# Where do you see the music industry in 20 years?



## SamGarnerStudios (Mar 28, 2015)

Specifically related to film composing, video game soundtracks, library music, etc.... more of the commercial side of it. I'm about to graduate with my masters and would love people's differing opinion on the matter.


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## gsilbers (Mar 28, 2015)

technology is making a dent on how society does things. 

milenials are not going to movie theaters which is a big source of income for distributors.

poeple are doing the cable cord cutting which those licenses cost a lot! 

licenses for netflix and other svod, avod, est and other forms of Home Entertianment and mobil entetianment seems to be getting higher and higher so imo, this is where its going. 

the issue with those HE platforms is that the new "distributors" are getting a big chunk of the "pie". so for example, royalties for the creative folks is no where near that from broadcasters yet, licenses can be. so studios would license a movie for pay tv cable for about $50,000 to 100,000 and the composers. acotrs etc get a good royalty when it gets broadcasted. based on neilsen rating and other voodoo ascap and bmi use. 
on the other hand netflix and other HE/Mobil pay almost the same for the same movie in license fee, yet we all know how much those pay in royatlies
The amount of poeple watching is almost 100% acurate to measure and the amount of subscribers paying monthly is very acurate, and no way to get better royalties from those?! 
their overhead is small and profits enough to give them money for their own productions. 
yet, composers and asrtist dont get a chunk of that!?! 
obsiously this will change but not if we keep not knowing this is happening. and govt' and companies and artist sucking up to the big tech companies. 

right now, the big studios have hundred of content. i mean... thousands of old content which they are now extremely happy to license for those HE/mobile platforms. whic is giving them a big boost but on the other hand, low turn out rate for theatre and less cable subscribers will make content providers, imo start making cuts on big productions. 
right now is happening. sony has less new releases a year. fox as well, but rely on smaller production co and acquisitions , so is universal doing less expensive horror movies and keeping just a few franchises like the furious crap. 

the good news is that the playing field might get into the middle ground but on the other hand bidgets will continue to lower. and as so many poeple are looking for this type of work, it might continue as its continuiong today. 

with that said, also we need to remember that globalization has made emerging markets now be full blown developed economies. so maybe there will be more opportunities in other countries where local movies might compete with lower budget hollywood productions.


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## RiffWraith (Mar 28, 2015)

SamGarnerStudios @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Specifically related to film composing, video game soundtracks, library music, etc.... more of the commercial side of it. I'm about to graduate with my masters and would love people's differing opinion on the matter.



In 20 years, we will have seen more and more directors going with library music as opposed to hiring a composer. Not the Spielbergs and Scotts of the world, but new, young directors who want that kind of control. Young directors who do not know how to do a spotting session, nor properly interface with a composer, but people who want to choose music in advance, and say "this part here, this part there" to an editor. Composing for film is a dying art form; it will never die out completely, but the pool of composers who will be working on actual films will drop significantly in the coming decades.

This will create a music library niche; as a very small amount of current lib music - if any - is suitable for film, there will be composers who write "film score music" for music production libraries. The music will have real thematic elements that are "film worthy", and the requirement will be that the composer submit several tracks with those theme(s) so that they can be placed here and there throughout the film. This way, the identical piece of music is not used in the beginning, as when the hero finds the villain. This music will sit in a bin (as it does now), waiting to get licensed for feature films. The up-front money per track from libs will completely die out, and the composer will have to be hopeful that his work gets chosen. When it does, the royalties will remain in tact, but there will be a very small sync fee; a composer will earn thousands of dollars per film as opposed to hundreds of thousands, thus causing most composers - the bad AND the good - to find something else to do to put food on the table. This will cause the talent pool to dwindle, and the overall quality of the music to suffer greatly. It will take several decades, and film studios will turn around and say, "you know what - things were better before we went to lib music" - and composers scoring films with proper spotting sessions and temp music will again become a reality. But that will take at least half a century, and young composers at that point won't be listening to film score music written by JW, HZ, JH, JNH, etc. - they will be looking to library music for influence - because that's what there is in film. And their talent will never be fully developed because of this, nor will they learn how to score to picture; the quality of film score music will never be the same.

Cheers.


