The Recording Studio From A Business Standpoint

A brief look at a Recording Studio's Priorities:


Minimum session bookings are usually 2 hours in length.

A professional recording studio is considered successful by the industry if it is billing about 2000 hours a year. (Roughly 40 hours a week BUT that was before this recession and the onslought of do-it-your selfers)

A fee charged by a studio for session time that was scheduled but not cancelled within 24-48 hours by the client is called a “kill fee”.

If a client consistently goes over their booked time slots, it is appropriate to talk with the client and charge a negotiated fee for the excess time.

Studio owners have three ways to pay their employees: Hourly wages, salaries, or project fees.

The term “beta testing” is used to describe a situation when a equipment company rep offers a studio a piece of equipment for a trial period.

When shopping for any new gear seek the help and advice of people who are experienced and knowledgeable in the field, and also ask clients, associates, and peers what kind of experience they may have had with the equipment you are interested in purchasing.

Recordings left over 30 days on the premises of a studio, and that represent unpaid bills, are done so at the risk of the client. Your business policy must clearly state your own time limit. After the stated time the recordings can become the property of the studio.

In standard policies, clients should pay for services rendered at the conclusion of the project.

An engineer who works occasionally for a studio is referred to as an “on-call” or “freelancer.”

At professional recording facilities the job that centers around invoicing clients, check or bill writing, form generation, and disc labeling belongs to the office of the Controller. In smaller studios these tasks will be done by a studio manager, or the owner.

The studio manager usually concentrates on scheduling sessions, as well as studio personnel schedules, creates the work orders, and makes sure the studio is prepared for each session. In many cases the receptionist may take on the job of being the studio manager in addition to their other duties dealing with appointments, etc.