Stage lighting is often overlooked when thinking of live performances. It can be easy to assume that the music is the main focus of a live performance. However, the appropriate stage lighting can make or break a stage performance. A well versed lighting guy is able to use his musical intuition to make changes accordingly to the changes within a song. This ultimately provides for a visual connection between the music and the listener. For instance, a blue hue will appropriately accent a sad slow song whilst purples and yellows will create an uplifting mood. We are beings of emotion and the use of lights during a performance enhances the way people often feel towards certain songs.

Spontaneity

A key part to creating a great lighting experience is spontaneity. This is where good intuition becomes a great skill for a lighting guy to have. Smaller scale lighting in bars, clubs, and small venues requires improvised lighting movements. Larger shows like coliseums typically will have a preset show that does not require improve. Darkening and changes in color tone that are placed at just the right moment can help a band create a more memorable experience for the audience. It is important for lighting guys to cut their teeth on the smaller gigs and gain the intuition/skillset that is required for the large performances. Musicians who plan to hire a person to run lights for their shows need to have a little knowledge on how it works as this will ultimately help them better communicate and make for a better on stage experience.

The ability for anyone to access any music from anywhere has completely revolutionized the music business. Whilst new money is being brought to musicians from these platforms, there are also many challenges that are being faced due to the oversaturated market. The music streaming platforms are calling for longer albums that contain longer songs. These same services are also not paying an adequate amount for these musicians to make a living. Musicians are needing to compete on a level that is too financially stressful for the everyday musician to survive. They are relying heavily on extravagant stage productions and merchandise sales to pay for their new ventures. This takes the focus away from the musical works themselves which could change the listening experience for the worse. What can be done to thrive in such a changing industry?

Remedies

The answer might lie in changing the way music is made. Portable studios and recording software accessibility has now allowed artists to directly release their own music. This is necessary for them to keep up with the competition and demand that streaming services are putting on the musicians. In regards to generating more income for artists, streaming services could begin to make exclusive rights deals with certain artists in order to pay the artists a better compensation. Even though this might upset the utilitarians out there, this would ultimately give musicians the financial gains that they need in order to keep making better and more innovative music instead of putting the main focus on things like merchandise.

There are plenty of record production crews who will say that having the latest state-of-the-art equipment in a large studio is the only way to make it to the radio. However, the dawn of the personal and portable recording studio is changing the way that musicians are able to make music. Recording apps are now available across all Apple products which is enabling just about anyone to have the opportunity to learn mix and mastering. It is also is not limited to just Apple product as there are other free recording software programs such as Audacity which is used by amateurs and professionals alike.

Who? What? Where?

The craze in the industry could have been stirred by the idea of portability. Andrew Huang, whose slogan “Make Music Everywhere,” is a popular Youtuber and producer in Toronto. He has particularly gained striking Youtube traction on the portable synth and recording interface videos that he puts out regularly. The idea of enabling anyone to record is changing the way that many musicians are making music. Making realistic drum beats without needing a full kit, modeling rare vintage guitar amps, and simulating various legendary effects are all made possible on the everyday devices that we carry. This idea of a minimalistic portable studio is pushing artists to become more DIY with their projects and helping promote individuality in their music. We will see this trend continue to evolve as music streaming keeps demanding artists to record larger amounts of music for their material to be heard.