to there, just to play a bit on city's market for a couple of coins, and everybody was happy. Era of albums and stadium-scale shows arrived later - just as technology made it possible. Now technology got even more advanced, and here's result.
@@redwithblackstripes Wouldn't say it took culture.. If you watched the same video I watched, he pointed out, the world is a safer place for indie artists now. More indie artists and less record lables means more singer/songwriter acts and less singer and corporate songs being packaged togather as a product. The world is becoming a better place for Old Taylor Swift and Old Ed Sheeran, and a lesser place for New Taylor Swift and New Ed Sheeran. Actually makes me wonder if Taylor Swift has just peaked and will finally fade into obscurity. But then, I thought Red was her peak.
I went back University and became a lawyer. Music is just a hobby for me now - an outlet. Producing on Ableton etc became too much screen time so now I play classical guitar and piano. I also bought an eight course Renaissance lute. At least my life has structure now!
I love music, always have, and moved to Hollywood at 24 in 1992 to pursue music and music career. I knew I wasn't talented enough to single-mindedly pursue being "signed" or solely succeed on creating, so got entry level jobs at music studios and interned at record labels and slowly worked my way upward. It was the beginning of the industry shift then, the birth of digital music as a viable alternative or replacement to analogue (and the debates raged daily back then), as well as distribution entering the unknown. I eventually became the lead engineer on one of the first popular internet streaming radio shows, but it collapsed under it own weight of success due to the lack of clear revenue streams for streaming back then. I left the industry altogether after 13 years but those were interesting days. Now I gig in coffee houses in New England. I loved this video and conversation. Mad respect for your and Tim's understanding and perspective. This is a brilliant share.
I still abhor the fact that the industry is still trying its hardest to leech money from the artist. If it was just the streaming platform that would be one thing. I wouldn't mind making little to no money from my own music if it was even near a fair cut for my work.
Hmm, I remember that I saw a chart 20 years back about how many cents an artist makes per full album sale, and where the rest goes. Most of it was marketing. But on the other hand, marketing is what makes you sell stuff
@@thenerktwins duh of course it's a business. These 3 dirtbag record labels are at this point just milking the giant monopoly they have. We have no need for them anymore and they know that. don't even get me started on publishers, yikes.
@@thenerktwinsI'd say corporate oligarchy is a closer description. In a proper free market you don't have a state backed monopoly stopping you from have negotiating power in order to make some kickbacks
Exactly, even though there was majors, the label marked was a lot closer to free market then the streaming platforms. And as I already mentioned in another comment, the corporate state of mind leaves place almost only to opportunistic people, the composition quality, it is no more important, just do the old recipes that works and you're good to go in an opportunistic views, that's why all sounds the same now. We even are to a point where the market is drowned by opportunistic artists so that opportunism is not enough to stand out (but it's almost a must to stand out and the quality is no more required at all, it does not makes you standout anymore at all). I'm really bitter about how it works nowadays.
I was a huge music consumer years ago and observed my appetite for music retract over time. It impacted my music playing too because if you don't listen to stuff, you can't get ideas of what to play next and I ended up playing the same 10 tracks in loop, every single day. At some point I decided I needed better consumption hygiene. I use streaming services as a preview system, similar to going to a music store a few decades ago and you would listen to a few tracks on the headphones present there. I don't skip tracks anymore, and if I like a couple tracks, I go listen to the whole album. Because a whole album is usually an hour, it means I have to dedicate time for it. I gave back a spot of my free time to music. Even if you still use streaming services, just trying to be more selective and choose albums instead of random tracks, and dig the artists a little more once you find an album you like is such an improvement in my opinion.
These days I go from classic rock, classic country western, to the 90s equivalents, then there's also classical, like Mozart, Bach, Holtz, etc. And most recently I've been listening to a lot of Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, and for some reason also Grunge haha
Gotta love Tim's open-mindedness, observance and nuance. You'd think with the names he worked with he'd be stuck in time or his own head, but not at all.
Loved that you talked about that so many things are better today. We need more videos like that. True people talking true things. That's what RUclips was made for. To bring us together in real life, to share our thoughts in a positive way and maybe share some things that might help other people or make them happy. It's not the industry to blame, it's not the algorithm and it's not the past that "has been better" - it's you making a choice of what you want to consume, what you want to support and what you want to feel. No better or worse, just a "what you make it". There are thousands of amazing artists and true people out here and it's never been so easy to find them and connect with them like you said. It's up to us to take all the opportunities that the presence gives us, to support those true people that provide us with their art and also stay true to ourselves. And most of all to not fall for the high frequency content trap, but to create content that has emotional value and feeds the soul like this video. Much love to all of you from Austria, stay true :)
I think one downside to the newer industry model is the loss of "Bands too dysfunctional to succeed in their own" Appetite For Destruction could never be made under the current system, because a band fueled by heroin and bourbon would struggle to organise the business side of things, and if they could, the album would not have had the firecracker-passion it has.
I'm fond of telling people that any number of incredible artists would never get heard today. Leonard Cohen got into music because there was money in it when there was no money in literature. And imagine if your favorite artist released a song anonymously, and it was sung by someone else. It could be better than anything they ever did, but you couldn't find it if you tried. It would get ZERO listens if they just upload it and don't direct anyone to it at all. This system of music distribution does not work from a musician's perspective, or a listener's. It sucks.
The whole concept of how bands have functioned promotes dysfunction. Pressure for hits. Drugs, alcohol and groupies. Touring till they drop. Financial malfeasance. Incompetent and corrupt managers. The whole business needs to be restructured to give bands time to spend away from each other, to have fair contracts, to distribute royalties fairly, and to have more achievable goals than to have hits every single time. There's too much pressure, too much togetherness, too much corruption.
@@324cmac You're talking in the old terms. None of these problems really exist for "up-and-coming" bands. I put it in quotes, because i don't see anybody coming up lately. And the old bands that actually got famous when it was possible are too old for that stuff. There's no such thing as a hit from a band. Nobody listens to the radio or anything. I don't think there's even truly popular music as there used to be. There is no song that everyone knows that's come out recently, like Thriller, or Mambo Number Five, or that one Alicia Keys song, lol. I'm having trouble remembering anything remotely recent that was ubiquitous. I'm in a band, and there's zero pressure because nobody cares at all. Touring isn't even profitable with the cost of gas and everything. There certainly aren't any royalties, and you can spend all the time apart from your bandmates you want. All the bands and musicians i keep track of are kind of just doing their own thing. Most of them are either on hiatus or broken up. There's no money and the whole thing is not working as it is. Music has been devalued monetarily and in general, and nothing's really going on.
I think there was also the benefit of the label pushing bands to make great songs. I hear a lot of modern rock albums that contain all songs on the level of filler tracks on a good 70's album.
What breaks my heart more than anything is that a great deal of music has lost its HUMANITY. Everything locked to a flawless tempo grid, software emulations of real instruments, tuned-to-death vocals, endless post production plugins etc. Seriously...you put on an epic record from the 70s like Carole King's Tapestry, and it's a major EXPERIENCE. All the nuances of tempo fluctuations from PERFORMING, all the sharp and flat "imperfections" of her voice, all REAL instruments...all of it. THAT is what we've lost, and continue to lose more of every day.
Hey everyone is free to still record like that. You can still do it. Get everyone in a room and mic everyone and just record. Problem nowadays is cost of living is so high it’s tough to be a musician like back in the day that just lived and breathed it to get that level of musicianship.
"locked to a flawless tempo grid, software emulations of real instruments, tuned-to-death vocals, endless post production plugins etc." It's so cheap and easy and you don't deal with drummers...
Yes it makes it much easier to "cheat", the downside of no "gatekeeping" is that you're flooded with mid artists that can only exist because of those crutches. You now have many bands that can't play live because they suck out of the studio, or can't play in time without a click track x) But I believe it's just the current trend, people will relearn with time to appreciate the more human, imperfect side of things
I wanted to “make it” when I was younger, back in the Album Era. Life happened and music was put on the back burner. What I realized, though, is “creators gotta create” or else depression happens. So I’m pushing through my introverted-ness and creating anyways, because I’m older and wiser now and know who I am and that I have something to share…even if it only touches or speaks to a few people ❤
Rick Beato made a good point about how the music industry destroyed its self. Around the time Napster came out labels would focus on 2-3 songs that would be the hit singles and the rest of the album would be shitty filler songs, and than sell the album for $20. No one in their right mind would spend $20 on 2-3 good songs so naturally people turned to Napster. Granted alot of people probably would have used Napster regardless of how many good songs were on the album but still.
Let's not forget the rise of corporate radio. My music pipeline died when Toronto`s CFNY got bought out. Suddenly there was no way to find new music that had not been pushed as a mass market product. Napster was a godsend when it hit the scene.
And the fact that on youtube and even in hollywood no one was lisncing new music only the old or free stuff because the fear of getting law suited into the ground or having to pay stupid amounts of money.
So completely contradicting the point you just made… Even if an album have 100 hit songs, people would still download it instead of buying. The problem with piracy is that people have no regard for helping artists make music and just selfishly decide that they should be able to own anything they want for free. The other even bigger problem is that piracy is extremely easy. If it was very difficult to pirate music or other forms of media, people would pay instead. It is much easier and faster to simply download a song illegally versus buy a CD in a store. Streaming and online purchases have mitigated some of this as it is now just as easy to stream music and buy it online, but given how easy it is to steal comparatively to paying, people are tempted to just steal instead.
Man this was exactly what I needed to see, 20 years almost as a musician and about 8 albums worth of fully finished songs and I'm finally ready to get my stuff out there. This definitely motivates me to make some real moves and actually gave me a bit more direction. I had to subscribe. Thanks bro. 👍
The problem with production being cheap is that the market is now flooded with low-effort music. The former expenses of releasing music was an effective filter. It wasn't good enough to put together something of average quality. Artists were forced to put a profound product on the table to even be considered by the industry. There's so much "Look ma! I'm a [insert genre] artist!" crap coming out these days.
That's not much of a problem. If the vast majority of music sucks- and it does- the good stuff still stands up. It is bad in general though, and i do agree with the rest of what you're saying. It's only occurred to me recently that a music scene comes from great bands. The crowds just show up to hear the music and after the scene is a thing. Well none of that is happening now, and from where i'm sitting not much of anything is happening anywhere. People just live in the internet and continue to be tricked into thinking the sky is falling and everything is exciting and new. There hasn't even been any new slang, or fashion styles or fads in the last decade or so.
I like your responce.I share the same view.Back then in the 50s-90s music was REALLY music.It sounded good, it was attractive,melodic,talented,well composed.In other words it was really true music . I give you an example what I mean by this: europe - the final countdown, survivor - in a burning heart, kiss - I was made for loving you, beatles , Harold Faltermeyer -Axel F , Queen - We will rock you , AC/DC and many masterpieces of that era. But nowadays with all this Taylor Swift, Justin Bieder music is fucking spoiled and truely CRAP OF THE CRAP. There is no soul, no feeling, melody, talent, composition in it. I personaly consider it a good thing that low-effort or talentless stuff was outfiltered back in those days.In my opinion , not only the internet but the massive distribution of personal computers and other commercial technology for capitalist reasons destroyed the music industry.
