So how is the financial crisis treating you guys

[MIROSONIC]

Yes,

Wondering about that.

Somehow in Australia where I am at the moment it almost seems the media is scaring people into thinking the recession is really bad so no one is spending and musos here are charging heaps less.

Maybe if the media didn't keep on raving on about how bad everything is, people would naturally spend which is what the governments are trying to accomplish with their handouts.

mmmmmmm you can see I am not an economist

How is it all treating you guys - are your rates lowering?

Lots of undercutting here where I am.


Mirosonic on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos Mirosonic - Official Site - Home www.kashtanyduo.com - Official Website of KASHTANY DUO

[Adam Dempsey]

The economy - not so bad at present.. The tragic, unprecedented fires, on the other hand... I had to postpone some work this week to allow my internal processor to process things, with a mate still missing, cousins lost their house but are safe. Last I heard, $30mil raised in donations at present, so the spirit of rallying in need again shows much strength, and shows what's truly possible. Other family up north haven't seen the sun in 3 weeks.. still raining. But this is another topic.
(edit: to be clear, the fires are a good hour or more from the city, but yes will surely also have a longer term impact on so many, in many ways).

[inlinenl]

hang in there, thinking about our australian ME's .. it's a tragedy seeing all those dreams/lives go up in flames ... take care !!!
whishing you all the best.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by inlinenl

hang in there, thinking about our australian ME's .. it's a tragedy seeing all those dreams/lives go up in flames ... take care !!!
wishing you all the best.

I second that. Best TW

[Jerry Tubb]

Originally Posted by MIROSONIC

Maybe if the media didn't keep on raving on about how bad everything is, people would naturally spend which is what the governments are trying to accomplish with their handouts.

The media & politicos hype this sort of thing for profit, power, & control.

Basic fear mongering... drives me nuts, hopefully karma will catch up with these guys one day.

Also in pharmaceutical advertising, inventing a new disease, for which they're selling a very expensive pill to treat it.

Don't believe all the crap put forth by the news media.

"Dog bites man" doesn't sell many ads, however "Man bites dog" hysteria does.

In music the culture of fear propagates the loudness wars, in movies... the shock, gore, and crisis films.

The flow of mastering business has been very steady & stable here.

MTCW - JT

[Gomez]

Originally Posted by Jerry Tubb

The media & politicos hype this sort of thing for profit, power, & control.

Basic fear mongering... drives me nuts, hopefully karma will catch up with these guys one day.

Also in pharmaceutical advertising, inventing a new disease, for which they're selling a very expensive pill to treat it.

Don't believe all the crap put forth by the news media.

"Dog bites man" doesn't sell many ads, however "Man bites dog" hysteria does.

I

I believe the statements above are right.

[audio ergo sum]

Originally Posted by MIROSONIC

...
mmmmmmm you can see I am not an economist
...

...but you show some common sense, which is much more important in times like these.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Same topic running at Recording.org. Interesting read. RECORDING What is the music business climate like in your area? - I guess it is the overall economy but the music business in Northern Ohio seem to have hit rock bottom and everyone from retailers to recording studios to CD production facilities seem

[MIROSONIC]

by the way.

I am trying to get my 3 websites
Mirosonic on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos
Mirosonic - Official Site - Home
www.kashtanyduo.com - Official Website of KASHTANY DUO

on the bottom of my posts, like everyone else
Cant seem to get it to happen.

Anyway with the world economy it seems we almost need the media to start saying it is now time to buy and everyone will benefit from it individually.

ITs interesting that the media somehow got everyone to buy land and houses and the prices of those seemed to skyrocket by the media saying the prices are skyrocketing . And then many got into debt.

5 star hotels are getting rid of entertainment simply because the managers are scared just as much as the artist, to fork out money.

Its now like who is the first to take the plunge and spend.

"please step forward"

[mercurydime]

Originally Posted by Jerry Tubb

The media & politicos hype this sort of thing for profit, power, & control.

