The musician of the digital age - a Jack-of-all-trades

While researching for my annotated bibliography, I came across some very interesting articles presenting views upon how the rise of the digital age transformed the roles and practices of creative professionals in general (Greffe - Artistic Jobs In The Digital Age) and of musicians in particular (the articles written by Hracs).

Hracs compares the lives and practices of independent musicians in the digital age with those who were signed to a record label in the old days. He says:

'Musicians signed to recording contracts advanced their careers on the basis of their creative abilities and were not required to possess technical, managerial, legal, or entrepreneurial skills. 

As individual musicians lacked the financial resources and technical skills to record independently, they were dependent on the major labels and thus tied spatially to New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Under the major label model of production, individual musicians signed to recording contracts enjoyed job security. In addition, their label provided a host of financial, technical, and business resources. However, in signing a contract, musicians relinquished much of their autonomy. Indeed, signed musicians had to work within the confines of the creative vision developed by their label and relinquish creative control over what songs to record, what producer to use, what studio to record in, what artwork to use, and how to package, promote, and distribute each album. '(Hracs, 2012, p. 4)

Musicians signed to recording contracts allocated the majority of their time to creative tasks, such as writing or performing; the financial and technical resources and the business side were provided and handled by the label. Under this model the artist only provided the talent to be developed and the creativity. This creativity was often limited by the label having control over what songs to record, what producer and what studio to use or how to package and distribute the album. As labels tried to appeal to the largest markets possible to make profit, they developed a star system (after Michael Jackson’s tremendous success with ‘Thriller’ in 1982) which widened the gap between the star artists and the lesser known acts.

If under the record label model musicians were not required to possess entrepreneurial, managerial or technical skills, under the independent model of music production, they are often responsible for these noncreative tasks. 

This de-specialisation and multi-skilling has been noticed in other creative professions, as an effect of the development of digital technologies. In an article about the changing experiences of fashion designers, McRobbie (2002, p.9) argues that the shift to more entrepreneurial modes of creativity is eroding traditional notions of creativity: 'Being somebody known as a specialist rather than a multi-skilled 'creative' is becoming a thing of the past and a mark of being over 35'.

Greffe (2003, p.2) observes that the influence of digital technology has affected artists in relation to activities such as sales or funding and that, without changing their field of activity, they find themselves involved in several fields at the same time. A relevant example can be seen in a comparison drawn between the evolution of the sound mixer from craftsman to artist in the 1950s and 1960s and the current situation where sound mixing is just one of the skills undertaken by self-producers ‘boasting expertise in all phases of production—from composition and sound engineering  to promotion and distribution.’ 

This multi-skilling is necessary even if musicians seek to appeal to an intermediary. In an interview for the LA Times, Ritch Esra, publisher of the Music Business Registry, talking about modern A&R practices, states: 

[Today] they’re not looking for talent, they’re looking for an ongoing business, for the culture and the marketplace to tell them what is good and successful (Rogers, 2010).

Hracs (2009, p. 458) also concurs when he points out that the ‘bohemian’ model of the artist is shifting towards a more professionalised entrepreneurial model. 

The combination of old and new skills is not only common among musicians nowadays, but is also expected. Therefore, in the light of the technological developments, the modern musician often finds himself/herself embracing, apart from writing and performing music, one or more of these roles: producer, distributor, promoter,  social media savvy, fundraiser, and, of course, entrepreneur.

References:

Greffe, X (2003) Artistic Jobs In The Digital Age. Columbus: Ohio State University.

Hracs, B. (2012) 'A Creative Industry In Transition: The Rise Of Digitally Driven Independent Music Production’ in Growth Change 43.3 (2012): pp.442-461. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2257.2012.00593.x/pdf (Accessed 12.10.2015)

Hracs, B. (2011) Risk And Freedom For Independent Musicians In Toronto. University of Toronto, 2011. Available at: http://martinprosperity.org/papers/Hracs%20%282011%29%20Risk%20and%20Freedom.pdf (Accessed: 12.10.2015)

McRobbie, A. (2002) ‘Clubs to companies: notes on the decline of political culture in speeded up creative worlds’. Cultural Studies 16.4, pp.516-531. Available at: http://www.variant.org.uk/events/art+labour/Clubs%20to%20Companies.pdf (Accessed: 12.10.2015)

Rogers, P. (2010) A&R Star Makers: The Vanishing Gatekeepers. Available at: http://www.laweekly.com/music/aandr-star-makers-the-vanishing-gatekeepers-2163762 (Accessed: 12.10.2015)