Friday Afternoon Story Hour (was "Studios in L.A.")

[Mr. Truth]

Gather 'round, boys and girls...it's Friday Afternoon Story Hour here on the DUC! So pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable and listen carefully to our story.

Today's story is all about change, and even though we're going to be talking about trees in the forest, we might as well be talking about studios in L.A. (or any other commercial market). So lend your ear, and let's begin.

In nature, trees grow where the conditions are proper. As long as they have the essential nutrients like water, sunshine and some protection from the elements in their early years, the trees can prosper. And, as nature would have it, wherever trees grow, other trees are sure to grow, as the older trees drop their seeds into the surrounding soil. Having older trees nearby helps to shield the younger trees from wind, snow, flooding and other natural hazards which discourage growth. In essence, there is strength in numbers.

However, having too many trees can also be problematic. For instance, when there are too many trees in one area, the larger trees can actually deprive the smaller trees of sunshine. Additionally, because of their more established root system, the larger trees claim more of the ground's nutrients, thereby depriving the smaller trees of required minerals and vitamins. So, in reality, some of the smaller trees cannot compete with the larger trees and they die off before reaching their full maturity. In a nutshell, this is survival of the fittest.

Every once in a long while, a disaster comes to the forest. Most often, a bolt of lightning or a careless camper brings fire to the forest, and of course, this changes everything. Flames race over the hillside. Even the older, stronger trees have trouble living through the fire. Those that do often come out deformed and marked for life. Most of the hillside is seemingly devoid of live...blackened desolation everywhere. A tragedy for certain.

But come some springtime in the relatively near future, interesting things begin to happen. Lo and behold, even on the thoroughly blackened trunks, small branchlets appear, bringing life to the gnarled remains of the once tall trees. The sun, no longer horded by tall trees, falls much more evenly on the blackened ground, encouraging small green blades to pop up through the black soil, sprouting from seeds left in the ground before the fire...some of these small blades begin inching higher and higher towards the sun, becoming the tiniest of trees. Over years, life returns to the hillside and one begins to wonder if the forest on the hillside is even stronger now than before the fire. Life goes on.

Now isn't that interesting boys and girls? We can even find these stark realities at work in many everyday walks of life. For instance, in Los Angeles, some of the studios have been with us for many years, like tall trees, growing stronger over years of service. And, as the music industry became stronger in this city, many new studios came. Almost certainly, it could be said that too many new studios came. Having an overabundance of studios trying to sustain themselves from the same client pool weakened even the most-established of studios. The studio community began declining in quality of life.

Then, out of the blue and just like a lightning bolt to a forest, digital technologies came and threatened to lay waste to the entire professional studio way of life. I think we can all agree that that fire is raging today as we speak. Before the fire burns itself out, the studio landscape WILL change and many, if not most, of the studios will be greatly affected. Some, perhaps even many, will not survive the fire. That's a certainty.

But, just like in the forest, life has its way of bringing its precious surprises to the devastated areas in the aftermath. In the proverbial springtime of life, interesting signs of rebirth are sure to appear. Even as we speak, seeds now dormant are most likely soon to begin nurturing in sheltered areas, waiting only for the fire to subside before poking through the rubble to again reach for the sun. And perhaps, once some of the new growth begins to mature, we may even wonder whether our new life is any worse than the life we knew during the wonderful, warm, and comforting era of analog.

Indeed, life does go on.

[Extreme Mixing]

Very nicely written, Mr. Truth! And certainly truer than most of us would like to admit. I'm hoping to be on the right team.

[legativity]

wax on

[exit]

Did you think of this all by yourself? You should teach!

exit

[Lee Blaske]

As long as they have the essential nutrients like water, sunshine and some protection from the elements in their early years, the trees can prosper.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Cute story, but the reason the recording industry is suffering is because of the removal of an essential nutrient, namely cash money. So, the analogy falls apart.

