The Music Industry is Dead (here's how musicians survive) 

Huge thanks to Tim for doing this, check out his masterclass with this link www.timpierce.com/samurai

The thing about introverts hit me hard. I suck at selling myself.

There's definitely a discussion to be had about the state of AI and music, I've only heard the insane advances in it in the last few days. Should I make a video on it????

"Some people feel the rain, others just get wet" - Bob Marley

What breaks my heart more than anything is that a great deal of music has lost its HUMANITY. Everything locked to a flawless tempo grid, software emulations of real instruments, tuned-to-death vocals, endless post production plugins etc. Seriously...you put on an epic record from the 70s like Carole King's Tapestry, and it's a major EXPERIENCE. All the nuances of tempo fluctuations from PERFORMING, all the sharp and flat "imperfections" of her voice, all REAL instruments...all of it. THAT is what we've lost, and continue to lose more of every day.

The death of the album is the greatest tragedy. People don't experience the beauty and art of a full album anymore, they just listen to the popular hits.

I grew up during the album era. I learned to play guitar and bass, got pretty good at them, and dreamed of getting signed and making a living as a rockstar. I jammed with a lot of friends and had a great time, but due to the fact that I use a wheelchair and have some mental health issues, there were just too many barriers to properly pursue that dream. A few years ago, I starting learning to sing and in 2022, at the age of 50, I started releasing my own original music. It's very nichey (just vocal and ukulele), I still haven't found much of an audience, and I seriously doubt that music will ever be my job. But the fact that I can record a song at my dining table and have it on multiple platforms, among the music of my heroes, in just a couple of days is honestly satisfying enough. From a purely artistic standpoint, I definitely think it's better today.

I still abhor the fact that the industry is still trying its hardest to leech money from the artist. If it was just the streaming platform that would be one thing. I wouldn't mind making little to no money from my own music if it was even near a fair cut for my work.

Rick Beato made a good point about how the music industry destroyed its self. Around the time Napster came out labels would focus on 2-3 songs that would be the hit singles and the rest of the album would be shitty filler songs, and than sell the album for $20. No one in their right mind would spend $20 on 2-3 good songs so naturally people turned to Napster. Granted alot of people probably would have used Napster regardless of how many good songs were on the album but still.

I was a huge music consumer years ago and observed my appetite for music retract over time. It impacted my music playing too because if you don't listen to stuff, you can't get ideas of what to play next and I ended up playing the same 10 tracks in loop, every single day. At some point I decided I needed better consumption hygiene. I use streaming services as a preview system, similar to going to a music store a few decades ago and you would listen to a few tracks on the headphones present there. I don't skip tracks anymore, and if I like a couple tracks, I go listen to the whole album. Because a whole album is usually an hour, it means I have to dedicate time for it. I gave back a spot of my free time to music. Even if you still use streaming services, just trying to be more selective and choose albums instead of random tracks, and dig the artists a little more once you find an album you like is such an improvement in my opinion.

There are still gatekeepers in streaming music. Think about their "curated" lists, how do you think songs get on those lists? There is so much music being created now the hard part is getting people to hear it. Don't get me wrong, I agree it's better now in terms of artists ability to create music cheaply at home, but the volume of music produced today has skyrocketed which makes the problem of getting it heard difficult.

Nice video, but it always bugs me hearing youtubers gushing about the freedom we have nowadays. Here are a few points that I believe we should think critically about: - The online platforms are the new music industry. You can't bypass them, and your success depends on the algorithm and policy changes. - Being able to upload whatever you want is not freedom, not without a few caveats at least. To make a living, you will have to conform to whatever the internet audience is expecting, and youtube videos are actually more formatted than we give them credit for (topics, length, visuals...). Plus the sheer mass of people competing for attention is a high barrier to get over. - Survivor's bias: just because _you_ made it doesn't mean anyone can, even if they follow your steps. It's eluding the vast majority of people who gave up along the way, who could have been great artists if they had a structure supporting them. - Which leads us to hope labor: working hundreds of hours hoping that it will pay off in the long run. It seems we're accepting working hard for free and in isolation for online platforms, with the carrot on a stick keeping us going. Just because it's our choice to invest these hours doesn't make it okay. I didn't write all this to claim it used to be better, I just think it's important to stay critical and to expect more

What a video. This is easily the best one I've watched on this channel.

