He can give up his knowledge for cheap now but in 10 years, his knowledge may be as valuable as it once was, but he just gave a lot of it away for cheap. The industry can always change so I can feel him.
Some may see that as one of the same, and they may overlap, but those are two different things. He is stating that it is not worth him giving up knowledge he has built up over the years for little to nothing. Well, he isn't complaining about not getting paid enough. He can just show up at a commercial facility when called on and the budget is right. So he's looking at an industry that doesn't pay as well as when he started, in an over saturated market, in competition with clone loops and vst producers, pushing thoughtless uninspired mixes and beats - he's had to ask himself is it worth it? Mastering Studio Boston - New Alliance East Audio Mastering Cambridge MA We often cut them studio discounts like we do for the punk kids that live in their vans eating ramen and touring constantly. many of these talented people keep the studio and get a real job that can pay for it to exist on the side. The playing field is so level that starting a studio and staying one for 10+ years looks harder and harder. But they can only live hand to mouth and surf couches for so long before they have to pay back a loan or find a way to get a paycheck so that they can have a girlfriend or go to the doctor. Everyone has word of mouth and everyone is serviceably good. Well, i see 5-10 young engineers with talented studios pop up a year in our region that can't get the traction past their immediate circle and then the next circle.
That said, just because he wants to stop working for others, I don't see why he has to sell all his stuff and stop making his own music?1000% correct.look at Rza, he's no worried the least about current state of hip hop.Even Jay Z is getting more into movie scoresĮdit: add Pharell to the scoring list he just did Despicable Me soundtrack and working on superman score with iconic composer Hanz Zimmer No money + bad music = wtf am I wasting my time with this for? I don't blame him for having no more interest in working on today's rap music, especially if all they are giving him is peanuts. He could be doing scores too for TV/Film. When you make music for kids with no jobs and then wonder why none of them are paying you for the music when its available for free, you kinda get what you deserve. I've been saying for a while that he should crossover to Jazz and do whole albums of Quik's Groove's instrumentals and start catering his records to adults, who still pay for their rmusic, instead of teenagers who steal the majority of theirs. He has the talent to be doing much bigger things musically. It’s off my resume so no more engineering for these new artists.”ĭJ Quik should've left the rap genre a long time ago. There’s not enough money to warrant sitting in the studio with people and learning your trade secrets for two or three grand, it’s not worth it. Now, there is so little that it’s not important. “Traditionally, I get paid for engineering and mixing people’s records, and there used to be a king’s ransom in that back in the day. “There is a bunch of things that I don’t understand about how this new business works,” Quik said. Quik’s statement was fueled by his discontent with today’s music industry model, which hasn’t paid as well-monetarily or respect-wise-as it once did. He explained that while he still has plans to get rid of his production equipment, he did not rule out producing for “real projects” for established artists. “I wouldn’t call it retirement,” Quik said. XXL spoke with Quik yesterday (October 29) to clarify his career’s status, and while he confirmed that he will no longer be working as an engineer or remixing records for new clients, he hesitates to say that he is retired from rap.
When Compton rap legend DJ Quik announced on Twitter on October 28 that he was selling his production equipment and would no longer be mixing or engineering records, it was speculated that the 43-year-old hip-hop veteran was formally retiring from music.