To Start New Studio Or Not? That IS The Question

[Jeffason]

Hey everyone, I'm seriously considering starting up a studio. It would be a digital studio, using high quality digital audio interfaces and a fast G5 desktop. Not a lot of outboard gear. It would be geared toward band recording/rehearsal and vocal recording as well as mixing/mastering.

I could secure about $50k of financing + what I already have ( dynaudio Monitors, display, logic pro, midi controller, just your standard stuff ). Also, a tad more could probably be scrounged up and i will most likely be starting a 40/hour week job as an accountant, having a BA in accounting.

I'm considering two geographic locations:

1. Santa Barbara, CA
Rent alone would be around $2000 for a 1500sqft. empty area.
Why Santa barbara? It is close to one huge university, and a few other colleges. Location would be right off the main street of downtown. There are a large number of student and other bands, and the economy is very good around here. It is about 1.5 hours north of LA. Would probably need extensive acoustic treatment and some construction due to the non-remote location. Rehearsal rooms would probably easily be booked due to all the live bands around here, but i have no idea how much revenue they would bring in ( how does rehearsal room booking work? $150/month for 20 hours a week or what? ). There is a restroom.

2. Sonoma, CA
Rent is free. This would be a "studio in the hills", in a remote, but million dollar+ estate. The entrance is a little rustic (about 200 yards of gravel road after a 15 minute drive into the hills) until you get to the main developed area. Advantages would be NO neighbors or houses ( there is a garage/wine celler and some steel container buildings linked together). and beautiful location. Construction would be needed here as well, However there are buildings already constructed, probably around 1500sqft as well. Bad thing is that there is issues with the septic system and I'd need to either have a non-septic bathroom ( is that even possible ) or tap in to the leechfield and hope to not get caught by inspectors. Metallica's guitar player has an estate very close off the same road as a "neat" factor and who knows maybe some business.

My only concern is that Sonoma is not exactly the most busy town. There is definitely affluence however. I grew up there so I know whats up. Its also about an hour from S.F. The town is where a lot of older folk go to retire, so it would probably need people out of town to stay in business.


From what I outlined above, does anyone have ANY recomendations? ANY input about ANYTHING stated above would be oh so greatly appreciated. I love this forum is the only place where I respect people's opinions about audio related matters.

Thanks for your time,
Jeffason

PS: I'm young and ambitious so I could handle most of the construction.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by Jeffason

so I could handle most of the construction.

Ok here goes nothing:

Is this for personal fun or a professional business?

If its for personal use(a hobby) an all digital studio is no fun.

If its for a professional business(like open to the public) than don't do it.

Bottomn line: Keep it a hobby(for personal fun) and add some analog in there somewhere.

You'll enjoy it more and you'll get more use out of it.

My 2 cents.

[cajonezzz]

Financing ANY gear is insanity.

Cash and carry. Pimp what you got. Build a clientele, add a bit more gear here and there.



being a commercial room in either of those locations would be a very tough proposition imo.

Maybe a rehearsal room and doing some remote recording as well in Santa Barbara area. Still a sketchy proposition.

couldn't you just build out in your home/garage, and use larger existing studios to do the heavy lifting and concentrate on a mix/master room at home?

[djui5]

If you don't have a dedicated client base, don't do it, unless you could care less about the $$

[Jeffason]

Originally Posted by djui5

If you don't have a dedicated client base, don't do it, unless you could care less about the $$

How does one build a client base without having a studio? I've only recorded guitars and vocals, as hobby/business for people who've recorded in pro studios, and artists have been very happy & suprised with the result so I have no fear about return customers.

Financing ANY gear is insanity...Maybe a rehearsal room and doing some remote recording as well in Santa Barbara area. Still a sketchy proposition.

couldn't you just build out in your home/garage, and use larger existing studios to do the heavy lifting and concentrate on a mix/master room at home?

Agreed. I had a feeling most of the cost would go to acoustic treatment/construction. I am currently on the verge of moving from a very dense dorm like community, and while I was lucky to have a little room in a garage, I don't exactly have a house. Also, having a formal place of business is definitely worth something for a business image.