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## Tanuj Tiku (Mar 28, 2015)

SamGarnerStudios @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Specifically related to film composing, video game soundtracks, library music, etc.... more of the commercial side of it. I'm about to graduate with my masters and would love people's differing opinion on the matter.




John Williams once said in an interview that film scoring was a new trick and he has been around for a long time. That is saying a lot! I would not give up on it just yet. 

There is absolutely no way to predict what will happen in 20 years. Music will still be around. 

May be some of us will need to adapt to newer formats or new ways of thinking. But at the end of the day, that is exciting I think. 

Unless you are living in a country where there is not much work at all for scoring films or whatever it's fine. 

Just write great music. That is all we can ever really do. May be make the best of the opportunities that come around and be thankful. 

One of my lecturers once told me that because I had no training that I would never really have a career in film music or be able to write orchestral music because there were people out there who could write music better than me 5 years younger at the time. It's kind of true, lots and lots of people out there who write better than I do. But, it did not really stop me. USC Thornton school replied to me saying that my music sounded OK but because of lack of formal music education, I cannot attend the course. 

I did not have the opportunities to learn music theory when I was growing up in India. By the time, I wanted to do this it was too late to enter any music school. So, I applied to a music technology course and went on to do a masters in film music. 

It has worked out all right for me in the last 8 years and I have done music for over 35 films as an additional composer. Writing got a little better and Mock-ups got better too over time. Still not good enough. Still learning...a long way to go. 

But, again I just focus on writing good music which I think is appropriate. How I really got all the work is mostly a mystery to me. 

At the end of the day, people still listen and say - wow, that sounds great...we should get that guy. 

If you focus only on the lower end of the industry and keep thinking of the horror stories, its not of any good use. 

I do stay up very late and work on my chops because I know I have to do better just like everyone else. 

As far as I can tell, writing for films and media is a huge and thriving business in many parts of the world. 

I just did a commercial for a company in Portugal because the head of the music division heard my music on soundcloud forwarded by someone who knows me. I live in Mumbai and I have never met any of these guys.

I got to write music for a US TV show exactly the same way. They heard my music on soundcloud and told me they wanted something similar. 

When I started I would never have thought of any of this. There is just no way to predict anything. Just write great music!

Good luck!


Tanuj.


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## Allegro (Mar 28, 2015)

^ Well put Tanuj!


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## Arbee (Mar 28, 2015)

As libraries grow, like the Internet itself, the effort required to find quality material among the dross also grows. As I get older it's fascinating to watch how trends emerge and then ultimately balance out to a new version of the old. 

What I see is:

The continued rationalisation to a few well established quality libraries (and isn't this really how record companies and publishers came about when you think about it).

Continued growth of sophisticated sonic tools (like some of the developers here are doing) which allow those in film production to "make their own music" for many things.

Every generation continuing to produce a handful of composers who resonate with the times, innovative, and became very successful.

So, as Tanuj put it above, just keep doing it!

.


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## Daryl (Mar 28, 2015)

This is a very complex question. I think that shrinking budgets and limited income will certainly have an effect on the number of full time composers, so that the current, possibly abnormal situation where we have a surplus of composers who intend to earn their living by composing will shrink to a more realistic number. This also means that there will be certain jobs that are always scored either by amateurs, or cheap music libraries.

The profession will fracture into two. The professionals at the top, who get paid reasonably well for what they do, and have budgets to support them, and the rest, which probably have full time day jobs, use sample libraries on their home computers in their bedrooms and use whatever income there is as pocket money. There will be no room for the middle class jobbing composer any more.

Of course the other thing that could happen would be that composer Royalties disappear and we become pretty much the same as other industries. The person who pays owns the IP. In that case the scenario I paint above will still happen, except we will go back to the times where a composer was employed on a wage, and treated it like a proper job. Royalties, such as they are, would all go to the production company and composer would have to pay into a pension fund, just like any other PAYE worker.

D


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## AlexandreSafi (Mar 28, 2015)

Tanuj Tiku @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Just write great music. That is all we can ever really do. May be make the best of the opportunities that come around and be thankful.
> There is just no way to predict anything. *Just write great music!*
> Good luck!
> Tanuj.



