During project 4, we were set the task of learning the basics of producing music and studio work.
This included recording a track as musician in a studio, recording a track as a studio engineer in a studio, mixing the track we had recorded and mixing a track given to us.
Music production offers a huge opportunity for many different careers in music and the whole dynamic of the music industry is constantly changing. Studios with big analog desks have started to decrease in popularity as many producers and musicians can easily record themselves on a laptop, mix it and then release it across the globe.
What’s around the corner? Smaller, more advanced, more affordable technology, inevitably. It forces a question: why pay by the day for a studio at all, when a laptop, some Pro Tools software, a decent mic and a monitor mean that release-quality recordings can be made almost anywhere?
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/27/the-recording-studios-still-in-the-mix
The link above is to an interesting article on the changing dynamics in the music industry as well as the potential future we will face in the coming years.
Despite the evident drop in studio success, there is still a huge amount of studio work opportunity in the UK, as well as there being a huge live performance industry in which you could work as a sound engineer for live sound.
Going into the industry as a solo artist or in a band and being able to record and mix your own music will also save you huge amounts of money and allow you to customise and create your own sound to another level.
Latest industry data estimates that the core music industry made an estimated economic contribution – also known as Gross Value Added or GVA – of about £4.4bn to the UK economy in 2016 and supported 142,208 jobs.
According to data from 2016, 114,510 music producers were employed nationally in America with an average salary of $93,840.
In the September 2014 Census Bureau report on income and poverty in the U.S., the median household income in America across all jobs was $51,939.
Therefore although it is a hugely competitive market and is in the midst of huge changes at the moment with increasingly advanced technology being introduced, there is a huge opportunity to make a good living out of music production. Very famous producers such as Dr Dre or Rick Rubin have made millions off of their individual producing styles.