All that's required for the industry to thrive again is for people to put money on the table and buy product. That's not going to happen in an environment of rampant peer-to-peer sharing.

Certainly, something will take the place of the once lush forest with its tall trees and verdant meadows. I'm thinking grass clumps and tumble weeds. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Lee Blaske

[Stuart P.]

Yes. But - and sorry for the morbidity - if I was a tree in this situation I would feel a little guilty about wantonly absorbing the nutrients from the corpses of my fallen comrades, with their little half-incinerated branches still poking up from the soil and all.

Whoa, I just naturally assumed I'd survive the fire in the first place... Ahhh, to be a little sapling again.

Scary. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

S.

[Mr. Truth]

[quote]Originally posted by Lee Blaske:

Cute story, but the reason the recording industry is suffering is because of the removal of an essential nutrient, namely cash money. So, the analogy falls apart.

All that's required for the industry to thrive again is for people to put money on the table and buy product. That's not going to happen in an environment of rampant peer-to-peer sharing.

Lee Blaske

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Lee,

Actually, I believe that you are slightly confusing issues. While you are certainly correct that rampant peer-to-peer sharing is greatly deflating the recording industry, that is actually a separate topic. A worry of its own.

No, the point of this story is that with or without peer-to-peer sharing, or shall we say, even if peer-to-peer sharing disappeared tomorrow, this will not change the fact that the ever-pressing advances of increasingly affordable digital technologies will most certainly affect the professional studios. Surely, many will not survive the fire. Yet, the story is perhaps more importantly meant to point out that the rare, cataclysmic and often tragic events in nature (and technology) very often give way to new life, which can bring with it new thinking and new paradigms. In our case, digital technologies will most certainly bring an entirely new landscape.

In regards to rampant peer-to-peer sharing, I do have one thought. If you are truly a person dedicated to staying abreast of all the issues which affect our industry, I would heartily recommend that you place yourself at the nearest Apple Computer store on Monday morning at 10:00am (PST). Call ahead to make sure that your store will be carrying the satellite feed live. At that time, I am certain that we may all witness an historic, bellweather moment that may well signal a shift in the way that consumers attain music. While it is still quite early to fully see the future of music distribution, I will make one prediction that you may hold me to...it is my belief that, assuming Apple begins offering an online music distribution service, the number of people using the service during its first week will dwarf the total combined number of users on all of the other online music distribution systems to date. I believe that Apple's offering will represent the first truly viable and attractive legal music distribution system, and I believe it has the potential to change our profession forever.

But, back to the analogy...again, it was not meant to present any commentary on peer-to-peer sharing. Instead, it is meant to theorize how affordable digital technologies will ultimately change the landscape for the professional studio.

[exit]

Truth-We may need to go to another board to start this discussion, but I would like to add to that.

I think the Apple move, if your prediction is correct, will be the catalyst for a major overhaul in the music industry. And I do agree, it will prob be for the better!

exit

[Robocop]

Hey truth, your a dip **** .

The most color flowers never have a problem
attracting admiration.

plant the seed, work hard, be patient, never think you know it all becuase you don't, be open to all things new and don't blame the weather if you can't pay for your bmw.

[Lee Blaske]

I will make one prediction that you may hold me to...it is my belief that, assuming Apple begins offering an online music distribution service, the number of people using the service during its first week will dwarf the total combined number of users on all of the other online music distribution systems to date. I believe that Apple's offering will represent the first truly viable and attractive legal music distribution system, and I believe it has the potential to change our profession forever.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I just heard a report on public radio that it's essentially going to be song downloads at 99 cents a pop. As big a fan of Apple as I am, I don't think it's going to fly - but I hope you're right and that I'm wrong.

Instead, it is meant to theorize how affordable digital technologies will ultimately change the landscape for the professional studio.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Ahhhh... Didn't that already happen? Did Mixerman forget to turn the lights out when he left LA? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Lee Blaske