It is with great sadness that we all see the news on the other forums, and in the press, of the closings of such landmark recording studios as Hit Factory NY and Cello (Oceanway/United/Western) LA. The recording industry, and indeed the entire music business itself, is in an unstable state of flux at the moment, and the future will obviously be quite different than the past.
I am very fortunate to be located in Compass Point Studios here in Nassau, which (mostly through the efforts of many others over the years, especially Chris Blackwell) is one of those iconicly magnificent edifices dedicated to the preservation of musical genius. In other words, it's a really cool studio. I try very hard every day to remember to touch the ghosts which walk these halls, and to burn their spirit into my consciousness, but it always is the same: it's another day at work, and the task at hand takes precedence over the ethereal.
However, I will take a small moment before today's 12 to 16 hours of audio effort to throw out a few theories about why studios are in the state that they are:
•No matter what anyone says to the contrary, I think that the free download availability of music to the masses has DEFINITELY resulted in a lessening of budget money made available by labels to artists, and thence a reduction in the numbers of sessions being booked into large facilities.
•The availability of relatively inexpensive recording gear which is capable of near-full professional results has DEFINITELY affected the number of sessions being booked into large studios.
•Major labels are not run today by men such as Blackwell, Branson, Ertegun, Ellis/Wright, et al, who were there because they LOVED MUSIC. Yes, they were, or at least became, BUSINESSMEN, but that wasn't the driving force. Today it's a lawyer-business-school-graduate-driven, ultra-corporate monster. Chances are not being taken on "different" talent anymore. This too lessens the number of sessions being booked.
•The economy in general was already in a slight downturn, but when September 11 came, it went much farther down. It looks to be coming back well now, but businesses such as the music industry always lag a bit behind in recovery time.
•Modern society has changed, whether through social-Darwinistic natural evolution, or through the over-Democratisation of social interaction. Men used to be above women; the wealthy used to be above the poor; whites in the US used to be above other races, etc. Today, while those stereotypically repressive relationships are still around, they are not the expected norm anymore. THIS IS A GOOD THING; I am all for freedom and equality amongst these groups. However, as it relates to music, this equality has trickled down, so that there is little respect for the elite of audio engineering, of music production, or of commercial marketing acuity. New groups or artists expect that they can produce themselves, engineer themselves, and sell themselves over the Internet. Rightly or wrongly, this too has lessened bookings at large studios.
•The recording studio business has never been a routinely profitable one. It has traditionally cost too much for gear, facility, staff, etc., to be able to charge the rates necessary to truly make it. A studio was often only the loss leader tool for a record label or producer anyway.
I'm sure there are many other factors, but while none of the reasons abovementioned, by themselves, might be a death blow, added together, they are causing problems.
I don't know if Compass Point, as a commercial studio, will survive all of this, or at least for how long. For now, we're here, and I'm trying to savor it. We keep our staff small (but quality), and our expenses as low as possible. The closures we see may be partially because of poor management, as well as the external factors...that I don't really know about, and I'm not being accusatory here of anyone else.
But we must all hope and pray that there will be great audio spaces left for the future to enjoy. I'm all for inexpensive, high quality gear; I use it myself. But you CANNOT CONSISTENTLY RECORD GOOD SOUNDING MUSIC IN AN ACOUSTICALLY INFERIOR ROOM!
Peace and good luck...
Terry Manning