Starting up a small comercial studio your ideas

[impact studios]

Hi

I have been checking out the threads on this site for sometime now,taking advise along the way.And i am now thinking of moving my studio from my home to a rented premises......

I could really do with some ideas of what to look out for as an ideal location,Size of rooms,Advertising tips,in local papers etc.....

I was thinking of running an open day when i get settled in.Arranging for possible clients to book an hour to come to the studio and take a look around,and chat about their recording requirements before booking recording time....
Have any of you guys tried this,and did it bring in more clients...?

Anyway any ideas or suggestions at all would be fantastic......

Paul

[De chromium cob]

You are aware that the studio business sucks big fat monkey balls at the present time, right? Good luck!

[Johnny Jam]

Yeah, it's tough opening a place in these times. The best and most in demand place would be a small budget indie/rock studio. A nice trident console, studer 24 analog and a bunch of outboard can be found fairly cheap these days. Find a midsized location with a nice size room for the band, and you are in business for doing demos and stuff. Maybe even some indie label records.
Hey, good luck..

[stealthbalance]

o.k. - no more bong hits and think about this for a moment.
if this is for fun and profit is not a must, have fun and build a 2 room place- one for you and your projects - and one for the outside clients. in l.a. , there are 2 more major major studios closing - really bad at least here. i am optimistic that guys like jules will take all the work at his level of facility and price, but that's jules who is awesome and has tons of experience. unless you are going for that league of room, it seems like it would not do well at this point in time. the recording industry is a disaster right now. i was speaking to a good friend who is crazy successful in the biz , and he told me that his income has dropped 35% , and that he has heard from a few engineers that have been doing well for 20 years - however this year since jan. they have not made $1. but if its not too much of a stretch financially - go for it and may you have mega success. there comesa point where you have enough success and being at home with everyone around is just a nightmare , so you just have to make the jump.
s

[Drumsound]

I think the real question is what kind of life do you want to lead?

I opened a room in a small town a year ago. It's been a real feast or famine situation. My debt is not being reduced as fast as I'd like and I just made a business decision to add a RADAR to the mix because I lost two records (that I know of) because I didn't have a digital system.

That said, I don't work in a cubicle. I don't have a dress code or a boss. I love my job, even when it sucks and the gear acts up or the band sucks. My wife (who also owns her own business) is not demanding of "things" and believes in my vision.

I also really need to redo my bathroom at home. I don't have the time or the money to do what I'd really like (tear it down to the studs) so I'll just make it work better than it does now. I'll do the work with a friend or two. They know what they're doing and I'm a great gofer. If I had a real job with a steady paycheck it’d bee a phone call and a check and it's done.

I wouldn't trade it though...

[petermeechanuk]

I'm not sure where in UK you're based but if it's London forget it. There are too many large commercial studios dropping their prices to silly money to compete. There's another thread which details Neve and SSL rooms in London with rack rates less than £350/day and negotiable rates well below that.

If you're well outside London and away from competition, but in an area with a healthy band scene, then it maybe worth a look, just don't expect to get rich (or even pay off your Capital) . If you can run an operating profit (i.e. paying your rent on time) you're doing well.

Look carefully at all the costs involved in moving from the spare room to a full on studio. You'll probably find it's more expensive than you first thought.

I know people should be booking based upon YOU and your skills, however it will take time to build up that kind of reputation and many paying customers just don't care. You may want to only work with people who appreciate your talent but you also have to pay the bills. In the mean time you need a studio that sells itself on paper regardless of producer/engineer.

The most important thing is the size of your rooms. Gear can always be upgraded or hired in, and as technology improves, the (perceivable) quality of what's available in the bedroom increases so marketing your studio on equipment level is hard. However, a great live room counts for a lot.

If you can make it work you'll be in the rare position of living to work and not working to live. There are few things in life better than that.

If you do go ahead, good luck.

-Peter

[faeflora]

Originally posted by impact studios
Hi

And i am now thinking of moving my studio from my home to a rented premises......

Um have you ever worked at a commercial studio before? Is your current studio commercial? Have you ever professionally engineered before and been paid? Do you know how to engineer? Do you know how to mix? How to track? Do you have clients already? If not how will you get your clients?