One truly epic post Tanuj! "You sound like one of the chosen ones!" Ultimately I also believe this is the core underrated idea an artist should keep reminding himself! Raise your standard of (self-)giving, negate, sit down & lay each brick as best as you can each day, and see where that takes you!

In Laura Dern's words _"Keep your eyes on your own paper..."_
Do what you must, come what may...
Best,
-A.s.-


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## jeffc (Mar 28, 2015)

I have to respectfully disagree with the concept of films using library music instead of score. There is always someone who will do the job regardless of the budget. I've done over 30 films and never once was library in the discussion as opposed to an original score. This again relates to film only. Some tv I can totally see going that way. 

A big sea change that I have witnessed is really what is the definition of a composer. A lot of us on here have this traditional view of a composer as someone who writes orchestral music in a traditional way. But there are all kinds of different scores going on. A bigger thing that I think we need to open our eyes to is that directors, producers, and music supervisors are many times more attracted to band guys and artists than traditional composers. That is a reality that wasn't as prevalent 10 years ago and surely is now. I'd be much more threatened by that than library music in regards to film. I think in a lot of ways your chances are much better being in a cool band to get a hip film, regardless of your orchestral chops. At least in Hollywood, many times its a popularity contest and so many factors are way more important than musical ability. At least to me, this is the biggest change and threat to us. So worrying about your perception by decision makers is sadly as important as how good you can wrote epic midi mockups. People just don't care. 

So to me the biggest prediction of where things will be in 20 years is they will be different than now. We all have to reinvent and change with the times or will all go the way of CDs and the dinosaurs. 

Just my opinion of course.


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## Tanuj Tiku (Mar 28, 2015)

Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> This is a very complex question. I think that shrinking budgets and limited income will certainly have an effect on the number of full time composers, so that the current, possibly abnormal situation where we have a surplus of composers who intend to earn their living by composing will shrink to a more realistic number. This also means that there will be certain jobs that are always scored either by amateurs, or cheap music libraries.
> 
> The profession will fracture into two. The professionals at the top, who get paid reasonably well for what they do, and have budgets to support them, and the rest, which probably have full time day jobs, use sample libraries on their home computers in their bedrooms and use whatever income there is as pocket money. There will be no room for the middle class jobbing composer any more.
> 
> ...




That is very interesting Daryl. Basically, this is what is happening in India since the beginning. We never get royalties. The producers own everything and its just a work-for-hire situation. Even companies like Disney who have better standards abroad basically want to do it for very cheap and keep the royalties even though I understand they follow different practices abroad. 

Still, it works out very well for most people as up-front fees is decent for most. It has also meant that a lot of people are at the lower end. But it remains to be seen how this will pan out because there aren't any part-time jobs to be had as we have a huge and extremely cheap workforce in that area. There has been a serious and massive boom in music over here which means as you have rightly predicted more and more composers but very little pay in the lower end and a quickly depleting middle section. 

There has been an amendment in the copyright bill which says that composers cannot give away their royalties. This has not stopped producers and music companies still getting composers to sign old contracts. They simply do not work with composers who do not sign. Only the very few on the top get royalties. I know of a composer who has had an illustrious career for the last 20 years and he basically has no work in the movies since almost two years because he refused to sign these contracts. He lost three films in a matter of 6 months which would have got him at least 300,000 pounds.

It has become even more complicated because IPRS - the organisation responsible to pay royalties is extremely corrupt and does not pay out royalties. They have been paying it to the producers. With the new law, they cannot do that but the whole thing is in a grid-lock. IPRS collects over 32 million pounds in royalties every year but I think only a handful get paid. 

Everything goes to the music companies and enough people are not fighting against the system for fear of loosing work. 

So, without royalties even if I worked on the biggest film as a composer it still won't pay me a lot. I have to stick with the up-front fees. No royalties to be had. I have worked on quite a few blockbuster films in India as an additional composer but I know the composers just get that up-front money. No matter how much money the film makes, you do not get anything. You have to do a lot of films every year to keep going. 

If people loose the royalty system for example in Europe or the US then it will not be a good situation 


As a result, we have more quantity than quality. There are exceptions but it forces people to take more jobs and finish them quickly. 


Tanuj.


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## KEnK (Mar 28, 2015)

In 20 years composition for media will be a "tag based" system.
No skill or experience will be required.
A director or editor will simply type a few words into a program
and voila, job finished.

