Steinberg asks for 100 euros for each update

I still much enjoy using my romplers and samplers from the late 90s. If willing to tweak patches they can be very realistic/expressive (with orchestral stuff too).

I couldn’t afford but one back when they were fresh on the market so I was pretty limited in the polypony available in one shot…well over 2k for a rack unit before any kind of expansion or investments in stuff like cables to hook it up, books to learn how to program it, extra memory-cards, sample collections/libraries, etc. I also had to invest a good bit of time shaping up the different articulations and dynamic ranges I wanted. As a result, each mix was indeed more expressive and musical.

I’ve also used a lot of cookie cutter VSTi sample libraries and bog standard patches. They are super easy to use right out of the box and get slightly better than average results. This is nice, but by default, it also sounds like what it is. A band in a box, and the samples are kind of set in stone spatially…pretty robotic when attempting to use the pre-bundled articulations/key-switches, and it’s really difficult to do creative/expressive things with it that don’t sound like every other score out there.

So, I still enjoy working with retro stand alone digital gear (Fantom/MOTIF/Kronos/VAST/etc), Love mixing and matching it with the new and trendy plugin stuff that’s available these days…but it takes a ton of space, requires a lot of expensive cables/mixers/etc, and puts a considerable dent in the power bill. Just powering it all up and setting it up can take a big time-bite out of a creative session.

These days you can emulate most of that stuff with plugins AND pick up modern libraries that have been ‘in-box software’ solutions since day one. You can even get a respectable sized symphonic orchestra to fit in a mid-range laptop with the built in audio interface these days.

Having said all that, I do keep an eye on eBay looking for good deals on external tone modules. People who haven’t spent much time using them often terribly underestimate how powerful/expressive/realistic they can be for ‘orchestral’ work.

Of course you can do it all in a laptop, but doing it with these racks is just miles away better, and of course it’s not the same budget/time spending!

Virtual is something which kill any creativity and refinement because it’s too easy and actually, there so much vst available, you just swap the thing, and use preset, but whatever they sound all the same!

That’s the purpose on the video above!
Each sound module can create a unique sound never being replicated by any plugins because of different engine, effect and output stage!

That’s why physical gears will always remain by proffesional!
All of the people i follow don’t use computer except for the mixing or sequencing, and most of them are dawless and even full analog regarding electronic music today du to clone!

And there are well known!
I actually don’t know any well known musician using just a laptop for everything!

Perhaps vitalic , but i does everything from hardware before abletoning them into a specific for him done hardware and even in live, he comes with an analog mixer and some analog hardware synth, and effect for what it worth however!
(With all respect vitalic is soso)

Again, whatever virtual can do serious artist remain physical!

An frankly just stop with those stupid eco sentences!
You will save no one just using your smart phone will some are playing all day/nigth with a 1200w computer (also valable for Vmusic), others goes into space, and an electric car consumes just one month of a full bunch of racks in one charge!

My 30 racks all together should reach max 500W!

Everyone can power a bunch of synth, but you can’t also go to night club and party every friday, just have to prioritize what you want!

Those thinking just accelerate the alienation of people and it’s virtualization!

Of course you can do everything for free into linux on a smart phone, but does this total virtualiztion will give you mental and physical health as well as unique and creative tracks!
I seriously doubt of that!

i also don’t have money it took me 3 month to just get 12 3m xlr to jack 6.5mm, does i complain , no!

Reality cost, all those younger forget it too much because too much use of screen!

Very disappointing generation today!

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I think people still don’t realise that creativity for living is just terminated!
No one will make money for a living with music today!
quite no chance, better make video on youtube!
So make things for you sanity, and let over the career!
Ai will even make things worse!

Not if they make excuses and give up.

Things do evolve and change with time. You won’t find many traditional circuses wandering from town to town pitching a big tent for a few days, but clowns, acrobats, and trapeze artists are still very much in demand. The artform has evolved into something more attuned to the theatre. Municipalities all over the world have invested heavily in theatres/stages/arenas and supporting infrastructure (lodging/dining/parking/etc) for live performing; so, while the acts evolve and transform with the ages, communities are still vested in putting PEOPLE on the stage to perform.

