Market report: Sound engineers
E6: EXTENT TO WHICH ENGINEERS CONSIDER THEMSELVES UP TO DATE WITH AUDIO DEVELOPMENTS, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 Very much To some degree Not really
E7: EXTENT TO WHICH NETWORKING EXPECTED TO AFFECT DAILY WORKING LIFE OVER NEXT 2-3 YEARS, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Rita Ora at the O2 Manchester Academy earlier this year, with production manager and engineer Bronski at FOH and Stu MacAulay on monitoring duties
WHERE IS THIS MARKET GOING? In the final section of the survey, engineers were asked to consider the principal challenges now affecting the live sound industry. Underlining the shift – for some, anyway – away from live performance, a number of respondents alluded to tours with fewer dates and a general decline in opportunities.
“At the moment, there is not so much work in live sound,” sighed one contributor. Wireless spectrum reallocation
and a trend towards multi-purpose venues were other commonly- aired themes – as was a general desire for a universal approach to audio networking, be it via AVB or any of the other approaches currently being promoted.
E5: RELATIVE IMPACT OF WORKLOAD BY EVENT TYPE, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013
0 1 2 3 4 5
prep time infrastructure/ systems
2010 2011 2012 2013
Elsewhere, business or finance issues of various hues received multiple namechecks, with one participant calling for “more business and bigger budgets in order to help uplift the economy”. Another said, simply, that “getting paid for jobs is the main issue. End-users do struggle to get the right money for the job.” Finally, sound engineers were
asked to contemplate their greatest long-term concern with regard to their business. Hinting at a sense of stagnation present in all manner of industries across Europe, many respondents pointed towards price-related issues – “everything becoming price-driven” or “clients drying up and spending elsewhere”.
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 Very much SUMMARY
Sound engineers are remaining busy and are not dissatisfied with their lot – cognisant, perhaps, that things could be
To some degree Very little Expressions of concern about
the increasingly cost-driven nature of the live sector are nothing new, but they have undoubtedly intensified this
Sound engineers are not dissatisfied with their lot – cognisant, perhaps, that things could be a lot worse, and indeed are in many other industries
Insufficient Inadequate Insufficient Deficiencies Other back-up/ equipment set-up/ in venue support
www.psneurope.com
Several contributors expressed concerns for their own workloads because of increased competition from Eastern Europe and the US, while the impact of greater artist income expectations from live work – driven, to a large extent, by decline in revenue from recordings – also received an airing.
a lot worse, and indeed are in many other industries. But, rightly or wrongly, they do perceive a drop in the number of live events, and are increasingly looking towards conference, corporate and fixed installation work, among others, to help make up the shortfall.
year. Artists’ desire to extract maximum income from live events when other revenue streams are drying up is understandable; however, this has implications for the entire food-chain, and they are unlikely to be wholly positive. Much more of this, no doubt, in 2014. PSNLIVE 2013
PSNLIVE 2013 l 21
2010 2011 2012 2013
2010 2011 2012 2013
1= Highest Priority, 5 = Lowest Priority
(No comparison exists)
% of respondents
% of respondents
(0)
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