What's happening to the recording industry? and its future?

[Manning]

Retraction accepted.

A friendly six-pack wager though - if the Libs win, I wager we will still get the full, proper fibre-to-the-house NBN. I have faith in the raw greed and profit-driven selfishness of big business.

(If Lab win, no wager).

And from here on, no more NBN talk.

The music business sucks. Discuss.

Cheers M

[The Tasmanian]

OK - your on, but has to be to 99% of homes - where it will have the only chance of doing great things for our "industry"
Not people living nearby business hubs. All people.

Coopers pale please!

[rick]

Yep I know about will
He won a Grammy ..
what else can you actually acheive in this business
Living In the big smoke ?

Might as move south where the air is clean and you
Can grow leaves n shit

And the Internet is super fast !

f@#$ I wish I had fast Internet in my studio !

[mylesgm]

having lived for the last 12 months with slightly better than dial up I am looking forward to reasonable speed internet and the NBN will seem like a friggin' rocketship.

[Manning]

OK - your on, but has to be to 99% of homes - where it will have the only chance of doing great things for our "industry"
Not people living nearby business hubs. All people.

Coopers pale please!

Neither side ever suggested 99% was possible, so it's unfair to make those the terms. 99% aren't even on the electricity grid. (http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articl ... 680486.htm)

I'll agree to 97% (as per the original NBN spec). The wager is "fiber to the premise" (no copper at any stage) for 97% (effectively anyone within 20 kms of a town of 500 or more people).

Coopers Golden for me if I win.

[Alistair]

Coopers pale please!

From one hippy who enjoys his vegan beer to the next, Coopers is a massive private donator to the Libs. The world is a strange place...

[Alistair]

And what's this coopers golden? I'm drinking homebrew and moonshine down here, money must be getting tight!

[The Tasmanian]

Done - agreed!

Hey I love that Demotivator site!!
http://www.despair.com/creativity.html

I need it to counteract my relentless NBN positivity!
I had already opened a new bank account for all the massive new NBN enabled income starting at 9am tomorrow ....
Who needs a Grammy?

[Manning]

Coopers pale please!

From one hippy who enjoys his vegan beer to the next, Coopers is a massive private donator to the Libs. The world is a strange place...

I did NOT know that.

Change my wager stake to a single bottle of homebrew, sourced from anyone you feel takes their craft seriously.

[Alistair]

Maybe massive is an exaduration, but they do donate
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/02/02/pol ... ion-dough/

[Manning]

"However, the most interesting donation was Coopers Brewery’s donation of $16,500 to help the Tories, despite marketing itself heavily as the beer of choice for Greens flag wavers in inner Melbourne and Sydney."

They certainly do pitch themselves to that market. Who'd a thunk that they would give cash to the libs? Thanks for the goss.

[The Tasmanian]

Alistair - thanks for the info, I'll change one of my fave beers now.... forever
Every time I go to the bottlo, I will remember coopers = murdoch = abbott = copper wire = pathetic NBN = bad for muso's.

I can do Boags Premium?
White Rabbit?

[ChrisW]

Yeah, Coopers was my favourite Aussie ale too. Although Murray's is better, but expensive and in small bottles.
I hope you are right 'manning'.
I don't see any evidence the coalition have grasped new business. They are heavily promoting a future in manufacturing industry and mining in all their election publicity and door stops. I don't think I've ever seen Abbott visit a new technology business. No hi-viz required.
I know my business has been held back by poor internet performance, and I know i could be earning more money, and hence paying more tax, if I had the NBN.

[gigpiglet]

ive been in my studio, making music, for an independent artist (who i also manage, and is released on my independent label) for 3 days.
i come back to the board and it was up to this....
wow.
ill go back to my nice room full of expensive "vintage" electronics and "big" analogue board.
bye!

[Manning]

LOL Gareth.

FWIW, my studio (in Sydney) can't even get ADSL. We carry session data in and out on memory sticks.

[seancook]

Just thought i would pop in with my thoughts, I have been trying to take the time to read the post properly but whenever i got chance to post another 10 posts from Chris and Manning were there. I did thoroughly enjoy the Chris/Manning flame on, good stuff.

Anyway, I started in a crappy triple j band 8 years ago, after 4 years of doing that and having over a million dollars pass through (on paper only i can assure you) the band in a year, i ended up with around 20k in settlement when we all split.

I put it into recording gear and 4 years later I make a living from it. I don't have a bar job or anything like that. I have a small, focused production room, some nice bits and pieces, lots of instruments. People come to have there stuff recorded/mixed/produced whatever. No one is getting rich, I work long hours (like everyone else does), but I ONLY work on original music. I only say that, not to sound like a smug @#$%, but to clarify that my income is not supplemented by doing any of the many other things.

Its not so bad.

I can't afford a house, but I'm only 25, and for the first time i can afford to buy lunch without worriedly checking the bank account. I lived on baked beans on toast for nearly everyday of every month of being a musician (except when you get the sandwiches and fruit platter on tour!)

Its' not easy, but I would still rather eat baked beans than work for a mining company.

not sure if any of that was relevant, but for the people starting out in this industry, it doesn't look pretty, but it still looks good enough to me.

[Ben M]

Wow, geez…so just to summerize the 4 pages on the future of the music business…
the future is mining, banks, NBN, Murdoch, politics, Coopers ale, mining, snare shaped mansions, banks, women of Tassie, Grammys, real estate, ozito power tools, mining, Shrillex, NBN, did I say banks? oh yes… sealed roads, jetpacks, having a trade to fall back on, the good ol days, squeezing pimples, kitten videos….

