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.