October 12th, 2008 – I don’t know about all of you, but I always dreamed that I would be able to own this great studio that all the biggest artists would record in. After time, that dream faded. The sad realization that recording studios as self-sustaining businesses are on a serious decline, was something I learned very quickly.
Many of my mentors had owned studios that recorded rosters of well-known artists but were hit hard by the lack of investment by the recording industry. Yes, say what you will about whether it was their fault or not (hint: it was), but record labels lost a lot of money due to downloading and were therefore unable, or unwilling, to take chances on new and interesting artists. This hurt many medium-sized studios that relied on the business of clients who had record label backing, but not enough to pay for the highest-end studios. The only studios that are left are large studios (who get corporate business with huge budgets), and small project studios.
The way you’ll survive as a project studio (I assume you don’t have the millions of dollars to create a high-end studio), since it’s so easy to start one, is to carve yourself out a niche. Perhaps your project studio specializes in singer/songwriters, or voice-over work for television commercials. What matters is that you get known for something; people in that niche will find you. Don’t spread yourself too thin, that’s something that only large companies can afford, and even then it usually doesn’t pan out. There’s something to be said about being the only fish in a pond versus being a small fish in open water.
Of course, this strategy doesn’t only apply to music. Technology companies also would do well to follow this strategy. Just as recording technology has evolved to the point that it’s easy for almost anyone to make music, so has technology that had once only been the domain of experts, become accessible to the masses. Take companies that develop for the internet, for example. One person can design and release a website faster than it takes most large companies to discuss the idea.
Step 1: Find your niche. Step 2: Exploit it. Step 3: Profit.
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
KonstantinR
(Fascinating site, came across it from facebook. Keep up the great work)
I can kind of relate, my dream was always to work at a recording studio. I am originally a classically trained violinist (since the age of 5) but after I got tired of fiddling at 17, having a passion for technology, devouring professional software and for fiddling with it, tried getting into the technical aspect. With not much luck.
Got any advice? -K.
PS is that your studio? What sort of niche did you decide on?
Oct 21st, 2008
Sean
@KonstantinR: That is the studio I used to work for. It was a small project studio with not that much gear, but good quality stuff. The little mixing console you see there is a Yamaha O2R which is pretty great with the optional Yamaha add-on effects cards, and it’s really easy to use. If you wanted one, you could probably pick it up for a reasonable price on the used market (around $1200). They’ve been around a long time and have been used for some pretty big albums. One of my engineering mentors owned a studio and engineered Alanis Morisette’s breakthrough album for which he won a Juno. He used that mixer.
Anyways, to answer your question, it really depends on what you want to do. Do you enjoy writing and producing original music, or do you want to own your own studio and handle mostly engineering duties? If it’s the former, then you don’t need to have a fancy studio at all, you can use the most basic software to get your song ideas out there. As long as you understand enough to get what you want to get done, then it’s good software (even free software like Apple’s Garageband). For gear, you’ll need a good microphone and a good interface, and that’s about it.
If you want to own a studio and want to learn how to use different pieces of gear, there’s nothing like hands-on experience. Thing is, you don’t necessarily need to own real gear to do that. Many software plug-ins emulate real pieces of gear. You can play around with them and find out what certain settings do. If you want to learn how to connect gear to each other, Reason is pretty cool because it animates the wires connecting pieces of gear.
What did you want to do specifically?
Oct 22nd, 2008
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