I don't think cheap and low-effort equals trash. Don't get me wrong its more than possible I pick up what you're putting down. But its more about the intent of the artist. As there is expensive music that is also ow effort and wack. Yet at the same time there are artists who don't have access to much who are making wonderful projects with minimum funds/equipment
Like everything internet, there is also the effect it is having on people psychologically. As someone who is on that perfect cusp of having experienced records, cassettes, CDs, digital purchases, and now streaming, my relationship to music has changed vastly in the age of 'everything available and it's all of equal value' (aka your time and your subscription fee)
Maybe my boomer perspective is biased, but when I first got my own apartment after getting out of school I did not have a TV (and there was no such thing as internet, video games, home computers, cell phones). I read a lot of books and listened to a lot of music. Like really listened. Eyes closed, no distractions, really concentrating on the music. I was not bored at all. It is sad if anyone who thinks of themselves as a music lover has never had that experience.
Amen! my favorite artist today is Gran for that reason, I'll post a link since I can't spell his last name for shit ruclips.net/video/qJpGCoZ4dts/видео.htmlsi=dOrAqIHzxpw-Xg4q CC is English! Cheers!
Broke ass "starving artist" that can't afford to live a normal civilized life is just a stupid path. This world REQUIRES money, for EVERYTHING. Someone is getting paid for the thing you are doing, so if you AREN'T getting paid for it you're a "loser" and the person being paid is a "winner". We don't LIKE this idea, but it's just how the world works.
disagree, making a good record used to be very expensive.. most artists of the 80s could not afford their own SSL or even studio time, but that sound is on most of your fav albums of the era.
Oh not necessarily. I talked with a fellow on the internet a while ago who made beautiful music. He was thinking of killing himself at the time, and maybe he has by now. His songs go unheard either way. Then there's the more practically minded among us. He won't keep doing was does not work and cannot be sustained. Maybe he's got a kid or a medical problem- who knows. You have to be pretty foolish to make music now, and not all musicians are fools. I'd quit myself, but i'm pot committed and i've got nothing else going on.
The „First 15 seconds rule” is the most excruciating thing that has happened to music. I really like calling this a “fast food” effect, since everybody who adheres to this (and must be doing so) really focuses themselves on indulging their listener in a quick pleasure just to retain their attention. Some of my fav songs of all the time are the ones I had to “grow into” through many repetitions and the current way of running the business really deprives the audience of this effect and of the journey we can have with particular pieces. I just can’t get over it…
Yes!!! I am so GLAD you are saying this! I frankly am SICK of hearing how great it was in the old days. I’m 57 I remember the old days. So many artists back in the day never got their opportunity because the gatekeepers were racist, sexist, ageist or the artist wasn’t good looking enough 🙄.
Tim seems like such a cool laid back guy. Always a pleasure listening to him. And Samarai brother, this is one of the best videos you've ever done. EVERY young musician should watch this.
I created songs all my life on just a piano and when midi came out, I totally ignored any of the digital ways. Felt like no soul existed in it. Playing even the best keyboard made me irritated. Then i got involved with a group of Dj events and got bit by the edm bug! Haha! It taught me about the importance of dynamics and transitions! It was powerful to see the crowd respond to certain changes and songs. Well 30 years later, kids grown & without a piano ever around, working for others when finally after hitting rock bottom in a way emotionally… Then I started researching and trying music creation phone apps I forced myself to at least try…. Almost quit. But now all the stuff I’ve posted since 2020!has been created on my phone and finally got some pro gear to work with and .Yes, even a piano found it’s way home to me. This path is hard as hell, im exhausted, frustrated at times, but it’s one of happiest realities in my life so far.yay🎉
This is a really good video! I'm someone who is on the verge of making music a full time gig, but sometimes getting songwriting clients can be volatile. I think we all suffer from the negative attitude from having a day job, and not being proud of it. I believe anyone in a similar boat agrees that we sometimes lie to each other about not having another job, because we fear that makes us come off as "not talented enough" to be considered for what we do best. I think it's time that we try to put an end to that self-perceived shame!
The music industry is not burning down, but the artists. As a tiny piece of information: the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) make more money than at the beginning of 2000. What is getting lost the art of music being made together, I work as a part-time producer and vocalteacher, and in my area (Frankfurt) most singers tend to be more and more lone wolves. The days when you had to work with others created a much larger network. Nowadays working on most stuff alone creates an absurd kind of stress and loneliness that comes with working alone. I think collaboration is an essential key of success, even if a performance on a record isn't perfect by someone else, it can create more attraction towards a release if your collaborator shares the song with other people. Alone that doesn't happen. That Artists and Writers barely make their living today is f*ckup and no good thing. Due to loving music so much it's so easy to get pulled over the table instead of sitting there as an equal.
I agree, my favorite artist today is Gran for that reason, I'll post a link since I can't spell his last name for shit ruclips.net/video/qJpGCoZ4dts/видео.htmlsi=dOrAqIHzxpw-Xg4q CC is English! Cheers!
_"the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) make more money than at the beginning of 2000"_ Strictly from the music business branch? Do you have actual sources to back this? My feeling is that they collapsed down to ~2015 and then they recouped a bit, thanks to the streaming revenues. But never ever went they back to pre-2000 revenues. _"most singers tend to be more and more lone wolves"_ So ironic when you consider we've never been that much connected.
I think you are absolutely correct here. I left my last band in 2020 and was dead nuts set on making an album by myself. I’ve made lots of songs since then, but… no album. Every time I sit down to write or play, I get exhausted of it in about 10 minutes, and all I wanna do is jam. I miss jamming with other people! It’s just not the same without them. My ideas don’t feel as fleshed out without that other brain to flesh them out with. I guess for me it wasn’t as much about what I was playing, but who I was collaborating with.
Your comment is perfect. That`s exactly it. And I also feel that part of the blame lies in a good thing: with so much access to music, the young people wanting to play something around me all want to play something _different_ than one another. Not that it's a bad thing, but it does support the rise of "bedroom producers", as we've been seeing a lot lately. I got tired of looking for people to play with (I still look, but I don't _expect_ to find anyone) and so I'm trying to expand my arsenal and get as many pieces done by myself to show work and competence in hopes of finding those people I can collaborate with.
TBH, I don't care if I get a following of 5 people, 50 people, or a hundred... I just think it's really cool that I can put in a little investment, make a little studio in my bedroom and record something cool to share even with just a few friends. I'm immensely grateful that I get the chance to even do this as a hobby, 'cause even in 1990 when I was born that ability just did not exist. If I ever do decide to push into making myself a brand to make more than 20 bucks a year off what I've created it's going to be because I want to, not because it's required to keep on doing this. That's pretty amazing.
I’m 24 years old. In my opinion, I’m one of the few that got to see the progression of technology in a short amount of time but still felt the impact from both sides of the spectrum. I have a CD collection. I’m making a vinyl collection, i prefer listening to albums over singles and EPs, and i can enjoy listening to songs that are longer than 10 minutes. I have patience with music. 2.5 minutes is not enough time to tell a story (most of the time). You can do it if you’re a good storyteller, but most of those people have faded from existence it seems. People are more interested in a quick dopamine rush than feeling the impact of a story. That’s why more people watch movies instead of reading books nowadays.
12:15 "Over the last year I've become a businessman. I used to think an artist had to separate himself from business matters, but now I realise you have more artistic freedom If you also keep an eye on business." -David Bowie 'Melody Maker' Magazine 28 February 1976
Main stream music died 20 yrs ago when computers were used to make bad singers sou d like they could hit a note. The 90s were the last great era for mainstream music, but there are thousands of great underground musicians out there, so we still live in exiting times for music.
Yes, the inter-webs have given us a massive wealth of information at our fingertips. It's better now. You are right. I'm old. I remember scraping together $15 to buy the latest album and only two songs were good. It was super disappointing. Or, you had to spend $10 to buy sheet music to find out how to play a song and it would be in the wrong key or completely wrong. It's so much better now for the consumer.
For acquiring music, I do not and will not use any streaming service, ever. The majority of what I have comes on used CDs and records I buy at estate sales.
As someone who used to work for Roadrunner Records. I can tell you that the music industry isn’t dead. It’s been reformatted. Rather than making money off music sales. It’s through Merchandise and Concerts/VIP packages.
Everything you said here gives the artists more control and makes music a cottage industry. The biggest problem though is promotion, since you're in an ever growing ocean of artists all shouting to get their voices heard. You may need be able to get by with a smaller audience, but building it and promoting yourself is a huge mountain to climb compared to the album era. I'm curious to see what happens to the generation that only grows up with the instant gratification of addictive, short-form media. How will that influence the next generation artists? What I do see nowadays that I certainly didn't have growing up is that the young generation now have access to and consume so much more music from previous eras and that exposure is wonderful.
By today, one would think that the best solution, would have been to continue with the old music industry, but fix the issues with it, rather than justifying why today, in any way shape or form is better than before. It isn't, and the ultimate proof is reasonable when we simply look and listen to the music that we now get in mainstream culture. I can't and will never take ANYONE seriously who thinks that someone like Taylor Swift (for one of many examples) deserves such "success".
really great plug for tim pierce's master class. you are so correct about hearing a lead player explain what he was feeling, and going for for each note of a solo, as opposed to simply watching from afar. Tim should be quite pleased samurai.
The people/artists making any real money are still signed to major labels. Everything else we do now, is basically a hobby. The competition to reach people via digital marketing, makes it even more difficult to make a living. The pie has just moved to a new office, with a new office manager.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "real money." If you can find those thousand true followers and monetize them to the tune of a hundred bucks each, then there is a decent living doing something you love to do, which puts you ahead of most wage slaves
My perspective is a little different than yours in that I worked at record stores for 5 years and have been a fan more than a musician for decades. I love that you touched on the "a way to directly support the artists" bit. I know that the streaming services are as bad as the labels, or worse when it comes to royalties. When I talk to musicians at the merch table, I always ask them "What's the best way to get money from me to you?" and I used to get shrugs. Now they've usually got an answer. What they've told me is: 1) Buy the music instead of streaming it, and then download it. Not only does the artist do better, but streaming services can and will remove songs and artists you like, and digital platforms like Amazon my lose the rights to what you "buy," so you'll lose the music. 2) Bands get a much bigger cut of merch, at least the smaller ones, than they used to. 3) If you can buy directly from the band as opposed to Apple or Google or whatever, obviously that helps them. 4) Go to live shows whenever possible. 5) Patreon or its equivalent is clearly the best, but just following on RUclips and, yes, liking and subscribing, helps a lot. When I was working in records stores, I dealt with the label reps a lot and it was never a great experience. They always referred to the music as "product," even more so than the retailers I worked for. Cutting them out is a huge win IMO. Of course, they were paying the big artists less than 1% of the retail in many cases, so they didn't give a rat's ass what I thought.
