Yet another major studio bites the dust

[gainreduction]

According to this article Olympic studios in London is closing.

Music Week - Music Week - Music business magazine - Olympic Studios set close

[drundall]

that sucks.

[superburtm]

ugh

[audiovisceral]

wow. who keeps the rooms?

i hope they don't gut it. it's gorgeous.

[jindrich]

Olympic closing? Wow, another one of the few legendary studios left going under. What's next, Strongroom, Metropolis and Abbey Road?

By the way, I believe Mark Spike has his mixing room at Olympic, will he set shop at home now?

[psycho_monkey]

Spike Stent has been in LA for a good while now - he still has a "home" setup in England, but he's barely used the Mix Suite in the past year.

[LeMauce]

Damn.... im sad to hear this...
Why is this happening? Does big record company's make mistake's in the 90's by wrong investments? The so big discussion mp3 vs CD and the whole downloading around it?
Time's to make music in a new way? No cd's anymore? Only streaming and live act's?
Were are the time's of the Beatles(s) , Rstones, The Doors etc etc etc etc till MJ in 1992... After 1992 everything seen to fall and collapse.

[talkshowman]

I'm disgusted by this news. But what do you expect from EMI these days?

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Why is this happening? Does big record company's make mistake's in the 90's by wrong investments?

Why is this happening?

Mismanangement, over inflated costs, over inflated self importance and operating under debt.

Basically the same problem almost every corporation right now is dealing with. The music business has been stuck in this mode for so long that eventually eveyone will feel it. The major studios are no different. Everyone bought into the over budget records in the 80's & 90's that lots of studios got fat or thought they would. When the record companies started slowing down in their payments all of the leases for the million dollar consoles caught up. I mean somebody has to pay for this stuff. The smart studio owners that knew enough to own everything(no leases) and keep debt to an absolute minimum are the one's that are still around to this day. But they will even tell you that its a tough row right now.

Owning a major sound motel its a tough business. You have to not only compete with the joneses in terms of services, amenities and equipment, but blow away new potential clients as well. This involves investing a lot of money that you will probably never recoup.

[Steffmo]

Back in the 70s Andrew Oldham moved to Connecticut. My band did countless sessions for him, and he would often play us the safety masters of various iconic recordings.

The ones from Olympiic and Trident were by far and away the best. To this day they remain the benchmarks for great recordings I have heard in a control room.

Harry Nilsson;s Without You, ith the best toms ever recorded, The Hollies The Air That I Breath, and Rebel Rebel by Bowie stick out in my mind. Amazing stuff.

As late as 1990 the average major label budget was about 200K. There were a lot of them. How many records get that budget today? I think that unless you have a major star or an American Idol winner, its probably lucky to hit 75K.

I'm expecting to see studios that even look remotely like this in the Midwest, where the real estate and old church like buildings to renovate can be had for a song.

[toxostoma rufum]

One of my fave records, Elvis Costello's "Blood and Chocolate" was recorded "live" there.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by allencollins

I won't be happy until they close abbey road too. We need some new blood in this industy. Enough
with the romanticism.

Let's face reality, these studios are just a name. They have all been remodeled/re-equipped several times over since any notable records were cut there.

Yes they have been remodeled/re-equipped. but if you'd ever worked at Abbey Rd you wouldn't say that. It's a lovely place to work, great atmosphere even if it didn't have the history, and there's lots of vintage gear lovingly cared for.

The last piece of respect anyone may have had for allencollins should be obliterated by this comment, that pretty much disrespects everyone who's ever shown an interest in recording.

[bcgood]

A couple of things that could help in my opinion.

1. Record companies should start investing more in artist development and encourage good songwriting, musicianship and creativity.

2. Start tracking to tape again and mix on consoles using outboard, get out of DAW's as much as possible. Even though initially this is more expensive quality will cause demand. Plus tape decks and consoles are pretty hard to use and maintain in most home project studios. Studios need to provide the utmost quality that only they can provide.

3. Don't allow mixes to get smashed in mastering anymore.

4. Countries should pass laws that make ISP's (Internet Service Providers) accountable and immediately enact various measures to start curtailing illegal downloads.

