As digital file sharing becomes more common modern creators of music have more access to sounds than any previous generation. There are countless online libraries of different sampled instruments and many artists are even making all their audio files public. This is huge for independent music creators as they now have access to professional quality audio files along with the permission to use these files in their own original pieces. This gradually growing wave of free audio files is becoming the backbone of entire genres.
Musicians that are heavy uses in the electronic production are more empowered than ever before. Not only does free access to professional sounds allow for creators to make better sounding music but also it allows them to tap into fan bases of other musicians. For instance, if Beyonce were to release her audio recording free for artists to use however they wish. Electronic artists, along with numerous other genres, would have a chance to form a connection with her audience. While the empowerment of digital artists is allowing for easier access to the industry some musicians believe that artists who use traditional instruments are at risk of limitations. Remix culture can only go so far if the artist creating a remix is determined to use traditional physical instruments in such a way that has been done in the past. Flume – an Australian electronic artist once made a comment about the current state of the rock genre. He mentioned that bands are ‘stuck’ and limited in terms of what music they can write. This is not a far fetched idea when you consider that there are four chords that are renowned for being turned into pop songs.
Check out this article from Buzzfeed that recounts 73 times in which artists have used the same four chords to create songs. Bands are more likely to create unique music if they are open to incorporating digital samples within their music. Below is a link to a video from my Band. At 1m58s you’ll notice that we have decided to incorporate electric drum samples and 808s into our song despite our genre of ‘hardcore’ being routed in a low production type sound:
Daniel Rad 