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Home Recording and Local Ordinances - Nashville Edition


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Years ago, there was quite a debate over home studios in the LA area, and whether or not they should be prohibited by local ordinances or not. Many of the large studios were, not surprisingly, in favor of the idea, since they felt that home based studios were able to compete unfairly, while many of the home recording fans disagreed.

Lately, the rumor has been that Nashville was facing a similar debate, but apparently that's not the case - the proposed ordinance (BL2011-858) will not prohibit home studios, but remove them from the list of home business types that are prohibited.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvi...ording-studios

What are your thoughts? Should home based studios be allowed, even as for-profit businesses, or should such activity be restricted?

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Of course they should be allowed! I don't believe in artificially creating a market. Either a business attracts business or it doesn't. Restricting home recording studios because they put a damper on "proper" studios is artificial. Let the market dictate the market.

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if someone makes it as a business and pays his tax for, why should it be prohibited?
do you need a license or a special education with certificate to open a recording studio?
i think not

the same is for IT services, which are often provided by one man businesses from their home office.

most of the time you get what you pay for.
yes the are a few professional one man IT business which give great services, but most likely they aren't cheap.

most one man shows cheap stakes, are cheap but not that professional (and top quality) as you want them to be.
the customer decides and if some one goes on the cheap road and expected way much more than he got, he will think twice next time

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Quote Originally Posted by IsildursBane View Post
There are plenty of good reasons to exclude certain types of businesses from houses and residential neighborhoods - it happens all the time.

-Dan.

True... a home based business may draw more traffic to the area, or cause parking issues, depending on whether or not they have sufficient on-site (and off-street) parking. Also there are potential noise issues in a residential area, as well as building and safety codes, zoning, etc.

If there's anything I left out Dan, or that you feel is particularly important or relevant to home based studios, please feel free to elaborate. smile.gif

OTOH, realistically, most of the activities that occur in the typical home studio involve no more than five or six additional people beyond the owner / operator, and often (overdub sessions, etc.) it's even less. You can easily exceed that by having your family over for dinner, or a few friends come over to hang out - and those activities are typically unregulated. The noise issue and the potential to disturb your neighbors is a greater concern IMO (isolation issues are often the bane of home studios), but again, most municipalities have noise regulations on the books, so it should be a relatively easy matter to enforce.

Then there's the issue of commercial, for-hire use vs. professional, self-use of the facility. What about those who just mix at home, and don't track, or rarely have others "over" as part of their work? Or someone who is a professional songwriter, who uses their studio to write in, and make demos of their own songs? Or a producer who makes "beats" at home and sells them online? They may be making money off their work, but it's not a "commercial studio" in the strict sense of the word (at least not IMHO).

And of course, there's tons of hobby studios in homes. Where and how do you draw the distinction, and should they be prohibited too? Where should the line be drawn, if anyplace?
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If there's anything I left out Dan, or that you feel is particularly important or relevant to home based studios, please feel free to elaborate.
No, I don't think so. I think in most places, a home studio wouldn't cause much trouble. It wouldn't be much more traffic than a dentist or optometrist (probably considerably less), and they often set up shop in residential neighborhoods.

I was just speaking to the general practice of restricting certain areas to certain kinds of use.

-Dan.
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