It is not a joke to stay afloat in the world of recording studios, whether you're talking high end, mid-end, low-end or even ghetto-style. Each component you invest in the studio must have a substantial effect on the record process, but at the same time, we don't want clients to be charged exuberantly for the stuff engineer is paid just to capture that. Crap source = crap recording, crap settings = crap recording. Plain and simple.
The music business is not what it used to be. The budgets for production have totally shrunk and the business seems to go nowhere. Gone are the days of record or CD replication and buying, where producers literally make music on CDs or LPs and consumers physically buy a product. Nowadays, it is all downloads, at real low prices and can even be had for free. With digitization, one of the most affected industries is the recording studio sector. The proliferation of music recording software on computers has turned every Tom, [sausage] and Harry into a recording engineer (and musician) and any nook and cranny of any place, a recording space. In this age age where sonic quality is not the norm anymore (listening to MP3s through headphones and earbuds), a REAL recording space is not an important factor. The use of samples, digital simulators and other software that can be had to make the sound output approximate real or live instruments or spaces are deemed acceptable and are becoming more of the practice in today's music production. With all these, why would you need a professional recording studio, manned by experienced sound engineers with proper sound recording equipment, classic microphones and nice reverberant rooms where the drum kit sounds glorious? Thus, the demise of big, successful and iconic studios like Abbey Road, EMI Studios, Townhouse, AR, Bearsville and others that were responsible for recording countless hit music of several successful artists and bands of the by gone era.
Maintaining a recording facility is no mean task. You have to keep up with technological advancement (are we already on Pro Tools 10? I have lost track) as well as make sure all your equipment are in tip top shape to operate and stay in competition. All these take money to undertake. Without the budgets, and the record companies not as active as they were in production, where will you as a recording operator, source your revenue to be in shape? People in the business often mention that if anyone of us can come up with a revenue generating model for the record industry, much like the way Steve Jobs did iTunes, the iPod, the iPad and Apple as a whole, you'll be rich! I am still in search of that model.
Today, having a recording studio is more of a hobby than a business, much like the same way audiophiles invest in gazillion bucks worth of audio equipment just to enjoy Siti's bossa nova songs. Do not expect it to be your main source of income; it won't provide you that. If you are an artist, raking it in in concerts, guestings, endorsements or making music for advertisements, movies, TV soaps, etc., a recording studio is a must to pursue your craft. Would you buy boutique gadgets or proven sonic technology stuff from SSL, Neve, Prism, Neumann, AKG, etc. and other expensive equipment? If you have the money to spare and you are in your GAS stage, maybe. Invest only in something you need and provide solutions to your present requirements. Maybe acquire equipment that will age and become classic types which can be worth something in the future, like microphones, reverbs, delays, etc. Otherwise, it will be more prudent to look into other options to see where you could put your money into which can give you better yields and returns. Right now, the recording studio business is in a limbo. As I mentioned earlier, gone are the hey days - of unlimited hours of usage by artists who do their composing and arranging with the time meter clicking, and limitless redos and re-mixing.
I am happy I went into this business. It was natural for me to be in it since I was doing a lot of commercial ads and jingles previously, and was engaged in broadcasting and music. Then, I went into another passion, acoustics. I used my studios as a laboratory and training ground while I studied and learned. Where is TRACKStudios now? Still here - with a lot of free time schedules. It was good while it lasted. Been there, done that.
