You Are Not Alone: The Coronavirus Impact on Audio, From SonicScoop’s Audience

In last week’s newsletter, we asked the SonicScoop community to let us know how coronavirus is impacting their lives.

The response was overwhelming: We got a lot of tough stories from all over the world, and as you’ll see, many of them have been feeling the financial pain of coronavirus for some time.

Yet many accounts of coronavirus impact on the audio industry were also infused with positivity, amazing resiliency, and even pockets of good business news. Inspirational solutions, creative workarounds and ways to boost up fellow audio engineers, producers, studio, post production, live sound pros, VO talent and music artists can all be found in the responses.

Read on, and if you’re moved to add your own story, we’d love to hear from you. Please add your own story in the comments section below, or email us at info@sonicscoop.com to tell us how you’re dealing with “the new normal.”

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My label let us go in January, Amazon has stopped selling our albums on TWO occasions and therefore cut off our sales income, and all my local performance gigs/concerts/shows have ALL  been cancelled so no income there, and lastly investors to new tech initiatives we are developing have all dried up.

We are existing on fumes and do not want any loans or handouts. We will survive but the ramp up may take some time for everything to come back online.

Don’t know where or when the next income streams may come from. We will keep the faith and press on regardless with open minds, being positive and helping out where and when we can to our fellow creatives in the MI.

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Coronavirus has definitely impacted my business.  I’ve spent the last four years building up my studio, skills and income for recording and mixing.  This week was set to be my busiest week of recording so far, but I’ve had to cancel or postpone all of the sessions as my whole family has a cough. Here in the UK we can’t get tested so I may have lost a lot of work all for the sake of a common cold.  Still, I’m hunkering down and refining my mixing skills and teaching my five-year-old daughter about rhythm which has been great!

Stay safe!

Ralph Stokes
Recording and Mix Engineer
Blueleaf Studio

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I was laid off from a full time gig in mid-January, and had just started to lean into freelancing full time. Most of my work was podcast-related (ASIDE! If you’re a good recordist, don’t sleep on podcast/broadcast gigs—4-track sessions are so much easier than 30-track sessions…), and the lion’s share was recording/producing live events and the resulting podcast episodes.

As anything event-related isn’t viable for the foreseeable future, a big part of my expertise and resulting business is temporarily out of commission. I’ve been lucky to find some digital content consulting (on-demand audio/video/podcasts), but I struggle to bill properly for this kind of work—hours in the studio or with an artist are easily quantifiable, but it’s harder to track when things happen ten or twelve minutes at a time, several times over several days. Anyone else have a formula to weigh “direct service” vs. consulting? Different rates? Different rules for the engagement?

AY

(Got advice for this reader? Respond to them by emailing info@sonicscoop.com, and put “rates formula” in the subject line, or just reply in the comments!)

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Yup…like everyone, coronavirus has closed down most of my upcoming exhibitions and shows…at least through May for now. I am still able to do production/post production work remotely with clients via FTP, but it is harder not to be able to be face-to-face.

Interdisciplinary artist Dave Rosenthal at “Art Fort Lauderdale 2020” presenting a Photographic and Live Sound Performance Exhibition entitled “2 Sense” that explores the impact of how both visual and auditory senses contribute to the emotional experience and perception of art.

I am an interdisciplinary artist specializing in both music composition/production and fine art nature photography. Of late I have been combining both disciplines together as unified art pieces that include the photograph and its unique tone and music I composed together. The idea of the art is to help others feel what I feel when I am there capturing the moment and to slow down enough to realize the beauty our world has to offer.

Often I play live at exhibit openings which allows me to interact with folks, give them the backstory for each photograph and watch the magic happen when they experience art visually and sonically at the same time. Laughter, tears, etc…quite an honor and rewarding as an artist to be able to touch folks this way.

So for now I am using the “down” time to strengthen my art and music portfolio, update my business plan and revamp the studio. All things that are important but sometimes left on the “back burner”. Feels good to catch up a little!!!

Dave Rosenthal
DeSiRe Music Productions
dave@desiremusicpro.com

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Well, I have chosen not to go to my main studio where I do all my recordings.  Which means I make no money on that part.  So now all I have is my home studio where I can do mixing.  This was a hard decision because I am presently working with one of my artist on her EP.  Now we have to put it on hold or find another way to complete the project.

Tony Wilkinson
Trak Monk Productions
productions.trakmonk@gmail.com
http://www.trakmonk.com

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The virus has cost me about 90% of my work so far to date.  I have had all of my live sound work, both major tours and clubs cancelled.  These shows will not be back at a later date, this is work that is just gone and income lost.

Most of my studio work has been postponed indefinitely or cancelled.  As musicians are not working they do not have income to spend on album projects, live event recordings, or other related projects.

The few studio sessions I have for dialog recording, or the couple of mix projects I have from out of state clients who upload material to me are not going to be enough to cover my living expenses.

Timothy J. Zick
http://www.tzmix.com

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I teach songwriting at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, Yale, and the New School, and the impact has been wild.

A few years ago I created a community of all my former students from all schools and years, in order for them to collaborate and work together. It’s close to 500 people, and you know a lot of the names (Overcoats, Charly Bliss, Michael Blume, Moon Kissed, Maggie Rogers, Del Water Gap, and Matthew Wang, who I believe writes for you). Now, they are using the community to notify each other of deals on inspiring software, cowrite opportunities, remixing and remastering for one another, livestream shows…we’re ramping up and bouncing ideas as they come to us.

I think it’s a bright spot for my students, many who have had to come off the road AND lose their jobs in the service industries.

Happy to talk with you. Thank you for offering the deals on your stuff, too – it’s a rough time all around.