It would be nice to purcahse gear as bands get booked, but it would be hard to say I'm capable of something without actually being, then buy the gear, deal with the bugs, etc before the day of recording.

Perhaps it would be best to focus on trying to fund the $2k/month in rent in rehearsal room income and grow from there instead of going balls out? Is that even possible?

There is definite demand, people posting for reherasal rooms, bands always looking for places, etc, but people say they'd be willing to pay $300 or so a month for a room, is it possible for say 5 or six bands to share 1 rehearsal room? Two or three rooms could be built in 1500sqft I would imagine for a couple thousand in materials, I'm checking the spot out tomorrow. I have no idea about the rehearsal room business, its new to me.

If its for a professional business(like open to the public) than don't do it.

Besides compressors, in this day and age when a lot of top albums are mixed ITB, an all digital studio wouldn't fly for commercial purposes? It seems productivity goes up and costs go down, a win win. As a hobby musician making money on the side selling instrumentals to artists, I totally enjoy being all digital instead of all the synths ( been there ). I've grown up and am very comfortable around computers.

being a commercial room in either of those locations would be a very tough proposition imo.

Is there a more right place for a new studio? I'm open for suggestions.

Overall I've heard some don't do it's. I am a risk taker! Do the don't do its come from personal experience? I am open to not doing it if its a bad idea. Perhaps limit the budget to something a lot less, like $10g ( could probably be done with little or no financing).

Thanks for the replys and opinions,
Jeffason

[djui5]

Originally Posted by Jeffason

How does one build a client base without having a studio? I've only recorded guitars and vocals, as hobby/business for people who've recorded in pro studios, and artists have been very happy & suprised with the result so I have no fear about return customers.
Jeffason

That's how...haha.

You could either continue that, bringing them into a regular studio for entire album projects, or get a job at a studio.

If your up for a challenge, build it and see if they will come. You'll have to bring the clients to the studio. They don't just come knocking down your door. We wouldn't be so lucky.

[seaneldon]

i got fukked HARD with financing that much equipment when i was 18 years old. i had to sell it all to the studio and on craigslist when i was leaving that particular studio and stopped making records for like 3 months. bottom line, i STILL OWED MONEY, and i JUST finished paying that off when my own record came out (i'm still paying for THAT now, instead)

[Led]

Ohhhyeah, little bro an me still owe the label about 30 k .........like they're ever gonna see that again. Bought some damn fine gear with it too. Gotta love recoupables.

[Bob Olhsson]

The best place to develop a good reputation and the necessary relationships is in an existing commercial studio that already has a pretty good track record. Engineers and producers get paid for having plans b, c, d and e instantly available for when plan a fails. Interning or at the very least recording with seriously experienced people at the helm is the only way I know of to really learn how to record music in depth. In any case, I would take one of Michael Wagener's workshops before spending a dime on anything else. Without offering real depth, you are only renting gear to people. Quiet as it's kept, almost all of us are standing on the shoulders of our mentors.

You'll also need to look really hard at the local competition. It's an unfortunate fact of life that studio rates even for people having a pretty good reputation are frequently lower than just the cost of maintaining empty office space. In wealthy neighborhoods there are also numerous people offering free time in lavishly equipped studios to anybody who is good enough musically to enhance their reputation. There'll always be somebody offering more gear for less money or free.

Skill along with who knows what you know are the only things that make one competitive.

[Nutmeg II.]

Originally Posted by Jeffason

Besides compressors, in this day and age when a lot of top albums are mixed ITB, an all digital studio wouldn't fly for commercial purposes? It seems productivity goes up and costs go down, a win win. As a hobby musician making money on the side selling instrumentals to artists, I totally enjoy being all digital instead of all the synths ( been there ). I've grown up and am very comfortable around computers.

Every John Dow has his G5 rig with nice converters, so why should they come to you?

Like the others said: build a client base and a work on your good reputation.
Working at a other studio does realy help like Bob said...

But all in all I would say: Don't start a studio this days!
Use the money to open your streatwaer store and ad a online order system to it. The result will be less hustle, less worries a life and more money you could spend on life, hobby and the like.

