Bennett Studios Closed

[Slipperman]

The rules don't apply to DocBill.

He's older than Satan and totally bonkers to boot.

Cut him some friggin' slack here people!(Dr. Evil voice)

HOHOHO.

XOXOXO

Slippy

[Slipperman]

Originally Posted by jindrich

The Recording Business is dead. The sooner we all assume this, the better. There's room for 30 studios (rooms), 30 engineers and 30 producers all over the world and that's it. Everybody else will work for peanuts, which is ok when you're young, but at some point people realize they can't raise a family on peanuts and they finally give up.

BTW, don't blame piracy.
When was the last time you sat to listen to music? There you go.

-Music has lost all its value. The MTV turned music into wallpaper, the background for visuals, which is what truly matters.
-Mp3 made possible to have 100.000 songs on your pocket, so you don't care for any of them.
-DAWs and computers have turned everybody a "musician and an engineer". People are too busy recording themselves to listen to real artists.
-The big speakers and stereos of yesteryear are now computer speakers, or laptop speakers. Or even worse: teens 'listen' to music nowadays through their cellphone speakers. You see this everyday.
-Huge TV screens and a million TV channels have gotten people away from listening to music, which is harder to do than staring at a Tv screen.
-Music is only 'listened' to in the car on in shopping malls with an absurd signal/noise thresold (read: nobody listens)
-Teens used to gather to listen to music. They now do it to play the PS3, and that's if they gather at all, cause they might be alone in their beds with Internet and facebook.
-Disposable income? Teens have a very limited one and nowadays, rather than in records, they spent it in Cellphones, Computers, Videogames, iPads/iPods and other gadgets. There's nothing left to buy a CD. None of this existed a decade ago.


The list goes on and on. Piracy didn't do that much, it's all the other stuff that killed music and the pleasure of listening, enjoying and become passionate about music, that 'old poison who used to corrupt teen's souls'.



Another one bites the dust.

Hilarious post. May be true in Parma/Stuttgart.

Not in metro NYC.

I'm gonna finish this year up almost 35% gross from last year.

There are people here who are EXPANDING.

BUILDING.

SPENDING.

IMPROVING.

Technology. Methodology. Advertising. EFFICIENCY.

Survivability.

Why?

Because the "chicken little" thought process of guys like you are thinning the market to the point where they CAN.

Bennett was direct competition for all of them, we're all sorry to see them go.

But:

The thinner it gets, the more they work.

And work, they will.

It's already happening.

Discerning artists, producers, freelance AE's, and labels are ALWAYS gonna be there.

6 months ago I was completely set to cash in(profitably) on the Real Estate value of my shop. Totally qualified Buyers. Finished contracts.

Done deal. Good to go.

But...

The PHONE is RINGING.

MORE.

Not less.

I said it in my earlier post in this thread(and others)...

HOW MUCH effort/risk is involved in transmogrifying from a Stegosaurus into a 30ft. CROCODILE.

Little enough to make it so a gifted, experienced, credentialed collective of PROVEN audio professionals CAN make a go of it in the second biggest market in the world.

I ain't gonna be around to see it.

But that's about my HEALTH.

NOT my WILL.

And this 30ft. crocodile FEEDS ON MAMMALS.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

Mammals.

They wander down to OUR RIVER for a drink and...


CRUNCH.

HOHOHO.

Glee is what I'm feeling.

GLEE.

5 years from now, somebody ELSE from this place will resurrect this old "doomsday" thread and tell you to go pound yer dick in the dirt.

Count on it.

Best regards,

SM.

[UCTION]

A post of epic proportions, every god damn time.

[Alex Breaux]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

No the work goes to china because they work much cheaper and have national health care, amongst other things.

My work doesn't go there cause its cheaper. Five years ago it was, but not anymore. My work goes there because it gets done quicker, and I really really hate to say it, but better. My studio is my third job, and my dealings with china are textiles.. I pay a 17.5% "duty" fee for my merchandise to be torn down here twice when it hits the port of LA. 90% of everything and anything coming out of China has a very large duty fee these days. So unfortunately, no its not cheaper.. I wish.. : )

Anyways, my point is, and the relevance of my rambling in this thread is simply this-

Every year in the states it seems there is less and less people willing to put in a hard day of work. Or they count on a machine to do it for them, or "amp modeling" to give them that great guitar tone that they couldn't achieve on their own. Or they think they can become an engineer over night with their mbox hooked up in their bedroom.

This is also why we have screaming instead of singing in bands now. Because spending years learning how to do anything is to far over the kids heads.

But it seems like this is what the new music scene believes in. And because of that, why in the hell would anyone want to go record at some huge studio with vintage gear, when their friend down the street has a sweet studio in his bedroom and he will work for $10 an hour?

I get two good/professional artists in my studio a month if I'm lucky. Other then that, I lose smaller non professional acts every day almost to bedroom studios etc. The only advantage that I have is the fact that they get to feel like a rockstar behind my big console even though they have not a clue what it is, or what it does. I charge $50-$75 an hour at my studio and my live room is only 6ft smaller then Sunset Sounds and it sounds awesome. My console is unreal and it has mixed more platinum albums then any single console I know of. Yet it does not matter because they don't know the difference.

