Unsound teaser: The double-edged sword of the digital age 3

Unsound teaser: The double-edged sword of the digital age

Mark Settle·
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Sometimes, we need to have important issues delivered to us in easily digestible bite-sized servings, so that we may take in the real problems facing us today. This teaser for the film “Unsound” perfectly demonstrates the impact of the digital age on the music industry. You need to watch this teaser from beginning to end, and then try to admit that you weren’t left a little shaken.

The Unsound teaser really does paint a harsh landscape after the digital A-bomb hit the music industry. I feel that we’re still in the fallout phase where people are shellshocked, and left picking through the debris, trying to make some sort of sense out of what is left. Change came, all too rapidly to most, and caught many with their pants down.

The picture painted in the trailer is bleak – a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic scenario with established artists left wondering if there really is a future, and new artists worried that the personal sacrifices needing to be made to establish a career are a step too far. It used to be enough to just sell music, but nowadays music is just a vehicle to perform live and sell merchandise.

I’m grateful for the digital age. It has allowed me to establish an all new career as a writer, photographer, and video maker without any formal training at all. The work is hard, and the income derived isn’t a patch on what it would have been had I been a time served practitioner of the assorted crafts in a pre-digital time. But this is an age of opportunity, one that needs to be embraced if people are to survive and subsequently prosper.

Unsound teaser: The double-edged sword of the digital age 4

What do you think?

This isn’t a subject we’ve really touched on before, but definitely falls within our technology remit. So how has the digital age effected you musically? Have you suffered or capitalised on the ease with which music can be made and distributed? Have you embraced the technological challenges and opportunities? Have you been able to unleash your inner DJ or producer when previously you wouldn’t have had any chance of being noticed? I’m interested in the opinions of old-timers like me, as well as the young bucks too.

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53 Responses

  1. In 1999 my friend and me decided to be the first superstar electronic music producers from Hungary (don’t laugh). In 2002 we signed to Strictly Rhythm (NYC) and Warner Music UK. We had some dance chart success all over the world.

    But we saw that these are the last years of selling records with decreasing revenue, and we didn’t choose the “tour until you die” way.

    My friend become a lawyer specialised in corporate law and international copyright. I choose technology, to remove the “you need expensive gear to become a DJ” barrier. That’s my story.

    1. I think that’s a little bit simplistic. Maybe it will be the most resourceful and adaptable that will survive, rather than one class group over another.

  3. Music
    Industry was and is a big bucket full of shit. There are a lot of talented
    musician which will never show because they haven’ t a proper background
    neither a high paid manager. Also back in time, when napster was just an Idea
    they charge so much for their music that it was to difficult for someone to
    keep up. After that everyone is crying cause they can’t make a living out of
    this. The cost of a CD was about 15 euros at 2004 because you didn ‘t pay just
    the record company for printing and mastering the CD and the musicians who was
    making music, but you paid for the promoters, the unnecessary management system,
    the big heads of the company an many more. And at the end of the day you could
    only listen a 15 euros, CD only by yourself because it was illegal to reproduce
    it or to copy it at your own personal computer. Now the things are better for
    normal people and worst for the artists. If they wanted to be supported, then
    they should charge only a couple of bucks for a CD and that’ all. I thing is
    more than enough when the record sales around the globe. Moreover an artist
    must pay the bills but in the beginning he decided to do the music thing for
    himself, not to make some heavy cash out of it. Nowadays they are broke cause
    they aren’ t producing any quality music any more and they keep charging it for
    a lot of money. Overall: Produce something which doesn’ t shine but can move
    the crowd for over than 10 years and give it free! The clubs will play it, the
    radio shows will play it, and you will be famous. After that the sponsors will
    hit the door as well as the events and you will get the money you always wanted.
    Artist’ s created this state we already been throw, so work you asses out of
    it!
    A broke, DJ

