Well, I admit, Pipe, I was oversimplifying a complex issue in response to an even more oversimplified original premise by Sweetnutz.
But the main points are valid: almost EVERY industry is dealing with these exact same issues, especially service industries, and some are being hit even harder. Your accreditation idea might work - an example of that type of thing might be the Actor's Equity union. To get a "card" you need to accumulate qualifying points based on acting experience at various levels.
But I'm not sure just how much that would really affect things in the studio business. At the mid and lower levels, the main factors are still going to be:
• price: "if i record at the doghouse, i might be able to afford this cd without pimping my girlfriend..."
• convenience of location: no one wants to drive 100 miles and then start recording.
• word of mouth recommendation: "my friend numbnutz recorded here and said they had the best food of any studio he'd been in..."
• personality, speed, and skill of the engineer: is it a fun hang or an ordeal? Did the band have to wait around for six hours while the engineer got the "right" snare sound?
• vibe of the room: "i was so relaxed, i forgot i was in a studio..."
• historical body of work: "jeep and the wascals made their first three CD's here, and they ROCKED!"
•acoustics, room size, special instruments: hard to record a choir in a vocal booth. Or classical piano on a Kurzweil.
• amenities: food, drink, convenient clean bathroom, places to relax, ocean or mountain views, pinball, cute dog, hot girlfriend, etc.
• monitoring: comfortable headphones, individual cue mixes, ease of communication with other musicians (line of sight) and the engineer.
• recording gear: less important than you might think to the average client who wouldn't know their API from their elbow. But compatable recording platforms are important in allowing projects started elsewhere to be continued at your place. And whatever gear is available must be well maintained and able to be implemented quickly and efficiently. The worst four letter expletive an engineer can utter in front of the client is: "oops!"
Whether accreditation would factor in high on the list remains to be seen. It's an interesting idea, though.
But the main points are valid: almost EVERY industry is dealing with these exact same issues, especially service industries, and some are being hit even harder. Your accreditation idea might work - an example of that type of thing might be the Actor's Equity union. To get a "card" you need to accumulate qualifying points based on acting experience at various levels.
But I'm not sure just how much that would really affect things in the studio business. At the mid and lower levels, the main factors are still going to be:
• price: "if i record at the doghouse, i might be able to afford this cd without pimping my girlfriend..."
• convenience of location: no one wants to drive 100 miles and then start recording.
• word of mouth recommendation: "my friend numbnutz recorded here and said they had the best food of any studio he'd been in..."
• personality, speed, and skill of the engineer: is it a fun hang or an ordeal? Did the band have to wait around for six hours while the engineer got the "right" snare sound?
• vibe of the room: "i was so relaxed, i forgot i was in a studio..."
• historical body of work: "jeep and the wascals made their first three CD's here, and they ROCKED!"
•acoustics, room size, special instruments: hard to record a choir in a vocal booth. Or classical piano on a Kurzweil.
• amenities: food, drink, convenient clean bathroom, places to relax, ocean or mountain views, pinball, cute dog, hot girlfriend, etc.
• monitoring: comfortable headphones, individual cue mixes, ease of communication with other musicians (line of sight) and the engineer.
• recording gear: less important than you might think to the average client who wouldn't know their API from their elbow. But compatable recording platforms are important in allowing projects started elsewhere to be continued at your place. And whatever gear is available must be well maintained and able to be implemented quickly and efficiently. The worst four letter expletive an engineer can utter in front of the client is: "oops!"
Whether accreditation would factor in high on the list remains to be seen. It's an interesting idea, though.