Basic fear mongering... drives me nuts, hopefully karma will catch up with these guys one day.

Also in pharmaceutical advertising, inventing a new disease, for which they're selling a very expensive pill to treat it.

Don't believe all the crap put forth by the news media.

"Dog bites man" doesn't sell many ads, however "Man bites dog" hysteria does.

In music the culture of fear propagates the loudness wars, in movies... the shock, gore, and crisis films.

The flow of mastering business has been very steady & stable here.

MTCW - JT

i just had to quote this because this resonates so well with me.

i tend to avoid thinking about or reading about things that generate fear of any kind. it has consistently proven counter-productive to do so in my experience. and so, i am not buying in to the mass consciousness of anything that affronts my sensibilities...what i know to be the truth.

having said that, business in my studio is the very best it's ever been over the last 9 months, and i have a plethora of folks clamoring for time to record, master, transfer/restore. i am thankful. i trust that my attitude of gratitude brings me ever more of the same.

thoughts for those down under as they rise above the events of late. may peace, indomitability, and victory be yours!

regards,

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Boomshanka

The economy - not so bad at present.. The tragic, unprecedented fires, on the other hand... I had to postpone some work this week to allow my internal processor to process things, with a mate still missing, cousins lost their house but are safe. Last I heard, $30mil raised in donations at present, so the spirit of rallying in need again shows much strength, and shows what's truly possible. Other family up north haven't seen the sun in 3 weeks.. still raining. But this is another topic.
(edit: to be clear, the fires are a good hour or more from the city, but yes will surely also have a longer term impact on so many, in many ways).

Dear Adam: I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. We had very serious fires in Florida several years back but "El Niño" or whatever seems to have created a wet state. If global warming continues, though, the fires will be back.

On another topic, how's Tony Mantz (Jack The Bear)? Haven't seen him post in a long time.


Bob

[skiltrip]

For me, it's stable, but the calm before the storm.

My pharma company just got bought out by the biggest pharma company in the world. So though it looks as though I'll be ok until the 4th qtr of this year when the deal closes, after that, it's anyone's guess.

My day job affords me the ability to keep my project studio going for my own music, so we're hoping that won't go away.

Also, I got a baby on the way this summer, so hopefully I can afford to feed it. lol. I joke, but I am nervous about the whole thing.

Because, whether or not this started out as hype, it's not now. This thing is real. Hang on to your hat Harry.

[Denus]

In response to anyone blowing this off as if it were nothing, and I by no means intend to offend or confront... the US economic climate will not recover from its current trend as long as the government continues down its chosen path. This is not fear mongering, and it is not psycho-babble. It is merely a mathematical fact.

Now is not the time to take out a loan you can't repay in 6 months time. Now is not the time to spend spend spend. Contrary to popular belief, spending lots of money on goods manufactured in other countries doesn't benefit my situation... how can the US economy get better when there is no manufacturing infrastructure whatsoever?

You see, capitalism works off of capital... that is, a person works and saves money. They use this hard-earned money to buy capital, machines, etc. to build a company. However, this is not how the US practices it. Instead, a person purchases capital with money they do not have, and possibly cannot repay, out of money that US banks create from nothing. They didn't mine for gold, they pressed Ctrl P and out popped a loan. As these new dollars rampantly flood the market, they devalue the rest of the same... basic economics, more of a good lowers its price. The dollar is a good that has a price too, ya know? Anyways, the point is that our economy just got flooded with a few trillion thanks to Dubya, and Obama is gearing up to do the same. This can only mean one thing. Every dollar I have in savings is going to lose value. And why would I save money, which is exactly what our economy needs right now, when the government is just going to rob my money of its value? You see, the gov't is merely prolonging the problem. It's not hocus pocus, it's fact. Why else has a gallon of milk risen to over $4??? Why is a plastic bottle of coke now $1.25 when a GLASS bottle used to be a nickel? Isn't manufacturing supposed to LOWER costs to both consumer and producer?

