Do you own a studio, or make money from recording music? If so...how!!??

colourofsound

I've been trying to crack into this game for years.

I think the main problem is that I don't have my own premises and so can't call myself a 'studio'; but do have access to a number of facilities on a dry hire basis.

But no one's interested. 

Am I rubbish? Am I somehow not marketing myself properly? What gives? Is it quite simply that there are more people out there with more time and potentially more money to put into it than me?

I'd love to know if you're successful (i.e. its your only source of income) and how you manage that. And, do you enjoy it now it's your only line of work?

Cheers!

mellowsun

Which game are you trying to crack? There are many different ways - when GarageBand first came out, my main source of income for a couple of years was writing GarageBand loop packs - I worked from my front room!

If you want to get into jingles/Tv/film a hobby studio would also suffice. I think @Clarky does this 

Teetonetal

I think home recording has had a big impact, so many bands and musicians just do their own recordings now.

pintspiller

Most promotion amongst bands is word of mouth. Have you tried local music venues?

Clarky

mellowsun said:

Which game are you trying to crack? There are many different ways - when GarageBand first came out, my main source of income for a couple of years was writing GarageBand loop packs - I worked from my front room!

If you want to get into jingles/Tv/film a hobby studio would also suffice. I think @Clarky does this 

I do make money with my studio..
movie trailers / media music, teaching and session work

as always with this stuff it's who you know..
Introductions, recommendations… you have to build / get in with a network of people
and even then it's not easy

octatonic

I've been doing it longer than most (since the late 80's) but it isn't the only thing I do.
If you are not established already then the chances of you getting it off the ground are almost zero.
It isn't down to talent- there are loads of talented people out there scratching around for nickel and dime work.

Things were good in the 80's, OK in the 90's and when downloading became a thing in the 00's things started to go seriously downhill.
I spend roughly 3-4 times what I earn from music on my studio each year but that is because I have another income stream that allows it.
I earn about 1/4 of what I was making in the late 90's from studio work (recording, mixing, VO work, session work).

I keep doing it because I love it.
If I didn't have another income then it would be very hard to stay current with the gear.

The problem is everyone with a MacBook and a copy of Reaper is calling themselves a 'producer'- so much so that the term has lost all meaning.
There are thousands of budding producer/engineers out there- engineering schools churn them out every year.
Virtually none of them can mic up a drum kit to an acceptable level, it makes me wonder what exactly they get taught.

If you want to make any money from mixing audio then get into live work.
it is still insanely competitive but at least you can make a bit from it.

Deijavoo

I record my own band and my mate's bands for nothing. Not many people are gagging to hear any of my stuff but I still do it because I enjoy doing it. Those bands have got no intention of going somewhere to pay the money we used to in the 90s and you could argue my shit skills give you what you pay for but that's their choice. 

With so much scope for free promotion nowadays it's easier to get people to listen, harder to make them love.

My suggestion is to look for a more stable career and keep music as a part-time job/hobby.

mellowsun

Rather than doing what everyone else is doing you could try to find a niche. As I mentioned earlier for me it was writing loops (until loopmasters and others came along). 

I haven't found another niche since then but I'm sure there are relatively uncrowded markets out there - maybe music for mobile games, apps, or for low budget YouTube productions?

Danny1969

I started recording many years ago with a Tascam Portastudio, then a 486 computer (66Mhz with 4mb ram) worked my way through many faster machines ... then brought a used Protools system and started tracking other bands, mainly because I had enough inputs to do whole bands when most people didn't. I then built my first studio by converting a garage on the side of my house. I had a fair bit of work in there, mainly doing guitars, bass and vocals after tracking the drums in all kinds of places. All was going well. Then me and another guy decided to build the biggest recording studio Portsmouth had ever had so we signed a 10 year lease on a large 3200sq ft industrial building and proceeded to spend a year gutting the building and then painstakingly built the live rooms and control rooms .... we worked 18 hour days seven days a week, we spent all our money and basically lived in poverty while it was being built

