The future of music? · Mastering.com Members Club

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The future of music?

I often think about what our mission is at Mastering.com.

It's something that's constantly in flux. On the surface, it's pretty simple... to become the world's #1 audio school.

But why bother? Why is that important?

Ultimately, it comes back to music. And I believe that music is undergoing a radical change right now (along with many other forms of art).

The act of creation is shifting.

AI is forcing us to ask questions about what music and creativity means.

And without going on a massive detour around all the different reasons why music is important (maybe another time)...

I keep coming back to one core idea:

Pure creativity.

Being a "purist" is not always a good thing...

But the more time goes in, I keep coming back to this word.

→ What is "pure creativity"?

Pure.

What does it mean?

A quick Google defines the word as:

"Not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material."

There are so many ways in which the creative music making process can be adulterated in today's world.

I think it will become increasingly important to defend against these influences as time goes on.

There are many practical decisions you will need to make as a musician and artist that will become increasingly vital.

→ How much of the production, mixing and mastering process do you hand off to others?

Since you're reading this and you're on our mailing list, it probably means you've already decided that taking the production process into your own hands is important to you.

I think this will become increasingly so, and the alignment and ownership of all elements of the music creation process will help you create in the purest way possible.

Of course, there is a benefit to collaborating with third parties, and it simply depends on your goal. But the ability to write, record, produce, mix and master music yourself puts you, the creator, at the center of it all.

→ How much are you willing to use AI?

This is the big one, and the talking point.

Where do you draw the line?

If AI is just a technological tool, then how is that any different to using a plugin like Vocal Rider to automate gain levels for you?

Ultimately it's not black and white and you have to draw the line somewhere, but personally, I believe using AI to help generate ideas or finish songs absolutely impacts the creative act.

It's worth deeply considering how you want to approach this new paradigm, so you're approaching it with intentionality.

Is your goal purely to enjoy the act of creation?

Then it probably doesn't make sense to abdicate parts of the music creation process to AI.

Is your goal to generate a profit?

Then the efficiency and speed that AI can grant you might be worth the trade offs.

Do you enjoy collaborating with others?

Sometimes, using AI as a collaborative partner when you don't have a human to collaborate with can be more inspiring than working entirely on your own. You're never going to beat collaborating with a human, but that's not always possible.

But abdicating the entire process to AI?

Why even bother making music in the first place.

Would you use a cheat code to skip to the end of a video game you've never played before? What would be the point?

Using AI to make music is more like playing a game, and that can bring it's own form of entertainment. But we're talking about two very different things.

As a creator, the journey - not the destination - is where you find pleasure, fulfilment, the highs, the lows, the life of it.

As a listener, appreciation comes not only from the final product... but also the story behind how it was made.

A good recent example, from outside the world of music: the new Apple TV logo. It was filmed in real life, rather than animated, and Finneas wrote the mnemonic. I haven't cared about a corporate animated logo since... forever. But this piqued my interest because of how it was made.

Another example from the world of... beer! In 1904, Schlitz Beer were #5 and launched an ad campaign where they simply advertised the meticulous nature of the brewing process, focusing on the art and craft of their "pure" brewing process. The process was actually no different to how most other beer was brewed, but by showing people the process and story behind how the product was made, they appreciated it more. Schlitz went from #5 to #1 in the industry with this one campaign (Source: Claude Hopkins' memoir "My Life in Advertising" 1927). This happened over 100 years ago but feels just as relevant. Human crave quality.

→ The light at the end of the tunnel

There's a resurgence happening in respect for human art.

A counter-movement to AI.

To bring this full circle:

Why is it important for us to teach people audio? And more specifically... why mastering? We are Mastering.com after all...

Here's why:

Because learning the technical skill of mastering unlocks your ability to create music in a way that's self-sufficient and hollistic.

You need to get the objective, technical skills under your belt. Then, when you're making music, you can stay in a creative flow.

That's what this is all about, after all.

Comment below with your thoughts!

- Rob

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