AUSTIN, TX. (Top40 Charts/ eSession) - The record industry may be in chaos, but the truth is there is more music being made today than at any other time in history. With advances in music software and hardware, artists, bands and songwriters around the world are creating their own home studios for less than $500. And as more songs are being written, world-class musicians and engineers are now being hired through a new Internet-based company, eSession.com, to transform those songs recorded in "bedroom studios" to sound as good as - or even better than - music recorded in the traditional, expensive, commercial recording studios.
Just ask Pat Mastelotto, drummer for Mr. Mister, XTC, King Crimson and the Rembrandts (that's him banging away on the Friends TV theme "I'll Be There For You"). Mastelotto, now a resident of Austin, Texas, has had nearly two dozen recording dates using eSession under his belt, and it has radically changed his career.
Prior to eSession, Mastelotto was required to pay an expensive freight company to ship his drums to the client hiring him. The client paid for Mastelotto's travel, accommodations, meals, and per diem fees, not to mention his rates for recording the client's tracks. On top of all this, the client paid the rates for the recording studio and recording engineers. Keep in mind, this is all for just one musician.
With eSession, the client simply clicks one button to hire Mastelotto and uploads his or her music files via a drag-and-drop Web page. Then, recording from his own studio, Mastelotto works with the client across the Internet. eSession handles all of his payments and real-time communication between him and the client, saving him days of travel time and alleviating the hassle of shipping and setting up his gear. Needless to say, this saves thousands of dollars while also allowing anyone, amateur or professional, anywhere in the world, to hire his or her musical heroes with one click and a credit card.
eSession is the dream-made-real of two highly respected veterans of the music industry: Gina Fant-Saez, a recording engineer, author and digital music expert, and Kevin Killen, a GRAMMY Award-winning producer and mixer. Fant-Saez has worked with artists including Nelly Furtado, Shawn Colvin and Sting, among others, and Killen's resume boasts work with legends such as U2, Peter Gabriel and Elvis Costello. Together their eSession concept is revolutionizing the music-making process.
Three years in the making and launched this past April, eSession.com is a music recording solutions company, a Web application and a talent-matching service all in one. Users can choose from over 750 "eTalent" members - accomplished musicians, producers and engineers, each with at least 15 major label credits. Users may also search the site to work with over 3,000 eMembers.
When artists or clients find a musician or engineer with whom they would like to work, they send an audition called a "Work Request" with an MP3 sample of their music. The eTalent member reviews this request, and if his or her schedule allows, and the music is a good fit, the two parties negotiate a price for the project, which could range from adding a guitar solo to a single song, hiring an entire band or mixing a complete album. eSession.com handles the entire transaction, which includes payments and the transfer of music files over the Internet between musician and the client.
eSession is reinvigorating an at-times demoralized music business by granting up-and-coming artists or music aficionados access to legendary music veterans, including Peter Gabriel bassist Tony Levin, Sheryl Crow drummer Shawn Pelton, David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, Dave Way, who has mixed records for Fiona Apple and Shakira, and 1980s hit-maker Thomas Dolby, who will be using eSession.com to record his next record from places as remote as his U.K. country residence and aboard a sailboat in the middle of the ocean.
"I've had A-list talent play on songs for as low as $150 to $500," Fant-Saez says. "They know that independent artists have small budgets, and they just really want to do work." Mastelotto agrees. "It's a great idea," he says. "If you're nervous about calling a particular musician, it's so much easier just to scroll through [the eSession.com website] and find your hero and then send them a Work Request and go from there."
Fant-Saez expects that eSession will grow its fan base quickly because of the way it emphasizes autonomy in an independent music landscape and how it leverages the exploding number of digital recording studios that artists and musicians now have at home. "Anyone could collaborate with anyone else, anywhere, anytime," says Fant-Saez. "Now, that's not just theory anymore - it's reality."
For more information on the complete range of eSession services, please visit www.eSession.com or contact Gina Fant-Saez at eSession, 3701 Kerbey Ln, Austin, TX 78731 Voice: 512.264.3308, Fax: 512.628.1305
