you hear it first

[jfb]

1. Last night I dreamed about awkward conversations with musicians I adore.

2. Altercation this week had a piece from Barry Ritholtz on the concert part of the music industry, and how it's responding to the market by offering better value to consumers, rather than, you know, pursuing legislation to protect a dying business model. Then Stephen Anderson followed up with a letter (scroll down) about hard times for the recording studios:

Artists are tending toward recording at homes, either their own, or rentals, to keep costs down, and that affects studio rates. Renting a McMansion for $20K per month is still more cost effective than paying $1200/day for a conventional studio. For some recordings, that is fine. But when the same artist needs to do a "string date," they might come to Capitol, my old home, and then gripe that they no longer get the service they are used to. That's because the studio, in an effort to lower costs, doesn't replace key personnel who leave, or who are laid off as costs are cut.

3. Tin Cat can't afford a McMansion, so we've taken over a quadrant of Tom's mom's house this week to record a good demo with our friend Cameron. Evan came over last night to record drum tracks on the eve of his other band's tour. Here's documentary evidence:



4. I wish I had time to post about the shows I'm booking! Maybe later.

5. I'd like to draw your attention to the redesigned site of Scott Andrew, America's favorite headless pop superhero.

Comments

[marm0t.livejournal.com]

$1200 a day? That's high. About twice what we charge for the larger of our two studios. The one with the baby grand in it.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

You make a very tempting offer. Let me consult with my associates and etc.

[marm0t.livejournal.com]

actually, I lied - it's about twice what we charge for the smaller of our two studios. The one with the spinet in it. The larger studio goes for more, but still not $1200. Not even four figures.

James and Livingston recorded in the smaller one, actually.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

NO DEAL. I wonder if this just reflects a general price difference between Boston and L.A. Anyway, what do I know, I'm recording in a living room. For soundproofing we close the drapes. (On the bright side, we do have a spinet AND a Steinway grand. Which we're not using.)

Last night we isolated the acoustic guitar from the drums by opening the bathroom door and the closet door across from it so they blocked the hallway, and throwing a blanket over the whole mess. That's pro.

[marm0t.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's necessarily geographical... Q was listed in some recording mag as one of the top "affordable" pro studios in the country.

i think your approach to an iso booth is roughly the same as ours. hey, whatever works.

(you have access to a Steinway grand and you're not using it?)

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe. We don't gig with a piano, so for a booking demo it feels more honest to use our real lineup, and also I haven't really practiced any of these songs on it. But on the other hand, it is so choice.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

A followup letter today argues that Anderson is right about what's happening to studios, but wrong that it's bad for music:

For instead of a business dominated by a New York/LA cartel of established rooms with exorbitant day-rates fed by bloated record company budgets, you have a flowering of small flexible independent studios available to musicians of little means and, more and more, the preferred choice of those with ample means who have grown up with the new paradigm or simply want the time to create without the overhead.

Hooray.