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> Making good recordings costs a lot of money Even now? My impression was that anyone with even a modest amount of technical savvy could put together a record

> Making good recordings costs a lot of money Even now? My impression was that anyone with even a modest amount of technical savvy could put together a recording incredibly cheaply using a computer these days. Decent software, audio interfaces, and microphones aren't that expensive, and you can tweak the production and lay in new tracks to your heart's content. It still takes a ton of time to get right, but it doesn't have to be expensive studio time anymore.

trafficlight 14y ago
You can make some damn good recordings for under $1000. Pick up some software, decent microphones and an audio interface, and you're good to go.
- anigbrowl 14y ago
  Speaking as a sound engineer, that's a bit like saying you can paint a masterpiece for the price of some brushes, tubes of paint, and a bit of canvas. It takes a large investment of time (which has a significant opportunity cost) to become skilled in this area. Many excellent musicians are poor or mediocre engineers, and vice versa. The cheaper and more ubiquitous recorded music is, the higher consumer expectations are: a late-night jam recorded in a hotel room or a rough-edged recording of a live show won't get the time of day from most people. The shortest route to a breakthrough these days is to be pretty and make a Youtube video, but that too is easier said than done.
  - tesseractive 14y ago
    In addition to the basic ability to play music and perseverance, artists have usually needed an extra something special to break out. Whether it's exceptional songwriting, virtuoso guitar playing, or a truly gifted singing voice, or it's having a unique, marketable personal fashion style, contacts in the music industry, or fame from some other endeavor, having some way of differentiating yourself from other aspiring artists can make all the difference in the world. Possessing gifted production skills (or knowing someone who does who will help you produce your music) is just another edge some artists may be able to bring to the table. Then again, if you are merely a mediocre engineer but a truly gifted songwriter or guitar player, those mediocre skills may be enough to let people discover your other, more remarkable talents.
WiseWeasel 14y ago
It's true that the costs for equipment and software are going down, and in some cases, such as electronic music, it's possible to get good recordings with very cheap and accessible equipment. If you've got a band with drums and other acoustic instruments, however, that means isolation rooms, sound-proofing, and other measures needed to get good recordings, not to mention the software and skills needed to mix them; these are still relatively inaccessible and costly. My point is that regardless of the cost, if we don't reward artists for making recordings, despite their great value to us, why should they bother with the effort to make them?
- shardling 14y ago
  You might need all that for good quality, but you can get an acceptable recording cheaply. (Minimum viable recording quality?) That wasn't something trivial to do in ages past.
  - WiseWeasel 14y ago
    I guess the question would then be how many of us are content to be listening to minimally viable recordings while the artists are largely unrewarded for their efforts. I'd rather demonstrate my support for their efforts in the hopes of getting good recordings.
- tesseractive 14y ago
  > My point is that regardless of the cost, if we don't reward artists for making recordings, despite their great value to us, why should they bother with the effort to make them? Lots of people have always started bands, and relatively few of them have made a living at it, never mind gotten rich. Sure some people pursue music because they want to be rich rock stars, but lots of people make music because they like making music. In earlier days, it was easy to play live (and not make much money), but expensive to record anything, much less get that recording out to people. Nowadays, it's very affordable to record things as well, and trivial to upload to YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. Of course, the chance that more than a vanishingly small number of people will listen to your recording is still extremely low, but the barrier is notoriety, not the means of production and publishing. And yeah, part of the rise of electronic music is because it has the lowest barrier to getting started and making your music -- just like the rise of guitar bands came partially because it was inexpensive to put together a small rock group relative to some other kinds of music, and the rise of hip hop came partially because even poor kids had access to two turntables and a microphone.

trafficlight 14y ago

You can make some damn good recordings for under $1000. Pick up some software, decent microphones and an audio interface, and you're good to go.

anigbrowl 14y ago
Speaking as a sound engineer, that's a bit like saying you can paint a masterpiece for the price of some brushes, tubes of paint, and a bit of canvas. It takes a large investment of time (which has a significant opportunity cost) to become skilled in this area. Many excellent musicians are poor or mediocre engineers, and vice versa. The cheaper and more ubiquitous recorded music is, the higher consumer expectations are: a late-night jam recorded in a hotel room or a rough-edged recording of a live show won't get the time of day from most people. The shortest route to a breakthrough these days is to be pretty and make a Youtube video, but that too is easier said than done.
- tesseractive 14y ago
  In addition to the basic ability to play music and perseverance, artists have usually needed an extra something special to break out. Whether it's exceptional songwriting, virtuoso guitar playing, or a truly gifted singing voice, or it's having a unique, marketable personal fashion style, contacts in the music industry, or fame from some other endeavor, having some way of differentiating yourself from other aspiring artists can make all the difference in the world. Possessing gifted production skills (or knowing someone who does who will help you produce your music) is just another edge some artists may be able to bring to the table. Then again, if you are merely a mediocre engineer but a truly gifted songwriter or guitar player, those mediocre skills may be enough to let people discover your other, more remarkable talents.

WiseWeasel 14y ago

It's true that the costs for equipment and software are going down, and in some cases, such as electronic music, it's possible to get good recordings with very cheap and accessible equipment. If you've got a band with drums and other acoustic instruments, however, that means isolation rooms, sound-proofing, and other measures needed to get good recordings, not to mention the software and skills needed to mix them; these are still relatively inaccessible and costly. My point is that regardless of the cost, if we don't reward artists for making recordings, despite their great value to us, why should they bother with the effort to make them?

shardling 14y ago
You might need all that for good quality, but you can get an acceptable recording cheaply. (Minimum viable recording quality?) That wasn't something trivial to do in ages past.
- WiseWeasel 14y ago
  I guess the question would then be how many of us are content to be listening to minimally viable recordings while the artists are largely unrewarded for their efforts. I'd rather demonstrate my support for their efforts in the hopes of getting good recordings.
tesseractive 14y ago
> My point is that regardless of the cost, if we don't reward artists for making recordings, despite their great value to us, why should they bother with the effort to make them? Lots of people have always started bands, and relatively few of them have made a living at it, never mind gotten rich. Sure some people pursue music because they want to be rich rock stars, but lots of people make music because they like making music. In earlier days, it was easy to play live (and not make much money), but expensive to record anything, much less get that recording out to people. Nowadays, it's very affordable to record things as well, and trivial to upload to YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. Of course, the chance that more than a vanishingly small number of people will listen to your recording is still extremely low, but the barrier is notoriety, not the means of production and publishing. And yeah, part of the rise of electronic music is because it has the lowest barrier to getting started and making your music -- just like the rise of guitar bands came partially because it was inexpensive to put together a small rock group relative to some other kinds of music, and the rise of hip hop came partially because even poor kids had access to two turntables and a microphone.