Life on Mars? How to Launch an Extraterrestrial Music Career — The life of a working musician (Part IV)

The career trajectories working musicians follow can be diverse and often unexpected, especially now that the old certainties around how to earn a buck have pretty much disappeared. As long ago as the turn of the millenium, the revenue generated from music publishing was on the wane.

Napster and other music sharing sites caused a slump in CD sales. While the subsequent transition to digital downloads and music streaming led to a modest recovery, recorded music revenues have still not returned to the historic heights of 1999.

Musicians have adapted in different ways to the new economic climate. Some have focused on commercial licencing agreements with advertisers. Many others now direct more energy to live tours, where revenue has remained stable. And a few have taken a completely different path. Jason Achilles, for example, has found a source of music revenue on Mars. Yes, the planet.

A keen astronomer since childhood, he caught wind of NASA’s plan to record sound on Mars during their upcoming 2020 Mars Rover mission. Combining his background in audio engineering with his passion for stargazing, he developed and pitched a few ideas to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Needless to say, designing a microphone that can withstand the demands of spaceflight is not easy. In a studio or stage environment, a microphone will be designed to meet specific technical requirements — a drum mic will be quite different to an instrument or vocal mic, and live equipment tends to be more portable and rugged than the studio equivalents. But a Mars mission introduces a whole new set of technical challenges, including the incredibly rapid speed of entry and the unique atmospheric conditions on the planet. The size of the microphone was also an important factor, as space is at a premium in, well, space.

Impressed with his ideas, NASA hired Achilles to work with JPL to identify microphones that can record sound as the rover descends onto the Red Planet. This is not the first time that efforts have been made to record sound on Mars. NASA’s unmanned missions in 1999 and 2007 both featured microphones, but neither functioned successfully due to various unforeseen circumstances. Thus, 2020 could be the first time we hear what it sounds like on Mars. For Achilles, the attraction of the challenge was obvious:

“No one has ever done it before…that’s what really got my attention. If it works it will be the first time we’ve properly heard the sounds from another world.”

In addition to his work for NASA, he also tours with a show called Astronomy on Tap, which combines a science lecture with a live music show. This is part of a nationwide initiative where professional astronomers give informal talks in local bars on a variety of scientific topics, followed by lots of discussion and interaction with the public. Audiences have been receptive to this creative, mixed-media approach and Achilles feels that his career path would only have been possible in the digital age:

“I think the amount of personal control and outreach an artist can have nowadays is phenomenal. I’ve been able to create an entire new career angle for myself that incorporates virtually everything I love and am passionate about, in a direction I’ve never thought possible and basically under my complete control. So yeah that part is awesome.”

A multi-instrumentalist and classically trained musician, the live music portion of Achilles’ show sees him partner with drummer Forrest Mitchell to compose and perform experimental compositions live on stage. The use of equipment such as a loop pedal enables him to perform guitar, bass and keys simultaneously, giving the music a layered, improvisational quality. The audience gets to hear the individual components of the track being added to the mix as the piece develops, providing a unique insight into the music composition process.

Although this multifaceted approach has enabled Achilles to carve out a successful career and generate a stable income, the precise mechanics of the music royalty system remain somewhat opaque to him. Asked whether the royalty system is transparent enough, he responded:

“We are a live band and that’s where we grab folks — all I know is when someone actually buys (not streams) our music online I get some money in my pocket…so for the time being that’s good enough for me.”

Achilles has been able to pursue his passions for both music and astronomy in an unusual, yet financially sustainable way. Unfortunately, however, not all musicians can turn to extraterrestrial means to fund their passion. At Utopia, we aim to fix this by harnessing the power of big data and blockchain technology to create a music ecosystem that compensates artists fairly for their recorded work.

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