Wisseloord studio in big problems

[waxx]

One of the biggest Dutch studio's, the Wisseloord studio in Hilversum has big problems, the Dutch tax department has announced that they will sell a part of the inventory to pay the debts the studio has to the Dutch gouverment. The personel is also running away because they don't get paid anymore.

the studio client list includes U2, Elton John, The Police, 50 Cent, Tina Turner, ... and can be closed soon if this goes on.

source (in dutch): 3VOOR12 - Wisseloord Studio's in grote problemen
link to studio website: Welkom op de site van Wisseloord Studios

an other big goes down...

[Rutger]

It's a shame.

Does anybody know what microphones are still there to sell?

[nobtwiddler]

Wow,
Did strings there earlier this past summer with George Kooymans from Golden Earring.
Very sad~!

[drBill]

[LeMauce]

O men.... that is reallly bad news...damn I'm shocked.

[Schaap]

Originally Posted by piano

<DELETED BY MODERATOR>

??. Nothing to do with politics or whatever. It's very, very bad management in a difficult niche nowadays. Until 2001 they had longtime 'golden years' despite taxes

[Peter Stengaard]

Originally Posted by piano

<DELETED BY MODERATOR>

- you're crazy dude...Capitalism ate itself out and look what a mess were in right now...start taxing, educating people, healing people etc etc...and keep those greedy wall street people in check !!!!

[eddierodriguez]

sad to hear, but am i the only one with the feeling that many big studios have really bad business managers?

[Froombosch]

My guess is that someone will take it over again. This facility should be able to sell itself by its reputation only. ...

[flute player]

Was Darius his first mastering room also inside the Wisseloord building ?
He has now Amsterdam mastering.

greetz,

Paul

[Animus]

Originally Posted by jjamesbomb

- you're crazy dude...Capitalism ate itself out and look what a mess were in right now...start taxing, educating people, healing people etc etc...and keep those greedy wall street people in check !!!!

lol It was the precisely the government that caused the whole credit crunch with all their meddling, artificially low interested rights, and Fannie/Freddie homes for everyone crap. Asking the government to govern corporations is like the fox guarding the henhouse with all the embedded special interest/lobbyist in Washington politics. The politicians are all on the take. Corporatism at its finest.

[Mark1353]

Originally Posted by Animus

lol It was the precisely the government that caused the whole credit crunch with all their meddling, artificially low interested rights, and Fannie/Freddie homes for everyone crap. Asking the government to govern corporations is like the fox guarding the henhouse with all the embedded special interest/lobbyist in Washington politics. The politicians are all on the take. Corporatism at its finest.

The subprime market in itself wouldn't have caused the crash, but the CDO/CDS instruments based on subprime loans that Wall Street criminals sold all over the world did. Check 60 minutes program "Wall Street's shadow market" from Youtube.

YouTube - Wall Street's Shadow Market

Surely hope capitalism isn't the last word in history, because there surely is room for improvement in that ism.

[Elevteros]

Originally Posted by Mark1353

Surely hope capitalism isn't the last word in history...

So do I! If it is, it will soon be the end...of history itself.

Real shame about the studio.
I have been wondering for a while how such big structures manage to stay afloat in today's music recording and economic situation.

Sad.

[Funkasizer]

The execution sale will be held on November 19. I noticed that their two main studios have BBE Sonic Maximizers and Aphex Aural Exciters. I thought the consensus here on the slutz forums is that these are for wusses only. Now I am puzzled.

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by Funkasizer

The execution sale will be held on November 19. I noticed that their two main studios have BBE Sonic Maximizers and Aphex Aural Exciters. I thought the consensus here on the slutz forums is that these are for wusses only. Now I am puzzled.

these used to be really hot gear
and staple of big studios, like the drawmer gates

sad to see this go, studios in the Netherlands are in rough weather.
the positive articles in the newspaper (Holland is out of the recession blah blah) tell nothing about the situation on the street.
some cultural places are being kept alive by subsidies (printed euros lol) but other than that... it's not easy.
I'll pass by the auction, see if they got something left.
I suppose the unpaid employees also helped themselves to some "alternative payment" judging from the article. LOL
I doubt there'll be any mics left.

[jindrich]

It's sad to see proper studios in trouble or going down, because it's only at such places where great albums do happen.