If the new musicians don't know the difference, then how in the hell are the people listening to them going to know a damn thing? And why would their label pay for anything better????

Ok I'm done now.. It just aggravates me. I'm sure the same reasons why this awesome studio closed is the same stuff I deal with at my studio everyday.. Thats all.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

The rules don't apply to DocBill.

HOHOHO.

XOXOXO

Slippy

I wish, I wish......

Long live the smart recording studios.

PS - the EXACT same scenario happened here in LA, and BTW involved OHenry and their demise. About the same time, Signet also went bye bye, and a few others and then....VIOLA! Capitol and the remaining big guys were doing great again. When busy studio's go under all the other surrounding studio's do better. Survival of the fittest. There is equilibrium in the world......

But the dockta is not as old as you might think......

[jindrich]

Slippy,

USA is a huge unified market of 350 million people that speak the same language and sing to the same national anthem. You can sell the same product to 350 million consumers with a single marketing strategy. And after that, you can still export it to the rest of the world without many changes, specially on the audiovisual field.

EU is on the contrary a very scattered market. A hip hop song in french won't sell a thing in germany. A pop song in german won't sell in the UK. Plus most of the music sold in the EU isn't locally produced but rather comes from the UK and USA.
This has aways been the case, the problem is that nowadays NOBODY buys records anymore. The few labels still operating, either Major or independent, have cut budgets to a small fraction of what they used to be and have reduced the number of projects considerably.

Combine this with the overall crisis and the result is studios closing left and right while the few still standing are doing whatever they can to survive. Call any professional Studio in the EU and find out the sort of rates they're getting now and how cheap it is to book an SSL these days. Are there projects? Yes, a few, but with those current budgets studios are just on the verge of sustainability and aren't making any profit at all. Studios are just a business after all, and if you can't pay the bills to sustain a family, for instance, specially after such a huge investment, then it doesn't make any sense.

If you are based in London, LA or NY, working for Adele, Lady Gaga or Alicia Keys then you might do fine, but for the rest, the picture is pretty scaring. That's why I said there's work for 30 studios doing the few platinum records, the rest will do enough by surviving. There's no middle ground anymore, it's either top of the pops or the independent market.
And even then, you'll be surprised to hear budgets from Majors for new acts over here. "Is that all, really? No sir, that amount also accounts for the video".


On the other hand, what I said about the overall relevance of music nowadays, sales, teens and their disposable income with the options to spend it, is a hard fact.

Sorry to hear about your health. Hope you get better.

[ionian]

Originally Posted by jindrich

On the other hand, what I said about the overall relevance of music nowadays, sales, teens and their disposable income with the options to spend it, is a hard fact.

This is something I had never considered, but it is something to think about. It's true, when I was a young kid in the early, early 80s, any time I could get two nickles to rub together I ran to the record shop a few blocks from my house. 45s, 12"...anything I could afford!

These days, kids have so many distractions and things to spend their money on. I can't even imagine what it must be like to grow up now - everything so fragmented. For me it was easy. Buy a 12". Can't afford one? Buy a 45. Any change left over? Go play some arcade games before heading home to listen to my new record for hours while staring at the cover and reading the giant liner notes.


Regards,
Frank

[toneguru]

When I start seeing more children learning clarinet, violin, sax and piano... then I will know we have turned the corner.

Musical children turn into musical teens and adults and they will have the ear and desire for high quality in composition, performance and recording. That is where professional recording studios come into play.

Rapping and beat boxes do not require a commercial studio to bring their songs to fruition.

There are many reasons why this is not the best of times for the industry. I am simply pointing out one that is not brought up as often as the usual suspects.

It is possible that things will eventually trend back up. Getting more musicians in the fold may help to speed up the process.

- Cheers

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

I ain't gonna be around to see it.

But that's about my HEALTH.

NOT my WILL.

Slippy - I don't like hearing that.

I sincerely hope that your WILL kicks your HEALTH's ASS and you're around yourself to resurrect this thread in 20-30 years.

All the best Mr Slippers.....

bp

[thenoodle]

Anyone look at the bright side of this topic yet?

Tony and his family now have access to cool equipment for recording their own stuff any time they want. No longer have to deal with the headache of it actually being a business.

Isn't that the deal now also at Allaire? At least SOMEBODY gets to keep using the stuff for their own pleasure.

[DaveUK]

Long will slipperman! :+)

[Paul Gold]

Originally Posted by jindrich

USA is a huge unified market of 350 million people that speak the same language and sing to the same national anthem.

When the soldiers come home the music will get good. About the only good that will come from it. Being fuc*ed in the head has some small benefit. Business will be good.

[MichaelAngelo]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

I don't think labels are that devastated. I think they figured out that they can push a poor quality recording/ poor music to the public and get away with it.

