The technology of the time allowed members to jam via MIDI but, as it evolved, it became more advanced and far more widely used. It started out with around 600 members in the mid 90s, all communicating and sharing files via mailing lists and FTP sites. Music production in the Cloud was perhaps inevitable, then, but it’s not a new idea…Īnyone old enough to remember Res Rocket Surfer? Set up at the dawn of the internet by successful singer-songwriter Willy Henshall and engineer Tim Bran, it became the first online music collaboration platform. Streaming services are now commonplace for music consumers, and musicians are making (a small amount of) money from many online platforms. As technology and processing power has increased in recent years, we probably should have predicted the Cloud revolution for music-making – look at what technology has done for music listening, after all. ![]() It’s certainly an exciting time to be a music producer. So strap yourselves in, it’s time to launch into the Cloud… Launching the rocket We’ll also look closely at tools like Loopcloud which link the worlds of online and offline together, and we’ll also examine how some of the more established companies are reacting to these new startups. In this feature we’ll look at some of the biggest new platforms and explore exactly what they are offering users. So what does all this mean for more traditional producers and the music production industry? Is this truly the next generation of music-making and will it make our current methods – and the companies involved – redundant? ![]() Instead there is often a subscription model which usually includes a free option, but then the more you pay, the more samples, instruments, loops, storage space and sharing options you get.Įither way, you soon realise that what these companies and platforms are offering is the complete music production experience, as not only are these sites providing you with the tools to produce and collaborate, they are also providing you with the audience, and in some cases even a record company to sign you! There’s no expensive outlay for a DAW or plug-ins. That’s not to say the old guard haven’t been plugging away at it too.Īvid and Roland have their own Clouds, but it’s the new young upstart companies that seem to offer everything in a very refreshing way and – with a strong social element – are starting to appeal to a younger generation of music makers who are used to communicating and sharing via platforms like these.Īnd the other major attraction is cost. The Cloud music production revolution has exploded over the last few years and there are now a lot of companies involved like Soundtrap, Audiotool, BandLab and Looplabs. ![]() Nothing has to be installed on their computers, so no hard drive space is used, and for a low monthly cost (or, indeed, no cost in some cases) they can produce music, remix and collaborate with anyone else in the world! They have all the tools they need up in the ‘Cloud’ and they have their own DAWs to create music up there too, and it all works seamlessly within their browsers.
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