(upbeat music)
- [Shiftee] Music creation is incredibly complex.
Many people try to make music
and a lot of folks fail.
(upbeat music)
The reason why they fail
is not because they don't have drive
or desire or good taste,
it's because they don't have
the ability to get their ideas out.
- [Werner Vogels] Our planet and our civilizations
are changing faster than ever before.
Join me as I travel the globe
talking to start-up founders
using technologies to make our world
more interesting, accessible, and livable.
These are the entrepreneurs
that are creating the future
we will live in.
This is Now Go Build.
(upbeat drum music)
Amsterdam, I love this city, my city.
I'm Dutch but I'm from Amsterdam.
You see a stunning city filled with
art, music, architecture, food,
and canals and bicycles everywhere.
I see home.
When I left the Netherlands,
Amsterdam was just beginning to find its way
in the technology world.
Today, Amsterdam has become a thriving tech hub
with a fast-growing, start-up scene,
a scene that has inherited the city's centuries-old practice
of world-changing innovation.
Throw in the artists and musicians
that have always found their place here,
and you can see why I believe
there's no place like Amsterdam.
Is it always good to come back
and visit my old home,
drink my favorite drinks,
and eat my favorite food.
But this time, I'm in Amsterdam
for one of my favorite gatherings,
the Amsterdam Dance Event.
ADE is a celebration for electronic music and technology,
two things I can't do without.
People come from around the world for conferences,
to discover new music technologies,
and of course, to dance.
I decided to bring together
some of the technologists in town,
and one of my favorite EDM artists
in my local pub, the Black Dog.
We met to discuss the evolving relationship
between music and technology.
When you think about music,
software's not the first thing
that comes to your mind, is it?
How has creation of music changed
by the introduction of software?
- I would say one thing it's done
is it's leveled the playing field
and made it way more accessible for more people where
from being a DJ to being a producer,
you used to have to have so much gear
that was expensive, hard to come by.
And if you wanted to play a synthesizer sound,
you'd have to own a synthesizer
and so software makes it so
there isn't this cost-gear barrier.
- We've taken the idea of software as an instrument
and expanded it to being software as a connector.
So when two artists need to work together better,
we provide software for that collaboration to happen,
sort of in the background.
And we go all the way to our sounds product
in which we make a marketplace,
an artist to artist marketplace,
for people to connect and share sounds and samples
that they're using in productions today.
So software's really,
not just connecting people,
but blurring the lines between instrument and technology.
- In the music industry,
it's interesting to see there's still
this attachment to some gear, so yeah,
we're going towards software to make music
but I think there is this moment of creativity
when you can have that direct contact with the instrument,
and the controller or the hardware become the instrument.
And I think the good integration of software
within the hardware to make the workflow seamless,
is really what we are shooting for.
(electronic music)
- So walk us a little bit through
a typical creation process.
- Typically, I'm sent the beats by producers
and what I like to do is
before I listen too much to each thing
and get too stuck in it,
I want to just sit with my laptop,
plug everything in, hit record, just from the go,
'cause I feel like whatever comes to you instinctively
is probably the best it's gonna be.
- What's the role with technology
in the whole collaborative process?
- Well, firstly,
I no longer have to be in the same room as somebody.
Previously if we wanted to make a track together,
we had to meet up, go in a studio, and make a track.
But I have collaborators now all over the world
and we're sharing files and sharing ideas
in all kinds of different ways from just like,
emailing STEMs to even face-timing each other
while one of us is working on a track and say,
like, turn that up or like,
oh, yeah, I like that over there.
It's really opened up the world
for potential collaborations.
- Is there still a role for the traditional studio?
- I'm all a big fan of removed work
and collaboration from all over the world
because it makes it easier
but this human connection of having
several artists in the room
and having this connection in the creation process
is very important,
to still have this moment where you get together.
- I mean, there's no substitute currently
for being in the same room
and having that immediate feedback of someone
playing a lick on the keys and the singer going,
oh, I like that.
There isn't really an equivalent in the Cloud.
- I promise you we're working on it.
- Thank you, please.
I would like to never interact with another human if--
- Well, actually--
- I take that back.
Yeah, I mean there is this sense in which the Cloud
not replacing real life collaborations
but being like another party in the room
where when you have that moment of inspiration together
and you're like, oh we need an orchestra,
then you don't have to go then like--
(laughing)
Do you know any tuba players?
I don't know any tuba players.
- They're very expensive. - You load in
the orchestra plug-in.
(electronic music)
(vocalizing)
- [Werner] Where's the drum set?
- All of this is a drum set.
- It's in the system. - Okay.
- Yeah, yeah, every instrument right here.
- [Werner] Cool, so, keyboards?
- Keyboard, the keyboard is any virtual instrument
or sample that I want to manipulate,
I can manipulate it here.
So that's why when we say the drum set is here,
it really can be where this can be the kick,
this can be the snare, this can be the hi-hats,
and I can play everything I need with this.
- It looks like a keyboard
but it's just an API, just an interface,
to the instruments that you have there.