When the consumer doesn't care, what is the point of quality control? I mean, that quality control is expensive!! ; )

The bottom line is this-

Regardless of what industry it is, what the demographic is, 95% of people today try and do the least amount of work possible, yet they expect to make a killing. Thats also why so much work goes to China, because the Chinese are not afraid to work a 14-16hr day.... : /

The consumer cares, he just has no options... its like junk food.. There is not 1 healthy resturant in my area.. So if i need food in a hurry, I have to eat junk food

[Alex Breaux]

Originally Posted by MichaelAngelo

The consumer cares, he just has no options... its like junk food.. There is not 1 healthy resturant in my area.. So if i need food in a hurry, I have to eat junk food

LOL!

[jimmyboy7]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

But it seems like this is what the new music scene believes in. And because of that, why in the hell would anyone want to go record at some huge studio with vintage gear, when their friend down the street has a sweet studio in his bedroom and he will work for $10 an hour?

I have ben able to do it in between those scenarios. Studio on the scond floor of my house, $35 an hour, slammin' since January 11, already booked through Christmas and major projects starting in January as well. I think that this is becoming more the rule if value and quality are improtant. At least it's working for me here in AZ, where $35 an hour is probably your $50 in L.A.

[Alex Breaux]

Originally Posted by jimmyboy7

I have ben able to do it in between those scenarios. Studio on the scond floor of my house, $35 an hour, slammin' since January 11, already booked through Christmas and major projects starting in January as well. I think that this is becoming more the rule if value and quality are improtant. At least it's working for me here in AZ, where $35 an hour is probably your $50 in L.A.

How do you promote your studio? I'm jealous.

[Sensorychaos]

Originally Posted by jindrich

"EU is on the contrary a very scattered market. A hip hop song in french won't sell a thing in germany. A pop song in german won't sell in the UK. Plus most of the music sold in the EU isn't locally produced but rather comes from the UK and USA."

That's why i'm doing techno music
(joking of course...I'm just doing it because I like it))
But What you're saying is absolutely true and proved...
Fortunately niches still exist...in electronic music notably.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

I get two good/professional artists in my studio a month if I'm lucky. Other then that, I lose smaller non professional acts every day almost to bedroom studios etc. The only advantage that I have is the fact that they get to feel like a rockstar behind my big console even though they have not a clue what it is, or what it does. I charge $50-$75 an hour at my studio and my live room is only 6ft smaller then Sunset Sounds and it sounds awesome. My console is unreal and it has mixed more platinum albums then any single console I know of. Yet it does not matter because they don't know the difference.
If the new musicians don't know the difference, then how in the hell are the people listening to them going to know a damn thing? And why would their label pay for anything better????

Ok I'm done now.. It just aggravates me. I'm sure the same reasons why this awesome studio closed is the same stuff I deal with at my studio everyday.. Thats all.

Alex I'd say to you that it's not at all the same reason, it takes time to build up a following of quality clients, first your work has to be exceptional, second people have to find out about you. While having great gear and room is killer, it's not really enough to have a thriving business, unless you get lot's of outside engineers working there. You have to build up your business. The Bennett model of studio requires a certain amount of work from labels or jingles, and there just isn't the volume anymore to support many large studios. Guys like Slippy and MichaelAngelo who have great places and have been around for a while have figured out ways to get thru the lean times. And both have been around a long time. For me it's thankfully as busy as I can be and 99.9% of my work is with talented clients

[Funny Cat]

Originally Posted by toneguru

When I start seeing more children learning clarinet, violin, sax and piano... then I will know we have turned the corner. Musical children turn into musical teens and adults...

Sig-Worthy! Can I quote this?

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

and 99.9% of my work is with talented clients

Excellent!!! That's what we all hope for.

[Alex Breaux]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

Alex I'd say to you that it's not at all the same reason, it takes time to build up a following of quality clients, first your work has to be exceptional, second people have to find out about you. While having great gear and room is killer, it's not really enough to have a thriving business, unless you get lot's of outside engineers working there. You have to build up your business. The Bennett model of studio requires a certain amount of work from labels or jingles, and there just isn't the volume anymore to support many large studios. Guys like Slippy and MichaelAngelo who have great places and have been around for a while have figured out ways to get thru the lean times. And both have been around a long time. For me it's thankfully as busy as I can be and 99.9% of my work is with talented clients

To be honest all the work I have is from other engineers. When I finish the rest of the studio, I think I'm going to get more engineers and let them get the work for me. But yeah, from what I have seen, you are completely right. : /

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by toneguru

When I start seeing more children learning clarinet, violin, sax and piano... then I will know we have turned the corner.

Musical children turn into musical teens and adults and they will have the ear and desire for high quality in composition, performance and recording.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[jimmyboy7]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

How do you promote your studio? I'm jealous.

All WOM, also, I have the super SEO service for my website. Honestly, I am confident that anyone who gives me a chance will stick, and tell friends. I built the studio about 2 years ago and let it grow very slowly and organically. Now its kickin' in, just had patience. Also, the Phoenix studio scene blows chunks for the small to mid sized projects. So I think I hit a niche too.

[Jay Kahrs]

Bennett Studios... not totally shocking.

Two key words in Slippy's post... maybe its ONE key word...

"Real Estate"

Anyone wanna hazard a guess what the value of that property, and the taxes are?

If you don't live in metro NY it'd probably blow your skull clean open.

Wanna stay in business? Keep working... gotta be able to manage your overhead...