The Future of X [Week 1]

For my first class in DES231, we were introduced to our first assignment topic: The Future of X. X was whatever we were passionate about - explored through research and interviews to find one crystallized insight. I will be researching the Future of Electronic Music Production.

My dad is the CEO of a DJ and music production software company called Serato. This means that although previously, I wasn’t into music production - a good portion of my life is spent interacting with the scene. I am invited to any events Serato holds, and I usually attend out of the desire to experience new things. I talk to my dad about what’s happening at his work. I interact with his coworkers and anyone related to Serato. I feel that my life dramatically benefits from my dad’s job. I understand the music scene, and I’m interested in knowing where it will go. Another part of my decision to research music production is that I know it would be easy for me to find and interview music experts through my dad. I’m interested in music producers, creators of music software, DJ’s, musicians, and I’d also be interested in interviewing my father.

To get some background behind my topic, I researched the past 20 years of Electronic Music Production.

I mention the rise of trends like auto-tune, Latin pop, and rap. This is because music trends greatly influence music synthesis - for example, auto-tune encouraging voice modulation. The rise of DAWs in the 2000s is what kick-started the music production trend.

I created some insights through research but later learned that they were not complicated enough. I will be looking into developing them further in later developments.

Insights

1. Machine learning advancements will allow AI to generate music pieces and genres. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR6bin0NZSE)

2. The development of AI will allow the music production process to be inexpensive and time-efficient.

3. The evolution of creation and music sharing technology will allow a larger quantity of musicians to be successful.

4. The number of music studios will increase as music technology becomes more affordable.

5. How music is experienced will change with the introduction of mainstream virtual reality.

6. Wearable technology will change musicians’ and consumers’ interaction with music.

7. Music will develop towards social expression rather than purely career-based.

8. The evolution of music production technology will open music to a broader range of creators.

9. Smart speakers and voice mediated music consumption will change the way we listen to music.

10. Music will develop to be less static and more interactive with developing streaming and creation technology.

The red insights are ones that I am interested in exploring.

Together with my dad, I created a list of potential contacts and their details to conduct interviews in the following weeks. Key people I am interested in are highlighted.

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JBN-gfUQ-0LY7hXGhsQ40MHoASM2xzB_lbhKESIoM08/edit#gid=0

References

2000s in music. (2020, July 30). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 7, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_in_music

EDM Sauce. (2016, February 10). Significant events in electronic music history [Infographic]. Medium. https://medium.com/@edmsauce/significant-events-in-electronic-music-history-infographic-96d24f41f551

Guan, F. (2017, December 20). Rap dominated pop in 2017, and It's not going anywhere anytime soon. Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/the-year-rap-overtook-pop.html

Herzog, K. (2014, March 17). 24 inventions that changed music. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/24-inventions-that-changed-music-16471/soundcloud-2007-219580/

Machover, T., & Holbrow, C. (2019, July 26). Toward New Musics: What The Future Holds For Sound Creativity. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/26/745315045/towards-new-musics-what-the-future-holds-for-sound-creativity

Pastukhov, D. (2020, February 13). What Does the Future Hold? 4 Music Trends & Expert Predictions for 2020 (And Beyond). Soundcharts. https://soundcharts.com/blog/music-industry-trends

Pattison, L. (2018, February 28). The future of music: 10 predictions from industry professionals. RedBull. https://www.redbull.com/za-en/future-of-music-10-predictions-from-industry-professionals