Sound City and music from the outskirts: the de-democratisation of pop music production

The term ‘democratisation’ often appears in debates about pop music production. It tends to describe the effect of reductions in price and required skills-sets of new digital recording technologies. Some scholars have questioned whether democratisation has actually occurred, given the ongoing gender, class and geographic divisions within music production. In spite of these factors, the number of large studios appears to be in decline and in favour of smaller, digital-based environments. This study engages with these debates to ask whether a political reading of large studio discourse might not only show democratisation as a simplistic understanding of recording practice, but also reveal ‘de-democratising’ variables within recording. It looks at how users of larger recording studios have responded to digital recording technologies. The 2013 documentary Sound City about Sound City Studios offers an example of such responses. It comprises numerous famous musicians and producers who praise the analogue recording console. This article suggests that analogue aesthetics shape ideas about legitimacy among recordists.