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Another cool big studio is gone...


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Looks like Stratosphere in NYC, which was co-owned by James Iha (Smashing Pumkins), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) and Andy Chase (Ivy) has closed its doors. Not exactly new news, but it was news to me. I really wanted to check that room out eventually, but now I'll never have the chance. It always makes me sad whenever a cool studio closes down... :(

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/12/15/stratosphere-sound-studios-to-close-reflections-from-co-owner-adam-schlesinger-2/

The way things are going in the industry, I wonder if and how any of the big rooms are going to manage to survive. And that really is a shame, because there's something incredible about the way things sound in a nice, large room with serious cubic volume.

 

 

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As an amateur recordist looking at these things from more or less an outside perspective, it seems to me that the key to survival for these top quality rooms is keeping the overheads down. How much is a lease on that kind of square footage in NY, for example?

Also, can you generate multiple income streams for the business that maintains a fairly constant cash turnover when the big room (and all of that $$$$ gear) is not being used? Ads, voiceovers, classes etc. Budget demo sessions run by your intern/apprentice/gopher, using the backup mics in the small room. And looking into grants from community and arts organisations and that sort of thing.

It's easy to be an armchair quarterback, I suppose. But when a lot of people can get 'close enough' these days with a laptop and a grand's worth of gear in their basement or wherever, the big facilities have to diversify, or die.

I've heard 3 pretty great sounding garages in the past few months, for instance, that are generating some spare cash for their owners. A little bit of dough spent on acoustic treatment and gear, but nowhere near the cost of the place in the OP.

 

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