I’m older than you, but I am reminded by your excellent video just how quickly/suddenly things change-things that seemed such a firm part of society itself. The music industry, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines come to mind. Where they still exist, they are niche products now, like oil paintings, sculptures, and etchings. All were as ubiquitous as cell phones and iPads are today. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

So Lars Ulrich was right.. Napster really did kill the music industry.

For me, this is easily one of your three best Videos so far. Excellent!

The “industry” has always been a sh*t show. People making art for people is all that has ever mattered. Everything else is gilded product.

Lately i have been going through my mom's old cassette collection and man let me say i have been having way more fun with that listening experience. Especially with mixed tapes that are unlabeled. To quote Forest Gump "It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" and that reins so true with old tapes and CD's sure spotify playlist's are great and convenient but not even knowing what is about to be next is a whole new level of excitement in music listening, Has really pushed me to be more creative with my own works. So i 10/10 recommend giving it shot. Just might walk away with new retro fav's you never knew existed.

Even 1 gigabyte screen less MP3 player has more musical and emotional intimacy than Spotify or RU-vid. I miss those days and am glad I went through that era of only having a few songs in rotation and really letting them grow on you

Keep up the amazing work, Sammy G!

Gotta love Tim's open-mindedness, observance and nuance. You'd think with the names he worked with he'd be stuck in time or his own head, but not at all.

I went back University and became a lawyer. Music is just a hobby for me now - an outlet. Producing on Ableton etc became too much screen time so now I play classical guitar and piano. I also bought an eight course Renaissance lute. At least my life has structure now!

Loved that you talked about that so many things are better today. We need more videos like that. True people talking true things. That's what RU-vid was made for. To bring us together in real life, to share our thoughts in a positive way and maybe share some things that might help other people or make them happy. It's not the industry to blame, it's not the algorithm and it's not the past that "has been better" - it's you making a choice of what you want to consume, what you want to support and what you want to feel. No better or worse, just a "what you make it". There are thousands of amazing artists and true people out here and it's never been so easy to find them and connect with them like you said. It's up to us to take all the opportunities that the presence gives us, to support those true people that provide us with their art and also stay true to ourselves. And most of all to not fall for the high frequency content trap, but to create content that has emotional value and feeds the soul like this video. Much love to all of you from Austria, stay true :)

Like everything internet, there is also the effect it is having on people psychologically. As someone who is on that perfect cusp of having experienced records, cassettes, CDs, digital purchases, and now streaming, my relationship to music has changed vastly in the age of 'everything available and it's all of equal value' (aka your time and your subscription fee)

really great plug for tim pierce's master class. you are so correct about hearing a lead player explain what he was feeling, and going for for each note of a solo, as opposed to simply watching from afar. Tim should be quite pleased samurai.

I love music, always have, and moved to Hollywood at 24 in 1992 to pursue music and music career. I knew I wasn't talented enough to single-mindedly pursue being "signed" or solely succeed on creating, so got entry level jobs at music studios and interned at record labels and slowly worked my way upward. It was the beginning of the industry shift then, the birth of digital music as a viable alternative or replacement to analogue (and the debates raged daily back then), as well as distribution entering the unknown. I eventually became the lead engineer on one of the first popular internet streaming radio shows, but it collapsed under it own weight of success due to the lack of clear revenue streams for streaming back then. I left the industry altogether after 13 years but those were interesting days. Now I gig in coffee houses in New England. I loved this video and conversation. Mad respect for your and Tim's understanding and perspective. This is a brilliant share.

Enjoyed this, well done. My dad was a working musician. He always told me that that music is an awesome 2nd profession.

Pretty hyped for when "Jazz by Dolphin Noises" does hit the shelves. In a vinyl recording of playback of a vinyl recording.

Been wondering when we would get someone with a platform talking about this. THANK YOU

I came across your youtube. Thank you for sharing. Cheers.

12:15 "Over the last year I've become a businessman. I used to think an artist had to separate himself from business matters, but now I realise you have more artistic freedom If you also keep an eye on business." -David Bowie 'Melody Maker' Magazine 28 February 1976

The music industry is not burning down, but the artists. As a tiny piece of information: the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) make more money than at the beginning of 2000. What is getting lost the art of music being made together, I work as a part-time producer and vocalteacher, and in my area (Frankfurt) most singers tend to be more and more lone wolves. The days when you had to work with others created a much larger network. Nowadays working on most stuff alone creates an absurd kind of stress and loneliness that comes with working alone. I think collaboration is an essential key of success, even if a performance on a record isn't perfect by someone else, it can create more attraction towards a release if your collaborator shares the song with other people. Alone that doesn't happen. That Artists and Writers barely make their living today is f*ckup and no good thing. Due to loving music so much it's so easy to get pulled over the table instead of sitting there as an equal.