Every other church, tabernacle, temple, and town gazebo is constantly in search of performers to build choirs, combos, bands, and orchestras. They’re constantly trying to hire music directors, pianists, organists, ‘teachers’, and also all the ‘technical’ wizards to light and PA the stage.

Opportunities are everywhere. Work is involved. Risks are involved, but there’s no shortage of opportunities, and with a little effort it’s not impossible to CREATE some opportunities in almost every village/town/city/metropolis in the world.

Opportunities are there…performers simply must be willing to go where they are, and siege them.

It does take work to find production capitol and build a ‘paying’ fanbase, but musicians ‘still’ do it all the time. Unions and agents still exist who can do a good job of keeping a talented artist who is willing to WORK very busy with paying gigs. No, it’s not easy, but it never has been!

If you can ‘play/sing’ and put yourself out there, opportunities still exist.

If you can write songs or make good arrangements opportunities still exist. Actually, it’s easier to catch a break than ever before, as you can ‘self publish’ instantly…where-as, 20 years ago if publishers ‘shot you down’ your scores would never see the light of day.

Nah, AI does impact things, as it’s just another tool in the box that humans can take advantage of (or not), but people still spend small fortunes on local art and crafts. People will still drop 15k on a guitar (worth $400 tops in terms of the quality of the instrument) just because some famous dude scribbled on it with a sharpie pen and sprayed on a clear coat.

I can 3D print complicated stuff all day with high precision for pennies in comparison to what it’d cost to do it lovingly by hand, but plenty of people would still rather have real ceramics baked in a backyard kiln, and wood/stone carvings done by ‘hand’ (and plenty of that exists that is cranked out on mass scales and is quite affordable too).

I can teach an AI bot to create interesting and stimulating images and share them in social media, or even print them out and frame them up as wall art, but it’s not likely to end up on the wall in someone’s living room unless I can do it dirt cheap and get it displayed in just the right markets and settings, at precisely the right time. AI can ‘help’ make predictions on getting art of any kind in the right place at the right time to find new ‘paying homes’ for it, but it still can’t come anywhere close to replacing what real people can do in these respects. People are still pretty impulsive about choices in art. AI can’t even get the number of fingers and toes right for organically focused art. The human touch is still critical for successful art, and it always will be.

People will still pack a local venue for live performances if carefully and properly marketed and promoted. Kids still take piano lessons, sing in the choir, and join the band/orchestra. It doesn’t just happen though. Musicians still have to go door to door and sell the kids and parents on the overall music making experience. Educators still have to lobby the schools to keep ‘in person, brick and mortar’ experience alive. It doesn’t just happen by itself. It never has, and even with AI in the picture, it never will.

Personality, fashion, fan networks, interactive structures, social ‘movements’…all that stuff is still big business in 2025. Boomers and Gen Xers will still lay-out 3k and up to fly somewhere like Vegas just to hook up with old friends and hear worn out old rockers put on a nostalgic show.

Millennials and Gen Z are taking care of their own in fresh and innovative ways as well. Just because an old fart like me doesn’t understand how their underground propagates itself and will mature with them doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. They have a currency of their own, and eventually they’ll age into enough wealth to keep their visions and expectations alive too.

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I must admit though, and this is not to do with AI but the state of music in general, if I was in a band today (unless I was a millionaire) I wouldn’t know where to start from…

And pertaining the previous post, (hand up), I make a living from music. It’s horrifically difficult, but not impossible.

I don’t think the basic pathways for a music career have changed too much. I think your approach has much to do with your personality and long range goals. Are you introverted and deep thinking? Are you extroverted and easy going? Do you like people and drama? Are you more into ‘doing your part to extreme perfection’ with as little human to human contact as possible, or are you a people loving social butterfly with an improvisational spirit and a craving to ‘try almost anything and see what happens’?

We have a lot of new and interesting tools and media to take advantage of (or be distracted and confused by), but the core essentials are still the same.

