Richard John Beato (/biˈɑːtoʊ/ bee-AH-toh; born April 24, 1962[2]) is an American YouTube personality, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and educator. Since the early 1980s, he has worked variously as a musician, songwriter, audio engineer, and record producer; he has lectured on music at universities.
Rick Beato | ||||||||||
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Beato in 2020 | ||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Richard John Beato April 24, 1962 Fairport, New York, U.S. | |||||||||
Education | Ithaca College (B.A.) New England Conservatory of Music (M.A.) | |||||||||
Occupation(s) | YouTuber, musician, educator | |||||||||
Website | rickbeato | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2015–present | |||||||||
Genre | Music | |||||||||
Subscribers | 4.36 million[1] | |||||||||
Total views | 922 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: August 1, 2024 |
Beato owns and operates Black Dog Sound Studios in Stone Mountain, Georgia; he has produced for and worked with bands such as Needtobreathe, Parmalee, and Shinedown in the studio.[3] In his YouTube channel, he covers different aspects of rock, jazz, blues, techno, rap, and popular music as well as interviews with well-known musicians and producers.
Early life and education
Beato was born in Fairport, New York, a suburb 9 miles (14 km) east of Rochester. He is the sixth of seven children; he has two sisters and four brothers. His family life was highly musical; at an early age he was introduced to the rock music of the 1960s by his older sisters. His mother's siblings and father were musicians and music teachers; there was always music of many different eras and genres playing in the house. He started playing cello at seven; at 13 he switched to the double bass and at 14 he started playing guitar. He initially learned to play guitar by ear training himself; after several years he began formal training from a neighbor who owned a local music store.[4]
After graduating from Fairport High School in 1980, he studied at Ithaca College obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in classical bass. He earned a master's degree in jazz guitar studies from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1987.[5][6][4]
Career
Beato has been a session musician, university lecturer, songwriter, studio engineer, mixer, and record producer. He has lectured at several universities, including the University of Alabama[7] and Berklee College of Music,[8] and taught jazz studies at Ithaca College.[9]
Beato was a member of a band named Billionaire formed in 1997 with Marc Tompkins, Walter Busbee, and Darren Dodd. After releasing their self-produced debut LP, The Goodnight Sky, on the local Radio Telescope label in the spring of 1998, Billionaire signed to Republic and put out a second recording, Ascension, in mid-2000. [10]
Studio
Beato owns Black Dog Sound Studios in Stone Mountain, Georgia;[11][12] he began recording bands there in 1995. He ran the record label 10 Star Records with business partner Johnny Diamond.[3]
Writing credit
"Carolina", which he co-wrote with Parmalee in 2007, reached number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart on December 20, 2013 and has sold a million copies.[13][14][6]
He has written a series of books, including The Beato Book – A Creative Approach to Improvisation for Guitar and Other Instruments.[15]
Signature guitar
In 2021, Gibson previewed a Rick Beato signature Gibson Les Paul Special Double Cut. The guitar is offered in a special TV Blue Mist finish with P-90 pickups and Beato's signature on the truss rod cover. In 2023, a second collaboration of the model was made in a Sparkling Burgundy finish.[16] The model is one of Gibson's few signature guitar models not associated with an artist or associated with a particular act.[17]
Other contributions
- Welcoming Home the Astronauts (2001 Sony/Epic) by Flickerstick, was produced in part by Beato including the songs "Smile", "Got a Feeling", and "Beautiful".
- Broken People by Muddy Magnolias, was produced in part by Beato[18]
- Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), producer: "More Than a Feeling"
- Raising Helen (2004), writer: "Never Be the Same"
YouTube career
A YouTube video of Dylan, his eldest child who has perfect pitch and can identify individual notes within complex chords after just one hearing,[19][20] received three million views, causing Beato to parlay this social-media fame into a full-fledged YouTube channel.[21] As of June 2024[update], the YouTube channel has 4.24 million subscribers.[22]
One series on Beato's channel is called What Makes This Song Great?, in which he deconstructs and discusses the elements of popular songs. The videos in the series regularly get over one million views.[23] He posts videos on music theory and production techniques, song lists like "Top 20 Acoustic Guitar Intros", and interviews with artists, producers, and other music industry professionals.
