quoted 6 lines Part of the reason for the small audience is that you have to learn> Part of the reason for the small audience is that you have to learn
> to like this stuff -- a casual listener will find the music repetitive,
> harsh and obtuse. Another part MAY be -- and this is my thesis --
> that because the music is largely home made, it fails to have the
> production values and sonic quality that the vast majority of people
> have come to expect from their audio entertainment.
(warning: most of the following is heavily debatable)
i don't think we can really talk of 'production values' or 'sonic
quality' when we're talking of something as crappy as the backstreet
boys or celine dion. i'd rather compare it to a big mac: purely
synthetized taste to appeal millions. does it make it better?
a 'clean' production is just the icing on a cake: it's a marketable
point. it's audio coating: good if you have something to coat. but for
most pop hits, the coating is more or less all there is. it's like
eating a cheesecake without the cake part.
so hurray for acid & home studios. hurray for tascam 4-track recorders.
hurray for tape hiss. you can be just as creative, & just as much a
good producer, on many an 'amateur' setup. most production techniques
are nothing but borderline illusionistic principles of how to be loved
without really ever giving anything to deserve it.
as for production values being the reason for mass-appeal... that's
only part of the answer, & that's proving my point: that production is a
form of marketing. & there's way too much money put into marketing for
what the artists are getting back.
that all said, i have nothing against producers per se, but i think it's
up to the musician to judge whether production is 'needed', & if we
leave it to something as vague as 'the public buys it because it's well
produced', then maybe we're missing something here.
~ david
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org