"New" artists and surround

[gvl_guy]

I've always wondered. Why don't you think new artists mix their material for surround and release it?

I guess Taylor Swift doesn't "need" it, but wouldn't it expand their marketing and influence?

Lizzo, Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Luke Combs, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Harry Styles, David Guetta (who is actually a producer!), Morgan Wallen (who has the #1 song on both the pop and country charts this week), ....the list is nearly endless.

Or when ABBA released their first album in 20 years, why not do it in surround, too, to create more buzz? Everything But the Girl did it right with Fuse. They had zero surround in the past and released Fuse in Atmos.

When they re-released Thriller in a high quality version, would it have killed them to also do it in surround for more sales?

Is it that much more expensive to produce something in surround? Does it cost rights money to encode in Atmos, Dolby or some other system?

Inquiring minds......

 

[ar surround]

It's complicated, I guess?

 

[atlantasteve]

Very few people have/use disc players anymore. Times change.

 

[LennonCobain]

I've always wondered. Why don't you think new artists mix their material for surround and release it?

I guess Taylor Swift doesn't "need" it, but wouldn't it expand their marketing and influence?

Lizzo, Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Luke Combs, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Harry Styles, David Guetta (who is actually a producer!), Morgan Wallen (who has the #1 song on both the pop and country charts this week), ....the list is nearly endless.

Or when ABBA released their first album in 20 years, why not do it in surround, too, to create more buzz? Everything But the Girl did it right with Fuse. They had zero surround in the past and released Fuse in Atmos.

When they re-released Thriller in a high quality version, would it have killed them to also do it in surround for more sales?

Is it that much more expensive to produce something in surround? Does it cost rights money to encode in Atmos, Dolby or some other system?

Inquiring minds......

For new artists, record labels may be reluctant to invest more money into an album for an artist with an unproven sales record or captive audience. The more mixes created, the more money it costs. Maybe someone with knowledge can provide a cost estimate to create an additional multichannel or Atmos mix.

I don’t follow new artists, but maybe the advent of “spatial audio” has changed the dynamic because I see plenty of artists I haven’t heard of with Atmos and 360RA tracks or albums.

By the way, ABBA did release an Atmos mix of their 2021 album “Voyage.” Not on physical disc AFAIK but on streaming services.

 

[TuliaNonTroppo]

It seems like there are quite a few albums by current artists that get a spatial audio release on Apple Music. I can’t vouch for the quality of the mixes, but it seems that is where multichannel has largely headed. I also wish more artists would release a physical multichannel option, but physical optical media is so niche now, I don’t think it makes much sense for labels to sink costs into it.

I wish the offerings were available to purchase via download, at least. Instead we must go to Apple Music to hear it. I frequently go to artist or label pages looking for 2ch purchase options, and 9.5 times out of ten the links only take you to streaming services—not even to Bandcamp or Qobuz. Purchasing just doesn’t seem to be encouraged anymore unless it is on The Almighty Vinyl (in your choice of gimmick color).

I might purchase a Schiit Syn to try and tease out some simulated surround, as it might be more entertaining than Dolby Surround and/or DPLIIx.

 

[fredblue]

I've always wondered. Why don't you think new artists mix their material for surround and release it?

I guess Taylor Swift doesn't "need" it, but wouldn't it expand their marketing and influence?

Lizzo, Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Luke Combs, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Harry Styles, David Guetta (who is actually a producer!), Morgan Wallen (who has the #1 song on both the pop and country charts this week), ....the list is nearly endless.

Or when ABBA released their first album in 20 years, why not do it in surround, too, to create more buzz? Everything But the Girl did it right with Fuse. They had zero surround in the past and released Fuse in Atmos.

When they re-released Thriller in a high quality version, would it have killed them to also do it in surround for more sales?

Is it that much more expensive to produce something in surround? Does it cost rights money to encode in Atmos, Dolby or some other system?

Inquiring minds......

all of those artists have Dolby Atmos albums streaming in Surround sound right now on Apple Music, including ABBA's latest album and Michael Jackson's "Thriller"..!!

 

[fredblue]

 

[fredblue]

 

[popshop]

Inquiring minds......

