Warzone Beat Battle - October 16-17, 2020

[Iron Keys]

exactly this^^ times are a changing, the market is oversaturated with good beatmakers, they need to upgrade to producers and do their own mixing. Even if not to a perfect standard, just good enough to stand out against the competition of which there is a fucking lot. Its a battle and things like how it sounds overall compared the the competition is a major part in what swings votes.

Nope.

Times are changing, but facts remain.

Some labels sure are lazy, and they look for a finished product just to sign n release it. But when they actually want a proper act, artist, producer, they're coming for your content, not your mastering skills.

Pretty sure even Timbaland reiterated this in his masterclass thing.

I've been told this first hand by major A&Rs from past and present.

Respectfully to all here, I'm gonna trust in their advice more.



If you're tying to release independent, then sure, get your quality up - but even then you're best paying for a professional mix and master.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Nope.

Times are changing, but facts remain.

Some labels sure are lazy, and they look for a finished product just to sign n release it. But when they actually want a proper act, artist, producer, they're coming for your content, not your mastering skills.

Pretty sure even Timbaland reiterated this in his masterclass thing.

I've been told this first hand by major A&Rs from past and present.

Respectfully to all here, I'm gonna trust in their advice more.



If you're tying to release independent, then sure, get your quality up - but even then you're best paying for a professional mix and master.

when god was here many years ago, he made a big thing about a guy that did his own press packs, the professional photos, the branding, the album artwork. Thats exactly what set the professionals who took themselves seriously from those that didnt.
He was so impressed by the guy and how he explained it made a lot of sense. Labels want the artists that already have a fan base and they of course want to minimise their investment to minimise costs, so if some artists comes along with their own fan base, and the "full package", then they will be head and shoulders above everyone else that has watched x factor one too many times and thinks being a famous music star (as fleeting as that may be) is the answer to all their dreams. Competition is fierce, now anybody can have all the power and more that big studios had back in the 90's with a reasonable investment. Anything that sets you out above others will only be a good thing.

 

[GoldenBoy]

Nope.

Times are changing, but facts remain.

Some labels sure are lazy, and they look for a finished product just to sign n release it. But when they actually want a proper act, artist, producer, they're coming for your content, not your mastering skills.

Pretty sure even Timbaland reiterated this in his masterclass thing.

I've been told this first hand by major A&Rs from past and present.

Respectfully to all here, I'm gonna trust in their advice more.



If you're tying to release independent, then sure, get your quality up - but even then you're best paying for a professional mix and master.

Yeah but we aren't talking about record labels trying to profit off your content. Record labels are investors. bottom line. And name one person on here that's wants to be signed by a record label? Anyone can create a close to mastered project. ESPECIALLY if its for a competition! What are we investing into IllMuzik if we support people that don't know how to mix? More unmixed music.

 

[Iron Keys]

when god was here many years ago, he made a big thing about a guy that did his own press packs, the professional photos, the branding, the album artwork. Thats exactly what set the professionals who took themselves seriously from those that didnt.
He was so impressed by the guy and how he explained it made a lot of sense. Labels want the artists that already have a fan base and they of course want to minimise their investment to minimise costs, so if some artists comes along with their own fan base, and the "full package", then they will be head and shoulders about everyone else that has watched x factor one too many times and thinks being a famous music star (as fleeting as that may be) is the answer to all their dreams. Competition is fierce, now anybody can have all the power and more that big studios had back in the 90's with a reasonable investment. Anything that sets you out above others will only be a good thing.

Like paying for professional mixing and mastering.

That's all well and good... but are you going go to university 3 years for a design degree to do your own EPK, study filmmaking a further 3 years, video editing a further 3 years, go get a mixing degree.

Or are you gonna spend your time making sure you make dope AF beats, then slip maybe £90 here for mastering, slip someone £100 or something for an epk. etc. Photos.

There are lot of 'i can do it all' types online, and to the trained you can tell their stuff is absolute fucking garbage.

Even if you want a PR/radio plug campaign it gonna cost you £3000 for a 16 week period.

 

[Iron Keys]

What are we investing into IllMuzik if we support people that don't know how to mix? More unmixed music.

Dope beats.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Like paying for professional mixing and mastering.