I don't think Abbey Road will suffer this fate. I love the recording by The Sundays called Static and Silence that was recorded there, that's one great sounding album. Tracked to tape of course.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by bcgood

A couple of things that could help in my opinion.

1. Record companies should start investing more in artist development and encourage good songwriting, musicianship and creativity.

Or the artists should push for it more. But similar to what happens to the slammed masters everyone caves in and plays along.

Originally Posted by bcgood

2. Start tracking to tape again and mix on consoles using outboard, get out of DAW's as much as possible. Even though initially this is more expensive quality will cause demand. Plus tape decks and consoles are pretty hard to use and maintain in most home project studios. Studios need to provide the utmost quality that only they can provide.

Lets face it this will never happen.

Pandora has been let out of her box and no one is going to put her back in her box again. Its similar to the whole pirating thing. Its too late to say "hey wait a minute we have to do something about this" "or this is wrong". People let it go on for too long and now its part of the mainstream. The project recording revolution is here to stay and is now it is the norm. As much as some of us that own studios that are businesses do not like that fact or refuse to accept its here.

And record labels have never cared about studios anyway. How do i know? Look how long it takes to get paid when a studio sends in a P.O. If the record labels really cared they would pay right away or not give you the run around. We just provide a service like any other service provider they contract.

Originally Posted by bcgood

3. Don't allow mixes to get smashed in mastering anymore.

Slowly but surely its starting to happen, but that hasn't hurt the studio business. As a matter of fact, its helped certain mastering houses that can provide the best smashed sound stay on top. Lets face it not everyone can do loud.

Originally Posted by bcgood

4. Countries should pass laws that make ISP's (Internet Service Providers) accountable and immediately enact various measures to start curtailing illegal downloads.

I think this should be instituted slowly and eventually before you know it just like pirating has become normal so will it.

I mean people cursed Waves for their practices but in essence they were on to something. You should be able to protect your property even if its on the web, especially if there is copyright involved.

Originally Posted by bcgood

I don't think Abbey Road will suffer this fate.

I hope so. Some great studios will fall by the way side unfortunately. And so will its history and traditions. I know as an engineer coming up i set a goal that one day i could say that i did a session at all of the great & historic recording studios in my lifetime.

Unfortunately that will be a goal that i will not reach.

[jindrich]

that's a truly beautiful record, just like any of the three that the Sundays released. They're one of the few bands I can listen to on a daily basis since... has it been 20 years already?


Anyway, countless legendary records have been done at Olympic. The demise of those iconic studios come together with the current demise of MUSIC.

There's no way to obtain great sounds and make a compelling album by recording to DAWs, tracking in bedrooms and small spaces and mixing at the producer's home studio. It all sounds fake, plastic and dead, just on the oppositte side of records done as in the last decades at big studios, with great sounding rooms, with talented engineers, tracked mostly live keeping the feeling of the band, and having musicians, engineers, producers and everybody involved, all in contact each with another in those creative hubs that were (multiroom) commercial studios.


As the Sundays said, "Here's where the story ends".

YouTube - The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

I hope so. Some great studios will fall by the way side unfortunately. And so will its history and traditions. I know as an engineer coming up i set a goal that one day i could say that i did a session at all of the great & historic recording studios in my lifetime.

Unfortunately that will be a goal that i will not reach.

All true points Thrill of course but I'm still a little idealistic, can't help it.

I agree that musicians should take the initiative to develop themselves but a lot of bands I grew up listening to like Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure and The Smiths probably wouldn't have a chance today and I think that's kind of sad.

There are some cool independent artists around but I love great production and that takes good producers, experienced engineers, nice rooms and expensive analogue gear/tape/consoles that most independents don't have access to. The times they are a-changin'. Nothing new under the sun I suppose.

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by jindrich

that's a truly beautiful record,

Good taste Jindrich, I was hoping someone would know that album.

[Chaellus]

Originally Posted by jindrich

"Here's where the story ends"

YouTube - The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends

what a song....was my favorite song from them.....

it really is sad to see yet another iconic studio perish....the kings of high standards in audio are fading away....and eventually consumers will recognize the deteriorting sound and will want them back unfortunatly when that happens it will be too late.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by bcgood

I agree that musicians should take the initiative to develop themselves but a lot of bands I grew up listening to like Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure and The Smiths probably wouldn't have a chance today and I think that's kind of sad.

