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Author Topic: Is mastering needed any more?  (Read 10344 times)

Thomas W. Bethel

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Is mastering needed any more?
« on: April 27, 2012, 08:55:11 AM »

I seems to me that much of what mastering did in the past is superfluous today. Many of my musician friends are going directly from their basement studios to the WWW. They do EVERYTHING themselves including recording, mixing, mastering and uploading. They tell me that they are selling more songs and making more money than they ever did by spending money on mastering and CD production in the past. They also tell me that even if they are not making any money it is a GREAT hobby and keeps them occupied for hours (somewhat like model trains or fixing up a street rod did for others years ago).

I think the whole music industry will soon be going the way of the home hobbyist and more and unfortunately more pro studios will be closing their doors in the near future. It is pretty much inevitable given the current global economy and the lack of revenue from the record labels. Even the Indie artists are trying to do everything themselves including mastering their own material.

The day of the DIYer is upon us BIG TIME. There will always be the need for the big name "artist" to get their stuff pro mastered but the handwriting is on the wall for most smaller mastering only operations that are now hanging on by a thread. Even the unattended sessions offered by lots of major mastering studios are being under utilized by the people that could/should use them. I don't know what is coming in the near future but the long term outlook seems to be less and less work for us all. We are also going to have to face the fact that there are simply way too many mastering engineers for the number of people that currently, or will in the future, need our services. We will soon all be playing musical chairs for real.

This is not a doom and gloom outlook but a realistic look ahead.

Diversification seems to be the best way to solve the problem of dwindling revenue streams from former mastering clients. About three years ago I saw the writing on the wall and started to get into alternate streams of revenue including mastering, audio and video post production, restoration of audio materials, some forensics, audio and video recording of concerts and commercial video production. We also started to provide small run CD and DVD duplication and provide on CD printing and printed inserts plus heat shrinking if needed for the client's CDs or DVDs.

I am hopeful that with the diversification my company can go on for a number of years. Only time will tell if that hope is realized.

Best of luck to everyone on this board!!!

FWIW and YMMV
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Thomas W. Bethel
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Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
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Miguel P. Marques

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2012, 09:46:19 AM »

I'm noticing the opposite actually!

People are starting to get tired of all those loud and crappy sounding records and they're now looking for proper recording and mastering studios.

And even those who still make records at their bedrooms now feel the need to get proper mastering jobs.
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Apostolos Siopis

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2012, 10:41:41 AM »

I'm noticing the opposite actually!

People are starting to get tired of all those loud and crappy sounding records and they're now looking for proper recording and mastering studios.

And even those who still make records at their bedrooms now feel the need to get proper mastering jobs.

+1

...actually in Occupied Greece I have also noticed more and more musicians returning to the recording studios (few years ago they would just record in their basements) ...
...I have a feeling that those long hours of DIY trial and error worked to our benefit...

Apostolos


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Twerk

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2012, 12:56:59 PM »

Work has never been better for me. Not only am I'm seeing more and more new producers come in for mastering, they come in with files that haven't been pre-smashed, and don't mind if they're not "the loudest record ever". Things are good!
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2012, 02:22:34 PM »

I will ASSume you are only talking about release direct to digital media.

While it is true some of the mechanical reasons for a separate sweetening/mastering step are no longer applicable, there was always an additional level of review applied to releases to correct those that were mastered at inappropriate levels or spectral balance.  In some cases this crossed over into full subjective production and some releases were surely bailed out by a mastering engineer that saved them from themselves.

There is no technical reason why a mastering step is required for direct to digital release, while many releases IMO can still benefit from another set of experienced ears.

Do you feel lucky punk... well do you? (dirty harry mastering)

JR
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jdg

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2012, 08:18:56 PM »

i hope its not needed anymore, i think i want to get into competitive yoga and need to the free time to practice
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John McCaig
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Jerry Tubb

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2012, 08:07:40 AM »

insert the usual rebuttal here

(as we've had this discussion before, many times:)

JT

jdg, competitive yoga, is that like yogic flying the 100 meter dash?
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Joe_caithness

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2012, 05:47:32 AM »

This topic again eh?

Most of my business is off guys and gals working in their bedrooms and recording in their garages.

Sometimes this music is cutting edge and exciting and they need a mastering guy to help present it to the world.

