Rick has had some "grumpy old man" posts in the past (maybe not so much lately) and I half expected that going into this video, but I gotta say he's pretty balanced and makes a ton of sense here. Take a listen to John Bonham's quantized drum track at about the 2:00 mark (eww!!!). There's some good stuff in here regarding producing music at a cheaper cost (why pay to produce a whole band when you can use a kid and a laptop?).
Rick is definitely making sense here. While the focus is directed towards the value of today's music compared to when we were growing up is vitally important, Rick's view makes his point even more important.
Most of Rick's generation (late 50's onwards) did not have immediate access to streaming platforms until they became available in the late 90's. Yes, we worked for a living so we could own our own copies of an LP, and share our discoveries with our buddies we'd hang out with.
Perhaps that is Rick's lament. Now that streaming platforms make virtually all music libraries available for a flat monthly fee, the issue is about protecting the value of the music for artists who make it. Because AI will soon be able to recreate most any potential song with IR samples of a vocalist, the concern might be who owns the copyright of the recreated IR samples?
According to Rick, several major recording labels have already filed lawsuits with AI development companies regards the "rights to ownership" of AI recreated IR samples.
TBH, let me say that because of my ethical beliefs regards listening to music via streaming vs. music ownership, while some may question the cost-effectiveness of my choices, it's my ethics my hope is you'll agree. Although some streaming platforms charge a monthly fee, my ethics have always told me that something really isn't yours until you've worked for it and paid a modest fee for it.
While there are many who are younger and were born in the 90's, not all know of the value that went into creating a certain song or LP release, using the technology of the day to secure its place among many examples of musicians who also value the art of creating music.
Rick's point is truthful. Not all who utilize streaming platforms can appreciate the value of the music that they listen to, simply because it costs a flat fee to hear everything the entire context of music available down through history. Perhaps what this causes us to wonder is, the technology used to create music has given us amp modeling from IR sampling of real instruments.
What might Cliff do if he incorporated AI technology into the creation of yet to be discovered virtual amps and effects with defined algorithms and parameters? Or, if a separate device entirely helped end users create the amps/effects of their dreams into virtual devices individual builders might be able to profit from? Reason being, some create presets from FAS products and offer these for a modest fee. What might happen if a builder might recreate his favorite band's guitar or bass rig using AI-assisted tech?
If it's possible to see through the unintentional smokescreen, a builder might be able to use FAS as his sketchpad with AI-assist employed to help him think through the process. I already see the bones and connective tissues taking shape. Cliff, I'm handing the "wand" to you. Tell us if its going to be viable and healthy...
); and later, for decades, one who regularly budgeted from real job paychecks to buy CDs at $20 a pop (I have 500 or so in boxed storage); I'm in heaven these days with a music service that offers pretty much any music I'd ever care to listen to, all playable anywhere, anytime, on any device for $10/mth and without the need to have racks of dusty plastic cluttering the house. I'm able to dive deep into artist catalogues in a way I never could have before given the cost (tho I still mourn the loss of physical full size album artwork and sleeve photos). At the same time it seems sad that the $value of music for sale has sunk so low as to discourage artists / bands from making a living from it, or forces cost cutting via automations that affect musicality. Even tho I love the convenience and low cost of a subscription service, the mentality of wanting more "permanent" "ownership", and of placing a high value on music persists in me, to the extent that I still regularly buy digital copies of full albums on top of the regular service subscription fee even though in many cases the digital album I puchase is also part of the subscription (mostly collecting the iconic stuff from my past: recently finished assembling all the Black Sabbath thru to Mob Rules, Max Webster, Elton John, Eagles ... working on Rush, Gordon Lightfoot and a few others - preferably picking up the re-released special editions that include remastered and/or extra song versions not available in the subscription service, but also, often just the digital album in original form also avalable in the subscription - so that even if an unlikely financial difficulty forces me to ditch the service, I'll have what's important / valuable to me - younguns in my circle think I'm nuts since, astonishingly to me, "buying albums" is completely outside their life experience).
