If you want to really step up your podcast, video blog, or next live streaming event, here are some things to consider when setting up.  There’s a saying in the audio industry:

TV without picture is radio. TV without sound is useless.

Take your sound seriously. Other people are listening.

Set Your Gain Correctly.

This is hands down the most important stage of your signal chain.  If it isn’t correct, it compromises everything thereafter.  If you set your gain on your mic preamp to low, you’ll have a very low signal overall, resulting in a quiet and frustrating recording.  You’ll risk losing listeners or viewers.  However, if you have it set too high and it’s what would be considered “hot”, you’ll have clipping and will distort your signal.  This can be even more frustrating that a level that is too low.  It sounds harsh and unprofessional.  It sounds like an amateur recorded it in their garage without a clue.

So find a happy medium.  A gain setting that isn’t too low, but not so high that if you or your guest gets loud or excited it won’t clip. Do a few tests, record the same phrase each time, and then listen to them back to see which sounds the best.

Use a Compressor.

So you’ve set your gain at an appropriate level.  But it’s still not quite as loud as you’d like.  It doesn’t sound like “the pros” sound.  You know what I’m talking about.  Listen to the radio.  The DJs have that big, full, “pro” sound to their voice.  It’s not weak, thin, or tinny sounding.  It never clips, and you can always hear them over the background music.

I’ll let you in on an audio engineers secret weapon.  Compression.

Okay, so a compressor is not a secret.  What it does and how to use it correctly, though, is often a mystery to people.  Even in my line of work, I come across other “engineers” that admit they don’t fully understand how a compressor works.  Unfortunately, if you don’t understand how a tool works, you can’t maximize its potential.

Compressors basically hug your audio signal.  With the left arm wrapping around, it’s keeping the low signals from being too low.  Then, with the compressors right arm, it’s pulling in the signals that might be too loud.  What it’s doing is keeping the fringe signal levels in a more controllable, appropriate, and enjoyable dB range.  When used correctly, it truly helps polish a vocal signal.

You have a couple choices when looking to start using a compressor.  You can go with a nice little hardware version like the dbx 266XS 2 channel compressor.  This is a two channel compressor, so if you have a guest, you can run two mics through it and have a great sound.  In this setup, you’d plug your mic into the compressor, then run a line from the compressor to your existing audio interface.

Most audio recording software suites will have a plug-in that would also work just as well.  The nice thing about the software versions are the presets and the ability to save your settings for particular guests and scenarios.

It is very easy to get the settings wrong on your compressor and wind up peaking your signal.  I’ll be posting an article on how to use a compressor correctly following this post.

Maintain Proper Position.

One of the most simple things to do to improve your sound for your audio or video podcast is to use correct positioning of your mic.  In the audio engineering world, we call this proximity.  Maintaining proper distance from your microphone goes a long way.  If you’re too close, you’re using a bad mic, and you’ve got your gain set too high, you might as well light it on fire.  If you’re sitting too far from it and your gain is set too low, you’ll only be pulling your hair out when you listen to it back.  Or, if you’re too far away, you might boost the gain so that it picks up your voice.  The down side to this is what’s called the noise floor.  The noise floor is the ambient sounds in your surrounding environment.  For instance, you are recording in your office.  There is a dog barking outside, cars driving by, the HVAC pumping air, and a loud fan on your PC.  All of these noises, while not terribly distracting to us individually, when added together create a noise floor that you can’t get rid of.  If you boost your gain on your mic pre, you’ve made your mic more sensitive, thereby picking up all of these little noises even more and creating an unprofessional sounding recording or live stream.

So, stay close enough to the mic that you’re the only thing it’s picking up, keep your gain at a manageable level, and invest in a compressor.

Thanks for reading and as usual, I’m looking forward to your comments below.