If you want to hear them, this is a running playlist based solely on release date (I have many other playlists broken out into genre).

Mike Errico, recording artist and songwriting professor at Yale University and NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music

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I am a fulltime freelance musician in NYC. ALL of my March gigs have been cancelled. The same is true for all of my musician friends in NYC.

Bruce Gordon
Queens, NY

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In regards to your question: Yes! The current pandemic situation has affected me 100%. I am a live sound mixer and all artists I work with have temporarily canceled their tours (until May, for now).

Although I started my career as a sound engineer in a studio, I’ve switched to live sound mixing a little over 20 years ago. I just finished treating a spare bedroom at my house and built a small studio for mixing the live recordings of the artists I work with. Perhaps I could suggest mixing some of those concerts so the artists would have some content to offer to their fans? I am starting to see some artists doing online concerts. Not sure how that would affect me though.

Anyways, now is the time to diversify, to be creative and I’ve been thinking of ways to stay busy and be able to pay the bills.

Carlos Novais
Live Sound Engineer
http://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-novais

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Hi from the Southern Hemisphere in the Land of Oz.

Ironically my fiancé and I have only recently returned from the US.

The impact has mainly been on my performance and tour elements; the studio is, so far, fairing pretty well.

Returning clients are often happy to have masters completed remotely.

Mixing clients are visiting at interim points throughout the project and only in small numbers.

So, that’s where ToKwerX is at. No shows in Oz so the extra income is missed.

Anthony “ToK” Norris
ToKwerX Mastering & Mixing
Australia

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Hope this note finds you healthy and safe during these turbulent times.  Nice work with the podcasts!  Over a decade ago, David Weiss interviewed us for a SonicScoop article.

A lot has changed since then.  Although we’re based in the US (I’m in NY), we’ve been doing a lot of work in Asia, particularly in mainland China.  We’ve done a good deal of K-pop (particularly with SM) and a bit of J-pop, but we’ve been primarily focused on the China market since 2012.

To quickly get a better sense of what we do, you can check out our highlights reel (it’s under three minutes).

As you might suspect, many of our projects in China have been delayed or “disappeared” altogether.  We’ve been re-strategizing a bit (a constant endeavor), and still do some things outside of China (i.e., US), but China remains a long-term focus for us.

Best,

Adam Nierow
Co-Founder and CEO
Mr. Fantastic Music

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Hello, all right, here in Brazil it’s complicated, the studio is closed, the shows with the artist that I also work with are canceled, but let’s get over it with faith, I’m at home in my Home Studio studying a lot and mixing songs.

Luiz De Caro – São Paulo – Brazil
Luiz Produções Artísticas
luiz@mig25.com.br

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Hi, Diego of g66 (Fractal Audio Systems European distributor). My job is (was?) to take care of European pro artists (mostly guitar players) and studio owners who want to switch from “real” tube amps to modeling technology and especially Fractal Audio devices.

Well in the last three weeks I completely stop visiting customers in Italy but also in other parts of Europe. So, yes, my job has been impacted by this deadly wave… but I also thought that I had to do something different than my usual routine and started doing web consulting. It’s not always the same but it can work quite well for some activities.

Please stay safe and healthy and thanks for your hard work with the podcast and Website.

Diego Pezzati
G66 GmbH
http://www.g66.eu

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I don’t currently support myself with my music but all my other businesses have dropped off completely for over a week now.

I am beginning to use the time to work more on my music—although even before this situation affected everyone—I am not sure how I will make any money from my music.

LP

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Yea, I’m losing a bit of income. More cancellations may come. It probably helps that I do a lot of remote work (tracking, mixing, mastering, and producing), but I can’t imagine that it will last if people’s money starts drying up.

I did start a Facebook group in hopes to help musicians and music lovers around the world. Here’s my schtick about the group:

Live Concerts Online is a group for all musicians and bands affected by the situation we have found ourselves in worldwide where festivals, concerts, and gigs have been canceled for public safety reasons. Musicians are encouraged to stream their concerts and performances live on any platform from their homes or practice places and post the date, time, and links in the group for all who wish to connect with local, small bands. This group is not a revenue source, it is solely to help the world stay connected through music.

One suggestion has been to stream performances on YouTube as “Unlisted” and have the donation box set-up so the viewers can support the musicians work immediately; PayPal would also work. I hope this initiative will help us all to remain a bit more sane in the upcoming days. This is a brand new group created to help keep us connected, so please help promote it:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/liveonlineconcerts

Dave Merkel
Dave Merkel Music & Sounds
https://davemerkel.com

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As a full time VO guy—my job naturally is a bit isolated—I work out of a darkened padded room by choice.  As for work—it’s not any busier or slower than usual but what’s changed remarkably is the messaging. I’ve seen an huge increase in hopeful messaging especially today—companies, advertisers and states are sending out the word that “you are not alone and that now is the time for us to embrace our families and communities if not physically than virtually—in common strength and the repeated mantra that “this too will pass.”

It’s a weird time for us as humans—our fragility and vulnerability is ever more present—even in the face of our technological advancements.

It’s giving me as a Voice Artist the opportunity to tap into really focusing on really communicating—not performing but truly reaching out with my voice.

I live in Chicago—and for those who rely on restaurants and clubs and who gig for a living—it’s no lie—the streets are very quiet.  But I will say now more then ever is the time to use the tools in the studio whether you are a professional in a large facility or a professional home studio it’s times like these when you need to keep creating, keep playing—keep recording.

Even if you can’t play out.

Keep Playing.  Our Voices all need to be heard.

Bryan Carmody
Voice Actor/Audio Producer
http://www.bryancarmody.com

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