When Music and Technology Collide - Part 1 of 5
Why would someone need a record label?
The reason I pose this question is that today's indie artist has many options because of the advancement of technology. Technology and music has always gone hand in hand, but it was usually only available to artists signed to record labels. In order to gain access to a state of the art recording studio, an artist would have to sign a contract (whose terms favored the record label) and the record label would promote and distribute the songs and artist (while collecting most of the profits).
Advances in technology have now given unsigned indie artists the ability to create state of the art recordings in home studios on a shoestring budget. In particular, the Internet has given indie artists the ability to distribute their music in a number of different channels, whether they are trying to sell physical CDs or selling digital music via iTunes and other digital stores. They can do all of this while maintaining control and ownership of their songs and recordings and keeping more of the money they make.
Take me for example... In this 5 part series, When Music and Technology Collide, I'll be walking you through the process I went through during the past year in releasing my own CD, Rittenhouse Square. I'll be describing the incredible world of options that are available to the modern indie artist (i.e., an unsigned, relatively unknown artist).
Part 1: Once Upon A Time...
Well, before I get too far along, let me give you my own musical history. I started playing guitar when I was 14. I played in a few bands, wrote some songs, and basically had a good time creating music with friends. This was about 10 to 15 years ago.
The thing was I never wanted to make it big necessarily… I really just wanted to write some good songs and put out an album. That was it… that was my dream. I didn’t care about becoming a “rock star” or famous or anything like that. Like many people, you needed a big break – get some attention, get a recording contract, yada yada yada. And the odds of that were 1 in many millions.
Between 1989 and 1994, I spent about $5,000 in equipment to outfit a 4 track recording studio in my basement. A band I was in recorded a couple of songs as demos for some record company, but nothing really came of that. In 1995, I recorded a mini cassette with 3 songs and contributed that to a tape sharing club via US Mail (for you youngsters out there – this was before MP3s and the Web was still in diapers). I got really good reviews on the songwriting, but the sound quality was lacking. The songs were recorded on a 4 track recorder and while I did learn alot about recording techniques, I never took the recordings that seriously. The recordings were definitely not marketable.
So what happened? Well, life happened... As John Lennon famously said "life happens while you are busy doing other things." I got married, got a house and started a family. After a while, I decided that I wanted to focus on my career and several other goals I had. I took about 10 years off from music and in that time I authored a few books and became an expert in information technology (IT). The family grew and I really enjoyed my life and career.
I basically considered my music career over because (a) I was too old to get a recording contract and (b) I didn’t want to tour (which would've been required), so why bother? I sold all of my equipment except for an acoustic guitar and my Fender Stratocaster. The Strat went into storage in my basement and the acoustic went into my home office where I might noodle around with it on occasion. I might occasionally write a new song or snippet of a song, but I wasn’t recording or finishing anything (and frankly, I didn’t care).
During the summer of 2006, we had our basement finished. Whenever you get your basement finished, it forces you to do something you’ve probably been putting off… CLEANING IT OUT! While cleaning out the basement, I came across my Strat. Just for fun, I got it out along with an amplifier, dusted them off and cleaned them up, and started playing again.
The muse struck me hard. All of a sudden, I really got excited about music again. I really enjoyed playing and writing after not even thinking about it for so long. I started writing songs again and quickly had 4 new songs. With the new songs, I knew I wanted to record them, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it.
I was curious about what might have changed in the last 10 years in recording technology and how much it would cost me to create a new studio. I was pleasantly and thoroughly amazed...
Stay tuned for Part Two: Building A Home Studio With NO MONEY DOWN!
The reason I pose this question is that today's indie artist has many options because of the advancement of technology. Technology and music has always gone hand in hand, but it was usually only available to artists signed to record labels. In order to gain access to a state of the art recording studio, an artist would have to sign a contract (whose terms favored the record label) and the record label would promote and distribute the songs and artist (while collecting most of the profits).
Advances in technology have now given unsigned indie artists the ability to create state of the art recordings in home studios on a shoestring budget. In particular, the Internet has given indie artists the ability to distribute their music in a number of different channels, whether they are trying to sell physical CDs or selling digital music via iTunes and other digital stores. They can do all of this while maintaining control and ownership of their songs and recordings and keeping more of the money they make.
Take me for example... In this 5 part series, When Music and Technology Collide, I'll be walking you through the process I went through during the past year in releasing my own CD, Rittenhouse Square. I'll be describing the incredible world of options that are available to the modern indie artist (i.e., an unsigned, relatively unknown artist).
Part 1: Once Upon A Time...
Well, before I get too far along, let me give you my own musical history. I started playing guitar when I was 14. I played in a few bands, wrote some songs, and basically had a good time creating music with friends. This was about 10 to 15 years ago.
The thing was I never wanted to make it big necessarily… I really just wanted to write some good songs and put out an album. That was it… that was my dream. I didn’t care about becoming a “rock star” or famous or anything like that. Like many people, you needed a big break – get some attention, get a recording contract, yada yada yada. And the odds of that were 1 in many millions.
Between 1989 and 1994, I spent about $5,000 in equipment to outfit a 4 track recording studio in my basement. A band I was in recorded a couple of songs as demos for some record company, but nothing really came of that. In 1995, I recorded a mini cassette with 3 songs and contributed that to a tape sharing club via US Mail (for you youngsters out there – this was before MP3s and the Web was still in diapers). I got really good reviews on the songwriting, but the sound quality was lacking. The songs were recorded on a 4 track recorder and while I did learn alot about recording techniques, I never took the recordings that seriously. The recordings were definitely not marketable.
So what happened? Well, life happened... As John Lennon famously said "life happens while you are busy doing other things." I got married, got a house and started a family. After a while, I decided that I wanted to focus on my career and several other goals I had. I took about 10 years off from music and in that time I authored a few books and became an expert in information technology (IT). The family grew and I really enjoyed my life and career.
I basically considered my music career over because (a) I was too old to get a recording contract and (b) I didn’t want to tour (which would've been required), so why bother? I sold all of my equipment except for an acoustic guitar and my Fender Stratocaster. The Strat went into storage in my basement and the acoustic went into my home office where I might noodle around with it on occasion. I might occasionally write a new song or snippet of a song, but I wasn’t recording or finishing anything (and frankly, I didn’t care).
During the summer of 2006, we had our basement finished. Whenever you get your basement finished, it forces you to do something you’ve probably been putting off… CLEANING IT OUT! While cleaning out the basement, I came across my Strat. Just for fun, I got it out along with an amplifier, dusted them off and cleaned them up, and started playing again.
The muse struck me hard. All of a sudden, I really got excited about music again. I really enjoyed playing and writing after not even thinking about it for so long. I started writing songs again and quickly had 4 new songs. With the new songs, I knew I wanted to record them, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it.
I was curious about what might have changed in the last 10 years in recording technology and how much it would cost me to create a new studio. I was pleasantly and thoroughly amazed...
Stay tuned for Part Two: Building A Home Studio With NO MONEY DOWN!
Labels: Indie, Music, Technology
posted by Neall at
8:30 PM
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