TEC Tracks: Today's Recording Studio — Opportunity or Crisis?

Every music maker knows there’s no better feeling than creating music and capturing it with the innovative tools found in today’s modern recording studio. Whether that creative process happens in an L.A.-based state-of-the-art multi-room recording complex or the spare bedroom of a Brooklyn apartment building, there’s nothing like operating a creative space that entices artists to record what could be the next big Grammy hit or Spotify stream. 

But studio owners' ideas of what a successful recording enterprise looks like tend to vary greatly, both in the technology installed and the amount of money a studio owner is willing (or able) to invest. And, unfortunately, not enough money invested or even too much money invested can lead to the inevitable failure of even the most sought-after studio. At this TEC Tracks session from The 2026 NAMM Show, music industry CPA Alan Friedman (a guitarist, songwriter and recording musician himself) moderated a vibrant discussion with a panel of the most renowned and experienced recording studio operators of the past 50 years. You’ll discover the do’s and don’t’s of running a successful recording studio and get a glimpse as to what the future holds for recording studios — large, small and everything in between.

Panelists included: Rick Beato (YouTube Educator, Musician & Engineer, Atlanta), Paula Salvatore (Recording Studio Consultant & Manager, Los Angeles), Zoe Thrall (Recording Studio Manager, The Hideout, Las Vegas), David Bendeth (Producer/Engineer, House of Loud, New Jersey), Fabrice Dupont (Producer, Engineer & Studio Owner, Flux Studios NYC, New York) and Lee Bench (Producer, Engineer & Studio Owner, Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles)