Rick Beato... yeah or nay?

[Vic2012]

I've been binging on Rick Beato interviews. I've seen his interviews with:

Al Dimeola
Andy Sommers
Mike McDonald
Sting
Steve Gadd
Steve Lukether
Pretty Purdy (the drummer)
Brian May
Stewart Copeland

.....and a few more I'm forgetting.


.

[JohnG]

Love Rick Beato, I was at his NYC event last year where he dissected a Beatles song. Very entertaining. Hope he comes back soon, it was a sold-out show.

[Dana5140]

Great new interview with Steve Wilson, listing bands he and records he loves. Zeit by TD rates high! And Abba!

[Steve983]

A good summary here:

[Koreabruce]

I watched this earlier today and think RB's pretty much spot-on in his general assessment of the music business.

[Mister Triscuits]

I don’t think he says anything there that we don’t all know already, but he says it very well.

[Rarebird]

I watched this earlier today and think RB's pretty much spot-on in his general assessment of the music business.

He is not completely wrong. Stil I think technology can also help less sufficient musicians, who have a of creative ideas, to put these into music. Just like a composer can just write notes and hear the music in his mind. He doesn't need to be able to play all the instruments. Beethoven was even able to compose when he was deaf.
And someone like Brian Eno even considered himself a non-musician. Still he have made great records and added something to Roxy Music.

[chalkpie]

He isn't wrong, yet he isn't 100% right either. He is great at making very wide sweeping generalizations about EVERYBODY that listens to music. Really Rick? Do you really know everybody's listening habits?

He is also full of shit that he is this very open-minded listener...he isn't. When is the last time he talked about any ReR, Cuneiform, ABC, Tzadic, Seventh, etc etc bands or albums? Ummm....never? But he'll analyze and sing praises for some medicore 90s grunge acts that he grew up on and digs.

I unsubbed from him a while back....a lot of this is "My music tastes are great...my gear is great....my ears are great....my listening habits are great....but yours ....suck". Not everybody is as fanatical as we are about music and can still love and value music. It's 2024 Rick, not 1969 buddy.

[abc123]

In that video, in the first part, near the end of it, for clarification maybe I should read that RS article he pops up but this notion of "your singing your voice and replacing it with one of theirs [the record company's]" sounded to me more like a listener/fan activity than a musician doing that to create (original) *music*, and, if so, it's a somewhat extraneous bit that steers away from the topic of that first part ("Act 1") which is supposed to be about "*music* being easy to make [in the current times]", not some listener/fan activity being easy to pursue. I guess I'm not really into the idea of a pro musician first caring to create original music so as to then let an AI-modeled version of some known (famous or not) vocalist become the vocals in that original music -- yes technically there is some novelty or merit to it but why when there are so many very good human vocalists around. I hope I didn't misunderstand that bit, listened to it quickly.

[soundsweird]

I will say that he doesn't annoy me or bore me the way most of the similar Youtube self-styled rock/prog experts do.

[Plasmatopia]

I guess I'm not really into the idea of a pro musician first caring to create original music so as to then let an AI-modeled version of some known (famous or not) vocalist become the vocals in that original music -- yes technically there is some novelty or merit to it but why when there are so many very good human vocalists around. I hope I didn't misunderstand that bit, listened to it quickly.

One reason why could be companies like Spotify using that technology to make more music that is created entirely by AI. Yes, using some dead vocalist's voice seems creepy and could be a novelty thing with limited use/interest, but I think not having to employ humans to create music would probably be a boon to Spotify's bottom line. Assuming the public doesn't care how the sausage is made.

[markwoll]

I would say that Beato is referring to the greater market, not the niche we live in.
Spotify is "life soundtrack" or muzak for most people. If Spotify does not have to pay royalties, just have an "AI" prompt generator feed a 'music AI' song generator it's a big win.
Until it becomes generic mayo, pink noise with mumbled shouts and occasional crescendos.

[Czyszy]

So I guess choosing not to use Spotify at all was a good move after all for me. B)

[zombywoof]

He isn't wrong, yet he isn't 100% right either. He is great at making very wide sweeping generalizations about EVERYBODY that listens to music. Really Rick? Do you really know everybody's listening habits?

He is also full of shit that he is this very open-minded listener...he isn't. When is the last time he talked about any ReR, Cuneiform, ABC, Tzadic, Seventh, etc etc bands or albums? Ummm....never? But he'll analyze and sing praises for some medicore 90s grunge acts that he grew up on and digs.

I unsubbed from him a while back....a lot of this is "My music tastes are great...my gear is great....my ears are great....my listening habits are great....but yours ....suck". Not everybody is as fanatical as we are about music and can still love and value music. It's 2024 Rick, not 1969 buddy.

