The End of a Music Industry as We Know it?

On October 14^th, 2021, I interviewed Tyler (A.K.A. Audiodyssey). A self-proclaimed bedroom producer and an administrator for Gravitas Records, about his perspective on Covid-19 and the effect it has had on the music industry. The impact is global and could potentially change the industry worldwide. This could be both good and bad.

Audiodyssey stated that there are both pros and cons regarding the creative process of production due to the pandemic. Being forced to stay home has been beneficial because most of the stuff he does is alone. However, it’s far more difficult for others who want to get together and jam in person. He then went on to say that he would be lying if he didn’t enjoy producing from the comfort of his own home.

On the flip-side to this, the music industry has struggled. The virus has crushed the entire nightlife scene. Venues aren’t allowed to cram people in them as they used to and can’t book artists like they did before, which means now the artists aren’t getting paid either. There has been a negative impact on the music industry. Audiodyssey believes that people will be more prone to owning the rights of their IP’s rather than selling them off to labels.

So now that all these big-name artists are home and have free time to spare, they are entering these up-and-comer contests and mopping the floor with nonprofessional adversaries. This is going to cause a cherry-picking effect. Tyler believes that this will indeed raise the bar for bedroom producers and music.

The music industry is fundamentally about the music at its core. However, it’s surrounded by so much social networking and buddying up to people. In today’s world, the music industry is more about who you know than what you know. Tyler stated, “Your love for creating music isn’t going to go away. That’s why you are there! What you need to do is figure out how in this overly saturated market, can you get people to see you”.

Granted, the music industry has its ups and downs and always has. There is just something about the entire creative process that brings people together. I asked Tyler if he had any final words of advice, and this is what he said “Keep making music and don’t ever stop. It’s a rewarding thing to do. It’s a skill to have. It’s a fun thing just to be able to pick up. It’s something that you can share with other people. You can pick up and create with others. Music is so cool. I’m not talking about recording. You are communicating with someone else. It’s like speaking directly out of your soul straight with theirs. You don’t need to use words and you two can still work together effectively to create things that no one has ever heard.”.

You can find Audiodyssey’s @ https://soundcloud.com/audiodyssey/