I'm curious about what they'll sell to cover the debts. A commercial studio is the sum of the rooms+equipment+people. Even if you keep the rooms and the people, getting rid of SSLs or great mics for instance, might destroy the service the very same studio offers.

Equipment can always be rented, but that adds to the client bill, and to keep it competitive with other studios, they'd had to lower rates. Lower rates might in turn make the studio economically unviable, thus condemned to dissapear.

Selling assests that are essential for the operation of the business is a typical (fast and blind) accountant move, but a terrible management decision. Let's see what will happen.

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by jjamesbomb

- you're crazy dude...Capitalism ate itself out and look what a mess were in right now...start taxing, educating people, healing people etc etc...and keep those greedy wall street people in check !!!!

thumbsup thumbsup

[Joram]

Originally Posted by piano

Socialism at it's best --- taking down private enterprise.

NOPE socialism never works in the long run. Capitalism (not some of the fake kind we have in the USA with only 3 competitors in a field) with lots of competition works best for all.

Down with the taxes!

Silly.....society is more complicated than socialism vs capitalism. Tax is a form of shared interest.

The reason Wisseloord is in trouble is not because of taxes but because of lack of customers/bad management. And more than 3 competitors in the field....

Wisseloord used to be a great studio. The trouble is that you cannot live from your name only.

Originally Posted by jindrich

A commercial studio is the sum of the rooms+equipment+people.

Indeed.

[Joram]

I've been a few times in Wisseloord. I always had the impression that image was more important than quality of work. Of course I can be wrong, but I think that rock'n'roll mentality is great on stage but hardly effective in a business model

[Schaap]

If someone decides to put money in Wisseloord and take over the tax debt etc the sale will be cancelled. But a major shareholder has withdrawn recently so little chance I'm afraid. Studio1 is a great room, sad if Wisseloord closes down.

[Joram]

Originally Posted by Schaap

If someone decides to put money in Wisseloord and take over the tax debt etc the sale will be cancelled. But a major shareholder has withdrawn recently so little chance I'm afraid. Studio1 is a great room, sad if Wisseloord closes down.

it happened a few times before and didn't work out that well. The studio was build after record company Polygram had made a huge amount of money with Saterday night fever. I believe the studio never made serious profit.
After Polygram sold Wisseloord, the studio had several owners but it was never a success. I guess the overhead costs have been to big since the start in '78.
I am not very impressed by the studio how it is today. I prefer my up-to-date place better and it is as big as Wisseloord's studio1. But I might pick up an aviom monitor mixer at the execution sales to compliment the stuff we have

[Jack Ruston]

Guys I think tax men and politicians are a sidetrack. The studio is surely going out of business for the same fundamental reason that so many other big facilities have gone the same way: the clients can no longer afford a rate which allows the studio to survive.

[Darius van H]

edit

[JPeters86]

That was a good choice Darius!

Sad to see stuff going this far, but it's not really a big surprise to me...

[Stuartd]

What about the possibility of turning it into an employee-owned company. That can work well if it's done right. Employees usually have more of a stake in something, other than simply showing up for a pay check, or to 'play with the toys' if their blood, sweat, and tears (and money) are in it.

Stu

[digitalM]

The execution sale has been cancelled.
Wonder what will happen...

[Phil Cibley]

Originally Posted by jjamesbomb

- you're crazy dude...Capitalism ate itself out and look what a mess were in right now...start taxing, educating people, healing people etc etc...and keep those greedy wall street people in check !!!!

AMEN

[Froombosch]

Yeah pay 60% or more taxes (19% VAT + income taxes + taxes on gasoline/alcohol/sigarettes/import/etc tc etc like we do and you have a very happy society...

It will send the greedy persons to the government. That will not make the world a better place...

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by digitalM

The execution sale has been cancelled.
Wonder what will happen...

If they can't get a private investor to pay the tax liability and $25,000 per month rent, the state can take it over. Then it can be renamed Government Studios. Then they will lower rates as they would be subsidized by taxpayers. Then the remaining private studios in Holland can try and compete. They might if they lower their rates too, but their standard of living would be affected.

Sort of sounds like that health care debate going on in the US.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[Killahurts]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

... Although i heard rumours a while back that the landlord was considering taking over the operation, which would most likely be another disaster.

Man, I'd be surprised if that happened. With an established place like that, he ought to be able to secure a lease on it pretty easily... even if it's a shorter term lease (at a premium rate).