Several of Beato's YouTube videos, including the ones with Radiohead and Fleetwood Mac, were issued take-down notices because of copyright claims. In July 2020, he testified on YouTube about his experiences before a United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary reviewing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and considering limitations and exceptions such as fair use.[24][25]
In February 2023, Beato released an extensive interview video with Keith Jarrett, made at Jarrett's home and home studio after Jarrett suffered two strokes. The interview received nearly half a million views in its first few days on YouTube and was praised by journalist and radio veteran Bill King.[26]
In November 2023, Beato testified before a U.S. Senate A.I. Insight forum on transparency, intellectual property and copyright. In his testimony, he proposed licensing policy for musical datasets similar to the music licensing used for films or public performances.[27]
References
- ^ a b "About Rick Beato". YouTube.
- ^ "Turning 60...Rick's Birthday Bash!". Rick Beato, Youtube. April 25, 2022. Event occurs at 2:06. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ a b Oyer, Kalyn (September 4, 2013). "Rick Beato has helped produce some of Charleston's best bands". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b "The Captain meets Rick Beato" (Video). Andertons Music Co. on YouTube. April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Martin, Reed (November 8, 2019). "When a Guitar Lesson Becomes Controversial". OZY. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ a b "Endowed Chair Schedule: Rick Beato". music.ua.edu. The University of Alabama. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Endowed Chair Schedule: Rick Beato – School of Music". music.ua.edu. University of Alabama. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "Creative Entrepreneurs Conversations: Rick Beato". college.berklee.edu. Berklee School of Music. February 5, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Blake, John (February 25, 2024). "How Rick Beato struck YouTube gold with his 'Everything Music' channel". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "Billionaire Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "Black Dog Sound | Rock from Stone Mountain, GA". ReverbNation. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
- ^ Walljasper, Matt (February 17, 2021). "YouTuber Rick Beato explains why your favorite rock song sounds so good". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
- ^ "Parmalee". Billboard. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. The Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Bakert, Bob (May 26, 2020). "Rick Beato: Behind the Curtain". Jazz Guitar Today. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Gibson announces second collaboration with Rick Beato for Les Paul Special Double Cut model". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ "Rick Beato shares first look at his signature Gibson Les Paul Special". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. April 19, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ Betts, Stephan L. (August 24, 2016). "Hear Muddy Magnolias' Socially Conscious 'Broken People'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Hellmuth Margulis, Elizabeth (2018), The Psychology of Music, Oxford University Press, p. 82, ISBN 9780190640170
- ^ Thompson, Alan D (September 2016). "Fostering intelligence in the womb". Journal of Australian Mensa.
- ^ Hansen, Zachary (February 21, 2017). "Meet Dylan, the Atlanta child whose ear went viral". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Rick Beato". YouTube. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Hackworth, Martin (April 24, 2020). "Kid Charlemagne". Idaho State Journal. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Senate IP Subcommittee Hearing Addresses Intersection of DMCA and Fair Use". Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. August 4, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "How Does the DMCA Contemplate Limitations and Exceptions Like Fair Use?" (PDF). judiciary.senate.gov. Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Rick Beato Interviews Keith Jarrett". FYIMusicNews. March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ Sinnenberg, Jackson (December 9, 2023). "'We're laundering plagiarism': Music experts speak on AI and copyright issues following Senate forum". KATV. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
External links
- Official website
- Beato, Rick. ""How Does the DMCA Contemplate Limitations and Exceptions Like Fair Use?"" (PDF). July 28, 2020 Testimony to the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property hearing. and "Written Responses of Mr. Rick Beato to Questions about Fair Use Rationale" (PDF).