Electric guitars was a kerfuffle. So it’s good to do something slightly less taxing. The first podcast didn’t come out terribly, so here’s episode 2!
Episode 2
Here’s an MP3.
Transcript
Introduction
What’s up light audio recordists? I hope you’re doing well today. This is Ronan Fitzgerald from light audio recording dot com. It’s Thursday October twenty fifth twenty eighteen, and you’re listening to episode 2 of the light audio recording podcast. This is a five-minute round-up of news from the past month of relevant stuff for light audio recording.
This month, we look at changes in US law for music creators, SoundCloud’s new monetization option, and other bits and pieces of gear and tech news.
Item one
The biggest news over the past month for music creators and tech enthusiasts was the passing of the Music Modernization Act, or the MMA.
The implications and significance of this are wide-ranging, but Jordan Bromley explains it pretty well for Billboard.
In a nutshell, the act creates a body to look after mechanical licensing on streaming platforms like Spotify. The body will be run by music publishers.
The first thing the act does is digitize the licensing process for music. Secondly, unclaimed royalties will now be in the care of the content community, rather than the streaming services. Thirdly, it leads to the most comprehensive database of information relevant to music publishing. And finally, these points will help streaming services license music accurately, so they reduce the chance of getting sued.
I’d highly recommend that light audio recorders set a Google Alert to keep on top of what will be expected on the creators’ part.
Item two
On October ninth, there was a major announcement from the folks over at SoundCloud. Four years after allowing some artists to monetize uploads on the platform, they’ve opened the feature to more users.
The program is called SoundCloud Premier. However, it’s not all super clear and easy though.
For starters, it’s only open to Pro and Pro Unlimited users. That might make some sense, as in users who pay are given the chance to make it back.
But, then within that, it’s also restricted to other conditions. For example, you’ll need to have more than five thousand plays of your music within a month. There are also geographical restrictions on where this monetization is offered. You can read the specifics on SoundCloud’s blog.
It feels like SoundCloud are playing catch up with Spotify after their announcement last month.
Item three
In Chromebook news, Asus announced a new model that comes with a fifteen inch screen.
It’s called the C five twenty three, and it’s Acer’s largest Chromebook to date. It comes hot on the heels of the recent C four twenty three model, which was fourteen inches.
From a landing page on their website, it seems screen size will be the only real difference between the two models.
There will be a couple of options in terms of specs. You have a choice between Intel dual-core or quad-core processors. You can get a touchscreen if you want, and you can have thirty two or sixty four gigabytes of internal storage.
In the context of light audio recording, obviously a larger screen is better for staring at DAWs for hours on end. But, the increased size might compromise how compact and portable your setup is.
Item four
On the music gear side of things, Gibson guitars have announced a new CEO.
James JC Curleigh is the former president of Levis, and replaces Henry Juskiewicz. In a press release, Gibson said vague business jargon, which translates to desperately hoping this guy makes us money.
Despite being one of the top guitar brands, Gibson have faced accusations of poor quality instruments in recent years. Reduced quality and increased prices tended to be blamed on the former CEO. Juskiewicz, in turn, blamed retailers, players, and literally anyone he could think of.
Business stuff aside, old school Gibson fans hope for a return to the quality of the instruments of yore.
Curleigh is a guitar player himself, and no doubt guitar enthusiasts around the world will be watching.
Wrap up
And that’s all for this month. I’ll be back with another podcast in November with a round up of the latest news for light audio recordists. Have a great weekend, and record your music.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to the light audio recording blog at light audio recording dot com, where you can follow my exploration of recording music in a cheap, compact way.
I’m Ronan Fitzgerald, that’s it for episode 2, and I’ll catch you next time.
Production
Everything used to produce episode 2 was the exact same as episode one.
Except I finished the mixing and editing in New York Public Library.
If you found this helpful, subscribe on the right hand side of this page. You’ll be notified when new posts go live on Thursdays, so you can be inspired ahead of the weekend. Also, feel free to shoot me a coffee!