Cheers,

Josh

How the Charts Are Like Walmart

The charts are similar to the Walmarts of the world; they curate a list of music that is selling or “setting trends” and are getting radio play.  Clear Channel has a huge role in who gets airplay and in what part of the country.  This in turn has a huge impact on whether they make the charts.  What does this have to do with anything?  Clear Channel owns more than 800 nationwide radio stations.  They control what you’re hearing.  If they don’t think it will make them money, whether it’s good music or not, they won’t put it into their rotation.  You have to tickle the fancy of Clear Channel to even have a remote shot at making the charts.  Kind of like Walmart.  Without selling your product to Walmart at a deeply discounted rate (and sometimes even taking a loss just to get their nationwide distribution), the small vendors have to sell their souls to Walmart.  It is eerily similar to the music industry, really.  People call in to the radio stations to request the music they like the most, out of what they’re hearing the most.  If they haven’t heard a new artist, how can they request that artist?  So we’re stuck with the same handful of pop artists making the charts, getting the airplay, and getting the major label record deals.  Kind of like the suppliers with cushy relationships with Walmart.  All the while the boutiques and mom-and-pop stores are going under because they can’t compete with the big boys any more.  The small guys often have superior products, but this doesn’t matter.  The independent artists just cannot afford to compete with the majors.

How the Independent Artists Are Like Mom & Pops

There are thousands of artists that we haven’t heard of.  Many of them would likely melt our faces if we listened to them.  Will they make the charts with their face-melting music?  No.  Instead, they will scrap together what they can to buy a broken down van, do a few show dates, and hopefully build a decent enough following to make enough money to pay for the gas to get home.  The independent shops that are beat down by Walmart go through the same thing.  They have a local following, but can’t compete with a nationwide distributor that has connections and deep pockets.

The independent and small artists might not look a certain way, have a certain sound, or talk about sex and the club enough in their music.  Unfortunately, the major labels are creating this sick culture in music.  A culture where the artist writes about going to the club and dancing to a song.  Then they go to the club and dance, all while their song is playing on the DJ’s rig.  It’s almost like looking in a mirror when there’s a mirror behind you; it keeps going and you’re not quite sure which reflection is the first reflection.  People like the music they hear because it brings back emotions and memories from events.  Someone enjoyed themself at the club.  What song was on?  A song about enjoying themselves at the club. It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?

What Can We Do?

There are pop artists playing on the radio that are truly talented.  People that are amazing.  But for every one that is great, there are 10 that are just a pretty face.  Stop buying into the notion that just because an artist is on a major pop chart they must be good.  Here are a few brief things we can do to help the independent artists survive:

Listen for yourself.  You know what you like.  You know what you don’t like.  Start asking for new recommendations from friends.  When you hear a song that you really like, listen to more of the album.  Buy another record from their catalog.

Find those undiscovered artists and invest in them by going to their shows and buying their albums.  They can’t continue to write, record, and play without money from fans.  Period.

Buy local. Go out and find the artists in your area that are playing shows and get to know them.  Getting their music heard is more important to them than anything else.  Ask around about some of the best local bands you haven’t seen yet and check them out.

Tell your friends. Word of mouth is the absolute best form of advertisement.  We trust the opinion of our friends over the talking heads on TV and radio.  Help these independent artists gain new followers by talking about them and sharing links on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, blogs, and anywhere else you can think of.

Thanks for reading.  I would love to see your comments, thoughts, opinions, and stories about this topic.  Also, shoot me a tweet on Twitter; I’m @josh_walker. I’m always looking for new people to follow and engage with online.

Are you a producer?

Most people think of music or record producers as the people that stand in the control room of the studio with their arms crossed, nodding their head either in approval or disapproval.  These type of producers are more of the managerial type, keeping the band on schedule and/or budget.  Others know producers as “beat makers”.  While the beat makers are legitimately producing musical content, they are by no means a record producer.  Their producing ends at the beat.

There are a huge number of people touting themselves as producers these days.  They believe that because they have a Mac with some beat software on it that they are a real producer.  If, instead, they take that software, write music with it, and then put a vocalist and instruments to it, they are on the right track.  If they’re just cranking out beats all day, they are not a producer.  Let me say that again.  Because you make beats does not make you a producer.  The beat is not what makes the song.  It’s the hook.  The melody line.  The intonation of the vocals.  And so much more.

For instance, take any pop song and remove the vocal track.  Listen to the beat.  It might keep your interest for 20 seconds, if you’re lucky.  After that, it’s boring.  So, again, if you want to be a producer, start producing music from start to finish.