[clivey]

So I guess choosing not to use Spotify at all was a good move after all for me. B)

When I tell people I do/use BandCamp for my music . The usual response is , Why no Spotify? Most music consumers have no concept of the "pay to play and be played" model utilized by Shitify etc.


I almost never see a new release by young talent that deliberately avoids Shitify , despite everything that is said.
Re Beato. I like and concur with his issue even though it's so so obvious. It's always nice to have something to agree with , though the outlook is rather depressing in a sci-fi kinda of way

[John Miner]

I've never agreed with the "give your music away" for your "exposure" etc. It's obviously not working.
My new band has decided not to participate, and just focus on live performances ... and we don't stream them either.

What is missing clearly is the focus on live performance and the value of that. Watching a band on youtube or being at a gig is not the same thing.
We've found that there is actually a need for good quality live bands that aren't doing covers or tributes.

We have been getting some decent paying gigs by being an original act that focuses on playing live and not selling our music. If you want to hear it, you have to come to the shows. We're doing an eclectic act of prog/fusion and touching on a few other genres as well.

It feels like most prog/fusion or more artsy bands have either given up or just don't have good guidance. We are not touring because the cost of that is just too expensive and to do that properly you have to be hitting each market once or twice a year... and it's at least a 3 year commitment.
Instead, we are just focusing on playing locally and supporting our own scene here and networking with other bands to help in a place we can actually make a difference.

Trying to take on the world as a independent without some kind of legitimate label support seems futile.

It does seem overlooked that every great band in rock, prog or fusion, certainly bands that are discussed at depth here, were all great live acts as well.

I think Beato is missing a key point here about the relevance of "authenticity". Authenticity will win in the long term and we can all see that playing out right before our eyes. Just look at the price of quality vinyl records that were recorded before these things that Beato has been discussing.

That being said, I don't understand the Beato haters. He's doing a good service to humanity and of course he has his own tastes and preferences just like anyone else. His width of genres etc is pretty broad. He's just one guy and it's positive that he's got as many followers as he does.

[Jerjo]

Those developments outlined in Act 1 are frightening. And all to cut costs so there's more profit. That bit with the drums and the Bonham sample just sounded so goddamn bad you wonder why the hell anyone would want such a thing in their music.

[Plasmatopia]

That bit with the drums and the Bonham sample just sounded so goddamn bad you wonder why the hell anyone would want such a thing in their music.

It's true. But even that might be fine if everything else was played/sung by humans. It might depend on what the artist is going for. Of course, many of us here probably would rather hear a real drummer on real drums.

[chalkpie]

That being said, I don't understand the Beato haters. He's doing a good service to humanity and of course he has his own tastes and preferences just like anyone else. His width of genres etc is pretty broad. He's just one guy and it's positive that he's got as many followers as he does.

Not a hater at all, but the guy needs to earn my subscription. I have a direct tie to Beato: we are both from the same town/high school (Fairport, NY). Also, his best buddy Bill Tiberio was my favorite teacher and my HS jazz director, so there's that.

But when he does that stupid water analogy, he's talking like it's gospel. Everybody does this and thinks this way. So he needs to own statements like that. My son and I have been bonding over Spotify playlists that are VERY detailed and constantly changing. We are exploring the (huge) catalog of King Gizzard together and learning every single tune these guys made, so is that directly going down the toilet like he claims? He does this a lot. Wide, sweeping generalizations (like I wrote above). Don't put everyone in the same proverbial basket Rick, we are all different and we are not all like you. But folks will take his word and repeat online and to their mates that NOBODY listens to music anymore like we did in the early 70's. Yeah, and so fucking what? It's 2024. Streaming is here....deal with it. So is AI. Sorry. Some of us still buy vinyl, still buy CDs, and still manage to bond with others sharing personal playlists using streaming platforms. Rick doesn't get this, yet he has 4m+ subscribers.

That stuff can't be overlooked. His talks on Bach, Keith Jarret, Metheny, etc are all great and he is a very passionate dude. But he needs to get rid of the 1969 mentality. Maybe he can brainstorm some suggestions on how people can actually come together perhaps with bands/artists complete catalogs (like we do here) instead of just complaining about it and making a profit.

imo.

[Splicer]

90+ percent of my music listening during the 1970s and 80s was for free. It was called radio. I didn't have money to buy records, so for me my favorite bands were always relegated to the few songs heard on the radio or the occasional album side or full album that was played. I had friends who had records and so my home taping killed music. It's not like I was running around supporting bands with my money because I wasn't. I couldn't afford to go to concerts either and they were a hell of a lot more affordable than they are today. I bought some albums but it's not like they were that many and I played the hell out of them over and over again. Then in the 90s and 2000s I discovered the new wave of Prog and pissed thousands away on CDs I listened to once because I had no idea what they sounded like outside of a two sentence description. Then streaming came along and now we're in that era.

