STUDIO LOCATION... WHAT DO YOU THINK

Im just wondering how a pro studio would do in my home state in arkansas, ive heard of winterwood, which is huge they are in eureka springs,,, my studio if i put one in would be about 45 min south between little rock and fort smith, in town about 10.000 , hmmm, i thinking could i get enough clients, blue grass and gospel is pretty big,, anyone have any stories about pro studio having trouble in states that arent considered great music locations

[cajonezzz]

Well.... it's definitely not " build it and they will come" for anyone nowadays.

I think if you build a client base in your area you could make a bit of a living.

have you thought of putting together a mobile rig, maybe an editing/mix rig and room for your home, and going out to generate work at live events/festivals , and building your studio client base from there?


best of luck man!

[The MPCist]

Cajonezzz's suggestion of doing a mobile rig and going out to the clients is probably the best advice there is. Do a lot of mobile recordings and attract the clients back to your studio for mixing/etc.

[w2w]

Start small,DONT go into debt.THe mobile rig idea is a very good one.Get out to live venues & talk to the bands & artists & see what they want,see if there is even any interest in ANOTHER studio.What can you offer them thats not already out there,why should they record with YOU?Is there a room in town you can freelance at to see if you can build up a client base,or almost as important,to see if you will even like doing this for a living.Do some research before you open your wallet(or credit cards!!)...Anything is possible.....Good Luck.

[nvtmusic]

Hi,
We are in some what of the same situation . We have been running a small
place in northern Vermont for about 13 years . We are in the proccess of moving
our place over to the next town which happens to be a ski area . We plan on putting in a small apartment for our customers on the premise . making it like a
recording vacation . I am not familiar with your area - but it's just an Idea for you.
Best of luck,
Mike

www.northernvermontmusic.com

[arimaka]

I have been thinking about building a beachfront studio in Costa Rica. Land is as low as $5 per square meter with great beach views. Beautiful beaches with an international airport less than 20 minutes away; 35 weekly flights from all over the US. I lived in this country over 20 years so I know it up and down. This sound like a good idea to anyone?

[cajonezzz]

Originally Posted by arimaka

I have been thinking about building a beachfront studio in Costa Rica. Land is as low as $5 per square meter with great beach views. Beautiful beaches with an international airport less than 20 minutes away; 35 weekly flights from all over the US. I lived in this country over 20 years so I know it up and down. This sound like a good idea to anyone?

Sounds great, but in reality "destination" studios have a hard time surviving unless they are financed by deep pockets. In other words: They don't HAVE to make money.


Again, I think anything is doable, but don't think of the studio ( the room with gear) as the attraction... it's got to be the people involved. The service, the track record... the really important stuff that's not really quantifiable on the surface.

big rooms are *still* closing right and left... hell, the place that I helped to build here in So. Cal did pretty darn well for a couple years ( build out thread here: Here she is in all her glory....new studio, ain't she purty?) but all it took was a few lean months and they've had to move on.... I knew when it was started it would be a tough go- a commercial room simply dosen't pencil out when you look at bookable hours divided into the monthly nut, UNLESS, you own the dirt, the gear, have a SOLID client base etc.

I've since moved on and built a home mix/odub room with nice gear in our garage, and have been doing well.... overhead is nill, and I'm able to budget for basics in a beautiful commercial room, and do the busy work here.

Mobile recording: I think anyone looking into getting into the recording biz now should look into forming an alliance with a DVD / Vid director.... and offer package deals-
I think that live recording/ concert dvd is going to become more common, and the contacts you can make by circulating in the live gig market will naturally transition to album clients down the road. And you don't need a facility to make that happen. Point is: it's YOU and your biz chops and the quality of the work you do that will keep you working, not your gear/studio. Adopt a freelancers attitude, take some of the budget you create and spend it in already established joints... and be creative and visionary with your clients, and you can make it happen where ever you are.

Building a facility without a draw in place is financial suicide.

cz

[w2w]

Building a facility without a draw in place is financial suicide.

Wow...if that statement does not say it all,I dont know what else does.....Very well said & excellent advice.

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by arimaka

I have been thinking about building a beachfront studio in Costa Rica. Land is as low as $5 per square meter with great beach views. Beautiful beaches with an international airport less than 20 minutes away; 35 weekly flights from all over the US. I lived in this country over 20 years so I know it up and down. This sound like a good idea to anyone?

Studios like that are a luxury. Bands and artists might like it but it'll probably be the producers who decide 'where' to record and they usually have their own place or somewhere regular they use.

A beachfront studio would be great for someone who's a songwriter and/or a producer --- so in other words, be your own client. Doing it this way, you don't have to depend on outside bookings to survive and in the case it gets really popular, you can always build a Room B for youself while the others use your facility... etc.

In this time and age, don't overextend. It only takes a few months of nothing... and then it really turns into nothing.

Then again, if you don't spend too much, you could get the studio built (I'm sure wood supplies and labor down there would be a lot more inexpensive than in the US), use minimal PT gear, and market it that way....?

And if it all goes south (hmm... aint it already in the south?), you can probably sell the property off at a profit to another producer or musician ... I'm sure there'd be takers on that.

[ddageek]

The hardest part is building a market you biggest competition is not other studios but DIY! You have to educate the client on just what you bring to the party! Your best bet is hooking up with someone who is a respected local producer, and build a studio around their wants/ needs otherwise untill you have an Idea of what the market really demands get a day job and keep it as a hobby!