Music plays a substantial role in our lives. What we may not realize while we’re jamming out is the production that goes behind crafting our favorite tunes. New technologies have had a significant impact on the creation, production and distribution of music. For some Aragon students, advancements have opened the door to exploring their passion in the field.
Nowadays, spreading one’s music is easier than ever. Soundcloud, an audio distribution platform, has garnered 76 million registered users and 175 million unique monthly listeners, allowing individual artists and producers with talent and luck to gain a massive following. Junior Ella Tarara has used this platform to put out music and expand her network.
“That’s how I got started,” Tarara said. “I put my stuff on Soundcloud … And then as soon as I saw [viewing and subscription] counts going up [I thought], okay, maybe I’ll put [my music on] iTunes and Spotify.”
Huge artists like Travis Scott, Post Malone, and Chance the Rapper all kicked off their careers on Soundcloud. Using this platform, they broadened their influence until they became widely recognized.
“What’s really appealing about music production is accessibility of it,” said Joseph Neamanti, a freshman in Music Production Club. “By having a computer, there’s enough free software that you can create high quality music without the need for expensive studios.”
Jermaine Hamilton is a music producer from Circle Studios in San Mateo who has worked with artists like Ed Sheeran. He advises student producers to take advantage of the plethora of technological resources at their disposal.
“Your training is important [but what’s] also important now is the technical skills,” Hamilton said.
Basic knowledge of music theory is beneficial for anyone interested in pursuing that path.
“You need to know music theory to make original things,” said senior Jackson Czuba. “Anybody can take loops from the internet and put them together and mix them a little bit. And it’ll sound pretty good … [but] to actually truly make it an art, you need to know the music theory behind it.”
Time, energy, and musical knowledge is more than half the battle, but relying solely on these technologies can actually be a setback.
“Sometimes technology can make you lazy,” Hamilton said. “You don’t put the effort [or] the energy into learning.”
However, for those willing to put in the effort, now is the perfect time to get their foot in the industry.
“Training is important [but what’s] also important now is … technical skills”
“I think we’re in a golden age of recording,” Hamilton said. “Even a home studio can have amazing fidelity and sound quality…The software and hardware you can buy nowadays is pretty close to the high end stuff.”
Producers have all the resources at their disposal to pursue their passion, and now, they have legislative backing. The Music Modernization Act, a law signed into law on Oct. 11, 2018, works to give credit where credit is due by improving songwriters’ payment for their contributions through a blanket license for downloads. In part, the MMA updates archaic licensing rules, eases restrictions to give fans more access to their favorite artists and establishes a standard pay rate for mechanical licenses. Now, artists and producers can monetize the work they share on platforms like Soundcloud and Spotify. With this new bill, the prospects of music production, for many, become a solid career option as well as a hobby.
Apart from training and technical skills, other factors also help one emerge in the music industry.
“Interpersonal relationships are important, so being able to communicate and relate to other people, and … to work and collaborate with other people [is] extremely important,” Hamilton said.
Tarara sees music production as a hobby, but she is currently interested in pursuing a career in a different music-related field.
“I want to perform, but I also want to teach others how to play music and how to learn it [and just] have some fun teaching people,” Tarara said.
Although not many teenage music producers become famous off of their work, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a following and dedicated listeners.
“I [get] a lot of comments on mine actually … I make really chill stuff and people really like studying to it because apparently it’s a good focus [tool].”
Even if one does not immediately become famous, Hamilton says they should not be discouraged.
“If you know what your passion is and what you want to do, don’t let anyone take your dreams away.”
