Technology, society, industry and music production: the changing roles of the record producer and the recording engineer since 1970

Abstract: Over the past three decades, in the recording studio many extensive technical changes have occurred. This has changed the way music is produced. Other factors have also greatly influenced music, studio production and the role of the producer and the recording engineer. The Internet, digital formats and industry standardizations are believed to have caused changes too. Specifically, the computer industry introduced many digital technologies over these decades. At the same time, the music industry changed as did consumer habits. As a result, current production practices - the techniques of and aesthetic application of technology to recording - have been shaped by several outside influences that include both technical and business factors. Since the 70's, the computer, music, and audio industries have begun to influence one another. The purpose of this research study is to identify in which parts of the production chain the changes have occurred and begin to assess what their impact has been on the roles of the producer, engineer and music produced. Findings from this study may help us to understand the connections between outside industries and the audio industry and analyze how they can affect production tools and production practices. The scope of this study will be constrained to a cross examination of technological changes in recording equipment, changes to the amount of time producers and engineers spend on particular parts of the production process and what topics/decisions are discussed in the recording studio, but also technical, social, business and changes will be correlated to link change to cause. The methodology for this study contains of two parts. The literature study provides a background and a basis for analyzing what has happened, formulating speculations about how it happened, and predicting what may happen in the future. The experiment uses questionnaires that have been sent out to producers and engineers from Sweden, USA and the United Kingdom. The questionnaire responses have been compared to each other, but also considered against findings in existing literature. Indications from this research suggest that changes have happened in the whole music production chain and in some aspects also on the studio roles. The shift to digital technology has had the greatest impact on how recordings are made, but also consumers and the music industry have had an important impact.