If you want a career as a performer, you need to master your instrument(s) and/or voice.

If you want a career in one of the many supporting roles (technician stuff), get the background knowledge, work road crews, etc…from the bottom up. You might start out gripping wires and carrying heavy crates…volunteering at churches and community centers to ‘get your hands on instruments/equipment’, apprenticing instrument technicians, etc.

  1. Go into ‘education’. Sustain yourself teaching, and if that doesn’t keep you busy/fulfilled, you can always work your way into performing/composing/arranging roles. It’s usually not a rock star kind of lifestyle, but it can still be uber rewarding in its own way. You can play/sing/perform/compose/arrange all you want, but you can also kick back and enjoy the process of simply setting the stage and making opportunities for ‘others’ to bask in the spotlight and develop whatever it is they will become musically.

  2. Go into ‘People Business’ or ‘Sales’ fields to sustain yourself. Venue/Theatre management, night clubs and entertainment, parks and recreation, music equipment sales, publishing, etc. Learn to team build, network with people, and cut deals. This gives you a solid fall-back to earn a living if the music thing doesn’t work out, but it also hones survival skills in the ‘music world’ that might even be more beneficial than the academic route. Hit the streets and PERFORM anywhere you can make a dime. Hook up with an agent and stay in the road. If you get burned out playing bass 4 nights a week until your fingers bleed, you can always shift into more ‘agent/producer/horse-trading’ roles to sustain your lifestyle appetites.

  3. Chruch Music…Do whatever you can to make a living, and get involved with Worship Music. You can get pretty good playing with these types of groups, make connections, and if it’s something you really want to do…opportunities WILL pop up to do full time music ministry stuff (plus secular gigs once your chops and audition/demo materials are built up enough) and make music.

  4. Technical/Engineering. Oh, so many legendary musicans started out studying electronics, software, industrial engineering, or even specializing in ‘trades’ like instrument technician or pro audio. If they also maintained playing/singing chops, there was no shortage of paying professional music gigs to get involved with. They kept their ear to the ground and took advantage of opportunities to shift closer and closer to more music/performance centric careers.

  5. Conservatory…if you can get in, you’re probably really close to…if not an actual ‘prodigy’. It’s a hard core approach, but opportunities to launch a solid career will be there out of the gate (probably less freedom, you’ll be expected to endure intense hazing/shaping, fall in line, follow instructions to the letter for whatever ‘legacy or vision’ they hand chose you to fill, and be careful not to piss people off and ‘blow it’).

  6. Writing/Song Plugging…
    The key here is getting ideas/lead sheets/demos into the hands of the right people. Plenty of folks have gotten a good start through writing and linguistic and ‘psychological’ skills. It helps to dive a bit into the fashion world, being very well read in things like pop culture, etc. They might lay a foundation with something like an English, Journalism, Political Science, or Liberal Arts track. They can always fall back on writing and language skills to earn a good living. Jump on opportunities to work in the hospitality industry (Theme Parks, Air Lines, Hotels/Resorts, Cruise Ships, etc). Submit songs and show off ideas every chance you get (not limiting yourself purely to music…any literary or journalistic opportunity is worth grabbing). Hover around the piano and become the life of the party. Make a solid presence at every open mic poetry or unplugged singing opportunity you can. Host and attend parties, make connections, feed off the creative energy of others and give them something back…never forget a face, and make sure they remember yours too. Play and sing every chance you get. Lay into those communication skills…pick up 2nd and 3rd languages. Keep something like a harmonica or pocket organ on hand at all times so you can also step into the background and share the ‘lyric’ stage with peers, yet add ‘sparkle/personality’ to all those impromptu creative opportunities.

Okay, we can go on and on here…there are multitudes of ‘starting points’. Some music careers are carefully plotted and controlled, and others are more about simply being in the right place at the right time and jumping on an ‘opportunity’. Where do you ‘start’? You start with who you are, and where you are, and go from there.