The turntable is not really a turntable,
you use it for something else
and just play it backwards, I assume.
- Yeah, so any sound, I can manipulate it like this.
This is also just,
this is a controller,
the machine pad is a controller,
this has become a controller too
and it's just, how can you touch your sounds?
- Yeah, it's not really that you're playing the audio
that's on the final, right?
- No.
So it's used to control literally any sound
that's ever been recorded or that we record.
So actually we could grab...
Yeah.
So.
♪ Go, go, go, go, go! ♪
(scratch sounds)
♪ Go build ♪
- Can you talk a bit about the distribution part, as well?
How has that changed over time?
- Basically, distribution,
as in getting your songs out to the general public
has changed because consumption essentially comes
from YouTube or some type of subscription platform,
Apple Music, Spotify, et cetera.
The difference in getting your music out there
isn't really about where you can find it,
'cause really you can find it almost anywhere,
it's more about how you get someone to hear it
because if you are placed on
a Apple Music new music playlist
or Spotify Discover Weekly,
it can dramatically change your career as an artist.
So the algorithms essentially have an enormous power
and also responsibility to the culture of music.
I mean, you're talking 50, 60, 70 million people
played a different song,
that's a huge difference,
huge, huge, huge difference.
- Yeah, because in the past,
I mean, we saw this shift happening where
get control towards the musician instead of the label.
But if there's other gatekeepers now suddenly
that are algorithms are the gatekeepers,
you should try to avoid that as well
because otherwise you start making music
to please the gatekeepers.
- Oh yeah, for sure.
- To get past the gate.
- And it's very tough to make significant income
off of these streaming services
unless you get on like a huge playlist.
Like, I think, last I checked,
10,000 streams was like forty dollars.
And so, it...
(Werner laughs)
We'll get a dinner.
(all laughing)
And so, in terms of actually making a living,
one thing is it makes artists look for other avenues
but the current system is certainly
not doing justice to artists
in terms of their music having value.
- [Werner] How do you make your money?
- Yeah, so, I've always had a bit of a business head on me
and I knew that I, as a vocalist and as a female vocalist,
that I could record myself and then,
kind of set up a business from it.
So once I started bringing out vocal sample packs
which was sort of another line of session work
for me, really,
I just found a lot of people were reaching out to me
through the vocal sample packs that I had made.
It was less of a collaboration and being like,
you tell me what you want and I can create that for you,
or I can craft that for you,
and then I would charge for that service.
Over time, I felt like I wanted to be more creative
and so now I'll work with people,
like sometimes you have to do that for free
if you're trying to get into that record label or whatever.
But yeah, for me, a big part of it
was the vocal sample packs.
- If you're a music creator
and you're not like a superstar,
you have to sort of pursue
a bunch of different revenue streams.
And what's interesting about Splice in particular
is that now there's a way for that community
to sell to each other.
- Artists have long been exploited
by the people in charge of distribution,
from publishers to record labels,
to promoters and ticket distributors.
It has always been difficult
for musicians to take control
of the business side of their arts,
the finances, and the distribution.
But new technologies and the Cloud
are rapidly changing that power dynamic.
Maarten Bloemers, the CEO of Amsterdam start-up, GUTS,
is in town for ADE.
In part by using Ethereum's favor of blockchain,
Guts is tackling the problem
of ticket scalping and price gouging.
On the way to one of the opening dance events,
by boat of course,
we found some time to talk about the problem
this former lawyer has set out to solve.
So why is scalping a problem?
- Well, in Holland, it's actually a big problem.
So they buy up a bulk of tickets for cheap
and then they sell them off for higher prices.
And the mark-ups are insane,
can reach up to 700% markup.
There are cases known that the scalpers,
they make more money of the whole event,
than all the artists or everybody involved.
- So, there must be some smartness in the tickets.
So tell me about that.
- Basically what we do is we make the ticket truly digital,
so normally, the tickets are distributed via like a PDF,
so you can duplicate it, it's tangible, basically.
What we do is we create a truly digital ticket.
We do that because our QR code refreshes every 15 seconds,
it's not a sequence,
it actually asks a new QR code every 15 seconds
which means that screenshots and duplicating is impossible.
- How much do you rely on
the smart contract part of Ethereum?
- Very, very little.
And it keeps getting smaller every month.
- So, I'd like to make a case then
that blockchain is not necessary here.
I think what you're looking for is immutability.
- Yep.
- And transparency, of course.
Then looking at blockchain, I think,
all the stories that I've heard
and so now, people looking for solutions on blockchain
can actually be solved through a much simpler solution.
Also because we know much better
how to engineer those solutions.
I think decentralizing,
especially with decentralized trust,
things become much harder to debunk, to build,
and things like that.
- Absolutely.
So we made a promise we're gonna do it on blockchain,
so we'll try to proceed as far and as good as we could.
But when push comes to shove,
and it seems useless--
- Your solution is better, yep.
- We'll go for it, of course.
- Good, okay.
