The Missing Mastering Engineer
If you aspire to define and create culture, it can't be automated by the machine.
During the year of 2020, I was commissioned by a national music organization to put together a friendly, but thorough, presentation on the topic of Artificial Intelligence's impact on the music industry. This presentation was primarily comprised from the efforts of several Berklee College graduate students who did an astounding job.
We presented a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) that addressed many parts of the industry. In one of the sections we discussed mastering. With discussions with the Berklee students I hypothesized that mastering engineers would be heavily impacted within the next five years. The impact already existed since companies like Landr were offering AI assisted mastering services. In other words, it was not a stretch to suggest that a larger financial impact would be felt in the near future.
The organization who commissioned this document was uncomfortable with this claim (and other claims). As such, they shelved our 100 slide presentation. A presentation that covered the industries of mixing, music production, scoring for video and film, and copyright.
It's now 2024. Many things discussed in this presentation have turned out 100% accurate but I want to reflect on what offended them the most: the impact on mastering.
Mastering music was the first to go
My experience in recording studios started in the early 2000s during my internships as a 19 year old. I was introduced to what I would call the delicacy of proper acoustics and listening experiences. I have memories of how an HD Audio CD of Peter Gabriel sounded like in that studio. Now although this place did not provide mastering services, we certainly spent much of our time listening and analyzing the fidelity of our audio.
Mastering is a part of the process of preparing audio for distribution and also establishes the final sonic quality and fidelity of a project. Back then it was for CDs. Today it's for streaming. It should be no surprise that it's the first in line to be automated. Preparing audio for some distribution is fairly technical and technical matters are the easiest for machines to handle.
What is the role of the mastering engineer?
A question about the role of the mastering engineer was brought up to me recently. How are they involved with the process of releasing music? What does it mean to us? The mastering engineer used to be a calling card. You would see their name listed in the credits. They would help define a music community. You could see an engineers name and infer aspects of the project. It's similar when looking at producer and mixing engineer credits.
For one of my recent projects I hired Taylor Deupree—a very established musician within the realm of ambient music—to lend his mastering touch. I was proud to have the opportunity to hire him as I've been a fan of his work for many years. So attaching his name, even in this small way, allowed me to speak to the community. If you know his work, his taste, and vision, then you'll know he used his best judgement and resources to finalize my musical project. His name tells a story and it could tell you something about what you're hearing.
Nowadays, many of us are automating that away.
Do we know what we're giving up?
In the SWOT analysis for the presentation we discussed how many more musicians would no longer seek the services of mastering engineers. It was clear. However, the presentation included that there would eventually be an increased demand for engineers who carry a story, brand, and a name. We argued that there would eventually be a pendulum shift away from automating away what I'm going to call a social craftwork. When we collaborate, assist each other, or work alongside each other, we engage in a practice that defines our culture. From that we sometimes engage in ritual.
There's nothing inherently wrong with using an automated mastering service like Landr. The issue becomes this instead: When does the musician want to create a community? When do they want to create activities around their creative process?
If you aspire to define and create culture, it can't be automated by the machine.
This missing presentation
As mentioned, the national music organization told us that we can not release our presentation. They told me to also remove their name from it. They were worried about "negative press" and push back. The specific director who commissioned this project and cancellation has since been fired. The cat is also out of the bag regarding the impact of AI and the music industry. I may decide to release this presentation in the near future.
Questions
Are there aspects of your creative practice that you believe should be automated?
Are there aspects of your creative practice that you'd rather do "the hard way"?