What's (somehow) funny is that music is a lot more a product now, people takes so much effort into selling their music that they prefer to use the old recipes that gives success then really innovating in music creation. With streaming services leading the market, we are drowned mostly by opportunistic people with no more creativity that themselves think about their music as a product, so, if back then labels (or indeed majors) considered music as a product, at least artist didn't and that was a lot better. I've seen artists I made music fall into that trap of making products instead of being creative, even people that were really creative still 10 years ago. That makes me sick, bitter, nostalgic, really, with all it's problem, the old music industry gave birth to much more creative music.
Tim from Switchfoot says I totally agree with you! Seeing studio albums as books and chapters is such a creative way to appreciate music. It’s like diving into a new adventure with each song, just like turning the pages of a book. Whether it’s a lengthy album or a shorter one, the cohesive and artistic essence really shines through, much like a well-crafted book. It’s amazing how music can capture so much depth and emotion, just like a good story. 🎶📚. Tim from Switchfoot said to me It’s amazing how albums can be like a complete story, with each song as a chapter in a book. When you listen to the whole album, it’s like diving into the story from beginning to end. Sequencing is indeed crucial for creating a no-skip album or playlist. It’s like crafting a narrative with a flow that keeps listeners engaged. The order of songs can make a huge difference in how the album is experienced, just like arranging notes in music to create harmony. It’s all about creating a dynamic journey for the listeners, ensuring a smooth transition from one song to the next. Thanks for sharing your insights on the importance of sequencing in music albums! 🎶📖. Tim from Switchfoot also said to me I totally agree with you, Luke! Books have their own unique pros, like the depth of description and the ability to use your imagination to bring the story to life. It’s like you become a co-creator with the author, visualizing the scenes in your own way. And you’re right, following the plot as intended by the author can be a special experience. Movies definitely have their own advantages too! They’re quicker to consume, and it’s fun to watch them with friends. Plus, movies bring the art of acting to the forefront, which can be really captivating. However, I understand that sometimes scenes can be adapted or deleted, leaving viewers with questions or changes to the characters. It’s all about finding what works best for you, whether it’s diving into the pages of a book or getting lost in the world of cinema. Both have their own magic! 📚🎥✨ do you agreed 👍 💯 Sam?
My gimmick is that I work alone. A one-man recording studio/music video productions channel. Say what you will about playing with others, but there is always an exception. I floundered until I was forty and finally stopped trying to play with others and bought an interface, and now . . . go look, or don't, but the content I do, speaks for itself.
@@SToXC_. a. That’s the opposite of letting my work speak for itself. In fact it ignores my work in favor of the logical fallacy of “appeal to credentials”. Is my work good or not. THAT was the question. I’ve found my place, even if I haven’t found my audience, and that means I am at the end of a musical quest for identity. b. That’s the algorithm’s doing. The people who do know about my channel listen to me regularly, but I do content in fits and starts, and when I AM making videos my channel DOES grow. My next comeback when my long-distance apprenticeship is over next year, will be a permanent comeback. Because I will be releasing content regularly, the channel will grow accordingly-or should I say: the algorithm will grow the channel accordingly.
Thank you very much for this. I am over 60 now and remember how it used to be. I personally think this is the best time to create music and art in general.
in my small city near Toronto, there's nearly no live music, *a decade ago it was jumping* . Guitarists just recording alone using programmed drums has rarely produced much that anybody cares about, not often. Music is best when people play together, in rooms for people. Most artists putting music solely online or creating content will not make it. No ears, no fans.
but have you ever played with crap drummers who can't play in time? it will make you never want to use a real drummer again, that's why unless you're as good as billy cobham or steve porcaro you're useless as a drummer and why producers prefer to programme them instead, I love working with good drummers but they are incredibly rare to find.
Yep, the five songs on endless rotation were free. I hope you liked em cause that was all you were getting. Bummer about the billions of songs I have access to now.
Musicians went from a life where they played live, recorded music and made a decent living to being shut in a room making videos, either as teachers or instrument salesmen. This is not the life of an artist. Even royalties on soundtracks are paid peanuts now because Netflix is a streaming service. Music isn't a career anymore. Period.
Fifty years ago, only a small fraction of the world’s musicians had the chance to live the idealized artist’s life you mention. Just a small percentage achieved that dream, another part struggled too to make ends meet, and 99% never set foot in a studio or got the opportunity to record or perform their music to others. Today, there are ten times more musicians, most of them can record their music if they choose. While not all of them will find fame or fortune, the ability to create, share, and reach a global audience is more accessible than ever, making this one of the most promising times for artistic creativity.
@@Russocass sure, but as we mention the word "industry", this isn't the case anymore. Albums aren't being physically published or even bought, royalties have greatly diminished because everything is now being streamed and streaming royalties are not paid as much as television, grand rights or cinema. When I started we were paid royalties for each territory the music was broadcast in, if it was a soundtrack we were paid for each copy of DVDs sold. Live music venues now pay on the door, even to established names, very few are being paid a cache. Creativity needs money and peace of mind to move forward. In the past there were plenty of people who could live off music without being famous. Now even being famous requires sponsorships and all kinds of side revenues to keep going. Recording music and expressing yourself by sharing what you do is great, hoping views will bring you some following and maybe some money, but this is the way a hobby works, not an industry. Nobody on his own can be an artist, an arranger, a producer, a promoter, a manager, a sound engineer, like an experienced record company team works. Mental health is very important to be creative, and a good general health. The current reality is crazy making. Then sure, anything could happen, but again, this is not an industry, it's more like winning the national lottery.
What Tim has said is soo true, ("Doing stuff in the evening and on the weekends) but then again on the other hand, sometimes its better to do something that or which is your passion rather than to work an everyday job!
People don’t “sUpPoRt LoCaL MuSiC” because ppl tell them to do so. They go to shows because those shows are fun and entertaining. No one owes anyone their attention and time. Friends and Family AREN’T fans.
Sammy, thanks for bring up the point that because of gatekeeping, a lot of really talented people never got a chance. I've been a musician in Minneapolis for 45 years and have been in bands with, played shows with and listened to a ton of top notch people who are unknown. It's a shame that they only got to a certain point because of how the business was structured at the time.
I have been struggling with this for the last few years. To make my own music, i have to know software, become my own producer, edit videos, learn where to post, grind content creation I just want friends to play music with, i want people to meet with and create, and have that naturally spread if it is meant to. It is a false image to think making music has gotten easier in my opinion. unless you dedicate all your time to it, its so hard to do
I'm not so sure. I think the concept of music...and, has always been around at some level. I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw once. It said "Real musicians have day jobs." About being a musician plus an entrepreneur is spot on. Not that many people can do that. I learned that about myself a few years ago to my dismay. But you know...I finally found my niche; and it's teaching. Best job I ever had.
Even 1 gigabyte screen less MP3 player has more musical and emotional intimacy than Spotify or RUclips. I miss those days and am glad I went through that era of only having a few songs in rotation and really letting them grow on you
I still use a Zen Vision M mp3 player for a lot of my listening! Every once in a while I'll dig out my minidisc player a bunch of minidiscs and surprise myself with forgotten playlists I cobbled together from tunes recorded off the radio!
Thank you for making this video. I graduate college in 2 weeks and am aiming to work in the music industry, likely moving to LA this summer. You and Tim provided vital information that is not talked about enough, and served up many important reminders that people should have when seeking to enter this landscape. I'll be using this video as well as the countless others of yours that I've seen and learned from over the years to guide me. Kudos
There are ZERO drawbacks to today's music industry. The democratization of music is the best thing that could have happened. The old system benefitted a small minority. Now, anybody can share their art for a minimal cost and WE get more options.
Saying there are zero drawbacks is extremely narrow minded. There's positives and negatives to everything. Today's music industry has lowered the bar so low that it dilutes the potential of even finding a good record. You have to spend the whole day on the internet to find a good song. Before, MTV and CD stores recommend high quality artists so that the average person didn't have to waste time prowling and searching the deepest depths for music.
@@saintkevinofficial Spending a whole DAY to find record?? Compared to what, listening to the RADIO to tell you what's good? I grew up in the 70s, and there is FAR FAR FAR more good music available and the internet has made it EASY to find EXACTLY what you want ;) with tools like Google, Copilot, ChatGPT, Spotify playlists, RUclipsMusic playlists, etc. You must be trolling to say that it used to be easier to find good music. MTV??? You're joking, right?? CD stores? So you were depending on minimum wage teenagers to tell you what is good, based on what, sales? Dude, you have no idea how great we have it now, which is crazy considering you look very young. Cmon man 😀
@@petertrast i mean i won't deny that we're living in astonishing times. You're right about that. I can create a record from scratch and finish it without ever having to leave the house. But despite all the wonders, we can't really ignore the fact that music has been severely devalued in its creation and consumption. If this was a balancing act, we'd be doing a very bad job. Music needs community to thrive. Don't you think?
'You used to be a part of the puzzle. Now, there's no puzzle - you have to go and make your own' ~ 12:27 Couldn't have said it better! The times are weird, but your perspective really puts me in a good headspace. At least I can actually perform, record, listen and vibe to my own creative ideas for cheap. The rest... The rest may or may not come, but the essence is there.
People were making and playing music long before the industry existed and the existence of things like Soundcloud shows that people will keep making music long after the music industry exists.
Honestly prior to there being an industry for music the accessibility for both playing and hearing it was lower in a lot of ways. That doesn't mean the industry itself has been considerate and ethical, or that a lot of it even cared about the art beyond making a profit, but one outcome of it has been making music much more popular than it ever has been. There's a very long conversation we could have about it but before the modern era a lot of western history showed that art was often limited to the desires of those wealthy enough to be a patron for artists, like nobility or aristocrats or the church. This meant that there was far less variety than there is now. And you're absolutely right that music obviously existed before the modern music industry, I just think its interesting to give an honest look at what these systems have done for art, despite their sometimes insidious goals. I'm also curious what music sharing will be like as artists outgrow what the industry has to offer
Before the music industry, that means before recording, so, there were only live music that was a business and certainly has been since the beginning of civilization. Of course depending on when and where you were born, you could more or less live from that.
I see this evolving into musical collectives, where like-minded musicians join together to organize musical projects. Such collectives could also share recording, administrative and marketing functions, freeing musicians to pursue their art. The hard part is profit sharing.
The endless stories I've heard of record comapnie sticking the profits up their noses and cliches that get all the work, the sexual depravity and unhealthy working practices - they had it coming. I was at a major record company offices 20 years ago (seems like yesterday) and the A&R guys had Penthouse pinups on their office walls - they where so ridiculously out of touch it was painful and these guys where a*$3holes! Thats nothing, I could name bands who's record companies rendted locations for parties and they descended into drug crazed orgies, just disgusting, often the talent themselves had left long ago leaving the 'liggers' and hangers on. Then there are current day artist reprasentatives I've dealt with on video shoots who are living in the 80s and actually want RUclips shut down - new tech = threat, not a new opportunity. Things come and go and I feel the music world is sooo very much healthier today than it has ever been! ...for one thing, female guitarists? Wow, never in my wildest dreams!!!