Existing Band…
Put together demo vids of your band doing its thing. Work up your repertoire lists, and get connected with some booking agents.

Individual looking for a band…
Lots of regional factors, but it still starts with demos and audition material.

Social Media/Pod Casting/etc…
Younger musicians are learning to milk these opportunities and monetize their art and culture. I don’t know that much about how this works, but I have noticed that it’s big business these days. Jacob Collier spent a few barely-teen years sharing vocal arranging experiments over social media, got noticed, and now the dude has a shelf full of Grammys and other confirmations (many probably worth way more than a Grammy) to show for it. Granted, that was a kid who was ‘connected’ in ways that he’d probably have had a solid career in music with or without social media if he wanted it, but the truth still remains that simply ‘putting himself out there’ at the right time and place makes him one of the true ‘pioneers’ in launching a very impressive career over the internet.

Social Media success is fake. Posting stuff won’t break anyone.

Every time you hear of a singer/band making it huge from a YouTube video post, it’s basically a bunch of people with cash (usually coming from a rich member of a band, or artist’s mom and dad) who pay for advertisements/promotion etc.

Every time you hear a success story and you scratch the surface you will find people with cash injecting payments to buy careers. This is where we are at with success as an artist at this point.

Record labels used to provide the cash, but they don’t exist anymore (well, most of them have shrunk or shut down - thanks Mr Internet).

All that TikTok/YouTube/SoundCloud stuff is BS. I’ve seen this from a very close proximity and how much trying to make it today, without a ton of cash leads to a thoroughly miserable life.

To get involved in other parts of music business? of course. That has been the case since a very long time ago. You can be a promoter, roadie, print t-shirts, open any kind of company to do with selling music stuff, plugins/libraries etc.

Sadly, again, everyone makes money from music, but not the original artist.

'tis what it is.

It’s not fake, it’s another tool out there. It can be a waste of time, but it can also be the backbone of building and maintaining a fan base.

Whether you do it face to face, via media, or both, a fan base has to be built one soul at a time.

Simply posting it isn’t enough. Just like by conventional means, simply getting on a few random stages and playing isn’t enough.

Different scales for success exist. A musician can earn a decent living without being an international super star.

Copyright it properly, and you can get royalties for life.

It wasn’t the utopia you think…

The record labels hand chose limited sets of acts. It was like pulling teeth to get any kind of contract at all…let alone one that actually put a bunch of money into ‘promoting’ the record. Most of the capitol was invested in physical fixing and distribution fees. It was a pain in the butt to time it so the music hit the broadcasting world right when the stock was in the record stores. If the timing was slightly off, or the music stores predicted how many to order wrong…the records ended up in the ‘cut-out’ section for dirt cheap…losing money…for both the labels and the retailers.

It often took a while to recoup the costs of printing records and getting them into stores before ANYONE involved with the music/production part of the system saw a penny.

The acts had to hit the road immediately to sustain themselves (studio sessions and record sales weren’t enough to keep them going). They played 3 or 4 times a week, in every little dive and hell-hole imaginable, staying in crap motels or even sleeping in vehicles on the way to the next show.

When the acts weren’t on stage performing, they were split up and sent out to the local radio and TV stations to yabber nonsense and push ‘swag’ sales. It wasn’t uncommon for each group member to have to hit 4 to 6 different locations in a city…hours apart, on the SAME DAY that’d be on stage for a 3 hour show. After a long day of ‘station interviews’ and a quick ‘mic check’, they’d also be zoomed off to some fancy party for a few hours to suck up to the ‘local sponsors’ that fronted the costs for securing the local venues (often having to do special performances lasting as long as an hour). After doing all that promo and sponsor butt licking work, the concert itself often seemed like their ‘easy relaxing day off’.

Get a sore throat? It doesn’t matter…the show must go on. Take this hand full of pills (Only God knows what they are) and get your ass on stage! Your wife wants to leave you, and just told you over the phone? Tough buddy…it’ll be at least three weeks before you can take a day off to meet up with her…by then she might have emptied out the house, shot your dog, burned your Bible, and driven your favorite Motorcycle into the Potomac river. Had kids? Probably not anymore (but those child support and alimony checks will be due like clock-work).