  4. As a DJ, it’s made the game tougher. Because music is available everywhere and to all, people are more fussy about the exact genre of music they want to hear, and expect you to have it all with you at a gig. Because music and DJ equipment is so cheap, every man and his dog calls themselves a DJ now, and the natural effect of supply and demand means that it’s harder to get a decent fee working bars and clubs. There was a time when a certain amount of financial investment was required, I remember heading to HMV every monday morning and heading back with an armful of records and CDs. I remember spending lots of money on equipment. It separated the men from the boys! Anyway, I’ll stop there before this becomes a grumpy old man rant. 😉

  5. I have had a lot of arguments about music piracy with musicians, DJs and consumers over the years. I had napster when I was 13 and it came out, I had audiogalaxy, I’ve used soulseek and Kazaa and Bearshare and Morpheus and all of that stuff.

    But then I started promoting, DJing and booking shows, and meeting the bands I was downloading music from. Most of the bands I deal with are extremely underground, and benefit greatly from 1,000 or 2,000 CD sales. And then you get to those artists who are just on the cusp of becoming superstars, but they can’t afford anything because their product they sell has no inherent value anymore.

    We need to have a serious discussion, as DJs and consumers, about where the value of music lies. What I hear a lot is that musicians should make money off of touring. Granted, I hear this from people who have never toured before. My musician friends who make their living off of this stuff say very explicitly that touring pays for touring and if you’re lucky a little more. CDs/mp3s (not streaming) is where the money really used to be, and it’s what’s fucking this all up.

    I’ve spent a LOT of time and money replacing the music I’ve downloaded illegally over the years. It’s expensive, but most of the stuff I buy is benefiting people and allowing them to create more music I can spin.

  6. There is no way now to ever stop online file sharing – the genie is out of the bottle. So forget that as an option.

    People have to realise the consequences of their own actions.
    It has to become socially unacceptable to steal music by illegally downloading it – that’s the only way people will stop.

    In the early days of Napster I used to download music illegally.
    Over time I realised that what I was doing was morally wrong and was also self-destructive, as it could only end with the eventual demise of the artists and music i love. So I stopped.

    Unfortunately everyone has to come to this realisation on their own before they will change their actions. So I think the question should be how do we achieve this realisation in people?
    I don’t know the answer, but it definitely has to be addressed in the younger generations, so maybe school is the answer.

  7. I think the digital music age is here, it’s happened and its not going away any time soon… so we should accept it and get on with it. The human race will keep on making and playing music wether its a career, a gold mine or an unpaid distraction. Previous advances in technology did not kill music and I see this time as no different.

    If you look back at the last 100 years of recorded music for reference, much of the best music made/recorded during this time was made by people who earned little or nothing from it.

    A lot of established musicians talk as though the world of music is over and we are entering a cultureless wasteland, but maybe in years to come, mankind will remember this era as the time when things returned to normal from that strange blip in history where musicians were grossly overpaid for their talents.

    1. A lot of established musicians talk as though the world of music is over

      That’s what I got from the teaser. Yes, the change has been hard, but it’s how you move forward that matters. I have little time for people who hammer on about the good old days and hate on the new ways. The good old days are of little relevance to kids who are coming up now. They have to work with the tools at their disposal and just get on with it. They don’t understand going to a record shop, or making a bunch of cassettes, sticking them in envelopes and hoping they’ll get a response. They’re new media savvy and go direct to the end user via social media.

      Music isn’t dead – it’s just created and delivered differently now, be you a singer, musician, DJ, or producer.

  8. Lol the value of music or things of a similar creative nature must not ever depend upon materialistic gains. They ask in the video, “where is the musician benefiting from this activity?” They are benefiting by living a life that brings them self-satisfaction through self-accomplishment which in return brings them the feeling of happiness which most people, these “media-stricken” days, are willing to spend thousands, even MILLIONS, on in hopes of “living a happy life”…I choose to live a “satisfied life”. #isthiswherehashtagsgo?