We're already very much on that path with
presets, loops, sample libraries, mastering suites and such.

Count on it.

k


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## Daryl (Mar 29, 2015)

Lot's of useful points above. I think that the crux of the matter is that society puts a value on things. Composers can seek tho change their place in the pecking order, but that is very difficult to do. Once society has decided that it doesn't want to pay for music, and doesn't care, or can't tell that most of what is being produced is shit, the argument has been lost. At that point the only composers who will survive are the ones who work for people who do care, can tell, and are able to attract a big enough budget, or come under the heading of culture, which will be supported, even if there is no demand.

D


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## Kralc (Mar 29, 2015)

RiffWraith @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Cheers.



I love how you ended what is probably the most depressing post with a quaint "cheers". Perfect.

I'll be in the corner reading up on robot maintenance. ~o)


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## KEnK (Mar 29, 2015)

Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> ...Once society has decided that it doesn't want to pay for music, and doesn't care, or can't tell that most of what is being produced is shit, the argument has been lost...


Aren't we at that point now?


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## SamGarnerStudios (Mar 29, 2015)

Thanks for all the points guys. 

Basically find another profession!


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## patrick76 (Mar 29, 2015)

Unfortunately many other professions are caught up in a "race to the bottom" mentality as well. In 20 years we will have the privilege of paying our corporate benefactors for the opportunity to work for them.... Oh wait, seems like I've already heard about this happening somewhere..


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Mar 29, 2015)

When everyone is zigging, you should zag.


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## tokatila (Mar 29, 2015)

I would be happy to just make my living with music. 8) 

Even that is a stretch for a 36-old non-trained starting composer. :D


(In secret, I dream of beating John Powell and claiming the Dragon King throne, but I'm too embarassed to admit that since it's ludicrously unrealistic. This dream usually comes about after a couple of large pints though.)


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## RiffWraith (Mar 29, 2015)

Kralc @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> RiffWraith @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> 
> 
> > Cheers.
> ...



:lol:

I love how when one person speaks of doom and gloom and another person speaks positively, most people run in the direction of the person who speaks positively. Shows what people are really made of.


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## Stephen Rees (Mar 29, 2015)

RiffWraith @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> I love how when one person speaks of doom and gloom and another person speaks positively, most people run in the direction of the person who speaks positively. Shows what people are really made of.



Yes. Those people prefer optimism over cynicism.


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## RiffWraith (Mar 29, 2015)

Stephen Rees @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> RiffWraith @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> 
> 
> > I love how when one person speaks of doom and gloom and another person speaks positively, most people run in the direction of the person who speaks positively. Shows what people are really made of.
> ...



Oh, my post was definitely filled with cynicism.



> cyn·i·cism /ˈsinəˌsizəm/
> 
> noun: cynicism; noun: Cynicism
> 
> 1. an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; skepticism.



And besides, I prefer being realistic over optimism. But that's just me.


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## Daryl (Mar 29, 2015)

SamGarnerStudios @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Thanks for all the points guys.
> 
> Basically find another profession!


That's one interpretation. The other is to make sure that you're in the top percentage of composers who can make a living.

D


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## Daryl (Mar 29, 2015)

KEnK @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> 
> 
> > ...Once society has decided that it doesn't want to pay for music, and doesn't care, or can't tell that most of what is being produced is [email protected]#t, the argument has been lost...
> ...


At some levels, yes, at others, no.

D


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## Daryl (Mar 29, 2015)

tokatila @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> I would be happy to just make my living with music. 8)
> 
> Even that is a stretch for a 36-old non-trained starting composer. :D


Just because you don't have a formal education doesn't mean that you have to be non-trained.

D


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## John Walker (Mar 29, 2015)

Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> KEnK @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> 
> 
> > Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> ...



Its always been like that for ever though hasn't it. Theres always been those that just dont get it and cannot tell or make judgements about any type of art.


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## Daryl (Mar 29, 2015)

John Walker @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Daryl @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> 
> 
> > KEnK @ Sun Mar 29 said:
> ...


That's true, it's just that I think that more than ever before, those sort of people are in positions of creative power, rather than just financial.