I know I am a bit late to this, but I needed to add my input. I live in a relatively poor family, I cannot afford any real instruments and I have always had a talent for music. I love writing and listening to music and I really wished that I could someday write and play my own music. Back in the day, this wish would have never come true, but I have been born and raised in a digital era, and that possibility to make music is fulfilled by virtual instruments and free software. I believe music is for everybody, no matter their income or living condition, and without virtual instruments I would never been able to make my own music. I am still young (only 17) and I hope that someday I will be able to afford some real instruments and better software, but until then I will be using what I have.
2:40 - Call me old-fashioned (as I know I am), but if I want to _listen_ to an album, I _buy_ it. More often than not as a download these days, but I make a point of _owning_ the stuff I pay money for. Screw streaming if you ask me. People will wake up one day with their favorite media removed from their favorite streaming service, and then what? If something is good enough to spend time on, then it's good enough to pay good money for it.
Um… there appears to be a glaring omission in this story. AI is here and is almost certainly going turn everything mentioned here upside. The rosy view you guys mostly settle on here becomes instantly less plausible once you factor that in. The vast majority of careers in recorded music are set to become obsolete, starting with the doomed sync licensed music industry which was, until about five minutes ago, the bread and butter of a lot of musicians.
Dang, You get to hang out and pick Tim Pierces brain? All those hits, He could very well have been on every radio station at the same time, day in, day out. What happens at the grammys, does he just go up with everyband, lol. And If one of his songs wins, That means that one of his songs loses. Just give him My info in case he wants to get serious about playin lead guitar
Before social media, talented introverts were making it. After social media, less talented extroverts were making it. The reason is because before social media the A&R had to search for talent. After social media, the A&R searched for whoever markets themselves the best regardless of talent.
I started taking piano lessons at 6 years old untill 12. I took up guitar at 11. At 14 I needed a new amp and better guitar. My mom said get a job. I learned at Taco Johns I didn't want to work for someone. Ended up with 57 lp jr and Ampeg vt40. The next year (15) I got in a band quit Taco John's and played for 7 years. I went skiing in Denver and was in Mr. Luckys listening to some friends and they asked me to come up and play a few songs. As luck would have it some people were looking for a guitar player. How could I say no. This was a great time for me. Playing up and down the Rockies having a great time. Living the life. At 29 something hit me (real life). I quit the band and moved back home and my dad and I started a Railroad consulting business putting in RR signals at road crossings. 20 years with my dad and lots small towns and even smaller hotels. I didn't quit playing. I did quit drinking and stay at the hotel and jammed. I got lp Studio ($400) which is no more road warren then ones they make that way. I played through a battery power Epiphone and a Rockman X100. Still have it all. When my dad decide to quit I went back to school and got a computer degree. Sold the busness later on and sold my farm to move back home and take care of my parents they were both getting Dementia and wanted to stay in there house instead of a home. I still play a couple hours a day and it's the best part of the day. Have a cockpit set up like Tims. Now that I look back and getting off the road was a good thing for me. No worries how I will get by, Still rocking and loving it (only in the music room) thats my stage now. Good video brought up a lot of memories. CW
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Huge thanks to Tim for doing this, check out his masterclass with this link www.timpierce.com/samurai
Not gonna watch the video or your garbage advertisement.
Everyone knows the entire entertainment industry, movies, music, and television is satanic pedophilia. Based on the title of your video alone we already know.
Well I'm still trying to figure out how you make money out of it. If you have something really good you really do need to get paid for it.
@@tomstulc9143 sell your soul to Satan. That's the only way
great video. make more of these documentary style stuff. you have the narrator voice.
Love the Timster.
There's definitely a discussion to be had about the state of AI and music, I've only heard the insane advances in it in the last few days. Should I make a video on it????
The pace of development is frightening. It won't be long before personalized music is auto-generated on demand for the listener. No royalties need to be paid to pesky musicians.
Yes, I think you should 👍
Yes indeed!
Yes definitely, what's interesting about AI and art is that yes people will be able to make insane music using AI and for some that will be the end goal. However, art/music is partially about the journey. I personally, have only played in front of a live audience very few times, yet I still play guitar almost every day for what? Well, mostly for me. On the other side of that is an audience. Some people will only care about the end result to listen to stuff they want AI or not, yet there's going to be a lot of people that are more interested in the "handmade" music.
Pretty similar to paintings, technically with computers, digital art, fractal generations, printers, and now even AI art, a handmade painting is still more about the journey than the destination for the painter, and people appreciate handmade paintings more as well. There is going to be a market for AI art, but we still have people that appreciate the craft.
Would love to hear your take on it
Classical guitar teacher for 28 years, my current students do not listen to music and they have zero guitar heroes. I have to beg them to check things out, it is really sad.
Trust me if you do come across a student that DOES have a guitar hero....you will throw up in your mouth when you hear answers. On the other hand a kid at work thinks Edward Van Halen is some old classical composer from back in the day. I comended the kid
Who'll be my role model, now that my role model's gone, gone. There are no heros anywhere anymore, unfortunately. It's against company policy
@@X9523-z3v bow down to Auto Tune
@@raminrouchi202 - "How absolutely disgusting that a child would be inspired by an artist that I don't like." Lol
@@skatertrev7 there are plenty that I don't like subjectively but possess and cultivate musicianship. I'm not a fan of Django (Reinhardt) what so ever but he's an incredible musician. There's a difference between someone like that and Tom Delonge.
I grew up during the album era. I learned to play guitar and bass, got pretty good at them, and dreamed of getting signed and making a living as a rockstar. I jammed with a lot of friends and had a great time, but due to the fact that I use a wheelchair and have some mental health issues, there were just too many barriers to properly pursue that dream. A few years ago, I starting learning to sing and in 2022, at the age of 50, I started releasing my own original music. It's very nichey (just vocal and ukulele), I still haven't found much of an audience, and I seriously doubt that music will ever be my job. But the fact that I can record a song at my dining table and have it on multiple platforms, among the music of my heroes, in just a couple of days is honestly satisfying enough. From a purely artistic standpoint, I definitely think it's better today.
"Some people feel the rain, others just get wet" - Bob Marley
You could have completely made up attributing that to Marley (I don’t think you did, just internet and all), and I haven’t yet looked it up, but that is a great quote either way. Thanks for that one.
I believe you mean buzz martin the singing logger
@@rww71 I'm sure he wasn't the first to say it, but Its a sentence so serene I couldn't imagine it in another's voice... maybe Bob Ross?
I thought that was bob Dylan.
It seems that the quote is actually by genius singer songwriter Roger Miller, according to the website quoteinvestigator.
The thing about introverts hit me hard. I suck at selling myself.
You are free to expose yourself to things you are not good at
Yeah it sucks, people might say hurtful things or are mean, but if you know what you're bad at, try to get better at it. Do something that requires you to knock on doors or talk to people, consult someone who's good at exactly that. You've got the creative thing down already, nothing wrong with focusing on weaknesses
@@m0-m0597That’s really good advice. I appreciate it.
On introverts, check ronaldjenkees music here on youtube, especially super old stuff. Perhaps, it will inspire you a bit.
you and me both
@@Reed5016 The difference between sucking at something and being good at something is doing the thing you suck at. A lot.
Lately i have been going through my mom's old cassette collection and man let me say i have been having way more fun with that listening experience. Especially with mixed tapes that are unlabeled. To quote Forest Gump "It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" and that reins so true with old tapes and CD's sure spotify playlist's are great and convenient but not even knowing what is about to be next is a whole new level of excitement in music listening, Has really pushed me to be more creative with my own works. So i 10/10 recommend giving it shot. Just might walk away with new retro fav's you never knew existed.
I used to love making mix tapes - as John Cusack alludes to in High Fidelity, it's a labour of love. Sending someone a playlist really isn't the same thing is it? You get a real snapshot of the person who made it in terms of their tastes, and what they're trying to say, if they put any effort in. It's definitely something that'll come back due to the human/emotional connection element of it.
@@garydiamondguitarist Could not agree more man.
To me it’s still crazy that this is even a thing that people are having to discover for the first time. But that’s just me being old now 😂
@@P.B.R._S._n_C. Nah it's not even discovery for me more just realizing my dude. I was born 91 so this ain't ancient alien tech to me like it is with Gen Z lmao. But i get it my little brother was mind blown at the mere concept of physical music.
@@tommykruesofficial I’m with you now haha I guess I just assumed you were way younger there! I was born in ‘88 so we aren’t far apart. Anyways I get what you mean in a way because my dad let me go through the attic years ago and I found a milk crate full of old records as well as a set of ‘87 AKAI speakers that somehow survived about 20 years of attic life. which started my vinyl hobby. Went and spent like $160 on a receiver with a phono input and the rest is history
I like that introverts were mentioned. I'm not just an introvert, I'm mentally ill. It's very difficult for me to go anywhere for any reason. It's difficult for me to deal with people (though, that doesn't mean I don't care about people.)
I was in a band in the late '80s and early '90s and we had performed at our first gig. The guitarist and the drummer were thrilled by the experience and I absolutely hated it. I just wanted to record music.
I hadn't played music in a very, very long time but recently, I've been re-learning guitar, bass and a little keyboards and there are so many more possibilities now.
Okay, so maybe I won't become a famous musician but once I've got things going and can record again, I can put music out into the world and if anyone happens to hear it and like it, that would make me happy.
Amen brother!
And even if no one likes it, It's still fun to make!😂
@@M.éloDie Yeah, and it should be fun! To me, that's the point of music. It's a form of expression and it should be enjoyable to do.
you should consider being a session musician- record live music for producers to use as samples or for a vocalist to use as a backing track
Yes!! Do it. I'm Like you.
There are still gatekeepers in streaming music. Think about their "curated" lists, how do you think songs get on those lists? There is so much music being created now the hard part is getting people to hear it. Don't get me wrong, I agree it's better now in terms of artists ability to create music cheaply at home, but the volume of music produced today has skyrocketed which makes the problem of getting it heard difficult.
It's easier to produce music cheaply, but many artists end up creating a cheap product (creativity aside!): Only digital sounds, sampling, modelings, profilings, re-amping, auto tune, you name it
At what point in time was a real instrument recorded (edit: ideally in a fully analog signal chain)?
@@m0-m0597 True but I don't think it matters in music in Video game devlopmet absulotly but in music all that matters is, is it good/ people like it... Like you could make a full anlog song littly by geting a sub $100 austic guitar and mic it up and post to youtube with a cheap phone and mic... But making it good is hard and even then it would have to compete with a produced peace using only free downloads on a littlal pato PC. Not saying nonone should I like having one real instrument I played in my stuff but nokone has to make their songs that way.
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough Okay, fair enough. But don't get me wrong, I'm not all about "is it analog".. instead, "is it real" is what I'm trying to get at. For example, when I went to the opera last year, I found myself tearing up a lot. And no I'm not trying to talk down like "I am so cultured", in fact I haven't consumed culture in a long time. But I'm trying to point out the difference between realness and how realness is substituted with digital production tricks etc. so we barely hear real real stuff anymore.
I forgot the rest that I wanted to say
Making music with a computer does not make you a musician, actually playing a musical instrument makes you a musician and NO, a computer is not an instrument.
I don't agree on the creativity aside concerning cheap music, nowadays music that sales has no more creative, so, it's cheap in that regards also.