The ones that ‘made it big’ were still a very small percentage of the dreamer rock stars out there. It’s not all that different from today in terms of there being relatively LOW success stories for acts that ‘made it big’.

Media and distribution has changed, and it’s still HARD and RISKY, but no-sirree…the models of yesteryear weren’t all that Rosey.

The ‘original artists’ still struggled and had to fight like hell to get their due cut. They still had big debts and bills to pay. IF they managed to secure enough clout to think more independently and ‘do whatever they want’ as musicians…it took YEARS/DECADES to get to that point.

It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. Taking a job of any kind, anywhere can be miserable.

Starting ANY kind of business is full of risk, stress, and really bad days that’ll make you want to jump off a tall building. Competitors, debtors, con artists, natural disasters, stupid people. All that stuff is ‘life’.

That’s show business. One in millions ever become ‘super stars’. Still, countless musicians out there find ways earn a somewhat comfortable living through pro music. They enjoy stable, well balanced lifestyles. They were ‘realistic’ in expectations, and built for themselves a ‘sustainable/tolerable’ music related career.

As for ‘change’…that’s going to happen no matter what…in every single trade and industry. Raising chickens, cows, or plants looks very different today than it did 20 years ago. Retail and sales is very different. Pretty much EVERYTHING changes, evolves, mutates over time.

I live in a Chicken farming/processing town. I could share horror stories that people are going through today in that industry. Thing is, if I go back 20 years ago, I could share them from then as well…and it wasn’t ANY BETTER (much worse in a lot of aspects).

Even making a trip to the local grocery store is a very different experience than it was 20 years ago. A few things are kind of familiar to what we had 20 years ago, but MOST of it is quite different. Not really ‘better’, nor is it ‘worse’, but it is DIFFERENT.

This is life…

One thing is certain. If you ‘give up’, you don’t stand a chance.

Social media as a tool to become a successful artist is fake, sorry to burst your bubble.

You need to get to the point where you can be paid copyrights that will support you. Very few do, and those are successful. This success is not coming cheaply.

I never said it was. But artists had one in a billion chance in getting picked up and making it. Artists from a poor background. Now, that chance is gone.

Well, being in a band or becoming a solo artist is not a business. It’s a passion. And the dream to be successful, huge star or however other way you would like to put it is the end-game of any artist, with some exceptions of people who don’t mind making music as a hobby.

I have seen it too many times. Sadly I witnessed all too often people getting nowhere but playing the odd pub in front of 12 people and attracting a few thousand views on videos.

Bands and artists nowadays know the score. You got backing? Fine, if not, forget it.

By all means, play music but there is no chance of success without millions (of dollars/pounds, etc.) to support you, because record labels don’t exist to sign people from poor backgrounds.

You can’t choose being an artist as business. It’s a financial suicide if one decides to go down that road.

Re: Change, I have no problem with change. I didn’t say it’s better or worst. It’s just the reality of the thing.

You have a ton of cash? Go for it.

As of for people who make a comfortable living, sure, but music cannot be the only income. Unless one is a very successful sound engineer/producer. Beyond that, it will have to be one of the jobs one can do to support themselves.

I think there are some things to consider a bit further though.

First of all the question is what “success” means. It could either be worldwide recognition and maybe even “stardom” or it could be making money. If the definition is recognition and stardom then social media absolutely counts. Artists become well known on social media. That’s a thing that happens.

On that note we should agree that social media and modern technology in general has been democratizing both the creation of art and the dissemination of it. In the past it was very expensive to produce and distribute a record (on tape and vinyl) but now this can be done with a midrange computer and a social media account.

The real issue is “noise”. There is so much content out there that users have a hard time finding something to latch on to. In the past not only distribution was a limiting factor but so was advertising. We would learn about artists by reading about them in reviews in print media or seeing them on TV, and all of that was carefully curated by people in the industry. That limited the volume we were exposed to. Today with social media and Spotify there is virtually no limit. Sure, there are algorithms but those aren’t necessarily used by people. So the issue is cutting through the noise, not creating and distributing art.

