In the world of music, many artists like Charlie Puth, Ed Sheeran, and Dua Lipa produce songs that end up being hits of the year. Many of these artists are not audiophiles, but they have the talent to produce and deliver catchy popular music that sounds good to the audience. After all, simplicity sells. So it becomes even more intriguing whether being a serious audiophile in music production can help you reach this success.
This article discusses the importance and advantage of being/becoming an audiophile in music production and summarizes the most popular music genres and what generates the most sales.
Benefits of being a music producer as an audiophile
First, let’s have a brief overview of why being an audiophile is important:
Audiophiles are interested in music as a form of art, the technical aspects of sound reproduction, and the musical instrument itself.
The advantage of being an audiophile is that you have a great understanding of music, sounds, and history with a huge range of listening experiences. You’ve listened to some of the best songs from both mainstream to obscure, and all of it provides you with an edge!
Now, onto the “how” part. How does being an audiophile help you produce music and/or attain success in the music industry:
Obsession with music and detail-oriented creative work
Some audiophiles are simply music lovers who take their hobby to the next level. Still, others are enriched with a vast technical knowledge of acoustics, harmonics, audio equipment, and the ability to write a melody and compose music naturally.
As an audiophile, you can recognize bad quality in music, which can be a huge advantage for a music producer. You can use your ability to identify poor sound quality and make fine adjustments that mere music lovers would have otherwise not noticed. You can quickly recognize musical patterns, bad tempos, and beats that don’t seem to fit or that are off by an octave.
Audiophiles are artists in the truest sense
Being an audiophile also helps you be more creative. When listening closely to a song, you know what would complement a specific tune or what beat would sound harmonious. You can discover and be creative in your melodic ideas. Combine the detailed-focused, organized nature of the classical genre with current musical trends, and there you have it: an astounding work of art that will amaze your audience.
Using one’s own knowledge and developing one’s own style is essential to making an artistic work that stands out. Many artists have become successful because of their talent and creativity, and audiophiles will be able to use both of these elements in their music. Not to mention that their obsession with the technical aspects of music helps them develop good beats, melodies, and lyrics for their tracks.
The music production process is casual and smooth
A final important aspect of being an audiophile is that you become more skilled in general through your understanding of sound. You don’t create music rudimentary, but rather playfully and spontaneously, developing your skills in the process. Audiophiles tend to have a natural sense of music, a fluid and clear style that helps them create music easily, whereas most people create music through brute force, with hundreds of mistakes and corrections.
Develop relationships – people love passionate people
Being an audiophile and developing a community around you works both ways. You gain trust and followers, which benefits you when it comes to asking for tips, getting advice, or finding the person who has the ability to remaster your track into something extraordinary. The music industry has good artists and relationship-based music producers at its core, so being an audiophile with a deep love for music will render you some connections.
Clients appreciate the technical quality of your sound
And last but not least! Clients—the most important people in any music production business—will appreciate your understanding of sound, attention to detail, and ability to bring ideas to life.
Whether you’re a solo music creator or a music producer for a large company, you’ll find that being an audiophile pays off, especially if you have a technical background as a sound engineer. It’s much easier to work with others when you’ve already had a love of sound, acoustics, and everything in between and a ton of knowledge behind your back.
Correlation between having success in music and being an audiophile
While being an audiophile doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be successful in music, it does help you improve the quality of your music in general. Not all successful music producers are audiophiles, so you don’t necessarily have to be an audiophile to create good music.
Regardless of this detail, you can become a successful music producer as an audiophile for music genres that appeal to other audiophiles, classicists, or simply music lovers that fancy your style.
Climbing the pop music ladder as an audiophile
A research paper entitled Instrumental Complexity of Music Genres and Why Simplicity Sells states that low complexity music helps increase sales in different music genres and the number of artists contributing to that style.
Research also shows that as genres attract more artists, variety and new patterns of expression increase, and uniformity decreases. Less uniformity makes a genre more unique; however, for the genre to become widely popular, songs in that style begin to follow less varied and familiar patterns.
That said, less variation helps listeners identify an artist or genre more quickly during the short listening time, which is highly correlated with increased CD sales. Being an audiophile who appreciates complex music may be counterintuitive for the purpose of driving sales, given the genre’s declining popularity as complexity increases and audiophiles’ distaste for simple, ordinary music.
There is a substantial correlation between being an audiophile in music production and being successful in the music industry. People like songs that are easy to digest, which is not the case for audiophiles. However, suppose you have the talent, a good ear for analyzing music, a passion for making music, and the ability to recognize melodic patterns. In that case, you can succeed in the music business.
Using audiophile knowledge to succeed in other areas
The relationship between music complexity and success as an audiophile is just one facet of a larger picture. While you can have success as an audiophile producer in the Pop music industry, there are other genres of music where you can excel. With the talent of an audiophile, you have a great chance of becoming a successful songwriter, soundtrack producer, or classical music composer.
All these professions require an understanding of music and how to create good music for a big, established audience. Often, the audience for classical and more sophisticated music is ready to pay good money for well-produced music. If you combine your music production knowledge with your passion for music, you have the opportunity to create a successful career in the music industry.
In IFPI’s 2018 Music Consumer Insight Report, the most listened to music genres includes a few of the genres preferred by audiophiles: Classical and Soul/Blues ranked number 7 and 9, respectively. The report points to the fact that, even though Pop music is the most preferred, there’s quite a large audience for genres in which audiophiles can specialize and local music genres.
FAQ
Can you improve as an artist by becoming an audiophile?
Sure. But becoming an audiophile is more than just listening to music and owning the best gear. You have to invest time and listen to the music of all sorts. Your appreciation for music and improved understanding comes from an eclectic assortment of influences, ranging from the blandest and simple to the most sophisticated and extreme. LINK HERE
After all that, you have to apply what you hear. Be able to discern styles, themes, harmony, and timbre. Without that listening and understanding, you’ll never properly connect the dots to get the most out of your music production as an audiophile.
Conclusion
Being an audiophile is not all that matters when making music. However, it provides you with five or more significant advantages that would boost your chances of succeeding as a musician, sound engineer, or music producer.
So what are you waiting for? Head on out there and find your passion — whether you’re into classical chamber music or blues, you have a big audience waiting for you. May success find you!
Make sure you check out the other articles for more information about mastering, recording, and music production. LINK HERE