  9. Lol the value of music or things of a similar creative nature must not ever depend upon materialistic gains. They ask in the video, “where is the musician benefiting from this activity?” They are benefiting by living a life that brings them self-satisfaction through self-accomplishment which in return brings them the feeling of happiness which most people, these “media-stricken” days, are willing to spend thousands, even MILLIONS, on in hopes of “living a happy life”…I choose to live a “satisfied life”. #isthiswherehashtagsgo?

  14. You know…I almost got trapped by this video. I would like to list a few key problems here…

    I am a DJ. I work ungodly hours, tireless nights, in not so fun conditions from time to time. It is a “glorious” looking job from the outside in, but as we all know, it is NOT always fun and games. But this is not a complaint…I am generously paid, ESPECIALLY in contrast to most other DJs at my level. But there are things that we generally are not paid for. Hours of setup time. Purchasing music, subscription services, gear, travel time, I could go on and on.

    My point is as we have all mentioned. We are in a digital age. Figure out how to benefit from it and keep it moving. I do have empathy for the musician. But it’s the record labels and execs who are generally speaking the vultures and the biggest threat to musicians and the industry. They are always the ones unaffected and the last ones to budge, but the first ones to call foul!

    Has anyone tried to purchase a Prince song lately? I have, it cost me something like .68c if I remember correctly. On his website, too lazy to look it up right now, but that is insane. Now I’m not saying record execs and labels should not collect any form of income, that would be silly. But the record industry is vicious and unforgiving. If your musician’s sales start to suffer because of piracy, when they are doing all the creating, why would you stop paying the musician but continue to pay yourself? Why is there not a cut across the board???

    Also, this is my biggest and will always be my biggest issue with the music industry. The artist creates the music, but the rights and IP go to the record label because the artist is signed to them. So they can go and do w/e they feel like doing until that artist can finally afford to have their own record label and re-negotiate their contract. The RIAA and every other association is not in this for the artist, they are in it to line their own pockets. The ones in the middle of the firing squad are the creators, but in the large scheme of things, while piracy is to blame, large greedy capitalists and execs are not far behind in the reason for this failing system and unpaid artists.

    Diplo is a high grossing DJ. He may have to tour to make money and continue to do things hey may find ridiculous. Work ungodly long hours (which may catch up with us all in the end eventually). But he has found a way to survive, take that money and invest in something, do something with it to find a retirement plan, spend less. At the end of the day, he is not a janitor who has to scrub poop off walls to make a living. I am a mid-class DJ, I am making a living from my work, but I am not high grossing enough as yet to even think about retirement, and even if my creations would start to take off right now, I would have to make my creations for free. But I would consider it my investment into my future.

    Sorry for the epilogue, it’s a very sensitive subject for me this record industry since I have been very closely involved with it for years.

  15. As far as DJ and digital DJing is concerned. The Jamaican artist Mr. Vegas said it best. (I’m giving you the translated version here). But a lot of these DJs COULD NOT be DJs if it was not for digital music.

  16. I was 14 when cds came out, from then on spent all of my spare money on them. During the mid 90’s the record industry perfected the art of pushing one great song on an otherwise shitty album (see: The Eels, Primitive Radio Gods, Bush and on and on). I was so angry at spending $15 (1995-99 dollars) on shitty cds with no clue what to expect that when Napster came out, I ordered high-speed internet and never looked back. I’m old now and the kids who came after me just expect free music but the real blame is squarely on the music industry with their $100 Led Zeppelin box sets and “remastered” bullshit. Too bad for the artists. It seems that the way to make money now is probably to stay independent, blow up on YouTube, then tour. It’s a young person’s game.

  18. I think the message could be clearer in this video as the problem is not digital music at all. It’s the illegally downloaded music. More than 90% of the people I know get their music from file sharing websites and clients, and from Youtube MP3 converters. Only a hand full people buy their music on a local store or online at iTunes, Amazon, etc.
    The same problem is with movies and TV shows. Again I don’t even know 10 people that still buy BD’s, DVD’s, or go to movie theaters. All download or stream from illegal sources.