That's all well and good... but are you going go to university 3 years for a design degree to do your own EPK, study filmmaking a further 3 years, video editing a further 3 years, go get a mixing degree.

Or are you gonna spend your time making sure you make dope AF beats, then slip maybe £90 here for mastering, slip someone £100 or something for an epk. etc. Photos.

There are lot of 'i can do it all' types online, and to the trained you can tell their stuff is absolute fucking garbage.

Even if you want a PR/radio plug campaign it gonna cost you £3000 for a 16 week period.

how you do it is up to the individual, but as long as you do whatever you can, however you can to rise above the crowd then that is what you have to do. If you want to throw money at a mixing engineer for every battle you participate in, then I hope you can afford it. Or you can do your best with the knowledge you possess and hope its good enough. Then keep learning and practicing until it is.

 

[Iron Keys]

You man keep voting for well mixed whack af beats, I'll stay voting for dope beats.

Stay ILL.

 

[GoldenBoy]

@Iron Keys The reason why records labels like looking for an unfinished rough product that they see potential in is because they have to do all the work. This means they make more money. But they also like getting people on board that have their shit together. Less work good return.
And bro, Its not that hard. You don't need a degree to master music. You just need to learn on your own and get better.

in conclusion,
I understand your point about Record labels looking for potential talent to invest in to eventually make money and inevitably turn the poor mixed music into a mastered sounding beat (most of the time they change everything the artist intended.) Because of what's available to home studios today, There is no excuse for not mastering your beat. It goes hand in hand these days as a home producer. Especially if we are in a beat competition.

 

[Iron Keys]

No matter how well mixed n mastered you think your home stuff is (i probably even agree), labels will likely want that shit re mixed and re mastered.

I known engineers with serious plaques who stopped working with majors, one reason because how many times they want mixes altered.

 

[GoldenBoy]

Yeah because they have trained their ears.

 

[Iron Keys]

Yeah because they have trained their ears.

Who?

 

[Iron Keys]

Also, reason you probably lost out in round 2 is because your beat was EDM.

 

[Fade]

We're STILL talking about whether mixing is part of the voting process??

 

[Iron Keys]

Just a reminder, all I said was some beats sounds like they deserved the win, and you man agreed with me!!!

For whatever reason, so don't doubt my ears.

 

[Fade]

It would be more constructive to give all the contestants feedback instead of complaining after every battle about beats that shouldn't have won.

I hear what you guys are saying but we've discussed this numerous times.

 

[Iron Keys]

I dunno, I feel bad for even saying it sometimes. Let alone to explicitly state "Hey, illien2345, I'ma letchu finish. But your beat was whack and user6789 deserved the win".

That's why I leave it vague, so everyone can either hate me or love me, leave it to their own minds!

 

[Iron Keys]

But here's one thing I know we can agree on, tell these mfers stop posting Electro-Step-Trance-House-Fairy-Core music.

 

[Primz]

Every warzone someone is always fighting

 

[ConspiracyMuzik]

As someone who has went to school for music production i can definitely say mixing has everything to do with how someone judges your music. I took a class called listening analysis and we were taught how to use our ears to hears decibel drops in instruments and also how to distinguish every instrument played. If you have a beat and it isn't mixed properly someone should tell you and help you out. Most people who vote are probably not voting for overall mixes. They are probably just voting for how they feel when they listen to the music which is what the general public does anyway. I cant tell you how many time i have heard trash mixes on the local radio, Especially distorted 808's, but essentially it doesn't matter because common people dont understand that anyway. Tbh i lot of producers on this site dont understand the real meaning behind mixing and thats okay. Eventually if they take it serious enough they will be forced to. I have told @Fade that maybe we should have tiers of different producers battle it out. Amateur, Intermediate, and advanced class. That way we can give proper feedback where it is due. If there are a bunch of new producers we can judge from that POV, same with advanced producers. I dunno. I understand how it feels if someone who doesn't understand mixing and Eq judges a beat. They aren't looking for mixing, chord structure, eq and balancing. They just want the feel good. Well either way it goes congrats to all who entered and to those who didn't win. Lets all drink a beer and relax until the next battle.

 

[Iron Keys]

The above exactly supports my point.