What do they do?

A real record producer takes musical content, the vocal artist, and/or musicians and orchestrates it all into a finished, polished song. This might mean pushing the vocalist to get the perfect performance.  Other times it means actually helping the band write the songs.  Producers have a high level of creative input when it comes to the recording process.   They are, in essence, a part of the band.  They impart a particular influence on the finished album that otherwise would not have been there.  Some producers will even play instruments on some of the recordings on the album.  Many record and music producers are selected by bands and labels because of their individual influences, sounds, and styles.  Often times, the producer will work with a band for multiple albums because of the trust they’ve built, along with the workflow that has been established.  Everyone operates differently when writing music and recording it.  Every band, every producer, and every engineer.  When you’ve found a producer and/or engineer that really works well with you, don’t let them get away!  In short, a producer does whatever is needed to make the song what it needs and wants to be.

Does my band need a producer?

When you get a producer in the studio, you need to be well practiced and ready to record.  The studio is not the place to finish writing your songs as a band.  It is the place, however, to bring in a producer and have them give you feedback on your music.  While you’re recording and listening back to the tracks, a producer will make suggestions on ways to improve the song.  That producer is an invaluable set of ears that will be able to tell you if your music is attractive to the end listener.  What they do is act as an unbiased third party.  A producer has your music’s best interest in mind, not the guitar player or the vocalist.  Keep that in mind.  When your producer tells you to do a track over or change the pronunciation of a word, don’t get bent out of shape; just do it.  They want the music to be just as good as you want it to be.  They aren’t attached to the song emotionally like you might be, allowing them to see and hear things that you’re missing.

If you’re recording an album, whether an EP or full length, consider hiring a producer.  It is an expense you may not have planned on, but you’ll be happy you used one.  Even if you believe your music to be the best set of songs on planet Earth, you will do your music a great disservice by not have a professional creative mind and set of ears on the other side of the glass.   You may think that you have your songs nailed.  You just might.  It never hurts, however, to have another professional listen in and give constructive criticism.  All of the greats have had equally great producers; why wouldn’t you?

I am beginning a new series of blog posts regarding the new music industry.  In it I will layout some definitions, myths, and truths as they pertain to the music industry, record industry, radio industry, and more.  These industries are notorious for confusing the musicians, fans, and businesses that work in them.  Let’s try to get some things cleared up.

First, the music industry is not the record industry. Let’s get that straight. The music industry is comprised of musicians; the record industry is made up of corporations and business people.

Secondly, CD sales do not mean the music industry is in a dismal state.  The way that the numbers are skewed is ridiculous.  Rather, the music industry is booming. The major labels want you to believe that they are a product of the economy and the piracy issue.  Even the state of radio has changed dramatically.  We have changed the way we as listeners consume music.  We have changed the way we hear about new music.  Failing companies have tried to change their models while others have stuck to their guns.  The bottom line is that the fans won’t wait for them to catch up.

How many new artists did you hear in 2010 compared to new artists in 1996? The music industry is alive and thriving, regardless of what you read about music downloads and CD sales or radio.  Let’s talk about the condition of radio.

1996

The number of commercial radio stations? Roughly 6,100.

In 1996 the top ten radio companies controlled only 600 or so radio stations.

2010

The number of commercial radio stations? 6,479.  That’s an increase of just over 300 new stations.

Today Clear Channel owns more than 800 radio stations.

One company today controls more radio than the top ten companies of 1996 combined.

I am not happy with the current way that radio stations are run. The majority of major market radio stations nation-wide (USA) are owned by Clear Channel, reaching the majority of the country. I would classify that as a monopoly. Fifteen years ago there was diversity among the markets. Today, the stations are owned by a few large corporations and play the same tracks by the same artists all day long, all over the country.

Number of markets reached by radio in 2008

I for one do not like to be “sold” something. Especially music. I like what I like. I don’t need some major record label spending millions of dollars to tell me why I should buy the latest pop record that the 13 year old girls are buying. I will go to shows, talk with friends, and work with artists. These are a select few ways I find new music.  On a side note, here’s a related post I wrote on buying songs versus buying artists.  Remember that the music industry is changing daily.  Bands need to find new ways to make a dollar.  We all know at this point that it’s not going to be from your next album.  It will be from partnerships, collaborations, integration, and networking.