I've done some masters from bands recording live to 2 track akai digital recorder which have been released to critical acclaim.

It all depends where you work, the musical world is bigger than any of us will ever be able to comprehend and there will always be people who need their music to transfer from wherever it was made into the real world, whatever that is.
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MoreSpaceEcho

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2012, 01:51:20 PM »

insert the usual rebuttal here

(as we've had this discussion before, many times:)

seriously. thomas, you make some variation of this post at least once a week on one board or another. it was tiresome 10 years ago and it's absolutely maddening now. your ratio of negative to positive posts, in terms of a distressor, is 'nuke'.

Hermetech Mastering

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2012, 02:49:36 PM »

I have to agree with MoreSpaceEcho and Jerry above, I was going to post something very similar but held myself back. If it's such a downer for you, why not get out of the business all together? Suffice to say I do not agree with a lot of your OP.

Thomas W. Bethel

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2012, 08:01:54 AM »

You guys amaze me. I see all of you posting how well you are doing, and I am very happy for you,  but if you really look around where I live and work there is nothing but doom and gloom. The major recording studios here have either gone out of business or have fired all their staff engineers, closed all their rooms except one and are holding on by a thread. My mentor who owns one of the best,  most professional recording studios in this area has gone from 11 employees to 6 and has recently changed his focus from audio to video production. The local area CD - DVD duplicator has gone from 17 employees to 1. Our local pro audio retailer has shut down their operations and fired all their employees. The biggest local non national music retailer with multiple stores closed down laying off all their employees and the owner is currently working for Sweetwater. Even the local Sam Ash and GC are having problems and their sales are way down.

Why is it so hard for some of you to understand that there are places around that ARE having major problems? I am getting rather discouraged but I am still in the game. I am sorry if I upset you but not everyone is seeing all the overwhelming amount of work coming in that you all seem to have.

And...by the way...what I said a couple of years ago about the whole mastering profession IS coming true BIG TIME. I doubt anyone here is really doing as well as they were a couple of years ago or they are doing like me and diversifying their offerings and keeping their options open.

FWIW and YMMV
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Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
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Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...

Allen Corneau

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2012, 09:10:29 AM »

Thomas,

I'm sure no one is questioning the downturn in your area because it's a similar story in many places and many of us are feeling the squeeze. Folks are questioning why you continue to post pessimistic/apocalyptic stories, perspectives, and predictions.

There are many platitudes that can be quoted...

"The world is what you make it."
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
"Always look on the bright side of life."

... and while the words might be a bit cliché the sentiments still apply.


Thomas, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you can find a bit of peace in your situation.

 
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Thomas W. Bethel

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2012, 09:57:48 AM »

Thomas,

I'm sure no one is questioning the downturn in your area because it's a similar story in many places and many of us are feeling the squeeze. Folks are questioning why you continue to post pessimistic/apocalyptic stories, perspectives, and predictions.

There are many platitudes that can be quoted...

"The world is what you make it."
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
"Always look on the bright side of life."

... and while the words might be a bit cliché the sentiments still apply.


Thomas, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you can find a bit of peace in your situation.

Thanks Allen!!!
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Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.

Celebrating 29 years in business in 2024

When only the best will do...

Joe_caithness

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2012, 12:19:47 PM »



And...by the way...what I said a couple of years ago about the whole mastering profession is coming true BIG TIME. I doubt anyone here is really doing as well as they were a couple of years ago or they are doing like me and diversifying their offerings and keeping their options open.

FWIW and YMMV

Well, you seem wound up by the response in this thread, but generally I think it's for real what people have said here.

I can only speak from a new perspective, but Subsequent Mastering turned 3 years old today and I've gone from nothing to something in that time and have not diversified, in fact I've accidentally specialised in a few areas which are not lucrative yet, but I'm working on it. Perhaps you are just having a hard time and it's a personal thing because I can put my hand on my heart and say that musical scenes I have grown up in are getting more and more into the mastering ideal as more and more changes happen with audio formats and the world music is listened to. OK I don't make many physical masters, I probably never will, but the market(s) I've ended up catering for seem to be accumulating more and more engineers and they seem to be growing also. The world is a complicated place.
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Joe_caithness

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Re: Is mastering needed any more?
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2012, 12:20:20 PM »

^that's as close to gloaty I will ever get on a forum, believe me!  ;D
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