So, a word to the wise. Pay off your debts, convert a portion of your cash to a tangible good such as gold, silver, fuel, beer, ammo, smokes, whatever. The world is getting ready to drop the dollar as its reserve currency... and then the pain really begins for us here in the States.

If the gov't stood by and let the market correct itself, we would have a year or two of rough times... lucky for us, they love to interfere on our behalf, and will therefore ruin the economy much more substantially.

The thing that does work on our behalf is that escapist entertainment survives the hard times. But YOU will only survive if you get out of debt, pronto.

End rant. Flame if you'd like, but if you hede these words you might still have your home and business 5 years from now...

And to our Aussie brethren, our thoughts and prayers go out to you. My sis is in California and I know the anxiety felt when loved ones don't answer the phone.

[RobAcid]

full booked, even most of the costumer pay 100% in advance here.....

80 euro per track is not cheap for the dollar people.....

[smoke]

Where I work, everyone is taking salary cuts except for the bosses. pffft I don't believe what anyone says anymore. When your TRULY broke, EVERYONE gets hit. When EVERYONE gets paycuts and layoffs, I'll believe there is a problem. I grew up poor, and when we didn't have money, we did not eat. Period.

[MASSIVE Master]

In response to anyone blowing this off as if it were nothing, and I by no means intend to offend or confront... the US economic climate will not recover from its current trend as long as the government continues down its chosen path. This is not fear mongering, and it is not psycho-babble. It is merely a mathematical fact.

I'm for "hope and change" as much as the next guy. But this "stimulus" package is - I don't even think there's a word for it.

January - The crunch is being felt. My CPA and FA both have my "on guard" to be positioned properly for the coming storm - But I'm not sure there will be any shelter. Cut corporate and personal income taxes and the healing begins this afternoon. Print money that doesn't exist and watch the fireworks.

[jdg]

Originally Posted by Boomshanka

The tragic, unprecedented fires, on the other hand...

good luck to anyone down in the path of those fires!

i can't begin to imagine...

[Dude Masters]

Good words from Mr Tubb!

Last year was my best by far business wise and I have had to lower rates for some services. But I think positioning is the wisest thing to do. I made half of my gear purchases I wanted to last year and will make due with what I have for now. My CPA and Financial Guy have done good for me too.

But if the proverbial poop does hit the fan, I can go back to being a Network Engineer. I am a CCIE and luckily live near one of the west's biggest network hubs. The money will be less but I can stay afloat for a while.

I cannot say how long I think the situation will last, I know my crazy neighbor up the road is all ready for the upcoming end of the world. I honestly just mute the news until the weather comes on.

If it all goes to hell we can all go and be interns at Terra Nova. I personally will do a cd for a case of shiner bock.....

And good vibes out to our aussie brothers from the dry as a popcorn fart rocky mountains. I hope we have a good dump of snow in march or we might bein for the same thing....fingers crossed for us and you.

[Jerry Tubb]

Originally Posted by Dude Masters

If it all goes to hell we can all go and be interns at Terra Nova. I personally will do a cd for a case of shiner bock.....

Thanks for the laugh Dude, come see us when you're in Austin!

But back to regular programming:

Obviously there are real financial problems, people being laid off, businesses closing, home foreclosures, unemployment rising... not a pretty picture.

The people responsible for abusing the system, both financial & political, getting this negative trend started need to be held accountable, in the most severe fashion.

IMO the news media does hype & propagate this thing.

I see corporations using the bad news to downsize and trim fat, which only worsens the problems.

It doesn't help that all of the manufacturing has been farmed out to China to increase corporate profit margins, and padding executive salaries.

I say that fear is real the enemy, we can't let fear control our minds.

Is there any less money in the world than two years ago?

Are there any more people (beyond natural growth) than two years ago?

Is there any less food in the world than two years ago?

Is there a shortage of housing?

Have people stopped making & enjoying music?

The basic pieces of the puzzle are still there.

If fear determines people's mind sets, and panic spreads unchecked, then we're all screwed.