There is little chance for an independent artist to get serious exposure on the radio without being endeared by Clear Channel. The upside to this situation is that the radio stations in their current format, and as we know them, are on their way out, just as are the major record labels.  The music industry is changing, not dying.

If you haven’t noticed, Internet radio, Pandora, AOL Radio, Shazam, Last.fm, and other digital music outlets are exploding.  These platforms are affecting the way we consume music.  Why would someone listen to a Top 40 station anymore when they can pull up Pandora and have a highly customized library of music literally catered to them?  Why buy a physical CD when you can have your music streamed to you anytime and anywhere?  Services like these are intelligent and adaptive. This is what makes them appealing. Major record labels, and in turn major radio, tells us what to listen to. The digital platforms allow us to decide what we listen to. Pandora and similar platforms listen to the user and adapt. They are embracing social media in its truest sense, encouraging constant communication from both sides.

The old way of doing things is changing.  Major record labels, FM radio, and traditional print advertising will never cease to exist completely. They will, however, cease to be the norm.  CD sales are declining.  Radio is becoming just one big playlist.  Illegal downloads are thriving.  Yet in spite of this we are discovering new working bands on a daily basis and purchasing their music, tickets, and merchandise.

The music industry IS NOT the record industry.  The record industry as well as radio are losing out.  The music will prevail.

That’s a wrap for the first post in the series titled “The New Music Industry Series”.  Coming up, I’ll be writing about how an artist can make money and survive in the new industry without a record label, how to use social media as a band, whether or not you need a manager, and much more.

Here’s my short list.  It is in no way exhaustive, though.  I will be doing more in depth posts on some of these topics in the future, so get the RSS feed now!

6. Have some talent.

You don’t have to be the best, but at least try.  And if you don’t have any talent but have lots of passion, try another part of the music industry like management.  Just because you’re not cut out to be in a band does not mean you can’t have an integral part in the industry.

5.  Create a roadmap of where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

Take out a piece of paper and on one side put “I’m Here”.  On the other side, make a circle with wherever it is that you want to be.  Connect the two with a line and then put hash tags with “checkpoints”: people to meet, certain number of shows to play, marketing goals, etc.

Make sure that you stick to your roadmap.  Otherwise you’re likely to get lost on your trip and wind up playing cover songs in local bars for the next 20 years.  While that may pay the bills, it probably wasn’t the destination circled at the end of your roadmap.

4.  Cut a quality demo of some of your tracks.

You’ll want to put your best foot forward, so only showcase your best material.  Book time at a real recording studio and go into the studio practiced and prepared.  Don’t try to cut corners and do it yourself.  Choose some songs that show your ability.  You never know who you’ll run into that might be interested in your sound.  Speaking of…

3.  Network and surround yourself with other people who are likeminded and serious.

These people may see some potential in you and take you under their wing.  If they see that you are also serious about what you do, you stand a better chance.  Always have business cards and a copy or three of the aforementioned demo with you.  You’ll run into people in the most unlikely of places.  Be prepared.

2.  Run your band like a business, not a party.

Consult with a music attorney (here’s one – Kenan Farrell in Indianapolis) and they will help you determine how to form your business, tax guidelines, help you copyright your songs, and more.  That person can give you great advice on ways to navigate the industry and keep your head above water.  It will be much easier to take care of these details now as opposed to years down the road after things have gotten more complex.

1.  Take yourself seriously.

If you don’t, no one else will.

As I mentioned, that is the short list.  Obviously there’s a lot more to it, but if you start with these points, you’ll be well on your way.  Good music, passion, and persistance are what will get you through.  Knowing people and being in the right place at the right time can also have a helping hand.  That ties right into point #3, so you’re covered.

Go out, make a plan, and drive till you get to your destination.

Cheers,

Josh W.

The surface answer would be that the labels are taking all of the money for themselves. How much are they taking? How much does the artist get? It varies from artist and label, but typically it’s to the tune of pennies per album sold to the artist and the rest is divided up between the label, management, producer, etc. That huge advance that the artist got for signing a contract? That’s not really their money. The label just loaned it to the artist so they could make a record and eat for a couple of months while doing it. The band has to pay all that money back. Meaning usually they need to go platinum before they even see a penny in profits.