Oh, and by the way, music reproduction was born analog! 😉
Nice video, but it always bugs me hearing youtubers gushing about the freedom we have nowadays. Here are a few points that I believe we should think critically about:
- The online platforms are the new music industry. You can't bypass them, and your success depends on the algorithm and policy changes.
- Being able to upload whatever you want is not freedom, not without a few caveats at least. To make a living, you will have to conform to whatever the internet audience is expecting, and youtube videos are actually more formatted than we give them credit for (topics, length, visuals...). Plus the sheer mass of people competing for attention is a high barrier to get over.
- Survivor's bias: just because _you_ made it doesn't mean anyone can, even if they follow your steps. It's eluding the vast majority of people who gave up along the way, who could have been great artists if they had a structure supporting them.
- Which leads us to hope labor: working hundreds of hours hoping that it will pay off in the long run. It seems we're accepting working hard for free and in isolation for online platforms, with the carrot on a stick keeping us going. Just because it's our choice to invest these hours doesn't make it okay.
I didn't write all this to claim it used to be better, I just think it's important to stay critical and to expect more
Excellent points. And to imagine that this power and glory is pure meritocracy in action compared to the bad old days of the DJ gatekeepers is silly. The in-crowd game of music, 'TV' or YT and money goes on, just differently. Talent can still find a way.. We are fortunate, but the gates to financial success are still there. YT is freer than Spotify for uploading tunes, though.
There are so many flaws and erroneous assumptions in your comment that I can’t even be bothered to address them all.
@@RustyKnorr Please don't hesitate to keep your wisdom to yourself. We're all dying to not hear it, and love the sound of you rolling your all-perceiving eyes.
yeah and if you're a cute kid, algorithm loves that, what about the ugly dudes?
Youre spot on imo, streaming is literaly paying monthly for an access to pirated music on a server
I’m older than you, but I am reminded by your excellent video just how quickly/suddenly things change-things that seemed such a firm part of society itself. The music industry, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines come to mind. Where they still exist, they are niche products now, like oil paintings, sculptures, and etchings. All were as ubiquitous as cell phones and iPads are today.
It will be interesting to see what comes next.
The death of the album is the greatest tragedy. People don't experience the beauty and art of a full album anymore, they just listen to the popular hits.
not me lol
People were saying literally the exact same thing decades ago lol
I guess it's not a tragedy at all. Just a transformation of music delivery. Long time ago musicians travelled from here to there, just to play a bit on city's market for a couple of coins, and everybody was happy. Era of albums and stadium-scale shows arrived later - just as technology made it possible. Now technology got even more advanced, and here's result.
Yet here I am religiously listening to Lateralus and Fear Inoculum start to finish😅
and yet, you are also not required to listen to "filler".
So Lars Ulrich was right.. Napster really did kill the music industry.
Tech killed Media not just the music industry. Only problem is it took culture with it.
@@redwithblackstripes Wouldn't say it took culture..
If you watched the same video I watched, he pointed out, the world is a safer place for indie artists now. More indie artists and less record lables means more singer/songwriter acts and less singer and corporate songs being packaged togather as a product. The world is becoming a better place for Old Taylor Swift and Old Ed Sheeran, and a lesser place for New Taylor Swift and New Ed Sheeran.
Actually makes me wonder if Taylor Swift has just peaked and will finally fade into obscurity. But then, I thought Red was her peak.
@@redwithblackstripes wdym it took culture with it, don't we have concerts and real world stuff?
I’ve been saying it for years.
It's thanks to this system that I could listen and learn from this channel, from Tim's channel and from Beato's channel.
I went back University and became a lawyer. Music is just a hobby for me now - an outlet.
Producing on Ableton etc became too much screen time so now I play classical guitar and piano.
I also bought an eight course Renaissance lute.
At least my life has structure now!
The best, most talented musicians I've ever met pursued other things. And most had put it down by thirty. It's sad to see. But I get it
For me, this is easily one of your three best Videos so far. Excellent!
I love music, always have, and moved to Hollywood at 24 in 1992 to pursue music and music career. I knew I wasn't talented enough to single-mindedly pursue being "signed" or solely succeed on creating, so got entry level jobs at music studios and interned at record labels and slowly worked my way upward. It was the beginning of the industry shift then, the birth of digital music as a viable alternative or replacement to analogue (and the debates raged daily back then), as well as distribution entering the unknown. I eventually became the lead engineer on one of the first popular internet streaming radio shows, but it collapsed under it own weight of success due to the lack of clear revenue streams for streaming back then. I left the industry altogether after 13 years but those were interesting days. Now I gig in coffee houses in New England. I loved this video and conversation. Mad respect for your and Tim's understanding and perspective. This is a brilliant share.
What a video. This is easily the best one I've watched on this channel.
I still abhor the fact that the industry is still trying its hardest to leech money from the artist. If it was just the streaming platform that would be one thing. I wouldn't mind making little to no money from my own music if it was even near a fair cut for my work.
Hmm, I remember that I saw a chart 20 years back about how many cents an artist makes per full album sale, and where the rest goes. Most of it was marketing.
But on the other hand, marketing is what makes you sell stuff
It's a business. Every business tries to buy their product at the lowest price, obviously. It's inherent to capitalism.
@@thenerktwins duh of course it's a business. These 3 dirtbag record labels are at this point just milking the giant monopoly they have. We have no need for them anymore and they know that. don't even get me started on publishers, yikes.
@@thenerktwinsI'd say corporate oligarchy is a closer description. In a proper free market you don't have a state backed monopoly stopping you from have negotiating power in order to make some kickbacks
Exactly, even though there was majors, the label marked was a lot closer to free market then the streaming platforms.
And as I already mentioned in another comment, the corporate state of mind leaves place almost only to opportunistic people, the composition quality, it is no more important, just do the old recipes that works and you're good to go in an opportunistic views, that's why all sounds the same now.
We even are to a point where the market is drowned by opportunistic artists so that opportunism is not enough to stand out (but it's almost a must to stand out and the quality is no more required at all, it does not makes you standout anymore at all).
I'm really bitter about how it works nowadays.
I was a huge music consumer years ago and observed my appetite for music retract over time. It impacted my music playing too because if you don't listen to stuff, you can't get ideas of what to play next and I ended up playing the same 10 tracks in loop, every single day.
At some point I decided I needed better consumption hygiene. I use streaming services as a preview system, similar to going to a music store a few decades ago and you would listen to a few tracks on the headphones present there.
I don't skip tracks anymore, and if I like a couple tracks, I go listen to the whole album.
Because a whole album is usually an hour, it means I have to dedicate time for it. I gave back a spot of my free time to music.
Even if you still use streaming services, just trying to be more selective and choose albums instead of random tracks, and dig the artists a little more once you find an album you like is such an improvement in my opinion.
I'm very much the same. If I like a song from someone that I find I immediately go and check out their album because I want the full experience
I have a playlist called 'dig deeper' where I'll put a song I like but don't have time to explore the artist's music yet.
These days I go from classic rock, classic country western, to the 90s equivalents, then there's also classical, like Mozart, Bach, Holtz, etc. And most recently I've been listening to a lot of Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, and for some reason also Grunge haha
Gotta love Tim's open-mindedness, observance and nuance. You'd think with the names he worked with he'd be stuck in time or his own head, but not at all.
Loved that you talked about that so many things are better today. We need more videos like that. True people talking true things. That's what RUclips was made for. To bring us together in real life, to share our thoughts in a positive way and maybe share some things that might help other people or make them happy. It's not the industry to blame, it's not the algorithm and it's not the past that "has been better" - it's you making a choice of what you want to consume, what you want to support and what you want to feel. No better or worse, just a "what you make it". There are thousands of amazing artists and true people out here and it's never been so easy to find them and connect with them like you said. It's up to us to take all the opportunities that the presence gives us, to support those true people that provide us with their art and also stay true to ourselves. And most of all to not fall for the high frequency content trap, but to create content that has emotional value and feeds the soul like this video. Much love to all of you from Austria, stay true :)
I think one downside to the newer industry model is the loss of "Bands too dysfunctional to succeed in their own"
Appetite For Destruction could never be made under the current system, because a band fueled by heroin and bourbon would struggle to organise the business side of things, and if they could, the album would not have had the firecracker-passion it has.
I'm fond of telling people that any number of incredible artists would never get heard today. Leonard Cohen got into music because there was money in it when there was no money in literature. And imagine if your favorite artist released a song anonymously, and it was sung by someone else. It could be better than anything they ever did, but you couldn't find it if you tried. It would get ZERO listens if they just upload it and don't direct anyone to it at all. This system of music distribution does not work from a musician's perspective, or a listener's. It sucks.
The whole concept of how bands have functioned promotes dysfunction. Pressure for hits. Drugs, alcohol and groupies. Touring till they drop. Financial malfeasance. Incompetent and corrupt managers. The whole business needs to be restructured to give bands time to spend away from each other, to have fair contracts, to distribute royalties fairly, and to have more achievable goals than to have hits every single time. There's too much pressure, too much togetherness, too much corruption.
@@324cmac You're talking in the old terms. None of these problems really exist for "up-and-coming" bands. I put it in quotes, because i don't see anybody coming up lately. And the old bands that actually got famous when it was possible are too old for that stuff. There's no such thing as a hit from a band. Nobody listens to the radio or anything. I don't think there's even truly popular music as there used to be. There is no song that everyone knows that's come out recently, like Thriller, or Mambo Number Five, or that one Alicia Keys song, lol. I'm having trouble remembering anything remotely recent that was ubiquitous. I'm in a band, and there's zero pressure because nobody cares at all. Touring isn't even profitable with the cost of gas and everything. There certainly aren't any royalties, and you can spend all the time apart from your bandmates you want. All the bands and musicians i keep track of are kind of just doing their own thing. Most of them are either on hiatus or broken up. There's no money and the whole thing is not working as it is. Music has been devalued monetarily and in general, and nothing's really going on.
I think there was also the benefit of the label pushing bands to make great songs. I hear a lot of modern rock albums that contain all songs on the level of filler tracks on a good 70's album.
What breaks my heart more than anything is that a great deal of music has lost its HUMANITY.
Everything locked to a flawless tempo grid, software emulations of real instruments, tuned-to-death vocals, endless post production plugins etc. Seriously...you put on an epic record from the 70s like Carole King's Tapestry, and it's a major EXPERIENCE. All the nuances of tempo fluctuations from PERFORMING, all the sharp and flat "imperfections" of her voice, all REAL instruments...all of it. THAT is what we've lost, and continue to lose more of every day.
Hey everyone is free to still record like that. You can still do it. Get everyone in a room and mic everyone and just record. Problem nowadays is cost of living is so high it’s tough to be a musician like back in the day that just lived and breathed it to get that level of musicianship.
"locked to a flawless tempo grid, software emulations of real instruments, tuned-to-death vocals, endless post production plugins etc." It's so cheap and easy and you don't deal with drummers...
of course music is like that, we dont Get paid dip shit how u think we gonna afford all that?
