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Plenty of reasons: By "music files" I assume you mean the records that you can buy off the shelf in a record store. 1) Bandwidth. The file size would grow pro
by Slow_Hand 6y ago
Plenty of reasons:
By "music files" I assume you mean the records that you can buy off the shelf in a record store.
1) Bandwidth. The file size would grow proportional to the number of separated tracks (less silence in the audio file).
2) Probably low demand. Beyond music nerds and audio engineers, I don't think too many people would be interested in hearing the separated files.
3) It undermines artistic intent: Giving people the ability to remix a song that is outside of the artist's control would probably run counter to their vision of what the song should be. Artists and engineers spend a LOT of time perfecting every detail, and anything that works against that intent may be unwanted.
4) IP concerns. It takes control of the music away from the creator and the business interests once alternate versions exist. It's common for record companies to release "special editions" with the instrumental or acapella versions included as a bonus. By retaining these, labels can have extra revenue opportunities in their pocket for later.
Native Instruments tried to establish a standardized music format a few years back called "Stems". It's a file format that allows the listener to listen to the entire song or to any combination of it's four constituent stems (Drums, Bass, Instruments, Vocals). It was designed with DJs in mind and people who want to make their music easier to remix. As cool and as welcome as the idea is, it had low-adoption and there didn't seem to be a large enough demand for such a format.
As others will no doubt mention, you can procure the multi-track recordings for a lot of famous song sessions if you know where to look online. Audio engineers also trade these amongst themselves as they are leaked because it allows a detailed look into the craft of a finished recording. Like the source code leaking for a piece of software.
- sdan 6y agoAgree with these points; oddly I love instrumentals of a song than song w/vocals; and although Deezer is good, not good enough. Back to searching through sounds w/o vocals.
- santraginean 6y agoWorth noting that the mix is also typically not the final stage of production, or at least of the signal flow. At minimum, there’s almost always some sort of dynamic processing, such as a multiband compressor and/or limiter, applied to the full mix, which makes recreating the final product from the stems much less straightforward.
- pabs3 6y agoAre there any artists that do release the "source recordings" and mixing instructions for their music? ISTR Nine Inch Nails used to do this.
- Slow_Hand 6y agoYup. But it’s not very common. Secret Chiefs 3 come to mind. They recently started selling ‘Geek Pack’ downloads for some of their songs. It’s a folder containing the hi-res stems for a given song. It also includes detailed notes on the song’s production. For a fan like me, it’s a very welcome look into their process. A much more common approach is for artists to release an instrumental or vocal acapella to a song. It’s not uncommon for hip hop records to release entire instrumental versions of their albums. One effect of this is that other rappers are encouraged to take the opportunity to rap their own verses over someone else’s instrumental. This occurs a lot in the tradition of rap mixtapes, which are halfway between albums of original music and riding on someone else’s beat.
- pabs3 6y agoThanks, that sounds really interesting. I hope this sort of thing takes off amongst musicians.
- viraptor 6y ago> 3) It undermines artistic intent: Giving people the ability to remix a song that is outside of the artist's control would probably run counter to their vision of what the song should be. I'm conflicted about that point. On one hand side I understand they want to control the end product. On the other, the two "albums" I love just for their sound are DMB's Lillywhite Sessions and some barely mixed Deep Purple garage recordings. I suspect it's mainly due to lack of compression, since I also prefer the older raw records to modern remasters, but there could be something more I can't consciously identify.