We need to make sure that we don’t just believe whatever it is that we’re told.  There’s always a spin on just about any argument.  So are digital downloads robbing the music industry blind?  I believe that the industry has taken awhile to realize that there are adaptations that need to happen in order to appeal to the consumer and still turn a profit.  If people are downloading music illegally, find a way to capitalize on it.  And lawsuits are the worst way to try and make your money back.

Is the RIAA For Real?

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been complaining for years now that illegal downloads were killing their CD sales. Sure, I can believe that.  But are they really hurting that badly in comparision to the independent labels that are trying to sell albums to the same consumer base?  You tell me.  Just look at the major record labels share of the market below.

Image from http://wikipedia.com

But then they started complaining the legitimate digital downloads are the cause of the decline in CD sales. Really? Maybe they need to restructure their sales pipeline and focus more on what people are actually buying in that case. Just a thought.  The RIAA and major record labels should have struck a deal with Napster right off the bat to develop a system where everyone wins.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation has put some serious thought into such a system.  A system where you can download all the music you want and the artists still get paid.

Have the record labels considered that the rest of the country is in a recession?  They’re not the only companies losing money!  Consumers will buy less products overall and opt for cheaper alternatives, i.e. iTunes, Rhapsody, and other digital music services when their dollar doesn’t stretch as far?  Not to mention that it’s easier to acquire these digital files in the first place.  No hopping in the car and driving to the store, only to find out that they don’t have it in stock.

The Downward Spiral

Image from http://money.cnn.com

When cassette tapes started being outnumbered in sales to CDs, did the industry try to keep pushing tapes? Or did they instead start manufacturing more CDs and releasing older albums in CD format? They embraced the new format and pushed it (while hiking the cost each year, of course).  How are they making up the difference?  If you want to take a look at their year-end physical CD shipment numbers, they’ll charge you.  If the labels are being hurt by digital downloads, and their sales numbers and cost per unit reflected that, why not make this information free to the public instead of charging $25 for a week of access just to view the very data that could corroborate their claims?  That’s one way they’re trying to make up some lost sales.  Another is by suing people for downloading music online.  We’ve seen time and again where the RIAA slams a huge fine on a person and then spends five times that amount in litigation costs.

While the record labels are claiming a decline in sales due to pirated music, the RIAA then turns around and spends almost $1.4M in lobbying costs in the second quarter of 2010!  Seriously?  They’re dumping millions into lawsuits that only return a couple thousand dollars per settlement, all in the name of “making an example out of someone.”  Are these “examples” working?  Apparently not. (Note: They also forget to mention that one of their top label executive’s very own children were pirating music illegally. I didn’t see the news article on that one.) The RIAA has abandoned its peer-to-peer monitoring and is instead now working with Internet Service Providers (Comcast, Verizon, etc) to deter pirating.

I am a big proponent of artists and musicians being fairly compensated.  An industry group or third party organization can be a great thing for all musicians and everyone involved in the music industry.  Is the RIAA that organization?  I do not believe it is.  They’re deteriorating and not adapting to the ever changing industry like they should be.  As a result, the artists have been conceiving their own ways to further their careers.

I’m here for the artsist.  I love working with independent musicians.  And I will continue to keep a pulse on the industry that I work in.  All of you artists are too busy creating music and trying to avoid being taken advantage of.  Let me help.

Cheers,

Josh

Do I take my budget and go to a real recording studio or use the cash to buy my own recording gear and have my friends help?

Recording studios are closing more and more often these days.  The reason?  Artists don’t have the money to spend $125 per hour and make a full-length album.  But they do have enough money to buy enough gear for a 16 channel rig.

