The Evolution of the Music Format by: Joseph Beaty (DPS Insider)

We have gone through format after format with how we buy music. Vinyl, 8-Track, Cds and slew of digital formats from .MP3 to .Flac. Seems like a new digital format pops up daily. 8-tracks died a painful death and have not returned in any sort of hipster scene. (Yet) Cassettes are mostly dead with a few hipsters releasing their records on cassettes as novelty with a download code. Vinyl on the other hand, has been around for quite some time. It seems that vinyl continues to survive. Through all the format changes. We still see vinyl on shelves. Record store day has been going strong with vinyl releases from big name bands. I have bought several pieces of vinyl recently. A few which included digital copies. A nice feature. I enjoy vinyl because of it’s large artistic canvas for the artwork. On to the Cd format.

I am a product of the alternative generation. I went to the Cd store and bought my Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugazi and Jane’s Addiction Cds and (sometimes even cassettes) right when they came out. Basically every band that ever payed a Lollapalooza festival. It became a habit of sorts. Even after a lot of the local record stores died off, I found my online stores and bought music there. Which led to the obvious transition of downloading for myself and everyone else. Everyone gets everything they want right when they think of it. Mostly for free. Hence, the death of the Cd.

Here we are now in a mostly digital age for music. I still find myself buying more hard copies these days than the last few years? I am truly enjoying them. Vinyl and Cds. I think many people would agree that downloading gets old after a while. You only need to listen to one band that sounds like Pearl Jam. So I stream my music online at Pandora or on band’s websites. If I like what I hear and the band or artist are offering a physical release, I will buy it. Do I think we will return to this label run music world where we are spoon-fed music? Probably not. However, I do think that the independent musician is in a prime place to release limited physical packages to die hard fans. I still like to know I am getting something tangible for my money. The digital download included is a nice touch.

Streaming media in the cloud is the now. Why own it? Are people caring less about the art form of music and albums? I am not really sure. I still feel the need to support music and the arts with paying for something and getting something in return. I did the free download thing for a while and it felt dirty. I think at the end of the day it comes down to the quality and dedication to music. Formats aside, I still want the real thing if the artist is the real thing. At the very least some goodies bundled with my download. Wallpapers and bonus tracks make downloading exciting. Just like that hidden track on Nirvana’s Nevermind album. That was a nice and welcome surprise. I can meander all day about this. We are witnessing quite an evolution of the music format. It amazes me that vinyl keeps rearing it’s head. Will the Cd come back as a hipster format like vinyl? What do you think? Crazy evolution in such a short amount of time huh?

Joseph Beaty

DPS Insider

A few years went by and it was now time for Junior High School. I was now a fish in a sea of kids that went through their own musical and artistic growths because of their parents, siblings and immediate surroundings. This was a good thing! My sister worked at a local record store. I was exposed to Alternative Rock, Electronic Music and more. Artists like, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool and Fugazi (For example) were all bands that I came to love. I still listen to their entire catalogs. I got into bands and mixed all these styles. I can’t help but think about how diverse my palette already was before even reaching High School. I still listened to all the roots of music like Jazz and Classical as well.

Moving from Chicago to Florida my Freshman year of high school proved monumental in the shaping of my musical tastes, styles and preferred listening. I had no friends for a year and I drowned myself in music. Playing and listening. Creating a blend of all my influences. I did have a few acquaintances that first year. Most of which listened to Hip Hop. Something I could relate to being a fan of Trip Hop. (A Sub Genre of Electronic Music.) Yet another style I was able to collect from. It was this time that I was finally exposed to a larger Electronic scene along with a pretty active Indie-Punk Rock scene. All of it made sense for me. The early days of High School was a time of awkwardness and seclusion for me. Music was my home. I came to find many other kids in the same boat. It was this rebellion music that fit the time of our life. This would carry well into my twenties. I made a musical collage of all the years of listening and it became me.

I felt this rebellion movement in listening and creation was becoming stale around 24 or 25 years of age. It was this time that marriage provided a huge change in my life. My own music still provided a place to put out the fires that would rage inside from time to time. However, I found myself listening to lighter music. Mostly because I am happier and more mature. Indie Rock, Acoustic and Folk Music with Obscure Electronic Genres like IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) and Down-Tempo seemed to fit my life better as a listener. This is now a huge part of my creative output as a writer as well. What along and crazy journey to get to this point huh?

I guess the idea behind writing this blog about my musical growth or journey was intended to make a point about how we grow in our lives and the music either jumps into our suitcase or it is given to good will. While I feel I have done both, I also feel like I am, like so many others, a collector. A collector of emotions and life experience. I have many friends that got to a certain point in life that they wanted to obtain through there adult years. These friends still listen to mostly just one style because they are trying to hold onto a time in their life that they considered happy. Music is their security blanket. It is mine as well just in a different light. There is nothing wrong with that. Then there are the crazy people like me that are always looking for the next thing. Making new collage art with life as we live it. I think music and art does in fact grow with the listener slash creator. What do you think? Share your journey with a link to your own blog.

1. I have a fire-wire interface and I use Sonar Cakewalk as my main Digital Audio Workstation. I have a few keyboards, drum machines, and microphones, along with all of my instruments to record. I was shown a few things by a friend, and the rest of the recording process I learned from watching tutorials on YouTube and the web. There is also a free recording software online called Audacity that a lot of beginners use to learn how to record.

2. After I record a tune, I have a local studio “Master” the song (or album) and I get a good loud version of the song ready that I can upload to websites that can stream and/or distribute music such as http://soundcloud.com or http://bandcamp.com. I upload the songs here and then use their free widget tools to share music on my social networks. (Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.)

The 2 points above are completely free options. I tend to lean toward Bandcamp for selling and using their widgets and built in statistics. Soundcloud is widely used for FREE distribution. Bandcamp also lets people choose their download format. (MP3, Lossless, .Wav, etc) I urge every music listener to go on this site and find an Independent Musician they like and give downloading a try.

3. If your social networking push with music widgets and some live performance-type YouTube Videos is getting your music out to your network, it may be time to pay for a larger distribution service like http://cdbaby.com to get your music onto iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and more. For about $30, you can get your music in huge online stores as a digital release.
4. Now, if you are really gaining traction with a digital release, it may be time to entice fans with limited physical runs catered to your die hard fans. Try something like http://discmakers.com and get a package deal for whatever your CD, T-shirt, and other merchandising needs are. I would say stick to the free stuff until you build a little name for yourself, so you are not sitting on 1000 cds for a year while you are networking online.
Now let’s face it. Most musicians on the indie level are not famous. How can we expect that we are going to sell 1000-10,000 cds or pieces of vinyl right off the bat? Local shows and a persistent internet marketing push to share music is where it’s at. Create a demand. Feed the demand with content online, shows, and physical content. Hope a few D.I.Y musicians and listeners alike found this little rant helpful. Feel free to comment and ask questions for more resources. I have a ton.

-Joseph Beaty
(Independent Musician)

-Bongiovi Joe