The Third Year
It’s been so long I think I’ll just have to let this one rip without overthinking it.
Business is good. I’m happy. It feels…nice?
I went to NAMM - the annual “go-to” convention for music gear - a few weeks back and I’d noticed that I’m still as enthusiastic about our space as ever. More so, perhaps - I’ve spent so much of my life in it, and there are such meaningful friendships and experiences woven into everything, I suspect the longer I’m in it, the more it’ll form part of what makes me me. The main take-home this time around was feeling that there are broadly two existences we can have as businesses/employees selling audio products. There’s working with/inside the juggernauts - conglomerates that have large-scale impact but move real slow. And there’s the small bands of makers, who are dynamic and agile, but are subject to choppy waters and uncertainty. Each of us, typically, has a foundational love for music and audio - that’s why we’re there - and we each have our own questions about how to navigate the future. The good news, I think, is that whilst we’re evidently in a challenging economic period, there are A LOT of customers out there who love making music, and so long as you’re not greedy about your piece of the pie, there should be plenty for everyone.
I keep hearing/reading about an inevitable doom that’s likely to sweep across the industry as AI takes hold. I think people trying to build mass audiences around their products are the most worried about that, and most of us shouldn’t be concerned. The act of making music has continued to be unnecessarily and enjoyably complex, for the most part, and I think that’s because there’s such great joy to be had in the effort and consideration involved. Like with anything that isn’t just entirely convenient. Why do people cook their own food, or wash their cars by hand, or build Lego, or plant and maintain gardens? Because it’s something satisfying to do, and we tend to do much better when we’re doing vs just consuming.
Anyways.
Song Athletics is plodding along merrily. We saw an uptick in sales this past Winter - a combination I think of the general awareness of us growing, having more catalogue for people to explore and enjoy, plus - and most impactfully - the release of a few Kontakt libraries that seem to have connected at a different level. We’ve had some amazing artists, producers and composers buy our stuff, and I imagine that word is very slowly beginning to spread, and all of this points to a simple strategy: to just continue as we go. A handful of new, bigger products each year (plugins and virtual instruments), plus some sample packs sprinkled around those (they don’t do big numbers but they’re a lot of fun to use/make). None of it is enough to employ someone full-time, but it’s beginning to profit and so I can reinvest that back into making more stuff and then maybe one day it’ll perform at a level that gives options about leaning into it even more. We’ll see. I kinda love how it is already, so cautious to rock the boat…
Around making and selling products, I’m still doing a mixture of consulting/coaching and work with partner companies. This is both highly satisfying - most of it is music/sound related and with brilliant people - and helps pay the bills. There are five of us to take care of, plus a new dog (Mabel, our beloved, passed away last Summer) and it gets expensive FAST. I’ve definitely evolved my relationship with money as I’ve stepped away from company-life, but that’s a different conversation.
Some other random things on my mind:
I seem to always come back from Christmas/New Year break concerned with promoting myself more online, and then swiftly arrive at the realisation that I just don’t like the talking-to-camera thing. I’m much happier writing or having real conversations with people, so I think I’ll stick with that. I just hope I remember for next time…
I had a breakthrough regarding making-music, something I’ve done since I was a kid but always felt awkward about when I’m so busy working with other artists or selling sound toys. I think the reality is I just don’t have the capacity or interest to go all-in on making a record. I like the idea of it, and everything involved in it, but I naturally gravitate towards building businesses. So I’ve started to equate that as being ‘what I’m here to make’ - sure, music and sound is a big part of what I do, and I’ll always be mucking around in the studio, but I’ve let go of having to capture those explorations and output them in any meaningful way; my focus is to create the space for these products and people to get seen/heard, and that’s something I do without thinking, all day long. Ironically, and what often tends to happen after conclusions like this, I’ve probably spent more time enjoying music and equipment than ever. Just noodling for the sake of it, before getting back to building these businesses. That’s been wonderful.
Oh and a word on products and stuff we’re making:
It was great to share our first loudspeaker with the world: ‘Mono’. I love sounds and software but there’s something so compelling about producing a physical thing. I need to do a little more to shout about it as I hope this is just the beginning of its journey, but I’m so chuffed to have broken my own rules about having a very narrow scope for what we do Song Athletics; some of these itches are important to scratch, whether for the sheer creative indulgence or the potential opportunities they create. I consider it very much the R&D wing in full-effect. And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re currently mucking around with some nearfield studio monitors. YUP.
Continuing along the hardware thread, ORB, our standalone rompler box (ie virtual instruments stored in a device that you can play without using a computer), is coming along marvellously. The on-board instruments sound GREAT, we’ve updated it so that you can put your own samples on a USB drive and plug’n’play them, and we’re thinking about final iterations of the case + packaging, so that we can eventually start to sell them.
As above, sample packs are more of a fun thing, but I do recognise the value of capturing exceptional sounds and then having the option of being able to integrate them into other products. So we’ll continue to do them - likely with a focus on drums and weird stuff that people don’t have much access to - but I’m going to allow more bandwidth for virtual instruments and plugins…
Which on that note we’re working on both, including a much “bigger” plugin that I’ve had in my head for years. Pretty excited about that and it’ll pull together a lot of what I’m interested in in sampling and synthesis so stay tuned…
~~~
Well, that was a satisfying unloading of information, and quite enough for now.
Until next time,
Will
Love this! The ‘noodling’ point is such a powerful (but easy to forget) one. As soon as we take the pressure off, the juices have the space to flow… and I need to visit the studio someday!