The Music Tech industry is quite a niche depending on who you ask. Most people are familiar the consumer side of things but aren’t really aware of how technology constantly shapes the way music is created, distributed and monetised. I often visualise this as a lifecycle of services and actions (provided by companies or consumers) which complement each other directly or indirectly. This article offers a glimpse into the creation and distribution stages of the lifecycle.
Creation
Tech shapes the creation of music at many levels. Some musicians are self taught, some may have formal education and some have a mix of both. Overall, creators have their own unique methods and use a variety of tools to achieve their goals
Case 1 : Creating and recording music at a top tier studio
Totally hypothetical. It’s 4 p.m. in New York and a 4 hour studio session at Electric Lady studios is about to begin. The 3 participants booked for the session are:
- Multi instrumentalist, Stephen Lee Bruner a.k.a Thundercat
- One of Atlanta traps most sought after Studio Engineers, Kesha Lee
- Jamaican Reggae artist, Mikayla Simpson popularly known as Koffee
They all head into the studio and have a quick chat about the type of vibe they’d like to create. Kesha takes a seat by the mixing desk above, opens up her laptop, connects it and starts playing a few beats from various label submissions. Thundercat starts playing some riffs along on his signature bass guitar, an Ibanez TCB1006 and Koffee does a little freestyle. Kesha gauges that it’s time to record so both artists head into the booth.
Software Solutions
There are various software solutions for recording and creating music. The term, DAW (digital audio workstation) is used to describe this. A top tier studio would probably have a DAW like Pro tools. The mixing desk above is connected to the software.
Recording the session
In this hypothetical case, the studio engineer (Kesha) will be primarily responsible for facilitating the recording. The engineer will have an in-depth knowledge of Pro tools and various audio plugins (standalone software tools that can be used to enhance audio quality).
The sound created from each instrument will need to be recorded into Protools. This is possible due to a marriage of electronics and software solutions. Another in house engineer aka a Recording engineer may be present to facilitate this task.
For example, Thundercat’s bass could be connected to something called a Direct injection box (DI Box) which is in turn connected to an amplifier. This box also outputs sound to the mixing desk (mixer) which is how the sound makes its way into ProTools (or alternatively a tape machine shown below).
Existing technology makes recording a seamless process and great studio and recording engineers also goes a long way.
Post recording
Once the session ends, the engineer can export the studio session as a file and store that on their computer or Dropbox. Alternatively the studio session might also have a backup system in place which stores all the files recorded.
Security is a big concern here and album leaks are always a major issue for labels . They should be avoided at all costs unless leaking the album was the intended market strategy lol.
Anyways, the final recordings will need to go into post production. This stage of recording is called mixing and mastering and also has engineers who work exclusively in this field.
Their work includes gathering all of the elements recorded (bass guitar, vocals, beat), balancing the volume levels for each instrument and adding effects via software tools to achieve the best results.
Mixing songs is a combination of experience and individual creativity. If you’ve got some time, watch the video below to get an in-depth view of how Leslie Braithwaite mixed Cardi B’s hit single “Money”
Case 2 : Creating music through alternative methods e.g coding
As a consumer, performer and (occasional) creator of music this often starts at my home studio with a simple setup as shown in the image above. However, I’ve been dabbling with new methods including creating music with code and exploring it’s application in performances aimed at a mainstream audience.
Starting in May I’ll be demystifying this process via my passion project, ANIM Sessions (Twitter & Instagram). I’ll be posting more content around this topic, releasing track snippets and speaking at events around London.
Distribution & Monitoring
After creation, we have distribution. In plain terms this is how the final track gets uploaded to the streaming services or to your favourite DJ’s record pool or a radio station.
Digital Distribution
An artist can handle their own distribution without needing a label thanks to popular platforms such as CD Baby, Tune Core, Ditto Music, DistroKid, Soundcloud (Beta) etc. These companies utilise tech to streamline the process of releasing tracks to multiple streaming services e.g Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, Google Play, Apple Music, Amazon Music & more.
It’s quite similar to the filling out a form. Each company offers different services, payment tiers and upload options with the ability to:
- Schedule track uploads
- Set pricing and pre order options
- Add artwork
- Specify if a song should be categorised as “Explicit or not”
- Craft social media campaigns (time of release, scheduling)
- Offer Vinyl pressing
These services are available to everyone and competition is fierce. Having good music just doesn’t cut it. It’s quite similar to mainstream tech were having the hottest app MVP isn’t really a guarantee for success.
Network, connections & expertise
Larger companies with dedicated staff combine their industry experience, connections and tech platforms to help labels and bigger artists run successful campaigns with well thought out play listing strategies.
Some companies include:
- Believe which works with labels directly and uses analytics to drive sales
- AWAL who works with indie artists and has an impressive artist roster of some of my faves, Steve Lacy, Tom Misch and Little Simz.
- The Orchard which offers services in the US
Some of these companies also specialise in music synchronisation services, popularly known as Sync. Ever wonder how music gets played in TV ads, games, films and series? Well this is all thanks to Sync licensing.
I hope you’ve enjoyed or learnt something from this article. In Pt2 I’ll look at two other stages of the lifecycle: Consumption & Monetisation
Hi there. I’m Adiba, an Android Engineer, DJ and Occasional Producer. I love exploring things at the heart of music and tech and currently run a passion project called ANIM Sessions. You can connect with me directly on Twitter or watch me make me some tracks below.