[David Brown]

The studio paradigm has changed and now days if you build it they may never come. You do need to build your client base as many have suggested. Many of us worked staff or freelance at studios until our client base expanded enough to start our own studio. It's a slow road but ultimately a stable one. Seventeen years ago I realized I needed more time that was available to me at the room I was booking. I left and have never looked back.

David Brown

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Jeffason

I could secure about $50k of financing + what I already have ( dynaudio Monitors, display, logic pro, midi controller, just your standard stuff ). Also, a tad more could probably be scrounged up and i will most likely be starting a 40/hour week job as an accountant, having a BA in accounting.

So you will be working 40 hours a week in a day job and trying to run a successful studio at the same time?
This isn't going to fly, unless you start jacking yourself up on speed and never sleep.

You can do SOME recording, but if you have a day job then it makes it difficult.
Music is an 12-14 hour a day occupation for the most part, especially when you are starting out.
$50k is a small amount of money to put into a studio, really.

[aussie_techie]

start by looking at you area and see what it around. around here there are to many studios for the number of bands. now days every tom dick and harry thinks they can record them selves so they will certainly never go to a studio to record a demo.
to make it well you well with your own studio you will have to jump into something fair high end (and yes that means a HD system) and have a steady client base straight away to be able to support it which means experence and exposer alot of local musos.

if you have the spare cash dont buy gear buy Avid stock.

on the other hand if you have a rich daddy and just want to do it for fun go for it.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by Jeffason

Overall I've heard some don't do it's. I am a risk taker! Do the don't do its come from personal experience? I am open to not doing it if its a bad idea. Perhaps limit the budget to something a lot less, like $10g ( could probably be done with little or no financing).

Thanks for the replys and opinions,
Jeffason

Dude...it sounds like you made up your mind a long time ago and you are looking for someone to confirm the decision.

Every piece of advice given here is not some GSluts burn out mantra but from experience.

What the world doesn't need is another all digital $25pr/hr Craigslist Studio.

But again it sounds like you've made up your mind already so good luck nonetheless.

[dave-G]

I can't resist offering the classic:

The fastest way to a million dollars is to start a recording studio with 2 million.

Best of luck
-dave

[GPl]

Lot's of really good advice here. But like thrill says, looks like you've already made up your mind. Best advice I can give you is, learn from your experiances so you too can pass on valuable info to others. Sometimes you just gotta go out and do what you want to do. It's all a learning experiance anyways, right?

[robmix]

Great advice has already been given, but I have one thing to add - business plan. Have you done one ? Analyzed the two markets ? If not, you might as well just go to Vegas with the money.

[kats]

Business is buisness. The guys bitching here about the studio business is because they ARE in the studio business. If this forum was about restaurants, you'd hear the exact same sentiments. Business is tough tough tough no matter what your in, and the principles for success remain the same.

1. Go in underfinanced (IE no staying power) your dead.

2. Go in without a business plan (IE why should they come to you instead of someone else) your dead.

3. EXCEPTIONAL talent. If not, your dead.

4. And lastly, but most importantly: A succesful businessman is a funny breed. They're not normal. They're chameleons, very adaptable, aggressive, and can fit in in a variety of different social scenes very comfortably. They're driven and every breath they take they think about business. They know everything there is to know about the business they are in. That's who they are and what they do.

You need to be all these things to be successful in business. If all you have is talent, work for someone else. And unless your talent is EXCEPTIONAL, good luck finding a position. Unless you discover your real talent, you'll be stuck in a grinder job the rest of your life - so you have to be honest with yourself.

[seaneldon]

also, keep in mind that this is one of the few remaining professions where your success is almost 100% measured by how good you are, if at all. if you spend 50 dimes on a studio full of equipment you're not familiar with and don't know how to use, you'll have absolutely no trouble not getting work for 8 months at a time, if not a full year. if you do one record, and it sucks, that's the one people will hear.

make sure you're as good as other guys around your town, if not "better" or "more creative" or "technically sound", or you'll get swallowed by your entire city. that's something to think about way before "HOW MUCH IS RENT FOR AN EMPTY SPACE WITH NO PAINT OR ACOUSTIC TREATMENT?"

[DontLetMeDrown]

Sup Jeffason.