And that leads to the other point above which was defining “success” as “making money”. In some fields the people sitting on resources definitely look at social media presence before they invest, because their revenue hinges upon being able to get visibility because of the chosen artist and then get advertisers to pay (or more directly if it’s movies getting butts in seats). So social media matters ‘indirectly’.

It’s not really correct then to say that you need millions (assuming money, not viewers) in support in order to succeed. You can succeed by creating a large following on social media. It’s not easy, but neither was becoming a great band, getting noticed by a label, getting a good deal with that label, and then supporting record sales and making a living.

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Yeah I completely agree with you, that’s why I posted that some people are OK to be able to use it as a hobby. Success is whatever one considers it to be actual “success”, but in reality, 100K views on YouTube (even millions) is not a real success.

You are spot on there. The negation of the importance of music. Music is a vast field of noise, so dense, it feels like a vast concrete wall, and musicians are the size of atoms within this wall.

100% agreed

Nobody invests on merit of plays and comments. I know a director who has a video which gathered nearly 60 million views and he can’t find work…The internet is not creating success. Not by posting stuff.

Music is business. As such every release will have to be shoved down people’s throats, this costs money, a ton of money.

Sorry, I can’t agree with you here. But, hey, peace.

Texas (A big state) lists over 6,000 ‘public middle and high school’ Band Directors active in their TBA. The majority of those are pulling in an average yearly salary of $131,346. Most are on 10mo contracts and get close to a month to spend doing other ‘lucrative’ things of their choosing (further education, side jobs, music gigs, summer camps, whatever). A decent sliver of the TBA members are ‘retired’ and still pulling in a nice pension.

Over on the vocal side, TCDA reports over 1,500 members. Average salary for a public school Choir director is reported to be around $45,423. These gigs tend to be an 8 or 9mo contract, and usually aren’t the massive time suck of directing a big band program (some are tho’ and if so, the choir people easily get paid double or more this average), so those directors can usually pick up extra income opportunities. Many of them do church music and/or private lessons on the side that can shore up total income to the level of their band director peers. They’re usually really good pianists to boot, so they can always pick up performing gigs doing that if they wish.

This is just public schools 5-12…just Band and Choir.

You still have all the private schools, the private studios, the individual in-house or music store instrument teachers.

It doesn’t count community college and university gigs. The ones that have picked up post grad degrees often make serious money to take a few private students per day, and do a few courses in stuff like theory, form and analysis, conducting, drill writing, etc.

There are loads of nice church related gigs as well.

Pay scales for full time pure performers can be all over the map of course. Many performers don’t even try to earn their living purely through music, but it doesn’t mean they can’t. Quite a lot of them choose to be a full time mom or dad (home-maker) and do music to supplement the household income. That’s all they are ‘gunning for’. So…If you are good, and live in the right area, you can pull in serious cash specializing in an instrument or voice, and doing workshops/lessons/camps on the side. They have unions and associations, and agents that can help keep them pretty busy.

It’s doable.

Again, everybody can’t be a famous rock star. Everybody can’t land the principal chairs in a stable orchestra. Not saying they can…I’m just not sold on the idea that ‘the internet’ has led to more starving musicians, or cut out on opportunities to make a decent living as a pro musician.

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I never said anything to the contrary…I am discussing what is effectively real success as an artist or band in the music business. Nothing more , nothing less…

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Apologies, I’m mostly arguing with ‘myself’.

Someone had asked where one would ‘start’ with a music career these days.

I could be wrong, but I think the basics haven’t changed all that much. There are newer ideas and concepts to master depending on where you want to be, but those core skills and gigs are still where it all begins, and they haven’t changed all that much.

You still need the same base skill sets. If you want to be purely performance oriented, you need to be really good and versatile on your instrument/voice.

If you want to do more with supporting roles, composition, etc…I think the avenues haven’t changed all that much over the years.