    And THIS is the real problem. Not the media being digital in general.

    1. im actually glad that ppl buy less music, too much garbage is being made with the digital tools..most musicians dont desreve to get a penny from me..only the original ones who made quailty music and a few others who still make quality but most ppl make shitty music nowadays so they desereve to be broke

  19. The problem as I see it is this.

    Of course people download for free. everyone likes free stuff. However the media companies refused to move with the times. They did not come up with a business plan to live in the digital age. Many still have not. Other businesses have done that and thrived, but by ripping off musicians. Musicians have become commodities. How many popular artists have a career longer than 2 years these days?

    Are the record company execs suffering in poverty? no, did they ever no. It is harder for them yes as sales have plummeted.

    At the end of the day the Music business is a business. It is not just about the music as a lot of musicians would love it to be. These days you have to be business savvy and a musician if you want to make it.

  20. I’ve been through vinyl, CD’s, MP3s, now DVS and MIDI. While all fantastic improvements upon the previous generation medium it’s not so much the medium that is used it’s the attitude of the people growing up and heading directly into the digital era. Everything is available NOW whehter you want to pay for it or not.

    I lose many gigs from guys with laptops undercutting me and stealing their music. Are they good? Not really, but for $100 some people will take the risk.

    I miss the days of going to the record store and finding gems. I used to mail order my records and they would play them to me over the phone. There is SOOOO much music today that it’s becomming less fun and more of a chore. You can go through 50 songs all of which sound the same and are pretty good to find a few that you may play once or twice that may catch on or may not, then having to do the whole process again the next weekend.

    I used to say that MP3’s will do wonders for my back and lugging around crates of records, well now I wish I could take it back …

    Then there’s the manufacturer side, before you could get a new CD player every 3-4 years now it seems there as many midi controllers coming out as fast as phones come out.

    Oh well NAMM is coming !

  21. I have the answer for existing artists; make sure your tracks are available in Rocksmith. I be spending money like a motherf&^%ker on downloadable tracks for that game via Xbox Live for nearly 2 years now.

  22. Ultimately it comes down to the question: What are you selling me?

    I refuse to spend any money whatsoever on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or any other digital outlet. Why?

    ….because they are giving me FUCK ALL.

    You don’t own your music files on these services, you rent them, and I simply don’t believe in 5-10 years time that these companies will be around. I certainly don’t believe these technologies will be relevant.

    What exactly are you selling me? Temporary rental of a load of 1’s and 0’s!?

    Fuck that. I’m not interested.

    Here’s how it works for me: Music has been devalued to the point where the companies involved give it way for free. Forget illegal downloads, they own TV companies showing wall to wall music videos for FREE. Radio stations playing music all day for FREE. Streaming services playing tracks all day FREE. YouTube vids….FREE.

    I get to hear most things I want for free (can’t remember the last time I bothered to download a track off Limewire! Arf!).

    ….if I listen to your shit repeatedly (i.e. a few times a week over a sustained period of time) then you get my affection.

    And that affection broken down in financial terms means I buy the CD or Vinyl (If I like an album I want to physically possess it. I want something tangible to hold in my hands. I want the artwork. I want the sound quality), I go and see you live, and I likely buy your T Shirt.

    Otherwise why should I bother to pay money to lend a low audio quality song rental?

    1. I think you’re confused about digital outlets. Most of them do not rent files any more. They sell them. There was a big move away from copy protected downloads some years ago. Now, most places do not protect the files you buy.

  23. …. and I’m sick and tired of being tied in one companies ecosystem.

    I have a Google phone that won’t play the few bits and pieces of music I’ve bought from Apple. What guarantee do I have that apple will even exist in 5 years time, I mean the’ve just tried to blow people’s minds with a PLASTIC phone!!!?

