The Biggest Producer Right Now • 11.28.08
I recently ran across a New York Times bio piece, written just over a year ago, on Rick Rubin. There are two great reasons to read this article, if you haven’t already.
One is the writer’s take on the music industry as Rubin assumed a presidential role at Columbia Records. The other is Rubin’s personal quotes about how he approaches music production.
The writer mentions a study that Columbia records did during the summer of ‘07, and reports: 
” a) no one listens to the radio anymore, b) they mostly steal music, but they don’t consider it stealing, and c) they get most of their music from iTunes on their iPod. They told us that MySpace is over … Facebook is still cool, but that might not last much longer; and the biggest thing in their life is word of mouth.”
It goes on to follow Rubin as he tries to make sense of the situation. While his co-executives seem to be sitting on the sidelines, Rubin begins arguing for a subscription model.
The subscription model seems to be the right path for the Major Labels. If you look at the success for Rhapsody, one must wonder why the big players can’t build a platform that beats Rhapsody. Or… buy Rhapsody and lock it down. It would provide them with a predictable revenue stream on which to, you know.. base a business.
Then again, Columbia’s website looks like the results of a freshman year HTML class. (…and somewhere a designer is crying…..) Also, getting the Majors to work on a project together is most likely a legal nightmare. At least they’d have money to pay the lawyers.
Anyhow, the article also goes on to talk about the philosophy of how Rubin makes records. He says:
“I have no training, no technical skill — it’s only this ability to listen and try to coach the artist to be the best they can from the perspective of a fan.
“I do not know how to work a board. I don’t turn knobs. I have no technical ability whatsoever. But I’m there when they need me to be there. My primary asset is I know when I like something or not. It always comes down to taste.”
Even though the last Rubin-produced Metallica album was hard to listen to due to the mastering (or mixing depending on who you ask), Rubin got the best songs out of the group since Bob Rock’s Black Album. This seems to proves that regardless of the recording technology, what really matters is still the ears. Trust them.
The NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02rubin.t.html
Mix Magazine Interview with Rubin:
http://www.digitalprosound.com/Features/Interviews-Discuss/RickRubin.htm
