All this gear is great, and may have cost you a small fortune. And it probably helps you create a better record. But how is that GML equalizer going to help your clients sell more records or downloads than an ART EQ? Artists don't care if you use a million bucks worth of gear on their record, they want you to help them SOUND like a million bucks.
And yet, many studios market their studio by simply listing their gear on their web site or showing off their gear on a studio visit. They hope and pray that it will create such a magnificent impression on their potential client that they simply cannot resist recording at their studio.
Why does listing your gear make your studio invisible?
Unfortunately, nobody geeks out about studio gear as much as studio owners and engineers do. Sure, it may create a nice vibe for your client, picturing himself sitting amongst a humming sea of red hot tube preamps. But in the end, they want an incredible recording of their music. As the saying goes, nobody wants a drill, they want a hole.
If all the other studios are marketing themselves by listing all their great gear, then nobody stands out. All studios have lots of gear. Clients expect it. If a client walked into your studio and there wasn't any gear, there would be questions. So of course you need your gear to make a great record (and avoid all those questions). But by using your gear list as a substitute for good marketing gets you lost in the sea of all the other recording studios in your area, and in essence makes your studio invisible. Given no other reason to record in one studio or another, the client is forced to decide based on one thing: price. Blah!
Where are you wearing your cloak of invisibility?
Every time someone interacts with your studio brand, whether physically through business cards, print and studio visits, or virtually through the Internet, you are creating an impression. These impressions can be strong or weak, and are very important at the very beginning when you have no relationship with your potential client. They make the difference between taking a second look at your recording studio and not giving you the time of day.
Take a look at every aspect of how you present your studio. Do you look like everyone else?
Here's a test. If you advertise, find several ads of other local studios and substitute their studio name and address with yours. Does it make any difference? If not, then you are not creating a very strong impression. But the good news is that they aren't creating a strong impression either, and it will be easier for you to stand out!
What causes invisibility in recording studio marketing?
The cause is rampant in almost every industry, not just the recording studio industry. When a new business is started, the owner may be really busy or not know much about marketing or advertising. So she takes a shortcut and looks to see who else is advertising in her industry. She studies her competitor's ads, flyers and web site. Then she creates ads, flyers and a web site based on what everyone else is doing. But now, her marketing and advertising looks very similar to her competition's marketing and advertising. With this "copy cat" marketing, she now looks just like the competition and blends in, becoming invisible.