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[Dinogi]

The internet also allows people to listen to music without having to pay for it.
Sadly, and I'm just as guilty as the next guy, it's so easy to pull up entire albums on Youtube.
Though the audio quality is horrible, I still find myself listening to music for free that I once would have purchased.
I am however seriously considering acquiring a PONO device from Mr. Young.
On a somewhat related subject, I have found that the local music scene has become more and more exclusionary.
Whereas I used to be able to put up a note on a physical bulletin board in a music store and get dozens of calls from folks wanting to share resources, knowledge and friendships, my latest post on Craigslist received zero response. A post on the Tapeop message board received one response, and even that never amounted to anything, at least so far. Music used to be a force that brought people together. Now it seems that folks just want to keep their personal circles closed to outsiders.
I fear this lack of interaction stifles creativity and makes it harder for a musical community to flourish and grow.
Maybe I'm going about it all wrong. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places.
As for myself, I make a fine living as a film maker but still long for the camaraderie that I found in writing, playing and recording original music. ...d

[Fletcher]

While all that came about, music has lost it's influence and importance in the average person's life. It was a driving force in the 1960's, today it's a footnote.

The first blow to "music" happened when the drinking age got raised to 21... the bars that used to be filled with kids checking out new bands [while they were really looking for like minded other kids so they could attempt reproduction] for the most part closed when they lost 3-4 years of the "target demographic". 

No bars = no "farm system" for new bands / artists to cut their teeth and gain experience... think of major league baseball without A, AA, or AAA levels and you'll kind of get the picture.  Follow that with a bunch of visionless accountants running the show after Ertegun, and Yetnikoff "retired"... the rise of CD re-releases driving record company sales for record companies that took a "one and done" attitude unless you moved at least 75,000 units during the first album of your deal -- coupled with the "instead of developing our own talent [see Bob Seger, INXS, and Brian Adams for details] we'll just purchase what the indie labels have developed [see Nirvana for details]" mentality.

The "audience" that once went to bars was now playing video games on their X-box [Playstation, etc.] instead of sneaking into bars and checking out bands... while MTV which helped break many a new artist decided that "reality shows" were the new paradigm for the kids that used to consume music... and you have the cluster fuck we live with today.

We did it to ourselves... and yeah, the internet, bad compression plug-ins for Pro-sTools, and a general lack of emphasis on playing chops and composition has led to the perfect shit-storm that basically relegated music to valueless background noise.

Then again -- the 60's were a complete anomaly as there were VERY few media outlets.  The "Ed Sullivan" show made as many bands as MTV -- but those bands were even more influential.  You had drugs coming into the scene with a rebellious set of teenagers [college kids, etc.] while folks experimented with new instruments [the electric guitar was basically a "new" instrument -- not to mention the beginning stages of electronic synthesis]... not to mention the blossoming of the FM radio band [which sounded better but wasn't quite adopted by the general public] coupled with an unjustified war that had a draft which added fuel to the rebellion fire and voila -- a new music consuming generation was purchasing its soundtrack.

We have none of those things now.  We have 8000 media outlets all keyed to a demographic the size of my finger... with no places for bands to cut their teeth and kids who don't really give much of a shit about politics as they're not going to get sent to Afghanistan against their will and we have developed an environment with the "performers" of tomorrow are defined by game shows on FOX.

What the hell did we expect?  Certainly not that the paradigm that was relevant 40 years ago would still exist... because if that is what we expected -- we were fucking wrong!!

Peace

[Dinogi]

It's pains me to think of how many real engineers (and I certainly don't include myself in that term) are forced to take jobs mixing poorly recorded tracks from inferior equipment, done in bad environments, by unqualified people. I can only imagine the frustration involved in doing this and knowing that if you had only gotten the chance to be there from the beginning, the product would have been so much better. I often wonder how many talented engineers give it up and go into other fields rather than put up with the crap. I think that guys like me, who have found a way to continue to enjoy their craft, albeit in a different but related medium are the lucky ones. Still, I have had to re-invent myself countless times over the last forty years just to stay relevant. I still hold out hope that someday I'll get the chance to work with, and learn from real engineers like you all. Hopefully it'll happen before you all pack it in and go sell insurance, or used cars...
 
Dino G
Camera guy, Audio guy, Lighting guy, Gaffer guy, Key grip guy, Jib & dolly mechanic guy, and generally unappreciated saver of other peoples butts. 

[Fletcher]

I often wonder how many talented engineers give it up and go into other fields rather than put up with the crap.

Of the ones I know... well over ¾'s of them... then again, several lawyers I know have opened commercial recording studios in the past few years [one of them with a pretty major capital investment in equipment and facility buildout].

I reckon its all a factor of your pain threshold and what you want out of life... some are fine working for the same or less money a year than they were getting 10 years ago... others can't live that way.

Peace

[goomeeru23]

Yerser!!! i got it.

[Jerry W]

Okay