One of the pieces of advice I regularly give to any band seeking my help is to “find someone young and hungry” to help them in various aspects of the industry. One of our most popular articles on this site is even titled Do You Really Want Someone Who Is Old And Experienced In These Times? As much as I and many others love this saying it is EXTREMELY flawed, and I didn’t realize it until I heard it come out of another persons mouth.
“Our label wants us to go with a mastering guy who is young and hungry”
It was one of those moments I wish I could see the look on my face, a band with all of the talent and potential in the world, with a label who is experienced and yet so clueless and naive it pained me to the bone that they could end up with a flawed record since a label thinks that someone can walk into a field like mastering and get a great result. Mastering takes time to MASTER the craft in order to gain optimal quality. It also takes a lot of money to afford the equipment to do it right. Not a kid in his parents basement with some plug-ins. There are some thing in this industry that can be done by amateurs since their fresh and enthusiastic view on things can breathe new life. There are other things that take years to learn and craft such as contract negotiations that you can’t just pick up and be talented and a natural with. While I will always argue that finding someone young and hungry can do you a lot of good, there are exceptions to every rule. Do not ruin your record by thinking this applies to mastering.