The genie is out of the bottle now, steps have to be taken to restore people's faith in the free market economy.

Perhaps trillions of dollars injected into the economy will revive it, we'll see.

I intend to weather the storm, navigate carefully, steady as she goes, and emerge from the asteroid field intact.

The alternatives of cutting one's losses early, prematurely closing your studio, embarrassingly selling your gear for pennies, filing for chapter whatever, etc... doesn't seem very smart, or look very attractive at this point.

Best Regards - JT

[wado1942]

It seems everybody except the people taking the action gets what's happening. How can borrowing money from China to give to the American people so they can buy Chinese TVs help the American economy? There's virtually no margin on things like that anyways. I used to work retail and a $300 TV usually costs the store $280 or so. That doesn't help the retailer, that helps the manufacturer. Best Buy often sells their TVs BELOW cost to attract business in hopes that they can sell you other stuff that has a huge margin like their cables & such. I think that "stimulus" package and all that goes with it is a crock. All the things the government is doing is as Denus said, prolonging the inevitable and they're making things worse on top of that. The corporations that ran themselves into the ground shouldn't get any kind of aid. They were getting aid when they were supposedly on top of their game and now that they're failing, they're getting even more money they didn't earn.

My town currently has about an 8% unemployment rate. 2% more of the population will lose their jobs within the next 2 months and another 5% or so by the end of the year because of outsourcing. One of the first things I learned in kindergarten was if you're mom gives you $1 a week, you can't spend $2 a week. This is exactly what the US govt and general economy is doing. Lay off everybody so you can make products a little bit cheaper. Guess what? There's nobody left to buy your cheap products so you just screwed yourself in trying to make a higher profit.

In my side of things, I'm actually doing better this year with my mastering business than ever. I haven't worked much this month which is a bit scary, but I have new jobs in line for next month. Last month, I made enough to pay off all our debts except our car loans. So really, the only thing that's changed for me is the busy season came a month earlier.

[krytikal1]

I'm in firm agreement with Jerry that this is just another one of the ruling establishments designs to control through fear. order out of chaos if you will. but this is a really messed up financial situation, and the bill passed this morning is only going to make it worse. check out this video...it explains a lot of what is happening. its a commercial for a website, 4 minutes, but completely accurate and well worth the watch.

YouTube - Fed Reserve Fails to Reflate the US Banking System V2



k

[Mr. Green]

Originally Posted by krytikal1

I'm in firm agreement with Jerry that this is just another one of the ruling establishments designs to control through fear. order out of chaos if you will. but this is a really messed up financial situation, and the bill passed this morning is only going to make it worse. check out this video...it explains a lot of what is happening. its a commercial for a website, 4 minutes, but completely accurate and well worth the watch.

YouTube - Fed Reserve Fails to Reflate the US Banking System V2



k

That video is indeed disturbing.

[C Heat]

Originally Posted by MIROSONIC

by the way.

I am trying to get my 3 websites
Mirosonic on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos
Mirosonic - Official Site - Home
www.kashtanyduo.com - Official Website of KASHTANY DUO

on the bottom of my posts, like everyone else
Cant seem to get it to happen.

User CP > Edit Signature

You're welcome.

[Mihaly]

I agree it is much worse than is being presented in the media. Unfortunately, governments around the appear to be prescribing more poison (debt) for an extreme case of poisoning (excessive debt).

This is the same "medicine" that they have been using since 2001 trying to avoid a recession. This is the root cause of this problem, and has been responsible for every depression for 350 years (On average one every 70 years). In my experience the more governments interfere, the more things get screwed up. More recent examples of what happens when government print money are Argentina a few years back and Zimbabwe.

I don't believe that these packages will work, but will just delay a recovery. At some stage the money has to be paid back. In the meantime, it will shortly result in higher interest rates (and taxes). As previous poster stated, its probably not a good time to be owing money. On the other hand, if you are on a fixed interest rate, and you can remain in work a bout of hyperinflation may reduce the (relative) value of your debt.