Once up and running we did get a fair bit of business but a lot of it was soul destroying work .... I have personally recorded and mixed more bad rap than I care to remember .... I've spent hours editing drums into time, days tuning vocals, There's a lot of stuff I can't bear to listen to now
There was a lot of good stuff recorded too .... some great bands recorded whole albums completely live, I worked with an artist who have had a UK number 1 album this year, did some interesting work in the gaming side of audio recording actresses being murdered, huge urban vocal groups, very talented gospel projects. We did all kinds of things, for anyone interested check out 2020studios on facebook 

After five years though the loses were unsustainable .... we were skint and exercised a break clause we had built into the lease when we negotiated it. We moved out 

I still make my money from music but now it's constant giging .... I do still track and mix bands but only on a live basis ... I'm sick of bands going into studios and being edited into something they can't reproduce live. 

My advice is stick to home producing with no overheads. You can still get great results but not have the hassle and expense of running a studio

Cabicular

My Experience Echos Dannys. Worked in local studios as a lad being the tech kid who knew how to work an Atari ST and Cubase 3. and also having a bit of knowledge around SMPTE
Then I did alright being a go to guy for ADAT when it first came out and understanding word clock.
I recorded some really terrible bands in the 90s
Did some stuff for Yamaha when they went into the domestic/PC market with the 01x and i88x as well as the Motif integration
Did some original instrumental commissions (art gallery and the likes) and bits of scoring and instrumentation which is amazing considering my level of reading. (turns out I write ok I just can't read particularly well)
More Recently I've done a few albums for 300Ft Gorilla and a Guitarist called Ed Box.
I've always had a home studio and decent kit. I've still got my Manley Reference Cardoid Valve Mic and my Neumanns and a rack full of Neve, SSL and Trident preamps. I toyed with joining Taxi and doing that kind of Ad agency songwriting stuff but I have to be honest with myself.
I'm not quick enough and I don't have the time or the commitment to put it together. 
I have a home studio that is under used because I work hard and I play really lazily
Even with all of the above I've never made even a reasonable living out of it
Some money but mainly for the joy of creating and only really work for people of a quality like 300ft Gorilla (Paul Hindmarshes band)

colourofsound

Get a job you like.

Record as a hobby.

Gotcha, cheers gents.

dogload

I sort of do, in that I work in a school music department in charge of the recording studio, although I do much more other bullshit jobs than recording these days. 

However, I do much more recording outside the job (that I don't get paid for) in my attic 'studio'.

Stuckfast

I make some money from recording, but it's a long way from being my main source of income. However I rent some space in a studio that does support its owner full-time.

I think that if you want to make money out of it, you need to be able to offer something that bands know they can't either (a) do themselves, or (b) get for free elsewhere. That might mean simply doing stuff to a higher standard than is available for free -- I've had some paid mixing work either from people who got frustrated trying to do it themselves, or realised that it's more economic to pay than to spend years learning how to do it. Or it might mean having equipment or skills that are not widely available. Relatively few 'home studio' types are properly set up to record orchestras on location, for instance.

One boring but potentially lucrative market is spoken word. There's actually quite a lot of demand, what with things like talking books and online course materials now being big business, and it's something that is extremely difficult to do well in most home studios, because you need a very quiet and acoustically neutral environment. Be prepared to slit your wrists after a week of tracking TEFL language learning scripts though.

If you're setting up a studio, rehearsal space is a much more reliable moneyspinner than recording, and the two can usually coexist.

Ben8010

.

Winny_Pooh

I do recording but have never tried to make income from it so but here are my 2 cents.

Spend time on Gearslutz

There are lots of small studios in the UK and competition is fierce for what little money there is left, even top guys are doing mixing by email at home for lowish prices.
Guys that make money do so by offering things others don't like a great residential & recording space, professional production skills or sexy backline and instruments.

Stuckfast

Winny_Pooh said:

Spend time on Gearslutz

Nooooooo!!!

I have never in my life come across such a weird hotchpotch of received wisdom, bad advice, ignorance and plain falshood as is found on that forum. It's bizarre that it is so popular. There are much better web forums for recording like PRW, but they don't get the same traffic.

The only bit of Gearslutz that isn't comically dreadful is the Remote Recording section, which seems to be where the people who actually do recording hang out.

colourofsound

Stuckfast said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Spend time on Gearslutz

Nooooooo!!!