For producers? I bet that’s a LOT different every time the wind changes directions. I’d wager that’s as much of a business and people thing as it is music (maybe moreso). Instincts, contacts, connections, and amazing research and predictive math skills. Someone with the right kind of mind for that stuff could sell a million copies of a monkey banging on a smoking garbage can lid and make a fortune. They simply know how to get something in the right hands, at the right time, and smile as the people stumble into the trap.

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I’ve purchased quite a bit of stuff from ‘self produced’ bands over the years (records, swag, and more). They do a nice job of using social media to maintain a fan base that follows them all over the region. They aren’t big stars, and might never be…but they can pack a local house of from 3 to 10k fans without breaking much of a sweat.

Some of them have even built a solid enough fan base that they can pre-sale enough tickets to lock in a venue all on their own. They don’t have to ‘beg sponsors’ to front the money and take most of it back at the end of the day.

I don’t think that was possible 20 years ago. You still needed the ‘radio and tv stations’, and big sponsors to put up the money to lock down a venue and stuff.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch …

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

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Your so fare from reality, and an inconceivable optimist!
We are all knowing about all you talking about!
Web business is fake 99.9%, the one who makes tons of money are like in music privileged people, and it’s for as long as some buzz, not mentioning the tremendous work it request mentally!
Most of electronic artist that i fallow; even some like world orchestra are just struggling to death! (Again reality cost, an orchestra even with “a lot of people” buying ticket need eating, not mentionning the infrastructure where cost are just incredible)
Meanwhile some use cubase to increase the seriousness of Vartist after some stupid show “the voice”, which apparently his first place hasn’t make him on the road for doing your dream track, with pet voices!!!

Ps: Infrastructure aren’t counting, we’re talking artist, not something else like technicians, etc…

It’s time to realise than digital was created because we’re in grave, and must occup ourself in there!
Some people with money still occups themself physically, but it’s more and more difficult and costly, because we will finish in matrix, it’s been defined by powerfull people a long time ago and digital is the weapon!

Who seriously will prefer working on laptop if he has choice to work in a studio full of gear!

Make children they said!!! (so stupid humanity)

But yeah, keep hoping, it’s like religious things, sometimes that happen while you give your money for nothing behind your screen and interface in your 2m square living grave contributing with success to their Hvirtualization plan, and making more and more people without work!

How your still lucky and don’t understand, just youtube capsule home, because that’s your futur anyway!
It’s only japanese stupidities you think, no, no you’re average flat is less than 50m2, while 40 years ago, it was even not existing the word studio was only a space for musician , before being a single room living flat!
New average room size are between 12-18m2, just unbelievable for a grandma!
I started working in an office for myself, now office contains firm! Oups, where my secretary… look in your menu bar something called virtual …

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Another thread that has gone completely off the rails…

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Maybe, but if you want to make a living in fine and performing arts you have to be optimistic. You have to believe it’s possible, and surround yourself with people who share in that belief.

In hindsight, the pie is certainty finite in size, but it isn’t ‘fake’. Getting a piece of the pie isn’t ‘easy’, but it’s very doable.

If your prophecy is doom and failure out of the gate, that prophecy will become self-fulfilling.

I think this applies to nearly every occupation out there. Even in a field like law, or medicine, people struggle and wash out. The ‘investments’ required to conquer each rung in the ladder to success in pretty much ANY profession are considerable.

People with wealth or connections have ‘advantages’. People who start out with a lot of advantages STILL crash and burn every day. People who started with nothing, or even from a deficit that no one thought would last a day become successful legends in their trades pretty often.

There’s always huge difference between the young people at the bottom, and the better-established fat sharks at the top; plus, there’s always plenty of people who do ok in the middle.

For sure…the people who give up, are always negative, and don’t believe it’s possible will be the first to wash out. Wherever they go next…if they keep the same doom and gloom attitude, they’ll still probably ‘struggle to death’.

I don’t know how the internet impacts other countries, but in the USA it isn’t ‘fake’ at all.

