[lmpdev]

I disagree on the rock album being overly expensive to record

Any decent studio can make a U87 on vocals, DI bass, Fender amp and several SM57s on drums sound as good as almost any album from 1970-2010

Hell I’ve seen a five part band get away with three mics total including drums and it was a smash hit

Rock “died” because culture moved on, not because of it being inherently expensive to record (which it’s not)

[rpdillon]

I don't have any special industry experience. I went on a tear a few weeks ago and watched a bunch of Rick Beato's videos on YouTube. I didn't know the guy before running across his work, but he has 5 million subscribers and he sure sounds like he knows what he's talking about. He's been a music producer for 30 years.

Anyway, he was the one that made the point that we don't sign rock bands anymore in the sense that they're not moving the industry. All you gotta do is look at the top songs that folks are listening to on Spotify or the radio and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about.

He was also the one that walked through the process of setting up mics for a drum kit and pointed out that it's just very expensive to get the studio time and the expertise to do all that correctly. He actually walks you through a studio where he's set up mics for a drum kit and explains why it's so difficult to do well. He then contrasts that with simply using samples that are professionally provided and that the cost difference is just immense.

Anyway, I don't need to die on this hill. My point was the music industry is going downhill regardless and AI is just one of many tools paving the way.

[lmpdev]

I agree 100% that mic-ing live drums is by far the hardest and most expensive element in rock recording

But in the 1970s-2000s it was complete black magic and without dedicating years to the craft - you were up to the whims of studios for how much you pay

Compare that today, for instance have a look at the Jazz-Rock Fusion band Vulfpeck’s first album. If you exclude the cost of instruments - they often only need three (rather cheap) mics. Everything else DI. Recorded in a basement for less than a couple grand - with effectively infinite recording time

Live drums are expensive compared to samples, but they’re not the reason an entire genre disappeared

[Q6T46nT668w6i3m]

Rick Beato is fine but he’s entirely disconnected from contemporary guitar-based music. I agree entirely with the OP, the quality-expense ratio has never been better for this type of music.

[rpdillon]

Like with software, I'm thinking there's two different discussions: what powers the industry vs. what is possible for hobbyists.

While the industry in software is obsessed with React and K8s, hackers still like self-hosting PHP apps. Same with music. The industry is powered by highly efficient teams that write, produce, and perform music at scale for a global audience, and that's totally different from contemporary guitar-based music (I suspect!) What's possible is very different from what makes money.

[Q6T46nT668w6i3m]

Well said