The government here in Oz is even crafting its stimulus package to favour those people who might vote for it in the next election (next year)

Its all very sad, blame Greeenspan and Bernanke and Bush (for his defecit spending)

end of rant. I guess I needed to vent....Can we talk about music now?

[busytbp]

to me it seems like, that we are gettin infected by the media every day....bad news every day and no good news that some of us still in he game.

to make it short, banks are gettin nice treatment these days, but music industry dont make any moves to stand up...yeah its so bad...napster here Limewire there, blame it on the kids and their poor parents.

ok...lets bring it back!

dont blame the industry, dont blame the government, dont blame the peer to peers, dont blame the internet at all...

lets make good sounding music and lets take care of the last 2% to make it work and make people listen again to music.

[AUDIOBOMBER]

Originally Posted by Mr. Green

That video is indeed disturbing.

this one is muchmuch more disturbing and it was made befor the crysis.....

YouTube - Zeitgeist - The Movie: Federal Reserve (Part 1 of 5)


and there are more and more prophetics that the dollar will collaps quite soon


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


i`m just home from mastering a 17 trax punk-rock album - i`m fine - just some ringing in my head...

...or is it the fridge??

[JBaptista68]

My other businesses are well positioned for a lengthy downturn but we're definitely feeling the pain. We felt that there is no better time than now to get back into the studio business. We are getting some amazing deals on all of the equipment and construction materials and in the end we are saving thousands of dollars. In a couple of years we should be sitting pretty.

These recessions are like waves, you've got to ride it out. While I don't consider myself an old guy, I lived through the 80's and 90's recessions and it was all about staying positive and keeping moving forward even if it is at a crawl...

[Thomas W. Bethe]

I personally think that it will get worse before it gets better.

I live near two cities, Lorain and Cleveland, that have been on the poorest cities in America list for quite some time. The county I live in is one of the poorest in the state. Jobs are scarce and Ford recently closed one of its major plants. There are no real large national industries in this immediate area and all the local manufacturing jobs have been relocated elsewhere. If it were not for smaller businesses there would be a lot more people out of work. A shopping center near here is very close to closing down for lack of people buying things.

The outlook was not good before we slipped into a major recession and it will take a long time getting out once the recession lessens.

I too refrain from watching the evening or morning news as it is all doom and gloom but on the other hand where I currently live and have a business the news is also frighteningly true.

I think that if you watch what you are doing, scale back any large expenditures for equipment, pay off your loans and run as lean and mean as you can you will be able to come through this current fiscal meltdown with no problems. At least that is our plan.

Good topic!

[Odeon-Mastering]

Originally Posted by AUDIOBOMBER

YouTube - Zeitgeist - The Movie: Federal Reserve (Part 1 of 5)

+1000
whoever hasn't watched the zeitgeist videos must check them out

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by bob katz

Dear Adam: I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. We had very serious fires in Florida several years back but "El Niño" or whatever seems to have created a wet state. If global warming continues, though, the fires will be back.

Thanks Bob & others for your comments & concerns. The area in which I grew up is now on "smoke awareness" & low alert, with fires near the main dam in the Upper Yarra Valley.

As far as media goes, I can say that commercial papers & TV have absolutely nothing on local radio and AM talkback radio for what's really going on - no hype or mic-in-face "so, how does it feel?" ridiculous bs.
One high profile commentator/provocateur columnist was the other day claiming that the UK blizzard's death toll vs the heatwave here indicates global cooling, not warming (ignoring population differences & the science involved), then yesterday he's reporting on tv from for one of the fire evacuation centers...

The whole state was tinder dry, after 11 yrs of drought & a heatwave & a growing complacency amongst some, so this is like nothing ever known before. Everyone's again having true perspective thrown back at them.

Originally Posted by bob katz

On another topic, how's Tony Mantz (Jack The Bear)? Haven't seen him post in a long time.

Tony's well & is otherwise surrounding himself (literally) in tatts, collectable guitars & such pursuits. Bushfire benefit compilations & gigs abounding, too.