Hit Factory to Close!

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Noizman <monster@atlantic.net> wrote:
>
>They basically say the home recording boom did em in. The Miami facility
>(Formerly Criteria) will be the new headquarters. A lot of great music
>was created there in New York. I almost feel like the Titanic is going
>down again.

The home recording boom has made for a huge crunch for all of the commercial
studios. And to some extent people are hurting because most of the money now
is in rap music, which doesn't require a large treated space. But I suspect
what did them in had more to do with the way they treated customers and
employees.

When times are getting tight for studios, and everyone is looking for business,
there is that much more of a need to treat customers well because they know
they can get a good deal anywhere else in town. And many of their customers
did.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Although all this is true, the fact was that The Hit Factory NYC remained
extremely busy. There were family issues involved. After Eddie Germano,
the studio's owner passed away, there was less and less inclination on the
part of his wife to remain in the studio business. Finally, as has been the
case with many former great NYC studios, the real estate became much more
valuable than the business.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com>
> The home recording boom has made for a huge crunch for all of the
commercial
> studios. And to some extent people are hurting because most of the money
now
> is in rap music, which doesn't require a large treated space.

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Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Noizman <monster@atlantic.net> wrote:
> >
> >They basically say the home recording boom did em in. The Miami
facility
> >(Formerly Criteria) will be the new headquarters. A lot of great
music
> >was created there in New York. I almost feel like the Titanic is
going
> >down again.
>
> The home recording boom has made for a huge crunch for all of the
commercial
> studios. And to some extent people are hurting because most of the
money now
> is in rap music, which doesn't require a large treated space. But I
suspect
> what did them in had more to do with the way they treated customers
and
> employees.
>
> When times are getting tight for studios, and everyone is looking for
business,
> there is that much more of a need to treat customers well because
they know
> they can get a good deal anywhere else in town. And many of their
customers
> did.
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Seems a bit hard to believe that studios at that tier were hurt by the
home recording business. Top mics and pres still cost a lot.


Mike http://www.mmeproductions.com

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

They said it was home recording but I guess most of the top producers
and engineers have project studios set up with high quality gear. They
are guilty of taking business away from the majors as much as anyone.
You could put together a damn good project studio for what a good Studer
2" used to cost and you could certainly buy what you need to record an
album for what a major label album budget is. The thing is - while the
gear has become affordable the ability to use it properly is still a
matter of talent and experience. I grew up near Criteria and did
sessions there in the late 70's and early 80's (musician not
engineer).It will break my heart if they close that place (or Abbey Road).

Noizman wrote:
> Here's the story
>
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?t [...] factory_dc
>
>
> They basically say the home recording boom did em in. The Miami facility
> (Formerly Criteria) will be the new headquarters. A lot of great music
> was created there in New York. I almost feel like the Titanic is going
> down again.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

transmogrifa wrote:
> Seems a bit hard to believe that studios at that tier were hurt by the
> home recording business. Top mics and pres still cost a lot.

I think it's a psychological thing as well. Let's say that in the
old days a really expensive studio was 5 times as expensive as the
cheapest alternative (even if it wasn't really a practical alternative).

Then home studios come along, and suddenly the cheapest alternative
is 5 times cheaper than the cheapest used to be. Now the top-end
studio is no longer 5 times more expensive: it's 25 times more
expensive. Even if it's still exactly the same real price (adjusted
for inflation, yadda yadda), and even if it's totally worth it,
it still *seems* exhorbitant when you look at the numbers on paper.

(The 5x and 25x numbers might be off, but you get the idea.)

- Logan

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In article <cu0k3k$aot$1@panix2.panix.com>,
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> transmogrifa <mmeprod@mmeproductions.com> wrote:
> >
> >Seems a bit hard to believe that studios at that tier were hurt by the
> >home recording business. Top mics and pres still cost a lot.
>
> Everybody was hit by the home recording business... there are some very high
> end
> home studios out there.
>
> Also, changing styles have changed a lot. Big rooms aren't in much demand
> any
> more. When was the last time you saw anyone book a string section date?
> --scott

Last Monday.