So is the “bang for your buck” tradeoff worth not having your album recorded in a proper studio?  Here are some things to consider:

• The acoustics of your friends living room are not equal to those of a recording studio designed by Lawrence P. Swist, no matter how much egg crate you staple to the walls.
• You can buy a set of monitors for cheap, but they won’t reproduce all the frequencies that you need to hear while mixing. And they’ll be affected by the acoustics of the room that you’re in. (See above)
• While your laptop is great for Facebook and email, that Dell or HP machine is not designed to handle 11 tracks of simultaneous recording while playing back the other 27 MIDI tracks in your next #1 pop song.
• Not all microphones are created equal.  Believe it or not, you usually get what you pay for.
• You little sister is great at singing along with the radio, but she is not a studio vocalist.  She can’t even read music for that matter.
• You can watch YouTube videos for ways to tie a tie, but not so much for how to mic a drum kit or acoustic guitar.  It’s all about experience and actually hearing the placement of the mic.
• Studios have people with highly trained ears and technical abilities.

Audio engineers and producers are in these roles because we have the ability to take your idea and performance, capture it with the highest sonic integrity, and then help interpret that into a final mix.  We do this day in and day out.  We go to bed thinking about the best way to EQ the kick drum so that it’s not competing with the bass guitar track.  Believe it or not, the EQ we do on instruments changes from song to song, from band to band.  So please don’t call me asking for “settings” so you can really make your song slam.  I can hear it, and I know how to manipulate the sound.

At the end of the day, home recordings are home recordings.  If you’ve read about bands that have self produced their albums in their home, chances are that: 1. They brought in an engineer to do the entire project, or 2. One of the band members is also a legitimate audio engineer.

If you don’t know how to change your oil you probably wouldn’t risk swapping out a transmission on your own.

So why then would you risk harming the overall quality of your art that you’ve invested so much of your time and energy in?  Make it the best it can be.  Call the professionals.  You can reach me here.

If you’re not even sure where to start when it comes to parallel compression on drum tracks or microphone placement to get some natural reverb on your vocals, you need to book some session time at a studio.  Give me a call.

Sweetwater Sound recently held a Pro Tools demonstration of the new Eleven Rack.  The event was graciously hosted by the Chicago Recording Company, a beautiful and full-featured recording and post-production studio on the east side of Chicago.

I started out learning how to engineer on Acid (in my barracks room while in the Army), then Pro Tools, Logic, and now am chief engineer at a studio in northern Indiana using Cubase 5.  I got very quick with Pro Tools, but then when it came time to purchase interfacing, Logic became more and more attractive.  I’ve learned many different editing suites on both the Windows and Mac OSX platforms.

When it comes to audio editing software, here’s what I say:

Audio software is like a car; show me where the gas pedal and steering wheel are and I’m good to go.

My personal computer is a Macbook Pro.  I have an iPhone.  I believe that Apple makes great products.  But if another company makes a product that is better, I will prefer to use it.  Believe it or not, I am not a “fan boy”.  It just so happens that Apple puts serious research and effort into their products before releasing them.  They design products for professionals, creatives, and specific niches.

I went to an Apple Logic conference in Chicago last fall where they introduced a lot of the new features including the new Pedal Board and Amp Designer features.  I have Logic Pro on my Macbook Pro and have used it for various projects.  It is pretty impressive.  I have no qualms using it for studio or live recording situations.

The Eleven Rack by Pro Tools is virtually identical to the Pedal Board in Logic.  However,the actual processing power is contained in the rack unit itself, where as Logic’s Pedal Board and Amp Designer are powered by the host CPU.  The benefit to this is that you can really develop some great guitar sounds without detracting from your computers power.  The downside is that you’re using a CPU to develop guitar tones and not an amp.  I would rather use the real deal, whether amp or outboard, any day of the week over a plugin.  However, the Eleven Rack is very powerful and useful for studios and musicians that want efficient, accurate, and cost effective options for their money.

I know this was a slightly random post, but felt like writing tonight.  Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Josh Walker

On that note, Sweetwater is once again producing their annual GearFest 2010 event where they will be giving away $75,000 in gear.  This is a two day festival/conference where audio professionals and musicians alike will benefit.  There are workshops, a musicians flea market, live performances, tours, and more.  It is being held on Friday June 25th (noon-7pm EST) and Saturday June 26th (9am-5pm EST).

If you’re an artist, songwriter, recording engineer, band, producer, or involved in the music industry, it is a great place to find new gear and meet some new people in the industry.  After all, it’s all about who you know, right?  You never know either; you just might walk away with a new project studio setup!

