Hey Guys/Girls,

I am writing a dissertation and would love to hear your opinion..

My question is "Since the introduction of the iPod, has it changed production techniques and songwriting structure of charted music within the UK?"

If anyone has been producing a while and noticed any changes in the production world or a change in expectation of production to work better in mp3/AAC format in general I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Thanks,

Ryan

In a word, No.
Next to nothing has changed about music production because of iPods & the like.
Listening habits on the other hand....

Paul

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Paul

As it's a dissertation, then you won't be able to quote opinions from here - you need, um — at risk of offending folk here — reliable, attributed sources. You need to interview people and read books and journal articles by people who know something about it.

As has been suggested above, they've changed sod all in terms of production techniques, though they might have changed the way in which the market consumes music — whether that be falling revenues (and hence a desire for cheaper productions), or the possibility that people are more inclined to put everything into singles and less into albums. As I say, don't quote me, as you'll get no marks for it (quite the opposite), but the above might at least give you a lead to follow up in your research and back up with some evidence!

Quote orangefridge:

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Hey Guys/Girls,

I am writing a dissertation and would love to hear your opinion..

My question is "Since the introduction of the iPod, has it changed production techniques and songwriting structure of charted music within the UK?"

If anyone has been producing a while and noticed any changes in the production world or a change in expectation of production to work better in mp3/AAC format in general I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Thanks,

Ryan

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I suppose that while the corrolation between portable mass storage players and the decrease in CD sales might have an effect on how the charts reflect the popular music market, it would be difficult to answer you question because the modern charts system has itself changed due to that same fact. A number one single... what does that mean today? A number one album?

Hmm. The modern loudness wars apparently do show that production techniques have changed in part because of matters to do with digital technology and also due to a percieved competitive advantage in the sea of sound, brought on, in part no doubt by mass storage players or at least a big increase in the quantity of professionally produced music. So you may find something interesting there.

I consider it less likely you will find anything interesting or new in the song structure department.

Though you may find that certain styles or genres are influenced by the people who own ipods (people who buy apples products are of a very particular type: apple sapiens) so you might find certain music is produced in a certain way for the metrosexual generation.

Who knows?, we live in a world short on meaning and long on spin.

I'd say there has been a change: for the worse. The iPod is part and parcel of the digital download/piracy debate which has sucked budgets out of the record business, probably forever.

Nobody's ever again going to do what say Trevor Horn did spending 3 months in a big studio working out a kick drum sound for Frankie Goes to Hollywood on a Synclavier (a £250k toy - present equivalent maybe £1 million).

Nobody much cares any more either, knowing their best efforts are most likely to be listened to in a noisy car or on a £5 set of earbuds. Why even waste your money on half decent studio monitors to mix?

So no, you're never, ever going to get another Dark Side of the Moon or anything like it. The only direction from here is down.

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Dynamite with a laser beam...

not necessarily the ipod itself, but the proliferation of heavily data compressed delivery format use has certainly exacerbated the already spiraling volume war.

but that's more about mastering than production of music itself...


in terms of actual song writing, i'd be doubtful of any claims that the current tendency to deliver data compressed product has any impact on how a song gets written....


Song writers deal in music and lyrics,and geographically separated collaborators may well email each other , and include Mp3's along with Midi files, and typed notes...

but that has nothing to do with the iPod itself.... before Mp3 and email., they sent tapes.... and sheet music....

it's a shame now with all this technology at our fingertips somethings have got worse; data compression, the obsession with LOUDNESS, radio compression - where have the dynamics gone.

I had a thought recently - I wish I had kept all my CDs after I have made compressed MP3s for itunes years ago because in not so many years time, hard disk drives will be so large, I would have been able to fit my entire CD collection on one hard drive as full quality WAVS

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http://www.musicproductioncourses.net

Aside from the poor sound quality issues already discussed, I think the major factor is that due to the ability to download single tracks rather than whole albums together with shuffle and playlist features mean that people are far less likely to listen to whole albums on an MP3 player. Now an album may be just a collection of songs, but often it was conceived as a whole - and that may be lost.. Also the very immediacy of the medium may make less room for songs which are growers rather than instantly likeable - and so it may affect songwriting - or at least song selection.

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Daniel Davis
Edinburgh Recording Studio Windmill Sound

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Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

Quote Zukan:

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True, but it is always nice to have a discussion...

What has really changed in the last few years about music due to iPods, or portable digital music in general, for that matter?

1. For starters, people accustomed to consuming their information in small bits and pieces have shorter attention spans.

2. Volume/dynamic compression and loudness maximization to compete for the ears of the listener. I bet most generic music consumers do not even know what "punchiness" means anymore.

3. Data compression. Sub-CD quality music distribution is now acceptable. Of course, there are those who say nobody can tell the difference, but that is because most people do not care to pay attention or care to learn how to notice the difference. And the sad part is, electronic distribution now allows BETTER-than-CD quality formats, such as 24-bit/96kHz FLAC, but people do not care most of the time! (Of course, iPod does not support it, but some players are starting to.)

4. Listening to music through earbuds has become acceptable. OK, so not everyone will walk around with a giant set of Sennheiser cans on his or her head, but there are a TINY bit better alternatives than the $9.95 gas station offerings.

5. Many young musicians and producers do not understand all the intricacies of sonic quality, music theory, acoustics, positions in a mix, stereo imaging, so they produce less polished works, and they do that easier, too, since all it takes is a laptop and a DAW with some synths/plugins. Can most people these days even read music notation?

6. People no longer have to be able to actually play instruments or sing. Plugins can fix anything.

7. Almost complete loss of live performance talent for bands. (This realtes to #6.)

So it all may sound just a tad bit doomsdayish, but the good news is that the technology and the standards ARE out there to create better music. It is just about making people care.

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http://www.elteto.net

Actually, I threw in the Google smiley 'cos I've been dying to use it.

Fair question and requires honest responses.

Personally, I believe production concepts will, and to a certain degree already have, change to accommodate the playback medium. We did this with vinyl, we did this with DAT, we did this with cd and I have no doubt we will do so for the new mediums that are sprouting across the market.

I have often been asked to produce a sound effect or demo remixes specifically for MP3. And even if you work off a top quality WAV and compress to MP3, it is not the same as producing to the boundaries and limitations of the resultant format. It's a bit like managing the low end for vinyl pressing: different processing techniques for a playback medium that has its own limitations and strengths.

Additionally, and I am dreading this, more and more iApps are coming out whereby people can compose a song and perform basic mixes on them. It won't be too long before technology will accommodate to bring out the best for the output as the playback will still be within the iPlayer or iTunes or a number of similar formats. It might not be tomorrow but someone will explore this avenue with the same staid argument: if that is the playback medium why change the source format and why not mix in the playback format?

But then again, it is Friday, it's snowing outside and I am a touch confused anyway.

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Samplecraze
Stretch That Note