Opening a studio: Country or City?

atomjack · Post by **atomjack** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Do you think the advantages and disadvantages are evenly matched when it comes to running a recording studio in a suburban, more open countryside environment or in the middle of a busy metropolis? Where a city is more expensive, noisy, has limited space, and lacks parking, are people willing to travel outside of that city to a quiet studio in the suburbs or small town?

A.David.MacKinnon · Post by **A.David.MacKinnon** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:20 pm

Being close to the action has been very good to me. I can't imagine I would get half the business I do if I lived out of the city. Out of site = out of mind.

The trade of is that my space is small and my costs are higher.

rwc · Post by **rwc** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:33 pm

Unless you have enough business to justify opening a studio, it is a terrible idea, regardless of the area.

However - if you do have enough business to justify opening a studio, I'd prefer rural area. Real estate is cheaper.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:50 pm

Cheaper, plus depending on the city your competition may be insane...in my city there are probably about 600 commercial studios in a 20-mile radius competing for bands' money. Out in the far-flungs...perhaps not so much.

atomjack · Post by **atomjack** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:58 pm

but for the 600 studios in that city there are probably 10,000 musicians. In a rural area there may not be as much competition, but are there as many potential customers?

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:53 pm

If your studio is cooler than places in the nearest metropolitan area and there's a good engineer there, some people will come there to work for that reason. Some people will not because they don't want to make the drive. Some people who live in the close-by rural areas will totally love that there's a great studio nearby and will keep you busy. There are definite advantages to either scenario that I think would differ from city to city.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:51 pm

City. You'll always get hourly incidental clients.

Just from being in the phone book, there are alot of non-album related engineering calls here. Simple transfers to CD, hourly rap vocals, karaoke crap and a number of other things. Unlikely you'd find those kinds of clients to pay a few bills for you in the country.

I am about to trade a few hours of time for a Sony 4-track from the late 60's.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:43 am

atomjack wrote:but for the 600 studios in that city there are probably 10,000 musicians. In a rural area there may not be as much competition, but are there as many potential customers?

yes, good point.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:10 pm

Where do you live?

What's your current client base?

E.Bennett · Post by **E.Bennett** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:19 pm

we're out in the sticks about midway between nyc and philly. 70% of our business is from those two cities. the remote location doesn't seem to have affected us adversely.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:12 pm

It's cheaper to be in the sticks. This is usefull for lean months, gear purchases, and other things. It's a problem when you need tech service, or when all of the locals have done their new records and ou're out of people to record. Somehow the new ones do show up. In either it's about making good records and good relationships so that you get return business and good word of mouth.

river · Post by **river** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:14 am

I'm on the outskirts of Nashville, just 30 minutes from downtown, but surrounded by woods and farms. People love coming here to record, I think the net effect is that it makes them more relaxed and puts them in the mood to generate better performances. It's quieter, less expensive, but close enough to town to not be a hassle to get to.

JWL · Post by **JWL** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:45 am

On the outskirts is a good compromise. Less distractions, and if your reputation is good you will still get clients.

Some bands like the idea of an hour-ish drive to the studio in the middle of nowhere... it helps the "drop all distractions and make a great record" vibe.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:38 pm

JWL wrote:Some bands like the idea of an hour-ish drive to the studio in the middle of nowhere... it helps the "drop all distractions and make a great record" vibe.

Some don't because it's two less hours of the day that you have to get stuff done. That's ten hours out of a five-day work week.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Alex Netick · Post by **Alex Netick** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:08 am

If I were a band thinking of recording, I'd get as far away from here (the S.F. Bay area), as I could get. I'd think a studio out in the styx, if you advertised it, might have something unique to offer, a more relaxed vibe; and you could probably keep costs down because of a lower overhead, which would make your clients happier. Not that a studio anywhere is a very good investment considering the competition, the availability of cheap home setups, etc. Every day I wake up and ask myself why I'm still in this pitiful abyss of high taxes and general uptightness.

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Opening a studio: Country or City?

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