My band plays in Santa Barbara on a regular basis. I commute out there to play, but I do recording in my home (about 30 miles away). True that there are some serious dollars to be made on State st. with new bands popping up almost every day. I can't believe there is almost ZERO label representation out there. There are TONS of killer bands in every genre you could imagine. Anyway, back to topic...

Do you have a specific location already? I've been doing this for about 5 years and only VERY recently have I started to bring in $2000 a month. I also work 40 hours a week. It is quite difficult to to book more than 2 bands a month and also work 40 hours. It sucks recording when you are dead tired since that is when you are more apt to make decisions like,"that sounds good enough".

Everyone always says, "Don't finance", but I can honestly say that if I had not financed my initial setup, I would not have been able to start for another 5+ years. That was unacceptable to me-- I'm not getting any younger here. As long as you are careful and don't make retarded buying decisions, you can pull it off. If you have a BA in accounting, I'd imagine you would do just fine.

BTW, you will be directly competing with me
Also- there are a handfull of kick-ass engineers in SB too

Good luck!

[Fletcher]

I don't know if this bit of advice is worth a shit or not... but I've been engineering for over 30 years, have spent only one day since I graduated from college working outside the music industry [worked in a tire warehouse... it sucked so I quit] and just built my first studio this year [well... construction started in Jan. '05 but we didn't do any real sessions until around Jan. of '06].

My studio is a private facility that does NOT depend on selling time to stay open. There is well over $150,000 worth of equipment attached to the place. When we do book time it goes for $750-/day with an assistant/engineer... we might book as many as 30 days over the course of a year. The majority of the work that is done here will be in-house work for friends, equipment evaluations and the development of new and exciting ways to use some of the equipment that floats through our world.

There is no way in hell that will begin to recoup our investment in the place, but as I just mentioned, we have other purposes for it that relate to Mercenary Audio [the core business in the building] which warrants the existance of the room.

There are probably 50 studios in a 100 mile radius of where you're talking about building that have a $50+k hardware investment... as well as a headstart in building a client base/reputation... so, you're going to have to ask yourself "what will set my studio apart from their studios?" ... if the answer is anything like "my charming personality and a lower rate" don't f*cking waste your time and money.

If the answer to the question is: "it will give me one central location from which I can serve my existing clients while I help to educate other future engineers who will grow to work the additional rooms we build as the studio expands"... then by all means forge right on ahead.

I hope this is of some assistance.

Peace.

[w2w]

Not to be another downer....unless you keep it for a side thing & have the extra $$$ its just crazy to start ANOTHER studio that wants to compete with all the OTHER studios ALREADY out there....Another factor....there are rooms with MAJOR gear who are dropping thier pants to get business,and not to offend you at all,what would make people come to your place when an all digital studio these days can be found in almost any musicians spare bedroom now....these are realities of todays market......just sit down & picture that you went ahead & rented a room,got the gear & your ready to go......now what?.....Got anybody lined up?.....will you be advertising?...Sure it can be done,there is still the , if you have the will,you will find a way....The bottom line is.....if this is to make money & pay back that loan for the gear......dont quit your day job....its gonna come in handy....Best of luck.

[kats]

its just crazy to start ANOTHER studio that wants to compete with all the OTHER studios ALREADY out there

Ya right, and which business do you think is easier?

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by kats

Ya right, and which business do you think is easier?

Orson Wells impersonator
Throat model
Animal semen collecter
One armed wallpaper hanger.

[kats]

[Jeffason]

Santa Barbara St. Street Location pictures

http://www.topfrequency.com/warehouse

ignore the rat picture ;D

This would require a LOT of work....to make it even LOOK decent. Also I did some maths and it would be around $10G to build 4 rehearsal rooms.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. It seemed that santa barbara would be the best place to do this, and the location I was tipped off on needs MAJOR work to look decent. ( tripple net lease as well, $2g/month firm ).

Unless he offers a serious discount or changes the type of lease I think I'm holdin off on this for a while...

And as stated before, pretty much every business is hard to get into. I was lucky enough to work under the owner of a successful restaurant and saw what it took to stay around, despite being in a swamped market.

Maybe if I find a better location I will think about this again...

-Jeffason

[w2w]

Ya right, and which business do you think is easier?

Im not really sure what your question is.....