Recently I was listening to a podcast in which Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Entertainment was talking about the music industry and album sales. He touched on the idea of “buying songs vs. buying artists.”

When you go to the record store (wait, what’s that?  I thought those were mythical places that people only dreamed of) or iTunes, what music are you buying?  Are you buying the stuff that you’ve loved your entire life, or songs that you have heard ten times a day for the last three weeks?  Are you getting the Top 40, or are you getting the latest stuff that nobody else has heard of?  Do you buy music for the content and what the artist stands for, or do you buy it because it’s the coolest new thing?

A Look at the Numbers

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) posts some key information on their website.  This is important when considering trends in the music industry because it helps show how different mediums or formats are doing in their respective sales.  According to the RIAA:

CD singles have decreased by 12.5% ($3,500,000 to $3,100,000) from 2008 to 2009, while digital download purchases increased by 20.2% ($1,032,200,000 to $1,220,300,000).

Full-length album sales for CDs decreased 21.9% ($5,471,300,000 to $4,274,100,000), while digital download purchases increased 18.2% ($635,300,000 to $763,400,000).

What does this mean?  It means that more people are buying digital formats over physical CDs.  As for overall sales, physical CDs are bought in full-length albums more often than singles, while digital downloads are more often single songs than full-length albums.  Physical CD full-length album sales still make up the majority of sales in the industry from a dollar standpoint.  I’m not going to get into it in this post, but there are many factors that impact these sales numbers.  When you’re comparing physical goods to digital goods, you really need to take into consideration manufacturing, shipping, and general overhead costs.  You don’t have nearly as much costs involved with a digital product.  Again, that is another post for another time!

Buying Songs

So, what exactly does “buying songs” mean?  To start, we need to realize that it’s how people perceive the music they listen to.  Is it a commodity like a bottle of soda, or is it a piece of art like a painting?  Let’s try to be objective while defining this:
If you listen to the radio, and especially Top 40, you’re being sold on songs.  Not artists.  The record labels do their research on various demographics and attempt to create an artist and sound that will appeal to that market.  Instead of letting the people choose by way of calling in to radio stations, buying tickets to shows, and showing their support, the labels are increasingly packaging artists to look, act, and sound a certain way.  Then they are marketed to a particular audience and pumped up on the radio stations.  When a 14-year old girl hears the same song over and over on the radio, she makes the assumption that it must be good if it’s being played so much.  People must be calling in to request it, right?  So what does she do?  She calls in and requests it.  Downloads it on iTunes.  And repeats the process with the next song.  She doesn’t buy the full album because she could care less about the other songs on the album.  The rest of the album isn’t being played on the radio.  That one song is.  And that’s what she wants.  Just like that pair of shoes or some McDonald’s.

People who buy songs listen to the radio.

How, then, does this impact the sales for an artist? For an artist on a major label, chances are his or her singles are being purchased much more than his or her full album.  The musician is not making money because the kids are only buying one song at 99 cents (most of which goes to the label, management, producer, etc).  The label gives the group tour support so that the artist can make a couple bucks doing shows, though.  So the musician goes out on the road to support his or her album, most of which a lot of people probably haven’t even heard because they only bought the single.  It seems as though buying singles wouldn’t be as beneficial to the artist as buying an entire album.  Or better yet, going to his or her show and buying the full album.

Buying Artists

People that buy artists are supporting them.  They show that they enjoy the art that these musicians are creating.  By purchasing full albums, we get to experience the full intentions of that artist.  Many albums are written that have a dynamic flow to them from song to song.  I’m all for buying a single of a new group if you’re not quite sure whether or not you like them.  But if you’ve heard the group before and like them, why not buy the full album?  You often get a discount, especially when you go and get the digital format.  On iTunes, single releases range from $0.99 cents to $1.29.  For instance, Timbaland has an album on iTunes.  ”Shock Value II” is 17 tracks (There’s also a 13 track album by the same name).  Each track individually costs $1.29, bringing the total of all songs on his album to $21.93.  But, if you purchase the full album, all at one time, digitally, you’re looking at $12.99 on iTunes.  That’s a savings of $8.94, or almost 41%!  It only makes financial sense to buy the whole album in that case.  Additionally, you as the listener become exposed to more of the artist’s creativity, hearing things you may very well appreciate even more than the single you heard on the radio.

