DCR
Our Digital Content Repository is a large-scale storage format that has triple-level redundancy of assets. [Assets are] stored digitally in three places and physically in one. It’s more than a cloud––it’s secure base, searchable digital files that will maintain zero-bit loss over 50 years.
Special Visitors
Artists do come in. One memorable example was featured on the History Channel. Jack and Ozzy Osbourne came to our underground facility, the big Iron Mountain people talk about. Within that secure, locked-down facility, we have a studio. Ozzy pulled his old master off the shelf and listened to it for the first time since he’d mixed it.
Think Ahead
Even if you’re starting in your bedroom, think about [archiving]. Think about breakthrough bands that come out of obscurity. Everyone wants the original demo and the B-sides, things that didn’t make the album. That stuff’s valuable.
Expertise and Trust
We had panels hosted by Iron Mountain employees. Senior Vice President, Eileen Sweeney, talked about diversity in music and breaking ceilings. We had a panel on how to handle difficult media. Our Boyers studio manager, Bob Koszela, hosted a panel with engineer Nate Kunkel; Joe Travers, who looked after the Zappa archives; Dave McEowen from Capitol, now Universal, who does restoration work; and one of our engineers, Brett Zinn, to talk about the challenges of recovering media that’s gone bad.
Iron Mountain has deep expertise in these fields and handling those assets. You’re not handing [your assets] over to somebody you don’t know if you can trust.
A Solemn Oath
There is nothing we won’t do for assets. They’re treated like children. We are on guard all the time. This is not something where you hang your hat up and go home. It’s guarding a castle. We take a pledge to do that and everybody chips in to make sure assets are protected.
Virtual Reality
VR will generate expansively more data than we have today. When we talk about digital assets, the multipliers are insane. We’ve got, within the DCR, petabytes worth of capacity, but it becomes more complex. How do you handle that media, attach metadata, capture it properly and make sure we can handle its next iteration?
Real Gear = Real Experience
You can make a record in your bedroom and that’s excellent, but it also produces a lack of understanding. We struggle finding people who can align a tape machine or fix gear. Get a mentor to teach you the history of audio recording, as opposed to hitting the retro plug-in. Learn the old gear. Plug-ins are amazing, but there’s something about the interactions that happen within a studio. It’s better than being in your bedroom. Get out and touch a mike.
Personal / Personnel Matters
Even if you can’t afford recording school, get in there and do it. Offer to be a fly on the wall in a session and make good coffee. I did that for a long time. You learn not only studio techniques but studio etiquette. You could know every technical aspect under the sun, but if you don’t have a good bedside manner you aren’t going to make the gig. If you’re throwing the wrong vibe, an I-know-it-all vibe, you’re not going to last.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Growing up on Music Connection and wanting to be in a band, I accomplished a lot of what I set out to do. I toured Europe and the East coast, put together major tours, was a drummer, band manager, producer, cat wrangler, whatever you want to call it. And I loved it.
When I got to Capitol, I realized there are other paths. I’ve been doing music my whole life and been relatively successful. That came from loving music but eventually realizing what my strong suits were and weren’t. I was a decent drummer; I wasn’t excellent. Same with engineering. But I found what I was good at—championing these craftsmen and putting together environments, sessions and teams that make it excellent. By no means give up on your dream, but keep your eyes open. There are options.
Save Everything
If you’re creating music, save it in all forms—physically and in various iterations. You don’t know what the route to success is, especially monetarily. The next generation needs to understand there is permanence to [what you record] and if you treat it right, it’ll treat you right.
Clients: Universal Music Group, MTV, Los Angeles Lakers
For more information, visit ironmountain.com.