I'll tell Beato this and anyone else who'll listen - I spent the money I'm going to spend. Pissed it away. I'm done. Right now I use Amazon Music to listen to whatever is on there - from new releases to obscure stuff I've never heard of before. I listen to all kinds of music I would never be exposed to otherwise and I enjoy my life. Sorry I can't support the business to my fullest extent, but I'm thinking of retirement and I need the money to move to a cabin somewhere that has high speed internet and fewer neighbors.

[Rarebird]

Not a hater at all, but the guy needs to earn my subscription. I have a direct tie to Beato: we are both from the same town/high school (Fairport, NY). Also, his best buddy Bill Tiberio was my favorite teacher and my HS jazz director, so there's that.

But when he does that stupid water analogy, he's talking like it's gospel. Everybody does this and thinks this way. So he needs to own statements like that. My son and I have been bonding over Spotify playlists that are VERY detailed and constantly changing. We are exploring the (huge) catalog of King Gizzard together and learning every single tune these guys made, so is that directly going down the toilet like he claims? He does this a lot. Wide, sweeping generalizations (like I wrote above). Don't put everyone in the same proverbial basket Rick, we are all different and we are not all like you. But folks will take his word and repeat online and to their mates that NOBODY listens to music anymore like we did in the early 70's. Yeah, and so fucking what? It's 2024. Streaming is here....deal with it. So is AI. Sorry. Some of us still buy vinyl, still buy CDs, and still manage to bond with others sharing personal playlists using streaming platforms. Rick doesn't get this, yet he has 4m+ subscribers.

That stuff can't be overlooked. His talks on Bach, Keith Jarret, Metheny, etc are all great and he is a very passionate dude. But he needs to get rid of the 1969 mentality. Maybe he can brainstorm some suggestions on how people can actually come together perhaps with bands/artists complete catalogs (like we do here) instead of just complaining about it and making a profit.

imo.

He sometimes give me the feeling: "O.K. Boomer"

[3LockBox]

90+ percent of my music listening during the 1970s and 80s was for free. It was called radio. I didn't have money to buy records, so for me my favorite bands were always relegated to the few songs heard on the radio or the occasional album side or full album that was played. I had friends who had records and so my home taping killed music. It's not like I was running around supporting bands with my money because I wasn't. I couldn't afford to go to concerts either and they were a hell of a lot more affordable than they are today. I bought some albums but it's not like they were that many and I played the hell out of them over and over again. Then in the 90s and 2000s I discovered the new wave of Prog and pissed thousands away on CDs I listened to once because I had no idea what they sounded like outside of a two sentence description. Then streaming came along and now we're in that era.

I'll tell Beato this and anyone else who'll listen - I spent the money I'm going to spend. Pissed it away. I'm done. Right now I use Amazon Music to listen to whatever is on there - from new releases to obscure stuff I've never heard of before. I listen to all kinds of music I would never be exposed to otherwise and I enjoy my life. Sorry I can't support the business to my fullest extent, but I'm thinking of retirement and I need the money to move to a cabin somewhere that has high speed internet and fewer neighbors.

Yep. Pretty much describes me

[Vic2012]

I like his interviews. He's had a good handful of interviews. I stop there with Beato.

[boilk]

I've watched a few of his rants, and he's had some good interviews.

I just think for his regular videos he goes on-and-on for too long; which somebody mentioned he does, because it helps the monetization of his videos. But for me, I often find that he takes 10 minutes to say something that would be much better served in 3 minutes.

Neil

[Mr.Krautman]

Though I have no doubts about his musical skills and knowledge I stopped watching his YT clips a couple of years ago.
There are certain aspects about him that I find too irritating in the long term, mainly:

- A mostly condescending attitude: the "I know, you don't" syndrome.
- An obviously oversized ego (related to above).
- Most of the time (except during interviews) he's SHOUTING (or speaking very loudly). I don't like people shouting at me just to prove they're right. Do you ?
- Very often a lack of open-mindedness and humor, he's WAY too serious about topics he's dealing with. Relax Rick, it's just all about entertainment after all and there are many more important (and enjoyable) things in life than perfect pitch.
- Most of his videos are overlong and could (should) be shortened without altering the meaning.

OK, maybe I'm overly sensitive and severe but (for me) all the above points are too much and prevent me to fully enjoy his clips, thus I stopped altogether.

I don't want to put the two men in competition and comparisons are just what they are (often meaningless) but still... (Daily) Doug Helvering looks like Rick Beato's exact opposite: cool, funny and relaxed he never takes himselff too seriously.
A completely different mood, unstressed and fully enjoyable. I still watch his clips from time to time with great pleasure.