D


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## dinerdog (Mar 29, 2015)

The best read you may see on the subject. It's much deeper than most imagine.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1209 ... estruction


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## SamGarnerStudios (Mar 30, 2015)

Thanks guys, useful insight!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 30, 2015)

"John Williams once said in an interview that film scoring was a new trick and he has been around for a long time."

Great quote.

Junkie XL wrote a very effective score for the...okay...movie we saw a screening of last night - Run All Night.

The guy has obvious skills, he's a good musician, and the following comment isn't at all intended to dis him - on the contrary.

But I kept thinking that there's nowhere left to go in that direction. The lows are as low, louds as loud, etc. etc. as it can get with all that electronica.

20 years, who knows, but I have a feeling that we really have reached the point of impact saturation, that the only place left to go is smaller and more subtle. That applies to film music and everything else.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I'm burned out on CGI events with a film as an afterthought (not that this movie was in that category).


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 30, 2015)

Nothing against Junkie either but I go see these Liam Neeson flicks bc they are unintentional comedy. 

Soft and subtle is already the order of the day for most non-blockbusters and tv.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 30, 2015)

I guess that's true, gmer.

We did see Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earlier in the day, and Thomas Newman was subtle. (Not as good as the first BEMH, but they tried.)

So maybe I'm still zombified from sensory overload in the second movie.

(I hate seeing two films in a day, especially when one is during daylight, but my wife threatened to beat me if I didn't go to both of them.)


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## Living Fossil (Mar 30, 2015)

> Where do you see the music industry in 20 years?
> ... Specifically related to film composing, video game soundtracks, library music, etc....



I would say: we will see; the future is somehow in our hands...at least to a certain degree.

Music for films went a cycle:

First, it was mostly compilations of clichee-textures, played by pianists and organists from books (for that purpose).

Then, a generation of superb composers, mostly active in the field of concert music and music for operas had to leave Europe for known reasons. In the exile they brought highly developped art forms to the movies; people like Korngold, Rózsa, Steiner etc.
People like Bernard Herrmann, etc. continued this art form, as did [and do] eventually persons like John Williams and J Goldsmith.

The upcoming of MIDI and later the sampling technology gave the possibility of using orchestral sounds to a much broader group of musicians, who often had their roots in popular music.
On the plus side this resulted in fresh ideas and approaches, the minus side was/is the fact that a lot of know how that came from traditional composers went lost: thematic work and the the development of material, the (more or less) conscious use of tonal regions to build larger forms, harmonic and melodic approaches of 20th century music etc etc. lost influence.

To young people without a musical education pop music that appears in the camouflage of "classical music" [aka: Epic music] is usually more interesting than more complex approaches. And so, filmmusic is on its way back from composed music to scores that are rather compilations: tracks that have a function in the moment when they sound in underlining what is shown in the present image. 

I don't think one has to be pessimistic, but it is a great mistake to think that things get better over time per se. Progress does not go upwards automatically, very often periods of cultural highs are followed by deterioration.
I think music is on the latter way.
But as written initially: the future is in the hand of those who are in charge of the present, and on a very small scale everyone can participate in that.
Teachers can help their pupils to develop their taste, musicians can focus on substantial music, directors can try to work with composers instead of clichee-compilers. While usually the big part of the audience will prefere the cheap over the complex, there can be exceptions.


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## supercomposer123 (Mar 30, 2015)

I'll reiterate this to my buddy Mr Gates during our meeting this weekend so that he puts measures into place to prevent this from happening. I know there are some in the club who want to automise EVERYTHING within the next 5 decades, but they're just lazy pieces of s**t with too much money in their hands and their brain cells are incapable of any logical discussion.

But seriously, complete automation will never happen despite advances in AI. But as the Law of the Pyramid dictates, there will always be those who'll be earning fat stacks $$$$, those who are just able to earn a decent living and those who'll forever be struggling by or doing music as a hobby.


-dark1ord


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## Daryl (Mar 30, 2015)

supercomposer123 @ Mon Mar 30 said:


> I'll reiterate this to my buddy Mr Gates during our meeting this weekend....


That would be Gareth Gates, I assume?

D


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## Hannes_F (Mar 30, 2015)

Good post imo, Living Fossil.