So, what about fan loyalty?  How does that compare with the current Top 40?  If I show you that it’s on the top of the charts, then it must be good, right? Seriously, though.  Take 10 songs from the top 40 and pull them out.  Pretend with me for a second that these were artists you’d never heard of.  Strip away the large marketing budget.  Disable the Autotune on the vocals.  In many cases, the opinion of the general public would probably change.  (But now we’re getting into reasons why artists are artists, and that’s an entirely separate blog.)

Now, take your favorite band that is playing in your home town this weekend.  They work 9-5′s, practice in the evenings, and drive themselves to their shows every weekend.  They are truly talented musicians writing great music that really connects with their fans.  Why aren’t they in the Top 40?  Because the labels have determined that you won’t like them.  Or more accurately, they’ve determined that the 14 year-old girl who will buy the music won’t like them.  And by “determined,” I mean, “we have had our decision made for us.” And those decisions aren’t always based on quality of music as much as profit potential (again, an entirely separate blog).

Conclusion

So, is it better as an artist to push your singles, or your full album?   That depends, really.  It depends on how the pay structure is broken down, who you have to pay before you get paid, whether your fans are more likely to buy singles or albums, and a whole lot more.  One thing to keep in mind, though, is how iTunes works.  For example, Apple will not let you sell your album in its iTunes store unless you make each of the individual tracks available for single sale.  Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Did you realize that there are artists who don’t release their albums on iTunes or break them down into single tracks?  Kid Rock, AC/DC, The Beatles, Tool, Jay-Z, and more have not released their albums on iTunes.  The usual reason for not selling their music on iTunes? They want their album sold as one piece of work to represent their musical creativity, not split into many fractions.  As a musician, I completely appreciate where they’re coming from.  Tool’s latest release, “10,000 Days” is a perfect example of the previous statement.  After listening to that album I realized very quickly that they had written the entire album with each song in mind.  In an interview between Guitar World and Tool guitarist Adam Jones, they talk about the full album in this way:

“[The songs] start in one place, go somewhere else, and end in a completely different place altogether. It’s as if the songs are telling a story in a linear fashion.”

Think for a moment about the last time you heard a song on the radio, in a friend’s car, or in a restaurant.  A song you’d never heard before.  Perhaps you found out who that artist was and found them for sale online, only to realize that you had to buy the full album in order to get that one song that you’d heard.

Now, say you went on over to iTunes and found that same album for sale digitally.  But you also had the option to purchase the one song that you’d heard.  You buy it for 99 cents (or $1.29) and listen to it for a few days.  Then you go back to iTunes and buy the whole album because you liked that single so much.

Obviously it varies from person to person and artist to artist, but I do believe that it is a good thing to purchase singles and then go back and get the entire album. There are many positive benefits to buying full albums from the beginning. You become an invested fan; you almost feel a sense of  ownership in that artist’s creative output.  I’d say that the tendency to really hear the artist’s music increases when you’re listening to the other songs on the album, when you’re critiquing their work.  But what if you buy a full album and you’re sorely disappointed?  Well, first of all, you probably wouldn’t have bought the album if you hadn’t heard at least one good song you liked.  Secondly, you now have a well-rounded perspective of the band and who they really are.  Plus, at least you made that judgment call yourself–you were able to base your opinion off of your own perspective. If more fans were music critics instead of radio junkies, I’d guess that our world of music, as we know it, would be drastically different.

Conclusion? Stop buying songs and instead buy artists.   Support the artists that you like.  Don’t buy music for the sake of buying music, either.  Don’t get the song because you want to have it at the next party so people think you’re cool, which leads you to create a party mix of overrated musicians just because they get played on your local Top 40 station every hour.  Critique musicians like you critique ball players or actors or politicians. Get music that you like, that connects with you.  Music that moves you and makes sense to you.  Don’t settle for less.

Thanks for reading, guys!  Let’s hear your thoughts and feedback now.