No wonder, I’m doing everything wrong.

Soo…how bout those continuing pirate/illegal download sites with major corporations advertising on them? How the F&*$k does that work??

Spot-a-lie continues to justify it’s existence saying that musicians are better off because “at least it’s better than getting paid nothing”. They're forging a model that only suits themselves and big labels with big catalogues.
Oh great! Music is basically free until further notice.

Can we find solutions to why music is so undervalued?...but listened to by nearly every human on the planet…

Maybe we need to start at the final ‘product’ and it’s delivery and work backwards to find out how music production can remain a specialised art with a promising future.

[Alistair]

You've got real Boags in Tassie too- Wizard Smith is pretty respectable. Lion Nathan (Boag's owners) are big Labour donators for what it's worth. I'm not sure I'll ever actually understand why companies can make political donations. Seems like obvious conflict of interest to me.
Stumbled upon a local Melbourne brewery- Kooinda. Pretty smashing.

Gareth- I guess that's pretty interesting summation of the times, that you are recording, managing and releasing that record. Less people doing more of the work. Heaps of positives I see in terms of control and freedom, but in my experience negatives too- long days become even longer.


Ben- great idea.

[tunetown]

Wow, you guys been busy.

I now live 3 minutes outside of Camden and I cant even get ADSL. I just installed a wireless hub yesterday and the best I can get is a medium connection but I guess that's better than nothing. I spoke to Telstra and they will not be upgrading any of their exchanges in the area because of the NBN. When I log onto NBN web all they say is "NBN will be in your area but construction hasn't commenced yet" Based on the planned rollout it looks like not in the next 3 years, if ever. Sorry Manning but I'll believe it when I see it.

I will not stop drinking Coopers Vintage regardless of who they they donate to. In a free society they are entitled to their views. Beside, they make a great product and I enjoy it. Point me in a better beer direction and I'll consider it.

Back to the music Business. I have been in and around it all my life. Playing in various cover and original bands. I, however, was never able to work out how to make enough money to live on. So, I went the day job route and now run a successful concrete construction company. Music will always be a very important part of my life though. It's a great therapy and escape from the day to day stresses of dealing with 30 staff. I have a great little studio facility with awesome gear and selfishly only work with artists I choose to. In this new music business model, I still can't work out how to make enough money to live on, NBN or not.

I'd dearly love to see artists being well compensated for their work. Unfortunately, in this business, they hold no power and will always be the first exploited.

[Manning]

Sorry Manning but I'll believe it when I see it.

All I said was they will install optical fibre (what Labor and Big Business wants), not copper (which is what Murdoch is pushing because copper = slow speed = Foxtel cable remains viable in his fairy tale world).

I never said when. The plan is to get the whole country done by 2020, which probably means 2023 before it is actually finished.

[ether]

This'd have to be the most entertaining thread ever.

I don't hear any solutions to anything though. (Yet!)

The only thing I can think of to do is to get everyone to embed subliminal "music is not free" messages in all recorded songs from now on.

In fact, doesn't Steven Dog-Tag Slate have a plugin for that?

[rick]

What's happening in the music industry and the future

Lesson 875 from Rick


Yesterday while I am working by myself a couple
Knocked on my studio door ..
" sorry to turn up unannounced but we are from out of town
And we were just at xyz guitar shop down the road
They recommended you guys for our stuff they said your the man"

So I invite them in listen to their tale go to their website
They book $1000 worth of work in for the week after next

I am think f@#$ I don't even know the guys at xyz guitar shop
So I head down there this morning with a bunch of beers to say thanks
Only thing is they know who I am but didnt refer the new clients
So I give them 1/2 a dozen beers any way straight back to the bottle shop
Buy another 6 beers head into the next shop
Guess what wasn't him either ?
I laugh and leave them 6 beers
I give it one more shot buy 6 more beers
Try the other guitar shop
... Nope not them either .. Curious

Oh well

5 minutes ago the phone rings
Hey is John I was just speaking to xyz guitars they
Said you are the guy can we book an ep?

So I am up $1600 down 18 beers and none the wiser

But yes you are correct the beers were from Tasmania!

[Alistair]

All of learnt is that the music industry runs on beer. No new information here.

[Wiz]

Coopers?

[SYOS]

I live in Christchurch and it's cheaper to buy Coopers here than when I lived in Brisbane......

[ChrisW]

The State Of The Beer Industry.

Not as good as the UK and USA imho, which is disappointing because the USA had the absolutely WORST beer until a few years ago, and still features heavily in the 50 worst beers in the world:
http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/TheWorstBeers.asp.

NZ:
http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/TopBeer ... ntryID=148

vs

Oz:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/country/australia/14/

Murray's has three in the top ten. It's local to me...... and very good.

Now if only you could download free beer from The Pirate Schooner, or drink as much beer as you wanted for a $2.99 monthly subscription from Alestra or iiBeer.

[rick]

Dejuvu

Ever notice how many long threads around here
End up in beer talk ?

[ChrisW]

One of us has cracked a beer to celebrate - although he hasn't posted today, so maybe the switch hasn't gone so well.
In which case he maybe drowning his sorrows in Boags.

[Ben M]

Dejuvu

Ever notice how many long threads around here
End up in beer talk ?

I've also notice how many beers can end with no threads...but that's another story.

[tunetown]

Now if only you could download free beer from The Pirate Schooner, or drink as much beer as you wanted for a $2.99 monthly subscription from Alestra or iiBeer.

Sad isn't it. Perfect analogy for this thread about a dying music business which turned into a beer discussion.