  24. I’d like to start by warning any readers that this comment will most definitely have a lot of cursing in it. I do not mean to offend anyone, but it’s quite hard to hold back when it comes to such a passionate topic.

    Now that that’s out of the way… I’d like to scream FUCK into my digital pillow.

    Now that that’s out of the way, here’s my take on all this.

    Does anyone else remember when they first fell in love with music? I do and I certainly know it was all catalyzed by one thing. THE PASSION. When did music become an industry instead of people’s passion? My issue is that everyone thinks they deserve more for what they’re doing (And that applies to all aspects of life). The truth is that what you create is only worth what people are willing to pay for it.

    It’s a damn shame that there are those people out there who are only willing to take and not give back. But unlike them, there are many others who do support those who give us the music we love. I for one will always support those who create the content I love. But who the fucking hell is the creator or the music industry to tell me what exactly that service is worth?

    As for the saying that what you create doesn’t belong to you anymore. That’s total bullshit. Just because it’s available to someone else or because you haven’t had some sort of monetary gain from it doesnt revoke the fact that it was all born from an idea in your head. No-one can ever. Ever. FUCKING EVER EVER EVER EVER take that from you.

    The fact of the matter is that if someone isn’t willing to continue to provide a service for the “price” the public is willing to pay, then they simply will not last. There are a million others out there (myself included) who are willing to take their spot and ask for nothing in return. And that’s what fucking passion it all about! Not this shit that starts out as something you love and turns into your only means of survival.

    For those musicians that love what they do, and will continue without EXPECTING monetary support, a prosperous future awaits.

    1. I completely agree with you. Why is it a bad thing that not every musician can live off his music? If everyone would just do what they want most we would have a lot more ballerinas and firemen.

      And its not like its ruining creativity. I mean theres so much stuff just on beatport I cannot for the life of me keep up with it.

  25. In Romania,the average salary is @ 200 euros per person.How can a young dj affort to download minumum 10 records from beatport per week when most of them are 2 euros each !?.How can he pay @80 euros/month for new music when he is probably unemployed or working for 25-50 euros/weekend in local pubs,clubs,discos ?
    The tumors in the music industries are the big labels,the music managment.They are the ones reponsible for the overpricing of records,and that why most of the people choose to get stuff for free,they are way to overpiced 😉

    1. One other factor nobody mentioned yet, that purchasing music online wasn’t the option in the last 10 years for many many countries, outside the USA and western Europe. There were no iTunes Music Store in my country until last year… So people simply accustomed to download music for free, because they had no other option!

  26. How long has music been in existence? Since a caveman first beat on a simple drum made out of animal skin.

    How long has recorded music been in existence? Maybe 100years tops. In that time vast sums of money have changed hands usually to the benefit of large organisations and not the creative source of the music.

    Bill Drummond was right, recorded music is in it’s final (and painful) last throes.

  29. As a DJ there is a double edge sword at hand. One, we love free music and digital music is where we thrive to bring to the masses. But once we cross that producer line that is where our creativity must be acknowledge by monetary gain and protected. Would love to hear what Diplo has to say, since he is the head of Mad Decent.

  30. Wow, this trailer made me write a blog post as a response.
    https://blog.nankov.com/2013/10/04/response-to-unsound-documentary/

    I thinkg that artists/labels have to adjujst to the expectations of the consumers and I do not believe that consumers want to have everything for free. They just want to buy music in a way that is convenient to them. There is currently a disconnect between the people that make music and the people that listen and buy it. Music services like Beatport, Juno, iTunes are a start.

    What I do not buy about this documentary is that the presenters think that they can force people into buying their stuff without coming up with new ways of marketing and distributing their products.

  31. We are merely in the death throws of an old business model and (still, unbelievably) in the birth phase of another. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again.

    Unfortunately I don’t think the new one is going to work-out too well for young, fledgling artists. Bands used to make a living from selling music and playing live – the future will belong to those canny individuals who can get their music used in a TV ad, or on a movie/game soundtrack.