Yes it makes it much easier to "cheat", the downside of no "gatekeeping" is that you're flooded with mid artists that can only exist because of those crutches. You now have many bands that can't play live because they suck out of the studio, or can't play in time without a click track x) But I believe it's just the current trend, people will relearn with time to appreciate the more human, imperfect side of things
There will always be old people who hate everything new.
I wanted to “make it” when I was younger, back in the Album Era. Life happened and music was put on the back burner. What I realized, though, is “creators gotta create” or else depression happens. So I’m pushing through my introverted-ness and creating anyways, because I’m older and wiser now and know who I am and that I have something to share…even if it only touches or speaks to a few people ❤
Rick Beato made a good point about how the music industry destroyed its self. Around the time Napster came out labels would focus on 2-3 songs that would be the hit singles and the rest of the album would be shitty filler songs, and than sell the album for $20. No one in their right mind would spend $20 on 2-3 good songs so naturally people turned to Napster. Granted alot of people probably would have used Napster regardless of how many good songs were on the album but still.
Let's not forget the rise of corporate radio. My music pipeline died when Toronto`s CFNY got bought out. Suddenly there was no way to find new music that had not been pushed as a mass market product. Napster was a godsend when it hit the scene.
And the fact that on youtube and even in hollywood no one was lisncing new music only the old or free stuff because the fear of getting law suited into the ground or having to pay stupid amounts of money.
So completely contradicting the point you just made…
Even if an album have 100 hit songs, people would still download it instead of buying. The problem with piracy is that people have no regard for helping artists make music and just selfishly decide that they should be able to own anything they want for free.
The other even bigger problem is that piracy is extremely easy. If it was very difficult to pirate music or other forms of media, people would pay instead. It is much easier and faster to simply download a song illegally versus buy a CD in a store. Streaming and online purchases have mitigated some of this as it is now just as easy to stream music and buy it online, but given how easy it is to steal comparatively to paying, people are tempted to just steal instead.
Rick Beato is a whining old boomer.
@@nyanuwu4209 "Rick Beato is a whining old boomer."
Yeah, what does he know about the music industry? You're the guy with all of the REAL info.
Thanks!
Man this was exactly what I needed to see, 20 years almost as a musician and about 8 albums worth of fully finished songs and I'm finally ready to get my stuff out there. This definitely motivates me to make some real moves and actually gave me a bit more direction. I had to subscribe. Thanks bro. 👍
Good luck with your albums. Hope you find your audience.
@@Mustafa-ou8qs Thank you for the kind words. I'll be happy even if only a few hundred people find something to like in my lyrics.
Good luck
The problem with production being cheap is that the market is now flooded with low-effort music. The former expenses of releasing music was an effective filter. It wasn't good enough to put together something of average quality. Artists were forced to put a profound product on the table to even be considered by the industry. There's so much "Look ma! I'm a [insert genre] artist!" crap coming out these days.
That's not much of a problem. If the vast majority of music sucks- and it does- the good stuff still stands up. It is bad in general though, and i do agree with the rest of what you're saying. It's only occurred to me recently that a music scene comes from great bands. The crowds just show up to hear the music and after the scene is a thing. Well none of that is happening now, and from where i'm sitting not much of anything is happening anywhere. People just live in the internet and continue to be tricked into thinking the sky is falling and everything is exciting and new. There hasn't even been any new slang, or fashion styles or fads in the last decade or so.
I like your responce.I share the same view.Back then in the 50s-90s music was REALLY music.It sounded good, it was attractive,melodic,talented,well composed.In other words it was really true music . I give you an example what I mean by this: europe - the final countdown, survivor - in a burning heart, kiss - I was made for loving you, beatles , Harold Faltermeyer -Axel F , Queen - We will rock you , AC/DC and many masterpieces of that era. But nowadays with all this Taylor Swift, Justin Bieder music is fucking spoiled and truely CRAP OF THE CRAP. There is no soul, no feeling, melody, talent, composition in it. I personaly consider it a good thing that low-effort or talentless stuff was outfiltered back in those days.In my opinion , not only the internet but the massive distribution of personal computers and other commercial technology for capitalist reasons destroyed the music industry.
Big facts you speaking the total truth
@@joshuaBrooks.nicholas is that a responce to me or to the original poster of this comment?
I don't think cheap and low-effort equals trash. Don't get me wrong its more than possible I pick up what you're putting down. But its more about the intent of the artist. As there is expensive music that is also ow effort and wack. Yet at the same time there are artists who don't have access to much who are making wonderful projects with minimum funds/equipment
Like everything internet, there is also the effect it is having on people psychologically. As someone who is on that perfect cusp of having experienced records, cassettes, CDs, digital purchases, and now streaming, my relationship to music has changed vastly in the age of 'everything available and it's all of equal value' (aka your time and your subscription fee)
Enjoyed this, well done. My dad was a working musician. He always told me that that music is an awesome 2nd profession.
it is! if you had a semi popular band as a side job, you'd have it made, but touring sucks, at least imo.
Maybe my boomer perspective is biased, but when I first got my own apartment after getting out of school I did not have a TV (and there was no such thing as internet, video games, home computers, cell phones). I read a lot of books and listened to a lot of music. Like really listened. Eyes closed, no distractions, really concentrating on the music. I was not bored at all. It is sad if anyone who thinks of themselves as a music lover has never had that experience.
The “industry” has always been a sh*t show. People making art for people is all that has ever mattered. Everything else is gilded product.
Amen! my favorite artist today is Gran for that reason, I'll post a link since I can't spell his last name for shit ruclips.net/video/qJpGCoZ4dts/видео.htmlsi=dOrAqIHzxpw-Xg4q CC is English! Cheers!
This is the only relevant comment on this entire stupid thread. Thank you for showing me there is at least one person who understands.
My man
Broke ass "starving artist" that can't afford to live a normal civilized life is just a stupid path. This world REQUIRES money, for EVERYTHING. Someone is getting paid for the thing you are doing, so if you AREN'T getting paid for it you're a "loser" and the person being paid is a "winner". We don't LIKE this idea, but it's just how the world works.
disagree, making a good record used to be very expensive.. most artists of the 80s could not afford their own SSL or even studio time, but that sound is on most of your fav albums of the era.
regardless of success real artists will keep on creating.
Oh not necessarily. I talked with a fellow on the internet a while ago who made beautiful music. He was thinking of killing himself at the time, and maybe he has by now. His songs go unheard either way. Then there's the more practically minded among us. He won't keep doing was does not work and cannot be sustained. Maybe he's got a kid or a medical problem- who knows. You have to be pretty foolish to make music now, and not all musicians are fools. I'd quit myself, but i'm pot committed and i've got nothing else going on.
Make music for yourself forget about doing anything else but that for fun Don’t waste your time
The „First 15 seconds rule” is the most excruciating thing that has happened to music. I really like calling this a “fast food” effect, since everybody who adheres to this (and must be doing so) really focuses themselves on indulging their listener in a quick pleasure just to retain their attention. Some of my fav songs of all the time are the ones I had to “grow into” through many repetitions and the current way of running the business really deprives the audience of this effect and of the journey we can have with particular pieces. I just can’t get over it…
Yes!!! I am so GLAD you are saying this! I frankly am SICK of hearing how great it was in the old days. I’m 57 I remember the old days. So many artists back in the day never got their opportunity because the gatekeepers were racist, sexist, ageist or the artist wasn’t good looking enough 🙄.
Tim seems like such a cool laid back guy. Always a pleasure listening to him. And Samarai brother, this is one of the best videos you've ever done. EVERY young musician should watch this.
Tim is the man. It’s insane to look at his resume and realize how much pop culture he’s actually been a part of. OG.
Thank you for the great video. Very happy that you are doing well with a music life and how fortunate that you can hang with Tim. 🎵
I created songs all my life on just a piano and when midi came out, I totally ignored any of the digital ways. Felt like no soul existed in it. Playing even the best keyboard made me irritated.
Then i got involved with a group of Dj events and got bit by the edm bug! Haha! It taught me about the importance of dynamics and transitions! It was powerful to see the crowd respond to certain changes and songs.
Well 30 years later, kids grown & without a piano ever around, working for others when finally after hitting rock bottom in a way emotionally…
Then I started researching and trying music creation phone apps
I forced myself to at least try….
Almost quit. But now all the stuff I’ve posted since 2020!has been created on my phone and finally got some pro gear to work with and .Yes, even a piano found it’s way home to me.
This path is hard as hell, im exhausted, frustrated at times, but it’s one of happiest realities in my life so far.yay🎉
This is a really good video! I'm someone who is on the verge of making music a full time gig, but sometimes getting songwriting clients can be volatile. I think we all suffer from the negative attitude from having a day job, and not being proud of it. I believe anyone in a similar boat agrees that we sometimes lie to each other about not having another job, because we fear that makes us come off as "not talented enough" to be considered for what we do best. I think it's time that we try to put an end to that self-perceived shame!
The music industry is not burning down, but the artists. As a tiny piece of information: the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) make more money than at the beginning of 2000.
What is getting lost the art of music being made together, I work as a part-time producer and vocalteacher, and in my area (Frankfurt) most singers tend to be more and more lone wolves.
The days when you had to work with others created a much larger network. Nowadays working on most stuff alone creates an absurd kind of stress and loneliness that comes with working alone.
I think collaboration is an essential key of success, even if a performance on a record isn't perfect by someone else, it can create more attraction towards a release if your collaborator shares the song with other people.
Alone that doesn't happen.
That Artists and Writers barely make their living today is f*ckup and no good thing. Due to loving music so much it's so easy to get pulled over the table instead of sitting there as an equal.
I agree, my favorite artist today is Gran for that reason, I'll post a link since I can't spell his last name for shit ruclips.net/video/qJpGCoZ4dts/видео.htmlsi=dOrAqIHzxpw-Xg4q CC is English! Cheers!
_"the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) make more money than at the beginning of 2000"_ Strictly from the music business branch? Do you have actual sources to back this? My feeling is that they collapsed down to ~2015 and then they recouped a bit, thanks to the streaming revenues. But never ever went they back to pre-2000 revenues.
_"most singers tend to be more and more lone wolves"_ So ironic when you consider we've never been that much connected.
I think you are absolutely correct here. I left my last band in 2020 and was dead nuts set on making an album by myself. I’ve made lots of songs since then, but… no album. Every time I sit down to write or play, I get exhausted of it in about 10 minutes, and all I wanna do is jam. I miss jamming with other people! It’s just not the same without them. My ideas don’t feel as fleshed out without that other brain to flesh them out with. I guess for me it wasn’t as much about what I was playing, but who I was collaborating with.
you literally pulled that "piece of information" outta your ass 😭😭😭😭😭
Your comment is perfect. That`s exactly it. And I also feel that part of the blame lies in a good thing: with so much access to music, the young people wanting to play something around me all want to play something _different_ than one another. Not that it's a bad thing, but it does support the rise of "bedroom producers", as we've been seeing a lot lately. I got tired of looking for people to play with (I still look, but I don't _expect_ to find anyone) and so I'm trying to expand my arsenal and get as many pieces done by myself to show work and competence in hopes of finding those people I can collaborate with.