Well in Depeche Mode case Vince Clarke really called the shots early on and when he left it was mostly Daniel Miller. Yeah over the years they've worked with guys like Flood, Mark Bell & Tim Simeon but in Depeche Modes case it really is their show & the producers help it along.

To me both New Order and the Cure is kind of the same. These guys have a sound, they write their own songs and the like.

If you want to credit anyone its Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer who formed Sire Records. They were the ones who were most responsible for putting punk & especially New Wave to the forefront. Those guys had a lot of vision in the independent scene and new exactly which bands to tab who could sell records. I mean the acts they signed were a who's who of the independent scene: The Ramones, the Talking Heads, The Pretenders, The Cure, The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, Aztec Camera, Madonna, Seal, KD Lang and Ice T. In the 80's when i managed a records store i always looked out for their year end samplers.

It was always great listen.


Seymour Speaks
Date: Mar 14 '08

Remember when I posted about Seymour Stein speaking at SXSW? WELL, it happened. I wasn't there but I've got the details right here, courtesy of austin360.com:

Sire Records founder Seymour Stein spoke in the laid-back cadence of a retired grandfather as he detailed many of the stories behind how he signed some of the most influential bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.

Some of the highlights from his interview with David Katznelson of Birdman Recordings included Stein explaining that the Pretenders were originally supposed to be called the Chrissy Hynde Band. Stein also recalled how the graffiti in New York club CBGB’s bathrooms used to be as informative as a newspaper. “It read ‘Seymour Stein finally signed a good band, the Dead Boys.’ I loved it,” he exclaimed while poking fun of himself.

Stein — who was a main impetus in helping break the Smiths, Madonna, Echo and the Bunnymen and pop punk pioneers the Ramones — reminded the young (younger than him) audience, “If you don’t know (who) the Ramones (are), leave the room!” He continued that the band played 18 songs in 15 minutes during a private show, whereupon Stein signed them minutes later

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Well in Depeche Mode case Vince Clarke really called the shots early on and when he left it was mostly Daniel Miller. Yeah over the years they've worked with guys like Flood, Mark Bell & Tim Simeon but in Depeche Modes case it really is their show & the producers help it along.

To me both New Order and the Cure is kind of the same. These guys have a sound, they write their own songs and the like.

If you want to credit anyone its Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer who formed Sire Records. They were the ones who were most responsible for putting punk & especially New Wave to the forefront. Those guys had a lot of vision in the independent scene and new exactly which bands to tab who could sell records. I mean the acts they signed were a who's who of the independent scene: The Ramones, the Talking Heads, The Pretenders, The Cure, The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, Aztec Camera, Madonna, Seal, KD Lang and Ice T. In the 80's when i managed a records store i always looked out for their year end samplers.

It was always great listen.


Seymour Speaks
Date: Mar 14 '08

Remember when I posted about Seymour Stein speaking at SXSW? WELL, it happened. I wasn't there but I've got the details right here, courtesy of austin360.com:

Sire Records founder Seymour Stein spoke in the laid-back cadence of a retired grandfather as he detailed many of the stories behind how he signed some of the most influential bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.

Some of the highlights from his interview with David Katznelson of Birdman Recordings included Stein explaining that the Pretenders were originally supposed to be called the Chrissy Hynde Band. Stein also recalled how the graffiti in New York club CBGB’s bathrooms used to be as informative as a newspaper. “It read ‘Seymour Stein finally signed a good band, the Dead Boys.’ I loved it,” he exclaimed while poking fun of himself.

Stein — who was a main impetus in helping break the Smiths, Madonna, Echo and the Bunnymen and pop punk pioneers the Ramones — reminded the young (younger than him) audience, “If you don’t know (who) the Ramones (are), leave the room!” He continued that the band played 18 songs in 15 minutes during a private show, whereupon Stein signed them minutes later

Very cool stuff, you know way too much Thrill.

