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causing their closure. The first benefit is
cost. Sound City’s Neve Board cost them
over $75,000, while Pro Tools costs a mere
$1,000. Pro Tools also drove the cost of
producing a record way down, from the
standard cost of $200,000-$400,000 to about
$200. Assuming an artist already owns their
equipment and only plans to release their
music digitally, they could essentially create
an album for free.
In addition to lesser costs, Pro Tools made
the craft of producing a record much easier.
In the pre-digital era of Sound City, engineers
had to slice tape by hand in order to
create an album, a skill not many possessed.
Pro Tools put all recordings on a grid on a
computer screen, and with a couple of clicks
the user could do what had previously taken
years of work for an engineer to perfect. Because
of the cost benefits and ease of use
Pro Tools offered, in the ‘90s many recording
studios and some tape manufacturers were
forced to shut their doors, signaling the beginning
of a tumultuous time for the music
industry as a whole. 1
ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING
In addition to new recording technology,
the music industry faced another big hit with
digitalization; piracy. The internet allowed
multitudes of people to upload files to various
servers where other users could download
files free of charge. This is obviously a
copyright violation issue, however there has
been little progress in stopping it.
The first well known example of piracy sites
is Napster, which began in 1999. There was
legal recourse against Napster from artists,
such as Metallica and Dr. Dre, for copyright
violations. Due to pressures from these suits
and the government, Napster shut down in
2001. 2 However, this was far from the end of
online piracy. Since Napster’s closure, there
have been a multitude of other online peerto-peer
file sharing services that have began,
with very little legal repercussions.
In an article published by Computers in
Human Behavior, researchers found that
almost all young adults have illegally downloaded
music. They stated in their conclusion
that, “This clearly shows that some
individuals, despite the high associated
risks with piracy, have a favorable attitude
for piracy because of their optimism bias.”
Optimism bias is the irrational belief that one
is less likely to suffer consequences then
their equals. This is the main issue with piracy.
3 Although some distributors of illegally
downloaded content are being prosecuted,
very few consumers are being punished.
This dilemma, paired with the issue of cheap
production, has left the industry looking for
a new model of income in the digital era.
CAN DIGITAL WORK
Although the situation may seem dire, there
is hope. There have been new ways found
in the digital realm to recoup lost profits. Additionally,
this marketplace may suit consumers
better, as cheaper production tools and
sites such as Bandcamp or YouTube make
it immensely easier for new or obscure artists
to reach their fanbase
Two fitting examples of band success in the
digital era are Pomplamoose and Death.
Pomplamoose had great success primarily
as a cover band that recorded and uploaded
their music to YouTube. Being that many
believe the music industry is crashing, when
an independent band has success they look
MIC // Research // Thesis Paper