Industry Talk

Editor In Chief Paul White explains why hardware is one way of reducing piracy in the music software industry.

Music industry sources suggest that soon all CDs will have built-in copy protection, and plans are underway to fit PCs with a chip that will police audio use. Will this protect creative rights, or become a barrier to creativity?

Editor In Chief Paul White ponders a future full of virtual pop stars...

Production music will never be glamorous, but it can be very lucrative. As head of music production at one of the UK's largest libraries, Tim Geraghty is in the perfect position to offer advice to SOS readers with an eye on this market.

Unquestionably the best-known name in synth design, in 2003 Bob Moog was still creating innovative electronic instruments. With the new Voyager synth about to hit the shops and the rights to use his own name restored, his star seems to be on the rise once again. SOS chats to this founding father...

In this final part of our series, we recap on the key things you need to consider before you start your own label, and take you through the process to the first release.

The shape of the music-technology market changed dramatically in 2002, with the two largest German music software companies gaining new ownership from American corporations. Have Steinberg reached the summit with Pinnacle?

In Part 5 we explained how a label can create its own distribution channels by selling merchandise on the Internet. This month we examine dedicated distribution companies, and how the smaller companies can serve niche record labels.

The earlier parts of this series explained how to set up your label. Now it's time to start looking at ways to get your recorded work out and on sale to the public.

Propellerhead, makers of the unique Reason software studio, have come from nowhere to award-winning developer status in just eight years. We catch up with one of the key men behind this small but influential Swedish company.

We've discussed how to set up your label and integrate it with the UK music business. But how you run it from day to day, and who you employ to help, is up to you. We look at how two own-label bosses manage...

Tim Ryan, founder of Midiman (now better known as M-Audio) has successfully changed his company from a manufacturer of affordable sync boxes for MIDI sequencers into the fastest-growing American music-technology outfit. We find out where he's taking them next.

Cutting-edge innovation is by no means a guarantee of commercial success, but Korg have had a flair for both - although not always simultaneously. We look at how this continued to be true throughout the '90s to the present, when the company pushed the boundaries of physical modelling while refining their world-beating workstations.

This series has already looked at the legalities of song ownership and how to make money from song publishing — but, as the head of your own label, you also make money from record sales. Like publishing income, however, it's not straightforward. We explain the basics...

In the 1980s and early '90s, with Yamaha's help, Korg expanded dramatically, producing some of the first affordable digital recorders and physical-modelling instruments. But it was their world-class synths, such as the M1 and Wavestation, that made them the company they are today...

In Part 1's introduction to this series, we explained some of the legal issues which you need to consider when setting up a record label to release your own material. This time, we take a closer look at publishing and royalties.

Over the 40 years of their existence, Korg have produced a huge variety of groundbreaking music gear, from electronic percussion to industry-standard synths, and from guitar tuners to digital recording workstations. This month, we look back at how it all started...

With record industry cutbacks all round, the prospect of success with a major record label seems more remote than ever for most musicians. So why not start your own? Many of us think about it, but what would you actually need to do? Our new 7-part series tells you...

The music technology world changed overnight on June 30th, as Apple announced their acquisition of German sequencer heavyweight Emagic, becoming the first computer manufacturer to own a music software company. Our team brings you the latest news on how and why the deal went through, and what the changes may mean for Emagic and their PC and Mac users.

A number of hi-tech music manufacturers are celebrating important anniversaries this year and next year. In the first of several articles on these companies, we look at the milestone products made by Emu, who drove the sampling revolution in the '80s.

Despite rumours that Apple was on the lookout for a major audio company, Apple's buyout of German developers Emagic took us all by surprise...