Thanks. This was a lovely documentary!

Thank you for making this video. I graduate college in 2 weeks and am aiming to work in the music industry, likely moving to LA this summer. You and Tim provided vital information that is not talked about enough, and served up many important reminders that people should have when seeking to enter this landscape. I'll be using this video as well as the countless others of yours that I've seen and learned from over the years to guide me. Kudos

Wow my favourite concerto to play! A student is learning it at the moment :) Okay, watching the rest of the video now, thanks.

Man this was exactly what I needed to see, 20 years almost as a musician and about 8 albums worth of fully finished songs and I'm finally ready to get my stuff out there. This definitely motivates me to make some real moves and actually gave me a bit more direction. I had to subscribe. Thanks bro. 👍

in my small city near Toronto, there's nearly no live music, *a decade ago it was jumping* . Guitarists just recording alone using programmed drums has rarely produced much that anybody cares about, not often. Music is best when people play together, in rooms for people. Most artists putting music solely online or creating content will not make it. No ears, no fans.

Desperately needed this video ❤

I admire your optimism about things getting better in the music industry but we'll have to fight for it for that to happen.

Thanks!

This is a really good video! I'm someone who is on the verge of making music a full time gig, but sometimes getting songwriting clients can be volatile. I think we all suffer from the negative attitude from having a day job, and not being proud of it. I believe anyone in a similar boat agrees that we sometimes lie to each other about not having another job, because we fear that makes us come off as "not talented enough" to be considered for what we do best. I think it's time that we try to put an end to that self-perceived shame!

What a great video. My wife and I are in our sixties. It’s hard to keep up with how much things have changed.

Awesome video! Im glad i watched

I like that introverts were mentioned. I'm not just an introvert, I'm mentally ill. It's very difficult for me to go anywhere for any reason. It's difficult for me to deal with people (though, that doesn't mean I don't care about people.) I was in a band in the late '80s and early '90s and we had performed at our first gig. The guitarist and the drummer were thrilled by the experience and I absolutely hated it. I just wanted to record music. I hadn't played music in a very, very long time but recently, I've been re-learning guitar, bass and a little keyboards and there are so many more possibilities now. Okay, so maybe I won't become a famous musician but once I've got things going and can record again, I can put music out into the world and if anyone happens to hear it and like it, that would make me happy.

Very good topic to discuss with, I’ve been thinking about things related to these topics lately.

TBH, I don't care if I get a following of 5 people, 50 people, or a hundred... I just think it's really cool that I can put in a little investment, make a little studio in my bedroom and record something cool to share even with just a few friends. I'm immensely grateful that I get the chance to even do this as a hobby, 'cause even in 1990 when I was born that ability just did not exist. If I ever do decide to push into making myself a brand to make more than 20 bucks a year off what I've created it's going to be because I want to, not because it's required to keep on doing this. That's pretty amazing.

Awesome interview! 🔥🎸

I think one downside to the newer industry model is the loss of "Bands too dysfunctional to succeed in their own" Appetite For Destruction could never be made under the current system, because a band fueled by heroin and bourbon would struggle to organise the business side of things, and if they could, the album would not have had the firecracker-passion it has.

Very important video, thank you.

Wow great video and so honest. I struggle with old vs new school. I have my day job and my night job which is my channel and making music I love. Never could have done that years ago. Thanks again.

Yes! Very motivational. I thought this was going to be crappy.

Fantastic video 🔥

Just a foot note...your a fine musician...thanks for your videos and content.🎶🎶🎸🎸✨✨🎧🎧

I'm celebrating the fact that we got another samurai video 🎉

Chaos and change are inevitable, embrace it! Michael Storms

Great video, thanks.

Evolve or die. The record industry is just part of the greater music industry. They are not equivalents of each other.

I see this evolving into musical collectives, where like-minded musicians join together to organize musical projects. Such collectives could also share recording, administrative and marketing functions, freeing musicians to pursue their art. The hard part is profit sharing.

Sammy, thanks for bring up the point that because of gatekeeping, a lot of really talented people never got a chance. I've been a musician in Minneapolis for 45 years and have been in bands with, played shows with and listened to a ton of top notch people who are unknown. It's a shame that they only got to a certain point because of how the business was structured at the time.