Making music face to face is an amazing experience I didn't realize I was missing until very recently!
TBH, I don't care if I get a following of 5 people, 50 people, or a hundred... I just think it's really cool that I can put in a little investment, make a little studio in my bedroom and record something cool to share even with just a few friends.
I'm immensely grateful that I get the chance to even do this as a hobby, 'cause even in 1990 when I was born that ability just did not exist.
If I ever do decide to push into making myself a brand to make more than 20 bucks a year off what I've created it's going to be because I want to, not because it's required to keep on doing this. That's pretty amazing.
You know, some people invested everything into making music because they thought they could live off that as well
I’m 24 years old. In my opinion, I’m one of the few that got to see the progression of technology in a short amount of time but still felt the impact from both sides of the spectrum. I have a CD collection. I’m making a vinyl collection, i prefer listening to albums over singles and EPs, and i can enjoy listening to songs that are longer than 10 minutes. I have patience with music. 2.5 minutes is not enough time to tell a story (most of the time). You can do it if you’re a good storyteller, but most of those people have faded from existence it seems. People are more interested in a quick dopamine rush than feeling the impact of a story. That’s why more people watch movies instead of reading books nowadays.
12:15 "Over the last year I've become a businessman. I used to think an artist had to separate himself from business matters, but now I realise you have more artistic freedom If you also keep an eye on business."
-David Bowie
'Melody Maker' Magazine
28 February 1976
Main stream music died 20 yrs ago when computers were used to make bad singers sou d like they could hit a note. The 90s were the last great era for mainstream music, but there are thousands of great underground musicians out there, so we still live in exiting times for music.
Yes, the inter-webs have given us a massive wealth of information at our fingertips. It's better now. You are right. I'm old. I remember scraping together $15 to buy the latest album and only two songs were good. It was super disappointing. Or, you had to spend $10 to buy sheet music to find out how to play a song and it would be in the wrong key or completely wrong. It's so much better now for the consumer.
I love the way Tim Pierce calmly and quietly explains things!!!
Been wondering when we would get someone with a platform talking about this. THANK YOU
Yes! Very motivational. I thought this was going to be crappy.
For acquiring music, I do not and will not use any streaming service, ever.
The majority of what I have comes on used CDs and records I buy at estate sales.
Hey Thanks' for having Tim , Insane Blues :) QC
As someone who used to work for Roadrunner Records. I can tell you that the music industry isn’t dead. It’s been reformatted. Rather than making money off music sales. It’s through Merchandise and Concerts/VIP packages.
Oh dear God
@@theatomicpunkkid what?
@@TheConcertCruizer nothing much I just realized why there are so many bands not available to purchase
@@TheConcertCruizer no tour no merch no VIP no Revenue
@@theatomicpunkkid it costs A LOT of money to tour. We’re talking easily five to six figures for even the smallest of bare bones tour.
Thank you for this great video. My son who is in a band SILKEN HAS TO LEARN how to navigate this music reality. I am grateful ❤️🎸
Pretty hyped for when "Jazz by Dolphin Noises" does hit the shelves. In a vinyl recording of playback of a vinyl recording.
Everything you said here gives the artists more control and makes music a cottage industry. The biggest problem though is promotion, since you're in an ever growing ocean of artists all shouting to get their voices heard. You may need be able to get by with a smaller audience, but building it and promoting yourself is a huge mountain to climb compared to the album era.
I'm curious to see what happens to the generation that only grows up with the instant gratification of addictive, short-form media. How will that influence the next generation artists? What I do see nowadays that I certainly didn't have growing up is that the young generation now have access to and consume so much more music from previous eras and that exposure is wonderful.
By today, one would think that the best solution, would have been to continue with the old music industry, but fix the issues with it, rather than justifying why today, in any way shape or form is better than before. It isn't, and the ultimate proof is reasonable when we simply look and listen to the music that we now get in mainstream culture. I can't and will never take ANYONE seriously who thinks that someone like Taylor Swift (for one of many examples) deserves such "success".
really great plug for tim pierce's master class. you are so correct about hearing a lead player explain what he was feeling, and
going for for each note of a solo, as opposed to simply watching from afar. Tim should be quite pleased samurai.
The people/artists making any real money are still signed to major labels. Everything else we do now, is basically a hobby. The competition to reach people via digital marketing, makes it even more difficult to make a living. The pie has just moved to a new office, with a new office manager.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "real money." If you can find those thousand true followers and monetize them to the tune of a hundred bucks each, then there is a decent living doing something you love to do, which puts you ahead of most wage slaves
Awesome interview! 🔥🎸
Evolve or die. The record industry is just part of the greater music industry. They are not equivalents of each other.
They way it's evolved has ensured its death.
Keep up the amazing work, Sammy G!
My perspective is a little different than yours in that I worked at record stores for 5 years and have been a fan more than a musician for decades. I love that you touched on the "a way to directly support the artists" bit. I know that the streaming services are as bad as the labels, or worse when it comes to royalties. When I talk to musicians at the merch table, I always ask them "What's the best way to get money from me to you?" and I used to get shrugs. Now they've usually got an answer. What they've told me is:
1) Buy the music instead of streaming it, and then download it. Not only does the artist do better, but streaming services can and will remove songs and artists you like, and digital platforms like Amazon my lose the rights to what you "buy," so you'll lose the music.
2) Bands get a much bigger cut of merch, at least the smaller ones, than they used to.
3) If you can buy directly from the band as opposed to Apple or Google or whatever, obviously that helps them.
4) Go to live shows whenever possible.
5) Patreon or its equivalent is clearly the best, but just following on RUclips and, yes, liking and subscribing, helps a lot.
When I was working in records stores, I dealt with the label reps a lot and it was never a great experience. They always referred to the music as "product," even more so than the retailers I worked for. Cutting them out is a huge win IMO. Of course, they were paying the big artists less than 1% of the retail in many cases, so they didn't give a rat's ass what I thought.
What's (somehow) funny is that music is a lot more a product now, people takes so much effort into selling their music that they prefer to use the old recipes that gives success then really innovating in music creation.
With streaming services leading the market, we are drowned mostly by opportunistic people with no more creativity that themselves think about their music as a product, so, if back then labels (or indeed majors) considered music as a product, at least artist didn't and that was a lot better.
I've seen artists I made music fall into that trap of making products instead of being creative, even people that were really creative still 10 years ago. That makes me sick, bitter, nostalgic, really, with all it's problem, the old music industry gave birth to much more creative music.
Tim from Switchfoot says I totally agree with you! Seeing studio albums as books and chapters is such a creative way to appreciate music. It’s like diving into a new adventure with each song, just like turning the pages of a book. Whether it’s a lengthy album or a shorter one, the cohesive and artistic essence really shines through, much like a well-crafted book. It’s amazing how music can capture so much depth and emotion, just like a good story. 🎶📚. Tim from Switchfoot said to me It’s amazing how albums can be like a complete story, with each song as a chapter in a book. When you listen to the whole album, it’s like diving into the story from beginning to end. Sequencing is indeed crucial for creating a no-skip album or playlist. It’s like crafting a narrative with a flow that keeps listeners engaged. The order of songs can make a huge difference in how the album is experienced, just like arranging notes in music to create harmony. It’s all about creating a dynamic journey for the listeners, ensuring a smooth transition from one song to the next. Thanks for sharing your insights on the importance of sequencing in music albums! 🎶📖. Tim from Switchfoot also said to me I totally agree with you, Luke! Books have their own unique pros, like the depth of description and the ability to use your imagination to bring the story to life. It’s like you become a co-creator with the author, visualizing the scenes in your own way. And you’re right, following the plot as intended by the author can be a special experience.
Movies definitely have their own advantages too! They’re quicker to consume, and it’s fun to watch them with friends. Plus, movies bring the art of acting to the forefront, which can be really captivating. However, I understand that sometimes scenes can be adapted or deleted, leaving viewers with questions or changes to the characters.
It’s all about finding what works best for you, whether it’s diving into the pages of a book or getting lost in the world of cinema. Both have their own magic! 📚🎥✨ do you agreed 👍 💯 Sam?
My gimmick is that I work alone. A one-man recording studio/music video productions channel. Say what you will about playing with others, but there is always an exception. I floundered until I was forty and finally stopped trying to play with others and bought an interface, and now . . . go look, or don't, but the content I do, speaks for itself.
but it doesn't, you re doing this thing for years and still no one listens to you
@@SToXC_. a. That’s the opposite of letting my work speak for itself. In fact it ignores my work in favor of the logical fallacy of “appeal to credentials”. Is my work good or not. THAT was the question. I’ve found my place, even if I haven’t found my audience, and that means I am at the end of a musical quest for identity.
b. That’s the algorithm’s doing. The people who do know about my channel listen to me regularly, but I do content in fits and starts, and when I AM making videos my channel DOES grow. My next comeback when my long-distance apprenticeship is over next year, will be a permanent comeback. Because I will be releasing content regularly, the channel will grow accordingly-or should I say: the algorithm will grow the channel accordingly.
Thank you very much for this. I am over 60 now and remember how it used to be. I personally think this is the best time to create music and art in general.
I appreciate you trying to make lemonade. We have to adapt of course.
This lemonade is going to need an awful lot of sugar.
@@theatomicpunkkidsigh. We do what we must.
i agree you have to be your own record label promoter artist etc etc and that's freedom
in my small city near Toronto,
there's nearly no live music, *a decade ago it was jumping* .
Guitarists just recording alone using programmed drums
has rarely produced much that anybody cares about, not often.
Music is best when people play together, in rooms for people.
Most artists putting music solely online or creating content will not make it.
No ears, no fans.
but have you ever played with crap drummers who can't play in time? it will make you never want to use a real drummer again, that's why unless you're as good as billy cobham or steve porcaro you're useless as a drummer and why producers prefer to programme them instead, I love working with good drummers but they are incredibly rare to find.
Do you know billie eilish?
Enjoyed that, thanks!
Even during the cd era and before, music was still free on the radio.
Well. "Free" is relative. Yes, free for the end user to listen to a song but also not free because it is monetized, similar to youtube.
Yep, the five songs on endless rotation were free. I hope you liked em cause that was all you were getting. Bummer about the billions of songs I have access to now.
@@RustyKnorrHe's literally making the same point you are, lol.
Just reminded me of Rush's, "Spirit of Radio."
@@nicholashylton6857 definitely unobtrusive.
Wonderful video, so informative! You have a great style and you are so genuine! Subscribed!
Musicians went from a life where they played live, recorded music and made a decent living to being shut in a room making videos, either as teachers or instrument salesmen. This is not the life of an artist. Even royalties on soundtracks are paid peanuts now because Netflix is a streaming service. Music isn't a career anymore. Period.
Fifty years ago, only a small fraction of the world’s musicians had the chance to live the idealized artist’s life you mention. Just a small percentage achieved that dream, another part struggled too to make ends meet, and 99% never set foot in a studio or got the opportunity to record or perform their music to others.
Today, there are ten times more musicians, most of them can record their music if they choose. While not all of them will find fame or fortune, the ability to create, share, and reach a global audience is more accessible than ever, making this one of the most promising times for artistic creativity.
