With many individuals still working remotely due to COVID-19, we have seen a significant increase in the use of home-based audio production and post production equipment, as well as a massive surge in home studio builds. KRK has experienced its largest historic sales figures in the months of September and October of this year, which we attribute partially to the increasing need for home-based work solutions.
Even amidst a pandemic, there’s work that needs to be done, and people are getting creative. Audio engineers are modifying their approaches and completing as much work as possible from the safety of their homes. Music and soundtrack production have been happening in home studio environments for many years now, and we don’t see that trend changing. In fact, the demand for content creation is booming — not only for TV and film productions, but for video games, digitally-served internet ads, live streaming, podcasts and more.
We foresee commercial studios and professionally-staffed facilities continuing to produce the most polished content. However, there has been a democratization of production tools due to wider availability and affordability, allowing more people to become involved in content creation and editing. As more and more manufacturers produce budget-friendly, high-quality tools, everyone from seasoned professionals to neophytes has access to the essential gear needed to mix audio from home. While not everyone has the space or resources to add a fully equipped Foley stage to their home studio, many other aspects of post production can be handled in a home studio environment. This includes ADR (automated dialogue replacement), sound design, mixing and audio cleanup, and editing.
For KRK, we have seen a heightened demand for our studio monitors, headphones and subwoofers, and we have several exciting new products in the works. When this global health crisis is behind us, we are excited for the film industry to assemble and interact in person again, which will facilitate a return to some of the production methods and workflows implemented prior to the COVID outbreak. However, the advantages of working from home will not disappear along with the pandemic. We expect to see continued use of home-based facilities as the convenience and comfort of working from home just cannot be beaten.
Phil O’Keefe is Senior Editor for Gibson Brands (www.krkmusic.com), based in Nashville, TN.