- I'm a pragmatic man.
- When was the last time you bought a non-digital ticket?
- I think it was actually last week for a festival, yeah.
- Well, it still happens.
- Yeah, world domination is a long way to go, yeah.
(piano music)
- How much work is configuration for you, Shiftee?
- I would say at this point in my career,
probably like 90% of my time is preparation.
It's like getting all the settings ready
and getting all the files prepped the way that I like them,
getting everything talking to each other,
as opposed to actually standing up and moving a record.
- Does that mean that the creator has changed as well?
They're probably much more technologist.
- Oh yeah, I mean,
I'm programming midi mappings in Traktor
for hours on hand
and last night in anticipation of today,
I'm diagramming routing.
No, there's a technical learning curve
for sure that comes into it.
- That's why you needed a math degree from Harvard
to be able to--
- I didn't know I needed it,
but now I have it.
- You know what's interesting though?
And this is something where technology,
specifically Cloud technology,
should be doing a better job for artists.
The era of feeling like,
oh, am I gonna get past the algorithm?
Can I build a social media following?
Can I even figure out how this knob
connects to this knob to make the sound that I want?
We, as technologists, I feel we have a responsibility
to connect artists and to use the technology
so that the artists have leverage.
The artists are the one that got us here,
we should be giving them technology
so that they can take us to places
we haven't even possibly imagined.
- [Shiftee] And do you want it to loop after that
or do you want to just go--
- Um, yeah, let it loop a couple times.
- [Shiftee] Okay, just on that one part.
- Yes.
Yes.
- [Shiftee] Okay, cool.
♪ Replenish me so ♪
♪ You gave me life ♪
♪ You gave me ♪
♪ You gave me life ♪
♪ You gave me reason ♪
♪ You gave me ♪
♪ You make me so happy ♪
- Is there a path towards, let's say,
automatic music generation?
- Sure, there definitely is a path towards it.
It's very easy to see how autonomous driving could work,
you could almost feel it,
you can get behind the wheel of a car
and see what it's gonna be like
'cause you kind of understand
what autonomous driving is going to feel like.
When it comes to music that is generated by a computer,
I feel like we're in very, very early stages.
Every time I've given a piece of technology
that I built to work with
or I believe is interesting to an artist,
they tend to change it to something
that I could have never possibly imagined.
- Can part of the process be automated?
Let's say, automatically generating a drum pack.
- [Shiftee] Yeah.
- [Werner] You've figured out the melody,
now you need a drum track underneath that
but you let it generate for you.
- Yeah 'cause I think, then,
there's also an element of choice.
Any time you're using samples
or any kind of automated anything,
the artists working on it has a choice to say,
I like that or I don't like that.
I love when I'm working on a track
for something to pop up and be like,
hey, your drums stink, you gotta change your drums.
Or like, we need a bass line.
I would enjoy that and I could be like,
all right, okay, you're right or not,
but it's not bad to just have
extra options and extra choices.
- Or where the software gives you the feedback saying like,
if you do this, you're not going
to make more than forty dollars.
- That'd be funny.
(laughing)
- The way I envisage it is probably
there's a place for fully automated music
in certain circumstances, I'm with you,
I think it makes a lot of sense,
but I think the interesting part is,
it doesn't replace the artist creating music.
That's really where we want to go
and some part of that will be done
by more technology to assist
and to make choices for you,
and to be able to do midi mapping for you
so you don't have to do it.
But it's just giving you more time
to be able to create.
I really think if we go back to autonomous driving
and automated, generated music,
I think in both case,
we are gonna see a world where both scenarios
are going to lead at the same time.
And of course, it's much more complicated
with autonomous driving because of the whole,
you're not going to kill anyone by music,
it might make you in a very bad mood
but we're not gonna kill anyone.
You might end up killing someone,
that's a different story.
- You can kill a party.
- Yeah, sure.
- After you think about innovation and things like that,
you all think about these new, glitzy things,
or things that people have never heard about before,
but sometimes innovation is all about looking at,
what are the things that will never change for my customers?
And the more you innovate over those processes
underneath that, you'll benefit your customers for forever.
Is there an equivalent of that in music?
Things that will never change?
- The music's gotta be dope, like whatever the process is,
whatever the tools are,
when it comes out of wherever, however you hear it,
if it doesn't move you, if it doesn't move the audience,
it doesn't matter.
- So where music is intended to create an emotion.
- Yep.
- And that's something that will never change.
(upbeat music)
The job of technologists at its core
is to be creative,
to solve problems,
and to remove obstacles.
To create more innovative ways
to clear the path for the human experience.
In this last year,
traveling for Now Go Build,
you've seen people leveraging new technologies
to enable everything from language learning for refugees,
to access to finance for farmers
that have been left behind by the world's banks,
and even redefining access to healthcare
for the most vulnerable.
And here, at ADE,
it is just as exciting to see the role
that technology is playing
in removing the obstacles
between the song in the musician's head
and the wall of sound
that helps us do one more very human thing,
dance.
(upbeat music)