Opening a Recording Studio

Recording Studio Stuff

Opening a studio is partly a creative project and partly a pile of paperwork. This post covers the paperwork side, using the US Small Business Administration’s (SBA) launch guides, and then looks at two famous studios as a reminder that the business side was always part of it. The SBA is a US agency, so if you’re elsewhere, use this as a checklist of questions for your own local authority.

Location and zoning

The SBA says your location determines the taxes, zoning laws and regulations your business is subject to. It says zoning ordinances can restrict or entirely ban specific kinds of businesses from operating in an area, and that you might have fewer restrictions if you work from home, but zoning can still apply to home-based businesses. It advises checking with your local planning department. It also lists costs that vary by location: salaries, property values, rental rates, insurance rates, utilities and licence fees.

A recording studio makes noise and has people arriving at odd hours, so my own suggestion is to ask the planning office before you sign a lease or buy gear, not after.

A two-storey brick building with a round Sun Studio sign and green awnings on a street corner

Image: The street front of Sun Studio, Memphis by David Jones, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Choose a structure

The SBA says your business structure affects how much you pay in taxes, your ability to raise money, the paperwork you need and your personal liability. It describes sole proprietorships as easy to form, but with no separation between business and personal assets, and says banks are hesitant to lend to them. It describes the LLC as taking advantage of both corporation and partnership structures. It recommends consulting business counselors, attorneys and accountants.

Register

For most small businesses, the SBA says registering means registering your business name with state and local governments. If you do business under your own legal name you may not need to register, but you could miss out on personal liability protection and legal and tax benefits. Most businesses also need a federal tax ID. It says registering as an LLC, corporation or partnership means registering with the state where you do business, and having a registered agent there.

Licences and permits

The SBA says most small businesses need a combination of federal, state and local licences and permits, depending on activities and location. Its list of federally regulated activities, for instance alcohol, aviation and broadcasting, doesn’t include recording as such. I cannot tell you what your city requires, so I would ask the local business licensing office.

Insurance

The SBA says that any business with employees is federally required to carry workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance, and some states require more. It lists six common types, among them general liability, professional liability, commercial property, home-based business insurance and a business owner’s policy. As a rule, it says, insure against things you couldn’t pay for on your own. For a studio, I would add that the gear, and a client getting hurt on a cable, are the obvious risks to ask an agent about.

Two openings from history

Wikipedia’s history of Sun Studio says that Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service in Memphis in January 1950. To bring in revenue in the beginning, he recorded conventions, weddings, choirs and even funerals, and allowed anyone to walk in and make their own record for a small fee. His slogan was “We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime.” The studio went on to be associated with the early careers of Elvis Presley and other artists.

Wikipedia’s page on Muscle Shoals Sound Studio says it was formed in 1969 by four session musicians who left FAME Studios to start their own. Producer Jerry Wexler provided start-up funding. The concrete block building at 3614 Jackson Highway, Sheffield, Alabama, had been a coffin showroom.

My own reading of the two stories: Sun began by taking whatever paying work was available, and Muscle Shoals began with an experienced backer and a repurposed building. Neither is a recipe, but both show how varied the start-up paths have been.

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