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## Greg (Mar 30, 2015)

Some of you guys are frighteningly cynical and negative about this industry. I don't even know where that's coming from because I just don't see it. There were PLENTY of brilliant scores this year from new and old composers.

I completely disagree with Riff & KenK. Directors aren't stupid, they understand the medium and know that score can bring their pictures to make profound connections with their audience.


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## Greg (Mar 30, 2015)

SamGarnerStudios @ Sun Mar 29 said:


> Thanks for all the points guys.
> 
> Basically find another profession!



Find your passion, make it a profession. Don't listen to anyone that stands in your way, they're bitter assholes 99% of the time.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Mar 30, 2015)

Thanks for that excellent post, Living Fossil.


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## TheUnfinished (Mar 31, 2015)

That's one of the best things about predicting the future. You still have a chance to influence it.

Whatever may happen, the cynical and the fearful are the least likely to benefit from it.


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## Daryl (Mar 31, 2015)

TheUnfinished @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> That's one of the best things about predicting the future. You still have a chance to influence it.
> 
> Whatever may happen, the cynical and the fearful are the least likely to benefit from it.


Agreed, but the problem is that many people can't tell the difference between cynical and realistic. There are things which can be changed and improved, there are times where it is theoretically possible to change things for the better, and there are things that just won't happen. The difficulty is to sort out which category everything lies in and then to act accordingly.

D


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## RiffWraith (Mar 31, 2015)

TheUnfinished @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> Whatever may happen, the cynical and the fearful are the least likely to benefit from it.



Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Don't be so quick to knock cynicism - it can be a good thing. And a cynic can indeed be successful - if the right energy and motivation is there. It is those who are too overly optimistic - the "everything is good and everything will turn out ok" crowd - THOSE people tend to have a harder time achieving success.... because they are not realistic. IMHO, those who are optimistic about the way things are now are not being realistic; history dictates that things WILL change. It is these people who will have a harder time succeeding. Those who are skeptical of the way things are now - and at the same time are motivated - will be more likely to come out on top, as they are more willing to adapt. Optimists - by their very nature - generally are not willing to adapt.

Cheers.


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## José Herring (Mar 31, 2015)

jeffc @ Sat Mar 28 said:


> I have to respectfully disagree with the concept of films using library music instead of score. There is always someone who will do the job regardless of the budget. I've done over 30 films and never once was library in the discussion as opposed to an original score. This again relates to film only. Some tv I can totally see going that way.
> 
> A big sea change that I have witnessed is really what is the definition of a composer. A lot of us on here have this traditional view of a composer as someone who writes orchestral music in a traditional way. But there are all kinds of different scores going on. A bigger thing that I think we need to open our eyes to is that directors, producers, and music supervisors are many times more attracted to band guys and artists than traditional composers. That is a reality that wasn't as prevalent 10 years ago and surely is now. I'd be much more threatened by that than library music in regards to film. I think in a lot of ways your chances are much better being in a cool band to get a hip film, regardless of your orchestral chops. At least in Hollywood, many times its a popularity contest and so many factors are way more important than musical ability. At least to me, this is the biggest change and threat to us. So worrying about your perception by decision makers is sadly as important as how good you can wrote epic midi mockups. People just don't care.
> 
> ...



I have to agree. Though I did run into a guy that didn't want to spend the $20,000 (peanuts) and instead used library music. His film was terrible. The score sounded terrible. Everything was poor quality. That's what you get when you try to use too much library music.

What will happen though is the idea of custom library music. That is, a composer writing music for a film away from the picture then licensing that music to the film using a music editor to cut the music in. That will happen more and more but imo won't completely replace writing to picture. Maybe some combination of both in the future.

What is happening in film is that directors are getting less and less final creative say unless that director is a huge name already or also the writer producer. So film is happening in committee and that has an impact on the scoring. 

In the future a few things will happen. There will be more multiple composer projects ala RC, but in addition to the solo composer rather than replacing him/her. The project studio will reign supreme as remote recording is become more and more possible. So, you'll have to have a top notch mixing facility. The day is already here where you can record an orchestra overseas and have that record direct into your DAW. The integration between live stuff and studio stuff will become more and more vital. But, it won't replace the traditional composer as I feel there will always be a demand to do a score like Star Wars was done.