On a side note I remember reading how the pay schemes where set up with Sire. Crazy, Morrissey and Johnny Marr made a lot and are still making a lot from album sales.

[junior]

Originally Posted by bcgood

1. Record companies should start investing more in artist development and encourage good songwriting, musicianship and creativity.

Just my opinion, but I think you've nailed the -biggest- reason why our biz is in such BAD shape - the (lack of) quality of the product. Is it me, or has today's pop music become truly disposable?

I just saw a multi-page thread on how awful Kanye West was on Saturday Night Live. It was hilarious to read how many people were actually shocked that the guy couldn't sing. I thought I was in the twilight zone.

[The Beatsmith]

on a totally selfish front, this makes me even more bitter and disheartened about my choice of career

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by bcgood

A couple of things that could help in my opinion.

alllllrighty let's hear it.

Originally Posted by bcgood

1. Record companies should start investing more in artist development and encourage good songwriting, musicianship and creativity.

oh yes. like completely IGNORING the whole revolution in electronic (dance) music in the nineties. Instead going with the big budget, big BS MTV pop industry. The decline is because they have tried to destroy popular culture, in favour of putting their own idea of popular culture there. That was the situation in europe. Can studios be blamed for this? Ehm no, not directly.

Originally Posted by bcgood

2. Start tracking to tape again and mix on consoles using outboard, get out of DAW's as much as possible. Even though initially this is more expensive quality will cause demand. Plus tape decks and consoles are pretty hard to use and maintain in most home project studios. Studios need to provide the utmost quality that only they can provide.

that is one way of differentiating yourself.
but what is wrong with the complete professional package that a good studio can offer? Nothing IMO. The problem is depreciation of music, in favour of regurgitated yuk, instead of allowing a broad base of musicians and picking the best to promote them extra.
Music has been severed from its inherent qualities as communication of emotion. Studios are best equipped to capture that emotion. Sadly the record companies dropped the ball there. THAT is the problem.

Originally Posted by bcgood

3. Don't allow mixes to get smashed in mastering anymore.

Same deal. Idiots at the wheel. Louder is better, bigger car is better etc.
More money doesn't make a better person or a better artist.
THERE IS SO MUCH TALENT NOW THAT ISN'T PICKED UP!
PEOPLE WILL BUY MUSIC IF THEY FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT!
they are not going to buy something that feels fake, and has an air of money machine. ATTITUDE is the problem, and the music industry started this BS first.

Originally Posted by bcgood

4. Countries should pass laws that make ISP's (Internet Service Providers) accountable and immediately enact various measures to start curtailing illegal downloads.
....snip.....

Ehm no. For one there will be a way around it, since it is undoable to check data streams and completely unethical to curb peer to peer communications. Do you honestly believe artistic rights are best off in the hands of some ministry of culture? You're handing it from the money boys to the apparatchiks. Not good.
If you want people to pay for music, it has to be special. They have to WANT to spend money. To support their artist, be part of the thing.
In short what the music industry needs is a dedicated fanbase, not just teen idol crapola.
It does matter if the product is a tangible item IMO. Instead of downloads. Downloads could be there to promote the product. Customers should have higher quality playback systems, so they can enjoy the music better.
There is a whole gap in the market unexplored.

IMHO of course thumbsup

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by The Beatsmith

on a totally selfish front, this makes me even more bitter and disheartened about my choice of career

Not me. I'd love to work in a big studio, but if it doesn't happen, I'll be fine.

[Butcha]

Lack of good business practice.

You spend a fortune giving some act an initial push. Your first mistake is that you spend so much money on promotion that even though they enjoy quite a bit of chart success you still made a loss. Then rather than continuing to develop said act into a truly viable entity after creating an awareness in the mind of the public you then quickly abandon them and move onto something else, before then repeating the same behaviour pattern.

If you saw some company (not in the music industry) release some product, then spend an absolute fortune on promoting it and creating "awareness" of it only to abandon it completely about a year or so later what would you say? If this company then proceeded to do this again repeatedly what would your reaction be? Welcome to the music industry for the last 10-15 years of so.