We do a couple a month. I do believe we're an exception though....the
owner is a string arranger!

Jeff C.

--
Anti-Spam email address in effect.
My real email should be pretty obvious to an actual human being.

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As in all biz, it depends who's the customer that's calling you.
Still you are correct, great studio, bad vibes!

Tom



"Agent_C" <Agent-C-hates-spam@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:af69019q0k4khbug9d3a1amgfv1ahodttb@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 19:18:38 -0500, Noizman <monster@atlantic.net>
> wrote:
>
> >Here's the story
> >
>
>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=769&e=1&u=/nm/20050203/musi
c_nm/music_hitfactory_dc
>
> Not surprised... For a while now it's been evident that there isn't
> enough business to sustain 2 mega-studios in New York. (Sony is less
> than 2 blocks away).
>
> Another factor is how poorly Hit Factory serviced their customers.
> Many labels and artists alike avoided that studio, because of their
> sterling arrogance and inflexibility. I think the Germano's invented
> the practice of 'Put them on hold until they hang up'.
>
> Dealing with them was always unpleasant...
>
> A_C
>
>

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On 2005-02-04 kludge@panix.com(ScottDorsey) said:
>transmogrifa <mmeprod@mmeproductions.com> wrote:
>>Seems a bit hard to believe that studios at that tier were hurt by
>>the home recording business. Top mics and pres still cost a lot.
>Everybody was hit by the home recording business... there are some
>very high end home studios out there.
>Also, changing styles have changed a lot. Big rooms aren't in much
>demand any more. When was the last time you saw anyone book a
>string section date? --scott
True enough! tHe thing I lament more than anything is the rooms which
had a quality piano. I might not book a string section date as for
what I'm doing with strings I can get by with what comes out of
synths, but piano is a mainstay of my music. synth stuff just doesn't
cut it, dont' care what piano sample or controller you have me play.
I can't get the feel adn/or sound from those dfigital fakes.

Other than a piano what I want is a good control room with a variety
of monitors to listen to and a good osund for mixing/mastering. I
might have to go to two different facilities to get all of this.
STill the number of rooms with a quality piano has decreased over the
years.





Richard Webb,
Electric SPider Productions, New Orleans, La.
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

--

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Sorry to see the Hit Factory close - I loved the "A" room - did a whole bunch
of orchestral recording over the years - great staff and great assistants also

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In article <cu0k3k$aot$1@panix2.panix.com>,
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> When was the last time you saw anyone book a string section date?
> --scott

Only in L.A. on the few big scoring stages. Actually that's not quite
true. I see occasional small string dates. They're usually a few players
double and triple tracked instead of a large section, but there are a
few here and there. Certainly not as commonplace as they once were.

Studios need to shrink to survive. This means still having a good
tracking space, but not one that can handle a 60 piece string date. You
could fit two revenue generating studios into the same space, cutting
rent and improving profits. Also, people like being "in the studio," so
give them an excuse to come by. Have a couple little writing rooms that
cost next to nothing compared to an A room and add a new profit center,
and potentially some business for the larger mix room on site as well.
Have staff producers manning the little rooms that can attract business.
And, as always, treat your customers like gold.

The business is certainly changing and rates shrinking, but it's not
dying altogether. I'm not as pessimistic as some. It just takes some
experimentation to find out what the next generation successful model
will be. Adapt or die. I'd rather adapt.

--
Jay Frigoletto
Mastersuite
www.promastering.com

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"hank alrich" <walkinay@thegrid.net> wrote in message news:1gri956.1c8emdki95p9xN%walkinay@thegrid.net...
> Agent_C wrote:
>
> > They had a unique capacity to bite the hand that feed' them.
>
> Starvation ensues.

Sometimes it takes a while... but the wheel turns.