The market place will be more global. People are making films everywhere now. China has huge deals, India is starting to expand from Bollywood. And, Hollywood is far more interested in foreign markets. A Tom Cruise film makes 90mil here in the U.S. but overseas he's still making a half a billion. So expect to see not only the movies playing in that market but also cast becoming more multi cultural. There's even talk of some Hollywood studios just making films for foreign markets and bypassing the US market all together. Which might be unfortunate but also makes a lot of sense as the US market is so judgmental or maybe just mental and some slight scandal will kill a film in the US but anybody everywhere else could care or less.

In the end this multicultural market will impact film music and global audiences will force us to look at music in a new light.

And this will start to trickle down into TV as TV starts to eye exporting more shows that are popular internationally and not just in America.

I think it is all exciting. Some people will bemoan the changes. But the world is a big place and everybody deserves a voice and I'd love to be the one to give it a new voice, one that isn't stuck on the traditions of the past but wants to embrace all people and cultures.


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## Stephen Rees (Mar 31, 2015)

If only we could turn back time and have Martin Luther King start his famous speech again…

'I have a dream *long pause* but actually its crazily optimistic so I just won't bother telling you all what it is. Let's get real here. Things are just going to be crappy, we might as well just try and make the best of it…..'.

The world is what we make of it.


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## tokatila (Mar 31, 2015)

You all should just quit. Right now. Seriously.


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## José Herring (Mar 31, 2015)

No pessimist every made anything of any importance.


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## sluggo (Mar 31, 2015)

Um where do you see the music industry by next week?

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permali ... -next-week

this is a tectonic shift and also possibly a really bad april fools joke.


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## doctornine (Mar 31, 2015)

So :

"Everything was poor quality. That's what you get when you try to use too much library music."

I mean really ???? Nobody else find that offensive. No ?

Ahh, I guess you all must be "proper" composers.


~o)


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## José Herring (Mar 31, 2015)

doctornine @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> So :
> 
> "Everything was poor quality. That's what you get when you try to use too much library music."
> 
> ...



Of for fuck sake. :roll: 

Yes scoring a feature film using just library music leads to poor results. Not because the library music was poor. It was very fine. It just didn't work with picture well being culled from literally 100 sources.

Get over yourself.


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 31, 2015)

doctornine @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> So :
> 
> "Everything was poor quality. That's what you get when you try to use too much library music."
> 
> ...



I can't speak for Jose (love the Embertone clarient btw Jose, exceptional), but quality is a dangerous catch all term for me. The technical and indeed musical quality of the best library music is second to none. Of course not all are that good, but certainly there's nothing inherently wrong with library per se.

The issue is really in the music selection and editing. Depending on the style of the production and the skill of the music editor, the result may either be excellent or abysmal. It can be extremely hard to make library sound good and consistent in a movie, and that can be nothing to do with the quality of the original music.


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## RiffWraith (Mar 31, 2015)

josejherring @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> Yes scoring a feature film using just library music leads to poor results. Not because the library music was poor. It was very fine. It just didn't work with picture well being culled from literally 100 sources.



Absolutely agree. Lib music is NOT the way to go as far as film is concerned. Or at least, it* shouldn't* be. I just feel that it is.


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## Daryl (Mar 31, 2015)

RiffWraith @ Tue Mar 31 said:


> josejherring @ Tue Mar 31 said:
> 
> 
> > Yes scoring a feature film using just library music leads to poor results. Not because the library music was poor. It was very fine. It just didn't work with picture well being culled from literally 100 sources.
> ...


The point is that the best library music will probably be better written and better recorded than any sample based score. So the most important thing for a score composer to do is make sure that what they write couldn't be achieved using library music. If they can't do that, it was never necessary to hire a score composer for the the gig in the first place. If they can do that, the resulting score should be seamless in a way that library music from multiple sources couldn't be. The only exception would be when a director uses pre-exisitng music on purpose, like Mr Tarantino.

D


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## passenger57 (Mar 31, 2015)

In 20 years we will see the rise of AI. It will be awesome for a while. Eventually they will take over. Best case scenario we will be their beloved pets, but that's just wishful thinking. 

Oh, and hopefully Apple, before it becomes SKYNET, will fix the SINGLE CORE OVERLOAD PROBLEM in Logic X by then!!!

Have a nice day :D


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