Rough numbers I’ve pulled from a variety of sources…

10% of the USA’s GDP is internet/web based. That’s roughly 2.5 trillion dollars. Close to $20 billion of this is directly related to internet music publishing/distribution.

The music industry in the USA contributes less than 1% to the GDP, at around $212 billion. Roughly 2.5 million jobs.

To give these GDP numbers some perspective (1% music industry vs 13% housing industry), the largest chunk of the US GDP attributed to any one industry would be real estate and housing, at 13%…and housing is something very expensive and complicated that everybody ‘needs’!

Over 40% of the ‘music industry cumulative’ is attributed to stuff like instrument, equipment, and software jobs and markets. A pretty significant portion of the revenue streams from this aspect of the industry flow through the internet.

The next biggest chunk of close to 20% (Over $60billion) of the industry are the artists/agents who write and perform music.

Another 13% ($36 billion) of it goes to publishing/broadcasting/distribution/live-performing. More recently, well over half (70% ?) of this chunk of revenue is generated via internet publishing/downloading/streaming.

Another $ 116 billion goes to schools/educators/museums/etc.

Retailers account for the single digit percentages left (Close to $6 billion). 67% of this ‘retail’ revenue is generated via 'web/internet sales (physical media, instruments, swag, some segments of download/streaming markets, cuts from sheet music/books, concert ticket sales, etc).

There’s a bunch of stuff not really on the radar here, and these numbers are very rough. Still, the point is that internet business in the USA is not ‘fake’.

And before digital came along, terrestrial broadcasting and the printing press were even BIGGER obstacles. Before that, you pretty much needed to become a monk and do music in religious settings, be a patron of some kind of royal family, or connect yourself with taverns and such through guild systems. Etc…

People with access to a conservatory or university education have an advantage when it comes to plugging out some kind of solid full time income in music; but, in the USA the majority of our ‘pop stars’ are backwoods nobodies who emerge from a sea of folk music peddlers who manage to be in the right place at the right time. It almost always relies on some kind of ‘collective’ pool of people and resources to become ‘big money hits’. Collectives of investors have to ‘split up the pot’ at the end of the day.

Religious things happen because people believe, they meet, collaborate, bring something to put in the proverbial stew pot, and work with what they have.

If they don’t believe, and don’t show up, then nothing will happen. No stew pot.

Art is adaptive. People who have nothing to work with but dirt and each other can still make art together, and sometimes the products are ‘marketable’.

Folk music comes in all shapes and sizes, and the stuff people make in their bed-room studios is often an extension of folk music. One man in a closet with a cigar box guitar can produce music. Sixty years ago, anyone outside his home discovering his art even exists was nearly impossible. He’d have to at least need to perform a lot for some local crowds; then, probably pack up his stuff and go audition in a pretty big entertainment hub. IF an investor took interest in the act, there’d still be risks to share, and revenues to ‘split up’.

These days, if so inclined, he can make a lousy recording with a cell phone, put it up on the internet, and he’s almost guaranteed at least a few thousand hits. Pretty high return potential for very little time/money investment.

The chances of it becoming a hit are still low, but it’s still far better than it was before ‘the digital age’.

This is ‘opportunity’.

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Here’s my opinion on this topic.

I dislike Apple and its business policy (bullying users with their updates in order to buy new devices) to a great extent. So, I absolutely do not care for Logic and found the workflow illogical when I tried it on two songs a few years back.

That said, Steinberg is a company that has expenses to deliver a well-balanced and cutting-edge product. They (just like Apple) are allowed to run their business as they wish. If, the business model does not work for you, there are plenty of other options.

I like the Cubase options (LE to Pro, Splice and so forth) since Steinberg caters for all entry points and budgets - you have to appreciate Steinberg for not pulling a ‘Presonus’, ‘Apple’, ‘Waves’ or ‘Avid’ on its users. Instead, Steinberg meets the user where they’re at.

Since I’ve tried most DAWs out there, I also feel that Cubase is the most capable DAW of all and why would I not want to pay for a great all-round experience?

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