I have never in my life come across such a weird hotchpotch of received wisdom, bad advice, ignorance and plain falshood as is found on that forum. It's bizarre that it is so popular. There are much better web forums for recording like PRW, but they don't get the same traffic.

The only bit of Gearslutz that isn't comically dreadful is the Remote Recording section, which seems to be where the people who actually do recording hang out.

Yeah, GearSlutz is cancer for home recording. 

My favourite (and now only) source of advice is the UBK Happy Funtime Hour podcast.

I also find that demos of plugins rather than tutorials are more useful for mixing. And for recording techniques, Creative Sound Recording on Youtube is great.

Cirrus

@Stuckfast wisdom given. TheWombForums were good too, until the traffic dropped off.

Winny_Pooh

Seriously peeps, there is more to gearslutz than the front page and rap vocal mic recommendations. Take your time and use your smarts. The remote section has some great posters. The DIY build section is the most interesting for the OP because there are real businesses there spending actual money on recording spaces which tells you what work they do, their budget and clientele. 

octatonic

Winny_Pooh said:

Seriously peeps, there is more to gearslutz than the front page and rap vocal mic recommendations. Take your time and use your smarts. The remote section has some great posters. The DIY build section is the most interesting for the OP because there are real businesses there spending actual money on recording spaces which tells you what work they do, their budget and clientele. 

I agree.

I learned a hell of a lot there but you do have to take a critical view of what you read, but that is true of anything.
Some excellent posters there- Bob Ohlsson, Michael Wagener, Tobias Lindell.
There are a couple of relentless gear pimps (*cough* Slate *cough*) but otherwise it is like any other forum- it has some awesome people, a few dickheads.
When I joined in 2004 it was a much different place- it was kinda like this place was in the early days of MR.
Things change.

ChrisMusic

The industry has changed massively, as has been alluded to in previous posts.

Even "who you know" is not enough to guarantee success, it always was a tough business, and the democratisation through technology has made it exponentially harder.

Even offering something unique, residential, etc, it is not enough to ensure survival.

Check out ~ https://www.ridgefarm.com/



They provide for Weddings and celebrations, Business, Holidays and Workshops, hmm, nice...


Now, discovering that was a shock after my time there in the mid eighties, it shows how things have changed, and continue to do so.  If you can't survive with a global reputation, a superb facility, and a client list like the one below !




Control room in 1981, the studio was in the barn.

 

FROM SIXTEENTH CENTURY FARMHOUSE TO RENOWNED RECORDING STUDIO

 

In 1975 the barn at Ridge Farm was given a new lease of life when Ridge Farm became one of the first residential recording studios in the UK. Within a few years the farm was hosting sessions at the forefront of recorded music as the barn’s natural acoustics and ambience won many admirers within the recording industry. Attracting artists such as Roxy Music, Queen and Ozzy Osbourne, Ridge Farm quickly built a reputation for providing a warm and welcoming environment in which artists could hide from the spotlight to do what they do best.

Over the next two decades Ridge Farm remained one of the top studios in the country and the industry awards kept on coming with Pearl Jam, Wet Wet Wet, and Oasis among some of the artists producing multi-platinum selling albums out of the old barn. Not until the early 00’s and despite still drawing headline artists such as Muse and Supergrass did Ridge Farm sadly follow the suit of many other large studios in the UK and close its doors as a residential recording studio.

This colourful time in the history of the farm is a source of fascination for many of our guests and there are some subtle nods to the farm’s history around the house. Those who are interested will enjoy looking through the ‘gold’ discs in the hallway or listening to their music through the Tannoy Super Red speakers from the original studio control room in the lounge.

