Originally Posted By: rockstar_not
Every person on this thread has put some folks out of work by using home recording software. If you bought your own mic, pre-amp, sound card, midi input device, etc. and are making demos, you put some recording engineers out of work, just like we put photographers out of work and graphic designers out of work, etc. etc.

We created other demand for other types of jobs to provide that gear, but the reality is that technology changes culture.

Those people filling the open mics, a good portion of them now do home recording - probably well enough to sound decent to themselves, and 15 years ago, the same type of person would have never considered an open mic.

The consumer culture expects music for free now.

I'm not saying any of this is right, but this is probably a situation which applies to everyone here - pointing the first finger points 3 right back at you.

To all of you using your own PA in your live gigs, you put a local FOH engineer out of work for that time.

Anything where we automate something on our own, do our own oil changes, do any kind of work that was a paid position for someone else, we put those folks out of work to some extent. I recharge my A/C systems on my vehicles - something that almost always used to require a mechanic with the fancy gauge set. For $35 you can get a reusable user-friendly gauge and R134 refill at your local auto parts store, and the refill cans are $10 at Big Lots. Lasts me about a month in my son's beater vehicle. Yeah, I am putting the local mechanic out of work, but I also create work for the company making the $35 kit.

There's many layers to the onion of the image on the first page of this thread.






Scott,

I'm sorry, but from my perspective, your arguments just don't hold water. Take this statement, for example:

“Every person on this thread has put some folks out of work by using home recording software. If you bought your own mic, pre-amp, sound card, midi input device, etc. and are making demos, you put some recording engineers out of work ...”

I started home recording in 1979 with the original Tascam Portastudio 144. Why? Because I couldn't afford studio time in Southern California to cut demos. Would I have loved to hire Tom Dowd or George Massenberg to record me? Oh yeah. Was I putting them out of work by recording on my little 4-track? Absolutely not.

“To all of you using your own PA in your live gigs, you put a local FOH engineer out of work for that time.”

We play small bars, restaurants and hotel lounges. These places don't have 'FOH engineers'. They have bartenders and a wait staff. If we play at an outdoor Tiki bar, should we hire a 'FOH' engineer to run our little PA with SOS's? It's absurd.

Danny's OP stated that:

“I see and hear of many musicians falling into the trap (well I think it is a trap) set by club owners/,managers who (again in my opinion) are playing on every musician's "need to perform" gene. The offer goes something like this, "you come in and build up a crowd and then we will talk money".”

Who is being put out of work in this scenario? The professional musician who can't afford to play for free – that's who.


“There's many layers to the onion of the image on the first page of this thread.”

In my (admittedly biased) view, the premise of the image is accurate. People who play for free in formerly paying venues are killing live music.




Regards,

Bob

Dyslectics Untie!


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