A new medium to distribute your product (the Internet in the case of the music biz) starts to gain increasing popularity with the only sensible belief being that said medium will be everywhere in 10 years. What do you do? Even after people start using said medium to illegally distribute your product, you don't say this is one bandwagon you need to get on and need to start making work for you, but rather you just continue on with the way things had been before and just hope that said medium (the Internet in this case) might go away of its own accord.

[StereoAtLast]

anyone think this is ever going to stop?

or are LA and NYC next?

thoughts?

[Marjan]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

Yes they have been remodeled/re-equipped. but if you'd ever worked at Abbey Rd you wouldn't say that. It's a lovely place to work, great atmosphere even if it didn't have the history, and there's lots of vintage gear lovingly cared for.

I'm all about supporting independent music, but to criticize Ab Rd because of the 'modern' equipment is total nonsense.
As a short example, I think I counted 17 tape machines in the corridor last time I was there.

Sad to see Olympic go for being a historic place... times are a changin'.
I hope someone buys it before they tear it apart.
I'm not sorry for the owner though. That's the obvious outcome for repeatedly letting money talk higher than music itself.

[A33]

I loved that place ..... great live room .... great vibe..... shame

[theother]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

According to this article Olympic studios in London is closing.

Music Week - Music Week - Music business magazine - Olympic Studios set close

...and it won't be the last one. There are already rumours of one or two more following soon.

As sad as it is to see them go, I'm glad there is some consolidation because of this.

They (not specifically Olympic but all the big label owned struggling studios) were fighting for survival for too long and pulled everyone else, who had a sound business down into the abyss, by undercutting everyone with prices that did not even cover the electricity anymore, just so they could survive one week longer. That's crazy and I'm glad it's over!

Clients do have the budget for a commercial big SSL mix room or they don't, but to go out at $500 a day is not helping anyone and will kill everything left for good. (the same as the loudness war in mastering) It's a vicious circle.

There will never be the 80's budgets again, but to see what happened lately, there will be not one proper mix/recording facility left.

If you can't get at least >$1k a day there is no point to think running a high end place. Even if you sail a tight ship.
I do think there is room for a few high end places that are run efficiently and go out at around >$1k a day. But the longer the label owned studios can get rooms out for $500, because a big label can afford to put up with all this debt the more irreversible damage it does to the healthy studios around.
And once clients are used to get an SSL mix room for $500 it's hard to go back to the old rates.

For the inefficient big label run places, that all seem to go, it would be more $2k-$3k to cover their overheads. We all know that this way you can not fill a studio all year round anymore.

But the real problem that filters down to the recording studios is the problem of the labels fighting for survival. They started to undercut each other by selling music for next to nothing. Customers are getting used to the fact that music should be free. And labels because they can't find a way out, cut deals with iTunes & mobile phone companies that don't make any sense.

And then Steve Jobs has the audacity to threaten labels and musicians to pull the plug on the iTunes shop if we don't reduce our demands in royalties.

I don't get it!

This guy would be nothing without us! Who is he to threaten us!

If he pulls the plug Apple is dead fish within 1 week. He made Billions, flies a $100m private jet, on the back of music. Who is going to buy all these shite-gadgets without it?

But most CEOs of labels are spineless suckers. All the worry about is to get through the next financial year and board meetings not to get fired. There is no long-term interest or vision for the business. There is only self-interest to have a job for the next 6 months. And if it means to kill everything that's left, so be it!
Selfish ****ers! That's what I say! The damage they leave behind is unbelievable!

The kid that downloads music for free will not pay anything, even if you slash the prices by a fraction. But there are people prepared to pay for a good product a reasonable price. And that could save what's left. By selling an album for 50 Cents (what will happened if we continue that road of desperation) that isn't going to help anyone. And the kid will still not give you its 50 Cent.

Music can not be free. Period. And you can't have unlimited downloads for 50 Cent a month. What is all this unlimited bullshite anyway? Why does everyone need to have 50,000 albums one a friggin iShite today?
What happened to the fact to appreciate and savour one great album a month?

...ah! I understand! There isn't one! So we make it up by listening to 50,000 mediocre songs until our heads explode!

[A33]

theother interesting point........ We did get some crazy deals at olympic