Building a studio for my gear.

[Conscious Structure]

I've got a very large project studio and it's basically reached critical mass for the space it is in. I've gotten to the point where I want to expand it and turn it into a full time business. Basically what I need is a facility. I'm trying to figure out how much money I need to invest into it. For instance, should I construct the building from the ground up? Should I rent? Should I buy? Should I find an old warehouse and rennovate? An old church? I'd like to start the studio in or near a city, since I like to be near civilization. I'd also consider partnering with someone who already has the space.
Would anyone like to share their stories of how they got their studios to where they are today?

------------------
Dave Belazis
Conscious Productions
Conscious Studios

[Lee Blaske]

You're approaching this from totally the wrong direction. Unless you have unlimited wealth and can afford to run a business that loses money, your first task is to develop a business plan. What is your potential client base? Who is the competition? What kind of rates can you realistically charge? What type of facility will this client base require? Is there enough work out there to support another facility in your area?

The studio business is not like a well known movie about baseball. If you build it, they won't necessarily come. With the rapid drop in equipment cost, more people than ever are opting to set up their own facilities. The commercial studio business is more competitive than ever, and it's very easy to fail.

Lee Blaske

[sinjin]

Good for you C.S.
Go for it and don,t let anyone tell you not to, or disscourage you in any way.
You control your own reality.
jude

[Lee Blaske]

OK Jude, you can be the optimist, and I'll be the pessimist. Dave can move in with you when he loses the farm.

Dave, it sounds like you want to record bands. This market is going to be getting tougher as more people acquire their own equipment. Also, if Napster and Napster-like clones are as unstoppable as some people say, the whole recording business is going to be a lot less lucrative in the near future. Unfortunately, peer to peer "sharing" hurts small artists trying to market their material on the internet even more than the big labels (it's hard to sell downloads when they can be had for free). Also, it appears that we're heading toward an economic slowdown (at least in the U.S.). I'm not in the business of recording bands, but friends of mine that are seem very worried these days.

With the bad stuff out of the way, here are a few thoughts:

I think I'd stay away from acquiring an old church, unless a very exceptional building came along. My wife and I had been toying with the same idea, and we were keeping an eye on the market for awhile. Every time we'd see a cute looking church, we'd wonder aloud if it was "going down." One of the big problems that we found, however, is that most churches are located on busy streets, so you're going to need to invest a lot in soundproofing. Older churches can also be a maintenance nightmare (especially roofs). Mechanical systems can also need some major updating (make sure you're not dealing with enormous asbestos or lead paint problems). Add to this the fact that churches are often highly desirable real estate, so they can be pricey. They're in demand from smaller congregations, plus they're also desired by people who want to completely remodel them into trendy, up-scale homes. A lot of churces are also nestled into neighborhoods, and might require rezoning (with the local citizenry putting up a big stink).

Personally, I ended up building a home from scratch designed to accomodate a studio on the entire first floor. This was the perfect solution for me, but then again, I primarily do my own projects, and I don't have lots of people coming in and out. If things get slow, there's no meter running.

If you don't want to build a larger home, a warehouse might be your best bet. If you were intending to attract ad agency work, style and location would be very important (as well as proximity to fancy take-out food and coffee). Those considerations are not as important for band work. Renting vs. buying is going to depend on a lot of factors. What can you find, and how much will it cost? If the economic downturn continues, there might be a lot of space opening up at decent prices.

There are definitely some things to do as far as establishing a successful recording business in today's market. You'll want to be able to offer things that people with home studios might not have available (a great acoustic piano, a big room with some iso booths, etc.). Be set up to collaborate with home studios (i.e. have lots of formats available -- ADAT, DA88, plus all the major digital sequencer packages and plug-ins). Be set up to track larger sessions that can't be done in modest studios, and also be equipped to do a high quality mix of projects started at home. Be ready to do mastering, and have ties to graphic design for producing CD artwork (you can have a broker arrangement with a large replication company).

If you have the finances, there are some things to do that could really make a difference (especially in the band market). Build your main, big room, but also build a couple of smaller control rooms with their own attached overdub rooms. You don't have to equip them. Rent these rooms at a decent rate to individuals and bands (you'd be surprised at how attractive and profitable this can be). If you're able to acquire a large space, consider building some rentable rehearsal rooms.

The basic idea here is to have a number of revenue streams. You want to make your complex a beehive of musical activity. Renting or buying space a stone's throw from one of the big-box music retailers (Mars, Guitar Center, etc.) would really be great. If that's not an option, try to locate near a lot of food (or an entertainment district with a lot of live bands).

Such a facility would have a greater chance at success, and be able to weather the turbulent times ahead.

Lee Blaske

[Lee Blaske]

One more thing...

In the "controlling your own reality" department, if at all possible, avoid taking on a partner (unless you're really anxious to see what an ulcer feels like).

I have seen an enormous number of partnerships go sour over time, crashing and burning in spectacular ways. I vividly remember working at a studio where the two partners had a disagreement. One partner thought the other partner was going to sabotage the equipment (before he could be legally ousted from the corporation), so the paranoid partner went to the studio late at night, crawled through the false ceiling, dropped down into the control room, nailed the door shut from the inside, and crawled back out.

I'm truly surprised that more people don't get killed in these disagreements. The emotions can be very intense. (Especially to be avoided is getting involved with a partner who gets tangled up in a messy divorce.)

Partnerships that stay vital and productive over long periods of time are exceedingly rare, and require certain personality types to flourish. It's much safer to be your own man/woman, even if it requires your plans to be less ambitious.

Lee Blaske

[Conscious Structure]

Thanks, Lee, that's good advice. I've been putting much thought into all of those issues. I am certain that the scene definately can support another mid-sized studio. While a large client base takes time to build, there are many musicians in the are who I'm confident would enlist my services. I do quite a lot of recording right now as it is. I'm not talking about building the next "The Hit Factory" either. I don't have 50 million dollars. =) My main reason for this is that I would like an atmosphere more professional than my home, that I am free to expand as I need. So if anyone has stories to share about getting their studios built, I'm sure I'm not the only person on the DUC who would benefit from this post.

[Conscious Structure]

Thanks guys. Your experiences are helpful.

[sinjin]

Holy **** Lee I am impressed.
Thats great info and you should be proud to be able give that amount of clear cut advice to someone. It is far more then most people will go to help other people and if more folks helped that much we would all be in a better place.
Right On!

[nst7]

Wow, this post is from 2001! Unfortunately, many of Lee's predictions have come true.

[albee1952]

Indeed! The sure way to make a small fortune in the studio biz, is to start with a large fortune