    But that’s the positive-thinking me talking… The pessimist just wants to shout; “IS IT ANY FUCKING WONDER THAT MUSIC’S BEEN DEVALUED WHEN WHAT’S PASSED-OFF AS MUSIC THESE DAYS IS JUST A NEVER-ENDING STREAM OF DELUDED KARAOKE REJECTS WHO ARE PARADED LIKE A VICTORIAN FREAK SHOW ON TELEVISION FOR THE SOLE FINANCIAL GAIN OF THE SHOW’S PRODUCERS?!?!”

    …but I’ve taken my Ritalin now, so I should be calming down any minute…

  32. The part about paying for music becoming voluntary really struck true for me. I only pay for music that I feel deserves it, which is why I have no qualms if I download Skrillex or Dmitri Vegas & Like Mike but I feel bad if I pirate Bop or Dub Phizix. It’s sad but it’s true.

  33. What I find scary is that a lot of the younger generation not only download their music for free but they feel it’s their god given right to do so. I was talking with a younger fellow and I tried to explain to him in a nutshell why purchasing music is important and he viewed paying for music as being a “rip-off” and he had a “why should I give them my money?” mentality… no sense of guilt / full sense of entitlement. At least feel a little guilty, geez!

    1. I read this and it points out exactly what I was hinting at. There is no care or concern for “consumers” as being consumers. They want money, and are not convinced you will be providing it, so therefore they will not be providing you with produce.

  34. Back when, I used Napster.
    And it was thought of as sharing. I had no idea I was stealing since, I mean just years before I would burn a copy of a friends CD, and years before that record to tape and from the radio, none of this seemed bad.
    I have since changed my view and can afford to buy what I like. But still almost never a full album.
    But I would never buy all the amounts I could download for free(years ago). In fact most of what I bought years ago was discarded and lost in piles of CDRs and old hard drives.
    Most of what I downloaded on Napster was just the results of searching, which gave me knowledge of music and artists which I still follow and buy.
    The DJ should be an exception when using (using) free music (my opinion) when playing live or streaming. Just read YouTube comments or go to any club. People want to know the name of the track. Without that many artists will never be known.
    So yes I now pay for all my music. In my opinion I would not have the knowledge that shaped my likes and dislikes if free music had never been available.

  35. I was trying to remember the 70’s Steve Winwood lyric about the times when things are the worst, being the times when you can see your options most clearly.

    Things are a challenge now, but I believe there are as many new doors opening, as there are old doors closing. Just have to rethink — maybe even throw some ideas out that you consider non-negotiable, sacrosanct.

    rs

  36. There is more than enough good free music in the world. Nothing will happen if the recording industry goes away. Make music because you love it / love making people enjoy themself, not because of a monetary gain.

    Recording industry was needed in the old days (ie. technological challenges of recording and distributing music, needed a lot of money, resources and technical know-how), not anymore. It was just a dotcom bubble. Get over it. History of music is filled with stories of godlike musicians who died broke. Not like there’s anything new there.

    Having said that, I do condone illegal music usage. If you like someone’s music, and it’s a “commercial” release, do the right thing and buy the songs that you enjoy. If someone is stubborn enough to insist money for their music, you should honour that. It’s called intellectual property (so no trespassing if the landlord says so)

    Software piracy (including content files) has always been a way of promoting. Without it, personal computers might have never became widely accepted (remember C64? We bought it for playing games, but nobody bought the games -we copied the casettes/floppies). But piracy has done it’s job, it’s no longer a necessity. We have the internets for promoting just about anything. Stop being a freetard and embrace all the “legit” free bits and bytes we have at our disposal if you can’t be arsed to pay for your content.

    A long and a bit convoluted rant I guess? Anyway, hope I’m getting my point across. TLDR could be “free culture is the future, but it can’t be force-rushed”. And if you make a living by making music, don’t take it personally, this is just an opinion. Just about everybody has one.

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