 

Client list of artists, musicians and producers by year

• 1975 Bad Company, Queen, Back Street Crawler
• 1976 Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, Automatic Fine Tuning
• 1977 Thin Lizzy, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Hawkwind, Roy Harper, Lone Star, Gallagher & Lyle, Mick Taylor, Camel
• 1978 Roxy Music, Bad Company, Steve Hillage, Magazine, Gong
• 1979 Steve Hillage, The Slits, The Pop Group, Penetration
• 1980 Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, The Undertones, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Three Degrees, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Beat, Bonnie Tyler, Judie Tzuke, Bill Drummond, Ulf Lundell, Steve Lipson
• 1981 Ozzy Osbourne,[2] Lindisfarne, Uriah Heep
• 1982 Bad Company, Mick Ralphs, John Cooper Clarke, Chris Kimsey, Native, Y & T
• 1983 Peter Gabriel, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Schenker Group, Paul Brady,((The Passion Puppets))
• 1984 Dexys Midnight Runners, A Flock of Seagulls, Captain Sensible, Limahl, Naked Eyes, Tony Mansfield
• 1985 The Smiths, Little Richard, a-ha, Clannad, The Escape Club, Hipsway, Gary Langan
• 1986 Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Mission, The Adult Net, Ian Broudie, Rush, Trevor Horn, Stock Aitken & Waterman, Tim Palmer, Steve Lipson, Paul Samwell-Smith
• 1987 Wet Wet Wet, Curiosity Killed the Cat, All About Eve, The Bolshoi, Miguel Bosé, Tony Mansfield
• 1987 Grayson Hugh wrote the songs for his debut 1988 RCA album "Blind To Reason" while staying here during the summer of 1987.
• 1988 Status Quo, That Petrol Emotion, Peter Collins, Simon Hanhart, Gary Langan, Hurrah!
• 1989 Prefab Sprout, Energy Orchard, Giant, Thomas Dolby, Rafe McKenna, Gary Katz
• 1990 The Inspiral Carpets, Echo & the Bunnymen, Holly Johnson, Spike Drake, Andy Richards, Jimbo Barton, Geoff Emerick, Spike Stent
• 1991 Pearl Jam, Seal, Beverley Craven, Tin Machine, The Levellers, lan McCulloch, Trevor Horn, Tim Palmer, Paul Samwell-Smith, Warne Livesey, Andy Richards
• 1992 Sade, Sam Brown, Love and Rockets, Thunder, The Saw Doctors, The Almighty, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Paul Samwell-Smith, Pat Moran, Andy Wallace
• 1994 Gun, Skin, Julian Cope, Dodgy, The Almighty, Kiri Te Kanawa, The Three Tenors, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Sheldon, Mark Wallis, William Sheller, Mark Opitz
• 1995 The Bluetones, Wet Wet Wet, Paradise Lost, English National Opera, Kiki Dee, Black Sabbath
• 1996 Oasis, Paul Weller, M People, Teenage Fanclub, The Wildhearts, Garry Christian, Simon Dawson, Andy Wright, Al Clay, David Bianco, Owen Morris
• 1997 Oasis, Goldie, Portishead, Kula Shaker, Beth Orton, Ana Torroja, Mark Wallis, Steve Harris, Youth, Gary Langan, Tony Mansfield
• 1998 Supergrass, Cast, Mansun, Billie, James, The Lightning Seeds, Leon Redbone, Animal House, Hugh Jones, Tony Mansfield, Gil Norton, John Cornfield, Sam Williams
• 1999 Steve Hillage, Dave Allen, Khaled, Puressence, The Crocketts, Bird & Bush, John Fryer, Jim Abbiss, Danny Cummings, Franz Plasa, Peter Schmidt, Steve Harris, Mark Wallis
• 2000 James, Muse, Ed Harcourt, Superstar, Gloss, Big Sur, Brian Eno, Gary Langan, Mark Wallis, Al Stone, David Bottrill, Lars Winnerbäck
• 2001 Beth Orton, My Vitriol, David Knopfler, The Rockabeats, Echt, Brainstorm,[5] Franz Plasa, Tony Mansfield, John Timperley, Chris Kimsey, Michael Brauer
• 2002 Status Quo, Joe Jackson, Bonnie Tyler, Shaun Escoffery, Rich Costey, Kevin Moloney, Yu Imai, Jamie Cullum
  

... Ridge Farm sadly follow the suit of many other large studios in the UK and close its doors as a residential recording studio ~ and become yet another business and wedding venue !

A sad but true story