The Work Realities of Professional Studio Musicians in the German Popular Music Recording Industry: Careers, Practices and Economic Situations (original) (raw)

The Skillset of Professional Studio Musicians in the German Popular Music Recording Industry

Etnomusikologian vuosikirja, 2018

Among the professional roles in the recording industry, studio musicians have perhaps received least academic attention. The present study explored the work realities of professional studio musicians in Germany, one of the largest music industries worldwide, based on interviews with six pop musicians; guitarists, bassists, keyboarders and drummers aged between 27 and 66 years. The findings show how the changes in the recording industry, most notably the dwindling budgets, the rise of project studios and virtual collaboration, have affected working practices, skill requirements and business models. The findings indicate that in Germany it is hardly possible anymore to live from studio work as a professional musician, even for the leading session players. Sinking fees and the lack of access to royalties pose a problem, one not tackled due to the fierce competition and the risk of damaging one’s reputation.

The The skillset of professional studio musicians in the German popular music recording industry

Etnomusikologian vuosikirja, 2018

Among the professional roles in the recording industry, studio musicians have received relatively little academic attention. Who has played on a record and who has developed the rhythms, melodies and fills are secrets that remain hidden behind closed studio doors. Since the little public media available mainly recollects memories of past stars or musical developments from more than twenty years ago, little is known about more recent biographies, individual skills and working practices of average studio musicians from different parts of the world. Against this backdrop, the present study explored the skillset of studio musicians in Germany’s popular music recording industry. The interviewees provided rare insights into their careers, expressed their views on technological developments and depicted their economic realities. With increasing power and affordability of music production resources, new business models for studio musicians were developing along with a change of skills. For ...

The working life of musicians: mapping the work activities and values of early-career pop musicians in the Dutch music industry

Creative Industries Journal, 2021

This paper explores the working life of early-career musicians after technological innovations transformed the music industry. Based on in-depth interviews, a diary questionnaire study and post-questionnaire interviews with 17 early-career pop musicians aiming to build a career with their act in the Dutch industry, we investigate what day-to-day activities they perform and how they value these work activities. The analysis reveals that musicians perform a wide variety of non-creative work activities, including DIY and entrepreneurial tasks. Moreover, they spend over 40 percent of their time on creative tasks, and, remarkably, devote minimal time to social media. In addition, three accounts of value were identified which shape the way musicians perceive their work, as they understand their work in pop music as art, as a business or as a hobby, transcending the traditional art-commerce dichotomy. This way, the paper contributes to our understanding on the nature of work and how early-career workers perceive its value in the creative industries.

Taking care of business: The routines and rationales of early-career musicians in the Dutch and British music industries

International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2021

This article explores a small sample of musicians in two European musical contexts – the Netherlands and the UK. It examines the relationship between the conditions of national music industries and the strategies used to negotiate a career in music and the extent to which musicians frame their careers as entrepreneurs. Interview data from two projects with early-career musicians form the basis of our secondary comparative analysis. We argue that their strategizing can be framed as a set of responses to their local structural conditions. However, neither set of responses produces market advantage. Instead, traditional power and economic relations that reinforce the logic of the hegemonic mainstream industry tend to prevail, whereby only a very small fraction of the aspiring musicians can sustain themselves financially in music.

Paying the piper: a study of musicians and the music business

International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 2005

Many artists argue that treating music as a business represents a particularly insidious force in cultural life, stifling creativity and change. For them business and art are mutually incompatible and they regard the evident economic success of the music industry as an example of the shameless exploitation of our cultural heritage. * This paper is based on detailed research into the attitudes of musicians across two distinct cultures. It finds strong echoes of the key criticisms of the music business which have been prominent in academic literature and in the specialist music press for more than a generation. Singled out for particular censure are not-for-profit organisations for apparently following the global recording companies down the same, profit-driven routes.

FROM RECORD CONTRACT TO ARTREPRENEUR? Musicians' Self-Management and the Changing Illusio in the Music Market

Kritika Kultura, 2018

This article contrasts present conceptions of pop musicians' career development with ideas from the 1960s to 1990s. It identifies two divergent key concepts: the artrepreneur and the record contract. As a counterpart, the article evaluates empirical findings from an interview study with German and US-American musicians to answer the following research question: How are concepts of career management advocated and how are they related to the musician's practices? This research suggests that in the 1970s to 1990s, self-management was regarded as a necessary evil before getting a recording contract, which was seen as a central aim for musicians. This widespread concept stood in stark contrast to the actual conditions of work in the field and can thus be described as forming an important part of the illusio (in Bourdieu's sense), motivating participation while at the same time masking the actual working conditions. Today, in the age of digital communication networks, the record contract is no longer as crucial as it used to be. Instead, self-management is presented as a new, central, and legitimate strategy to push musicians' careers forward even though studies show that the chances for independent musicians have not grown. The concept of the musician as artrepreneur replaced the hopes that were connected with the record contract. This shift is part of a new illusio that now motivates the musician's participation in the music market. This paper attempts a small contribution toward unmasking the illusions that are connected with the illusio, which for Bourdieu is among the central functions of sociology.

The impact of technological advances on recording studio practices

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2013

Since the invention of sound reproduction in the late 19th century, studio practices in musical recording evolved in parallel with technological improvements. Recently, digital technology and Internet file sharing led to the delocalization of professional recording studios and the decline of traditional record companies. A direct consequence of this new paradigm is that studio professions found themselves in a transitional phase, needing to be reinvented. To understand the scope of these recent technological advances, we first offer an overview of musical recording culture and history and show how studio recordings became a sophisticated form of musical artwork that differed from concert representations. We then trace the economic evolution of the recording industry through technological advances and present positive and negative impacts of the decline of the traditional business model on studio practices and professions. Finally, we report findings from interviews with six world-renowned record producers reflecting on their recording approaches, the impact of recent technological advances on their careers, and the future of their profession. Interviewees appreciate working on a wider variety of projects than they have in the past, but they all discuss trade-offs between artistic expectations and budget constraints in the current paradigm. Our investigations converge to show that studio professionals have adjusted their working settings to the new economic situation, although they still rely on the same aesthetic approaches as in the traditional business model to produce musical recordings.

Not without music business. The higher education of musicians and music industry workers in Germany

2015

This article discusses the higher education of musicians and music industry workers within the field of Popular Music in Germany. For a successful education, which enables a long-term sustainable career within the music industry, we argue that students need both artistic as well as entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. The last 15 years have seen the introduction of new degree programs with a strong focus on practical skills by giving their students a good knowledge of the music industry and a broad network to draw on as well as by encouraging creativity. This is in part done through cooperation with actors in the industry – be it through the teachers, the teaching projects or through tours and artistic collaborations with bands. This article demonstrates this approach through two case studies – one artistic (Popakademie Baden-Württemberg) and one music business (Macromedia University of Applied Sciences). The article also lists the current artistic and business-oriented degree prog...

A hard day’s night: building sustainable careers for musicians

Cultural Trends, 2021

Traditional career theories are largely situated in organisations, where career trajectory is mostly an upward movement, usually associated with greater managerial responsibility and corresponding salary and benefits increase. With increasing growth in the creative economy and creative class, this article examines the complexity of creative work patterns and the associated skills required for sustainable musical careers. A longitudinal qualitative case-study approach documents the careers of eight professional musicians. Interviewees narrated their last decade through semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that musical careers are multifaceted and tend to have a lifespan effect. To remain sustainable, a base-line of well-maintained technical skills and musical expertise was a given, but a myriad of soft organisational skills was key.