@@Russocass sure, but as we mention the word "industry", this isn't the case anymore. Albums aren't being physically published or even bought, royalties have greatly diminished because everything is now being streamed and streaming royalties are not paid as much as television, grand rights or cinema. When I started we were paid royalties for each territory the music was broadcast in, if it was a soundtrack we were paid for each copy of DVDs sold. Live music venues now pay on the door, even to established names, very few are being paid a cache. Creativity needs money and peace of mind to move forward. In the past there were plenty of people who could live off music without being famous. Now even being famous requires sponsorships and all kinds of side revenues to keep going. Recording music and expressing yourself by sharing what you do is great, hoping views will bring you some following and maybe some money, but this is the way a hobby works, not an industry. Nobody on his own can be an artist, an arranger, a producer, a promoter, a manager, a sound engineer, like an experienced record company team works. Mental health is very important to be creative, and a good general health. The current reality is crazy making. Then sure, anything could happen, but again, this is not an industry, it's more like winning the national lottery.
What Tim has said is soo true, ("Doing stuff in the evening and on the weekends) but then again on the other hand, sometimes its better to do something that or which is your passion rather than to work an everyday job!
I tell people to support live music. Especially local live music. That's one of the ways musicians make the money that's part of this new paradigm.
People don’t “sUpPoRt LoCaL MuSiC” because ppl tell them to do so. They go to shows because those shows are fun and entertaining. No one owes anyone their attention and time. Friends and Family AREN’T fans.
I'm introvert and don't do music infront of an audience.
Sammy, thanks for bring up the point that because of gatekeeping, a lot of really talented people never got a chance. I've been a musician in Minneapolis for 45 years and have been in bands with, played shows with and listened to a ton of top notch people who are unknown. It's a shame that they only got to a certain point because of how the business was structured at the time.
I have been struggling with this for the last few years. To make my own music, i have to know software, become my own producer, edit videos, learn where to post, grind content creation
I just want friends to play music with, i want people to meet with and create, and have that naturally spread if it is meant to. It is a false image to think making music has gotten easier in my opinion. unless you dedicate all your time to it, its so hard to do
Great video! ✌🏽
Frank Zappa had a home recording studio 1979
Kate Bush too...
@@markmorris8532 I hadn't heard that. Boom, 2 examples
I'm not so sure. I think the concept of music...and, has always been around at some level. I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw once. It said "Real musicians have day jobs." About being a musician plus an entrepreneur is spot on. Not that many people can do that. I learned that about myself a few years ago to my dismay. But you know...I finally found my niche; and it's teaching. Best job I ever had.
I love vinyl I'm 58,I play guitar,I really miss real music,real player's,the golden years are long gone
Just a foot note...your a fine musician...thanks for your videos and content.🎶🎶🎸🎸✨✨🎧🎧
Even 1 gigabyte screen less MP3 player has more musical and emotional intimacy than Spotify or RUclips. I miss those days and am glad I went through that era of only having a few songs in rotation and really letting them grow on you
I still use a Zen Vision M mp3 player for a lot of my listening! Every once in a while I'll dig out my minidisc player a bunch of minidiscs and surprise myself with forgotten playlists I cobbled together from tunes recorded off the radio!
bro's out here about to fuck his ipod
Thank you for making this video. I graduate college in 2 weeks and am aiming to work in the music industry, likely moving to LA this summer. You and Tim provided vital information that is not talked about enough, and served up many important reminders that people should have when seeking to enter this landscape. I'll be using this video as well as the countless others of yours that I've seen and learned from over the years to guide me. Kudos
There are ZERO drawbacks to today's music industry. The democratization of music is the best thing that could have happened. The old system benefitted a small minority. Now, anybody can share their art for a minimal cost and WE get more options.
Spotify’s overly dominant position and their dislike for paying musicians a decent amount is a big problem.
Saying there are zero drawbacks is extremely narrow minded. There's positives and negatives to everything. Today's music industry has lowered the bar so low that it dilutes the potential of even finding a good record. You have to spend the whole day on the internet to find a good song. Before, MTV and CD stores recommend high quality artists so that the average person didn't have to waste time prowling and searching the deepest depths for music.
@@saintkevinofficial Spending a whole DAY to find record?? Compared to what, listening to the RADIO to tell you what's good? I grew up in the 70s, and there is FAR FAR FAR more good music available and the internet has made it EASY to find EXACTLY what you want ;) with tools like Google, Copilot, ChatGPT, Spotify playlists, RUclipsMusic playlists, etc. You must be trolling to say that it used to be easier to find good music. MTV??? You're joking, right?? CD stores? So you were depending on minimum wage teenagers to tell you what is good, based on what, sales?
Dude, you have no idea how great we have it now, which is crazy considering you look very young. Cmon man 😀
@@the.Aruarian So don't use them :) Vote with your click.
@@petertrast i mean i won't deny that we're living in astonishing times. You're right about that. I can create a record from scratch and finish it without ever having to leave the house. But despite all the wonders, we can't really ignore the fact that music has been severely devalued in its creation and consumption. If this was a balancing act, we'd be doing a very bad job. Music needs community to thrive. Don't you think?
'You used to be a part of the puzzle. Now, there's no puzzle - you have to go and make your own' ~ 12:27
Couldn't have said it better! The times are weird, but your perspective really puts me in a good headspace.
At least I can actually perform, record, listen and vibe to my own creative ideas for cheap. The rest... The rest may or may not come, but the essence is there.
Grateful Dead intentionally destroyed the record inustry by allowing people to professionally record their shows. Genius move.
Lolwut
I think live concerts will never die as a business for musicians.
I do miss going to a music store and hanging out in there sampling CD’s and record’s. It was definitely a time I’m happy to have lived in.
People were making and playing music long before the industry existed and the existence of things like Soundcloud shows that people will keep making music long after the music industry exists.
Honestly prior to there being an industry for music the accessibility for both playing and hearing it was lower in a lot of ways. That doesn't mean the industry itself has been considerate and ethical, or that a lot of it even cared about the art beyond making a profit, but one outcome of it has been making music much more popular than it ever has been. There's a very long conversation we could have about it but before the modern era a lot of western history showed that art was often limited to the desires of those wealthy enough to be a patron for artists, like nobility or aristocrats or the church. This meant that there was far less variety than there is now.
And you're absolutely right that music obviously existed before the modern music industry, I just think its interesting to give an honest look at what these systems have done for art, despite their sometimes insidious goals. I'm also curious what music sharing will be like as artists outgrow what the industry has to offer
Before the music industry, that means before recording, so, there were only live music that was a business and certainly has been since the beginning of civilization.
Of course depending on when and where you were born, you could more or less live from that.
I see this evolving into musical collectives, where like-minded musicians join together to organize musical projects. Such collectives could also share recording, administrative and marketing functions, freeing musicians to pursue their art. The hard part is profit sharing.
The endless stories I've heard of record comapnie sticking the profits up their noses and cliches that get all the work, the sexual depravity and unhealthy working practices - they had it coming. I was at a major record company offices 20 years ago (seems like yesterday) and the A&R guys had Penthouse pinups on their office walls - they where so ridiculously out of touch it was painful and these guys where a*$3holes! Thats nothing, I could name bands who's record companies rendted locations for parties and they descended into drug crazed orgies, just disgusting, often the talent themselves had left long ago leaving the 'liggers' and hangers on. Then there are current day artist reprasentatives I've dealt with on video shoots who are living in the 80s and actually want RUclips shut down - new tech = threat, not a new opportunity.
Things come and go and I feel the music world is sooo very much healthier today than it has ever been!
...for one thing, female guitarists? Wow, never in my wildest dreams!!!
That reminds me about one of the best album ever in my humble opinion: The Crimson Idol from W.A.S.P.
I know I am a bit late to this, but I needed to add my input. I live in a relatively poor family, I cannot afford any real instruments and I have always had a talent for music. I love writing and listening to music and I really wished that I could someday write and play my own music. Back in the day, this wish would have never come true, but I have been born and raised in a digital era, and that possibility to make music is fulfilled by virtual instruments and free software. I believe music is for everybody, no matter their income or living condition, and without virtual instruments I would never been able to make my own music. I am still young (only 17) and I hope that someday I will be able to afford some real instruments and better software, but until then I will be using what I have.
I miss those gatekeepers. :( They were responsible for 'filtering out' a LOT of sh!tty music!
You know that you can play the music you like and ignore the rest? Besides eurodance music was mostly trash and still on major labels
2:40 - Call me old-fashioned (as I know I am), but if I want to _listen_ to an album, I _buy_ it. More often than not as a download these days, but I make a point of _owning_ the stuff I pay money for. Screw streaming if you ask me. People will wake up one day with their favorite media removed from their favorite streaming service, and then what? If something is good enough to spend time on, then it's good enough to pay good money for it.
Um… there appears to be a glaring omission in this story. AI is here and is almost certainly going turn everything mentioned here upside. The rosy view you guys mostly settle on here becomes instantly less plausible once you factor that in. The vast majority of careers in recorded music are set to become obsolete, starting with the doomed sync licensed music industry which was, until about five minutes ago, the bread and butter of a lot of musicians.
great insights. very helpful stuff here. thanks much.
Dang, You get to hang out and pick Tim Pierces brain? All those hits, He could very well have been on every radio station at the same time, day in, day out. What happens at the grammys, does he just go up with everyband, lol. And If one of his songs wins, That means that one of his songs loses. Just give him My info in case he wants to get serious about playin lead guitar
Before social media, talented introverts were making it. After social media, less talented extroverts were making it. The reason is because before social media the A&R had to search for talent. After social media, the A&R searched for whoever markets themselves the best regardless of talent.
This is a great way of looking at it! Thank you! 🙏🏻
I started taking piano lessons at 6 years old untill 12. I took up guitar at 11. At 14 I needed a new amp and better guitar. My mom said get a job. I learned at Taco Johns I didn't want to work for someone. Ended up with 57 lp jr and Ampeg vt40. The next year (15) I got in a band quit Taco John's and played for 7 years. I went skiing in Denver and was in Mr. Luckys listening to some friends and they asked me to come up and play a few songs. As luck would have it some people were looking for a guitar player. How could I say no. This was a great time for me. Playing up and down the Rockies having a great time. Living the life. At 29 something
hit me (real life). I quit the band and moved back home and my dad and I started a Railroad consulting business putting in RR signals at road crossings. 20 years with my dad and lots small towns and even smaller hotels. I didn't quit playing. I did quit drinking and stay at the hotel and jammed. I got lp Studio ($400) which is no more road warren then ones they make that way. I played through a battery power Epiphone and a Rockman X100. Still have it all. When my dad decide to quit I went back to school and got a computer degree. Sold the busness later on and sold my farm to move back home and take care of my parents they were both getting Dementia and wanted to stay in there house instead of a home. I still play a couple hours a day and it's the best part of the day. Have a cockpit set up like Tims. Now that I look back and getting off the road was a good thing for me. No worries how I will get by, Still rocking and loving it (only in the music room) thats my stage now. Good video brought up a lot of memories. CW