2023 ATMI/CMS National Convention, October 26-28, 2023, Miami, FL, Miami Marriott Dadeland
ATMI is holding its 2023 National Conference in conjunction with the College Music Society’s Sixty-Sixth National Conference.
Jeff Kaiser will be presenting his paper, “The Death of Industry Standard,” at the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) Conference.
In this paper I propose that we as educators stop using the term “industry standard” in the classroom to refer to specific digital audio workstations (DAWs). The term should only be reserved for technical specifications (such as .wav files) that are shared by DAWs for saving data/work in platform agnostic formats.
The term “industry standard,” at its most benign, is used by corporate entities to maintain or expand their market share. At its worst, it is used to dismiss, shame, marginalize, mock, ridicule, and generally bully people using so many of the platforms that are not considered “standard.” The term can also perpetuate certain styles of working and creating, and sometimes used to scoff at the very innovations that the large companies later incorporate into their DAWs.
The above might sound overly dramatic to some, but pedagogically it is also a question of equity, diversity, and inclusion in—and out—of the classroom. What about students using free or open source platforms? Are they made to feel “less” by their use of a platform that is not “industry standard?” Does such treatment motivate students to use hacked commercial software? How do we encourage creative work both at school and away from school studios that includes students who are unable to afford access to “industry standard” DAWs?
I will use examples from social media, popular magazines, and professional organizations to illustrate, as well as draw from modern pedagogical studies, long-tail economics, specific examples from the development of contemporary DAWs, and my extensive experience in the classroom and professional recording studio to support my arguments.
CMS/ATMI National Conferences routinely attract over 400 faculty, administrators, graduate students, independent scholars, composers, publishers, and music business personnel who share a common interest and dedication to the improvement of music and its relationship to the other academic disciplines of higher education.
The conference program presents higher education’s broadest array of topics dealing with technology in music instruction. Uses of new hardware and software are explored in a variety of formats. Through papers, panels, posters, and workshop sessions, ATMI conferences provide the opportunity to explore the uses of technology in all aspects of music instruction.