You can check this site to see if someone has a release in atmos: Spatial Audio Finder by Ben Dodson

 

[fredblue]

You can check this site to see if someone has a release in atmos: Spatial Audio Finder by Ben Dodson

just get them to ask moi, it's quicker

 

[popshop]

Haha, true. Maybe that link is only for when Freddie is out at the pub.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

I've always wondered. Why don't you think new artists mix their material for surround and release it?

In my experience, at least pre-Atmos, the artists simply didn't know it was a thing, or there was a demand for it.

 

[Electric Moo]

I'd say all of the above, plus the extra costs. Doing a proper surround mix takes time, and paying people to do that costs money.

 

[kfbkfb]

IIRC, Dolby Labs (rather than the record companies) is pushing for Atmos remixes, is there any evidence that the artists themselves listen to the Atmos remix (and perhaps sign off on the remix - in the process becoming aware of benefits of surround sound for music only)?


Kirk Bayne

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Very few people have/use disc players anymore. Times change.

It's worse than that...

Not so long ago I asked the dozen or so people I work with how the listen to music and not only do they not have disc players, they listen to everything through a smart speaker. Only one of them had stereo a smart speaker

 

[Old Quad Guy]

It's worse than that...

Not so long ago I asked the dozen or so people I work with how the listen to music and not only do they not have disc players, they listen to everything through a smart speaker. Only one of them had stereo smart speaker

That sums up the problem with music playback in a nutshell for the average listener.

There’s a lack of coordination between the folks who create music and manufactures who make the playback equipment for casual listening. Even for just stereo. And not everyone can do more than 4 or 5 speakers. It becomes a furniture issue. And not everyone wants to spend (or can afford) more than a couple of hundred dollars on playback equipment, if even that.

I have in one room a Google smart speaker on one wall for Left channel, and another on the other wall for Right channel. If only two more could be coordinated together, that’s enough for surround without costing that much. The speakers though are not loud enough, or have enough full range for my tastes. But if the concept could be improved, so would the average person’s music experience.

 

[somethingcleveridunno]

I've always wondered. Why don't you think new artists mix their material for surround and release it?

I guess Taylor Swift doesn't "need" it, but wouldn't it expand their marketing and influence?

Lizzo, Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Luke Combs, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Harry Styles, David Guetta (who is actually a producer!), Morgan Wallen (who has the #1 song on both the pop and country charts this week), ....the list is nearly endless.

Or when ABBA released their first album in 20 years, why not do it in surround, too, to create more buzz? Everything But the Girl did it right with Fuse. They had zero surround in the past and released Fuse in Atmos.

When they re-released Thriller in a high quality version, would it have killed them to also do it in surround for more sales?

Is it that much more expensive to produce something in surround? Does it cost rights money to encode in Atmos, Dolby or some other system?

Inquiring minds......

Pop music today barely takes advantage of stereo, surround was never a consideration.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Pop music today barely takes advantage of stereo, surround was never a consideration.

Pop music today takes less advantage of stereo than 10 years ago! What has the world come to?

 

[Methuselah’s Grandpa]

Pop music today takes less advantage of stereo than 10 years ago! What has the world come to?

Yeah it's a bummer. I think the reason behind that is a combination of things; music played in dance halls/clubs prefer more mono-centric mixes due to wanting people on opposite sides of the dance floor to have the same musical experience but I think the biggest reason is that so many people these days don't listen to music they way they probably should, with nice speakers separated by enough physical space. They listen to music on laptops, on small blue-tooth speakers, share ear-buds with another person, etc. ....people who mix & master pop music know this & in order for their mixes to sound more balanced & acceptable when played back in all these different scenarios, oftentimes they will end up releasing lackluster stereo mixes.

 

[Malhomme]

By the way, ABBA did release an Atmos mix of their 2021 album “Voyage.” Not on physical disc AFAIK but on streaming services.

Well there is 5.1 mix of a best of.

As for the way people listen to music, it is also a sign of how music is merely now incidental.
I rememeber al old quote of the early 2K sayig 'why bother using $3000 reverbs when so one can tell it anymore from howling in to an empty coke can?'