Love your content lately keep it up dude!

Great video! ✌🏽

Yes, the inter-webs have given us a massive wealth of information at our fingertips. It's better now. You are right. I'm old. I remember scraping together $15 to buy the latest album and only two songs were good. It was super disappointing. Or, you had to spend $10 to buy sheet music to find out how to play a song and it would be in the wrong key or completely wrong. It's so much better now for the consumer.

I created songs all my life on just a piano and when midi came out, I totally ignored any of the digital ways. Felt like no soul existed in it. Playing even the best keyboard made me irritated. Then i got involved with a group of Dj events and got bit by the edm bug! Haha! It taught me about the importance of dynamics and transitions! It was powerful to see the crowd respond to certain changes and songs. Well 30 years later, kids grown & without a piano ever around, working for others when finally after hitting rock bottom in a way emotionally… Then I started researching and trying music creation phone apps I forced myself to at least try…. Almost quit. But now all the stuff I’ve posted since 2020!has been created on my phone and finally got some pro gear to work with and .Yes, even a piano found it’s way home to me. This path is hard as hell, im exhausted, frustrated at times, but it’s one of happiest realities in my life so far.yay🎉

What Tim has said is soo true, ("Doing stuff in the evening and on the weekends) but then again on the other hand, sometimes its better to do something that or which is your passion rather than to work an everyday job!

Appreciate the message of this video Always to look at both sides. Still dream of the Rockstar on a private jet stardom “What day is it”? Cheers

always exicted for a new samurai video!

Tim is the man. It’s insane to look at his resume and realize how much pop culture he’s actually been a part of. OG.

Even during the cd era and before, music was still free on the radio.

Just bought '1000 fans' cheers man.

i actively search recommended music for artists with sub 100k listeners per month. some of my favorites recently are sub 10k and a couple are sub 1k listeners. there is a saturation but I agree it's better for the artist but harder to make a living

that guitar Tim is holding is beautiful!

I, for one, would love to hear what jazz by dolphin noises sounds like.

I remember being a kids & knowing a career in music was being in a band, writing, recording, & touring. Now though that's still the dream but it's not the career. The career now imo is you. Your personality, opinions, interests, your ability to teach, to entertain, to sell/be sold, and also be able to make music that is still you. There's no doors for anyone else to open, but you still gotta walk through them.

@samuraiguitarist please make a video on the cheap production equipment you mentioned using in this video. Another idea would be comparable equipment.

I know I am a bit late to this, but I needed to add my input. I live in a relatively poor family, I cannot afford any real instruments and I have always had a talent for music. I love writing and listening to music and I really wished that I could someday write and play my own music. Back in the day, this wish would have never come true, but I have been born and raised in a digital era, and that possibility to make music is fulfilled by virtual instruments and free software. I believe music is for everybody, no matter their income or living condition, and without virtual instruments I would never been able to make my own music. I am still young (only 17) and I hope that someday I will be able to afford some real instruments and better software, but until then I will be using what I have.

12:00 that's something I remember talking about when I was a teenager in about 2005+/-. My friends and I had a discussion about who was the best guitarist and or the greatest ever band and all of us where throwing around the usual subjects but then one of my mates said "probably some guy in small village in Africa or South America or so, who will never meet the right people to get a chance, because of where they are from". 20ish years later and I'm listening to a lot of music from exceptional musicians out of tiny places at the far end of the world, maybe not the greatest musicians of all time, but otherwise exactly the kind of people my mate, all those years ago, used as the example for people with no chance of making it, by default. So that's a good thing in my book.

Frank Zappa had a home recording studio 1979

I'm not so sure. I think the concept of music...and, has always been around at some level. I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw once. It said "Real musicians have day jobs." About being a musician plus an entrepreneur is spot on. Not that many people can do that. I learned that about myself a few years ago to my dismay. But you know...I finally found my niche; and it's teaching. Best job I ever had.

I enjoy the freedom afforded people with streaming but the indie and underground scenes and labels did give an outlet to those too quirky for the mainstream. and the way you got your music out there was gigs.

People were making and playing music long before the industry existed and the existence of things like Soundcloud shows that people will keep making music long after the music industry exists.

I have been struggling with this for the last few years. To make my own music, i have to know software, become my own producer, edit videos, learn where to post, grind content creation I just want friends to play music with, i want people to meet with and create, and have that naturally spread if it is meant to. It is a false image to think making music has gotten easier in my opinion. unless you dedicate all your time to it, its so hard to do

The music industry died with American Idol..

