"Recording costs have declined to almost zero. Artists used to need the labels to bankroll their recordings. Most simply didn't have the $15,000 (minimum) necessary to rent a professional studio and pay an engineer and a producer. For many artists — maybe even most — this is no longer the case. Now an album can be made on the same laptop you use to check email."
- David Byrne in Wired magazine.
This is dangerous talk. If you are not an electronica/sample-based or acoustic troubadour, chances are audiences are not going to be interested in your lo-fi/GarageBand musings. Yeah, Bob Pollard and Ariel Pink can get away with it, but if you are not them, good luck.
And for the record, we're not talking about needing some Tears For Fears-level production here. But if your typical gtr/bass/keys/drums combo could get their recorded musical point across with 2 mics in somebody's bedroom, there would be no need for studios—or engineers and/or producers, for that matter—whatsoever.
Generally speaking, NO ONE is interested in demo-quality recordings from unknown/up and coming artists. Period. Let's be honest here. Enough with the disingenuous statements, please.