If you answered "no" to any of those questions then then WTF are you doing considering this????? If you're only considering and might not even have the money or do not know how to run a business why are you asking people to waste their time? Piles of gear in a good sounding room does not beget a financially sucessfull commercial studio. I saw in your profile that you're a singer/songwriter. I'm guessing you have NO professional experience so why would you even consider ramming yourself headfirst into an immovable wall of debt with NO clients? If I'm right about any of my assumptions then WTF is wrong with you? Recording like being a rock star is glamorous but blowing your wad on trying to open a studio with no prior experience is STUPID.

[impact studios]

Hi Faeflora

Thanks for your reply.
I have had a studio at home for 20 years or so,and have played in bands as a keybord player most of that time....
Tracking and mixing is not a problem,and i have recorded paying clients in my home studio for the past 5 years or so.....

Its just that over the past couple of years i have out grown the room i am currently using at home....

And believe it or not i have just found out that an old building in my small town of Wellingborough 60 miles from London,used to be a recording studio in the 1960's-70's......Apparently Freddie Mercury recorded there under the name of (Larry Lurex)before he became famous.....
I have looked around the inside of the premises and the walls are all purpose built thick walls,with a 12 ft x 20ft control room,and 18ft x 20ft live room...With a large window between the two rooms.....And i can rent all this for £45.00 per week from a guy who inhereted the premises......

So its not a case of can i do it,more like should i go for it........

I just wanted tips on
Advertising
And basically is it possible for a moderate studio to survive these days.......

Paul

[Ted Nightshade]

45 pounds a week sounds really cheap, for what sounds like it could be a great space! Why not just rack up what gear you have, add an odd or end or two if need be, and go do your own thing there? I'd grab the space and do what you really *need* to do in it. Why turn it into a big financial debacle, when the space can be had for that good a deal?

If you're doing your own thing, it can be sold on the basis of the final product, not on how professional the process looks to anybody. So go at it in whatever delapidated or outdated condition the place is in, and do what you can't stay sane without doing, and don't complicate it by getting in debt and putting yourself in a position whe you have to please a bunch of other people in order to stay working.

I imagine I'm in a similar situation as you, to some extent- I thought at one time having a small studio business would facilitate what I really need to do, which in my case is not running an everything-to-everybody studio, but making recordings of my work or some of my fellow artists' work in my own fanatical and unusual style. It didn't take a long look around to see just what I would have to become (even if we ignore for a moment the matterhorn of gear and facilities) in order to work with any sizable contingent of the people who shell out for studio work. Yeah right. At least for me- forget it. I need to focus every bit of everything I can summon or steal into doing what I stay alive in order to do. And I won't have the whole thing capsized for any other agenda. There are just too many ways to lose the ability to pursue what I *need* to pursue.

So what do you think? Sounds like it could be a really cool space to work in, for the kind of outlay that need not put you in debt, and that you could pay for years without making special plans as to how to pay for it.

[impact studios]

Thanks for your support Ted......

I suppose if i dont take on this idea now, i never will.And may regret it in years to come.......

Paul

[Meriphew]

Originally posted by impact studios

And i can rent all this for £45.00 per week from a guy who inhereted the premises......
Paul

Damn that's cheap. I would grab that up if I were you.

[faeflora]

For 45lb / week how can you pass up?

Regarding advertising etc word of mouth is usually the way most get business but local newspapers or music magazines can help you get business.

[bjornson]

The studio business must really suck right now if:
1) You had a unrealistic business plan (or none at all),
2) You have no skills(NOT gear) that separate you from your regional competition,
3) You're in a geographic market that is saturated,
4) You can't consistantly exceed customer expectations,
5) You're overly dependent on flakey record company revenue,
5) You've made a huge capital outlay with no ROI schedule, and are unable/unwilling to ride the wave and develop alternate revenue streams.
We're booked out for 90 days, recently RAISED rates 25%, (20$/hr higher than our nearest competitor) and turned down a lucrative buyout offer from a national media company. and I feel like we're just getting started!
I know I'm not alone ... One mans misery is anothers opportunity.
By positioning ourselves at the top of our (third tier) market, we also reduce what I call "problem clients" ie. the no shows, complainers, and the just plain annoying. All this with no ssl, no grammy, and no platinum records.
Just a sincere commitment to serve our customers and employees on a par with ANY company in the service industry.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST AND GO FOR IT!!!!!
So many "studios" are really just musicians looking to recoup on their hobby.
(Nuttin wrong w/that either)