I remember a time when an album CD was 25€. At that moment I stopped buying. Napster was very useful for discovering new talents..

By today, one would think that the best solution, would have been to continue with the old music industry, but fix the issues with it, rather than justifying why today, in any way shape or form is better than before. It isn't, and the ultimate proof is reasonable when we simply look and listen to the music that we now get in mainstream culture. I can't and will never take ANYONE seriously who thinks that someone like Taylor Swift (for one of many examples) deserves such "success".

Sammy G youre scaring me. Im 15, almost 16, and really am dedicated at this point to a career in the music industry; but I don't think I will make it. I'm not being boastful or trying to brag when I say I have the skills, but I have played for 11 ish years now and know my way around the guitar. This video is pretty goddamn cool, (love seeing Tim featured on the channel) but it scares me because I dont know if its actually a viable career to want to be a session guitarist or performer of some description. It just seems like at this point you either have to gain a very significant following or you just arent able to support yourself, and then you end up having to work another job which takes time and energy away from music. What do you think about this? Are there still opportunities where you have lots of control over where you end up? Or will it always be who you know and if ya get lucky? By the way I really haven't been specific with the careers I'm looking at, I suppose I am interested in a lot of things; having a band would be cool, but doesnt seem possible, session work, working in tours for other musicians, even content creation. Just to paraphrase as that is quite a horrible paragraph to read; music is cool. I want a job in the industry. Is there a way to achieve that kind of work, with a liveable income, and consistent work?

Everything you said here gives the artists more control and makes music a cottage industry. The biggest problem though is promotion, since you're in an ever growing ocean of artists all shouting to get their voices heard. You may need be able to get by with a smaller audience, but building it and promoting yourself is a huge mountain to climb compared to the album era. I'm curious to see what happens to the generation that only grows up with the instant gratification of addictive, short-form media. How will that influence the next generation artists? What I do see nowadays that I certainly didn't have growing up is that the young generation now have access to and consume so much more music from previous eras and that exposure is wonderful.

Hey Sammy G just wanna say this script was awesome and your presentation was A+

Yeah, today you can be your own investor, producer, engineer, bandmate, booker, market analyst, advertising agency, graphic designer, distributor, music video editor/director/producer, accountant.. it's amazing. If you're lucky (after your day job that it's "okay" to have, of course) you might even find some time to make music once in a while. Hell with all this AI hubbub your smart device will pretty much write and perform the songs for you, so you can get back to doing all the other stuff those damned gatekeeping record lables used to keep you from being able to do. Not like the old days when you had to write a song, then go somewhere to play it for people. What a drag that was.

I have only just started watching this video and one detail struck me so hard I needed to rewatch the very beginning to make sure I wasn't wrong. But I wasn't, and it really is a Mf-105 cartridge from the Polish company Unitra. How did that happen??

Sure, there are fewer distribution barriers today, but fewer customers are buying. I suspect it is still only major label artists making decent money from recordings. Money from live shows and merch is there as it has always been, but unlike the past, this seems to be the only revenue stream still available. So, things are like they always were in terms of revenue: get a label deal, and play live.

The point he makes around 9:00 is so true. If I listen to the entire pain remains trilogy the climax at the end is orgasmic

10:43 Good points, and yet I come across more hi-fi albums from the 70s than I have time to listen to. Were all those creators uniquely privileged with studio access etc?

I appreciate you trying to make lemonade. We have to adapt of course.

So much music being produced and still it's so hard finding a REALLY good synthwave song.

Tim is my favorite session guitarist (I'm a Rick Springfield fan), so his presence on RU-vid is awesome for me.

For acquiring music, I do not and will not use any streaming service, ever. The majority of what I have comes on used CDs and records I buy at estate sales.

Damn that hit hard the part about having talent and in the past having ppl help you get out there. Im such a loner lol For sure its toxic as hell lately, people dont want to collab they want to use you to get ahead

Main stream music died 20 yrs ago when computers were used to make bad singers sou d like they could hit a note. The 90s were the last great era for mainstream music, but there are thousands of great underground musicians out there, so we still live in exiting times for music.

Dang, You get to hang out and pick Tim Pierces brain? All those hits, He could very well have been on every radio station at the same time, day in, day out. What happens at the grammys, does he just go up with everyband, lol. And If one of his songs wins, That means that one of his songs loses. Just give him My info in case he wants to get serious about playin lead guitar

Guitar collection video plz