DJ Ritchie Interview and Analysis of DJ Ritchie Studios

In today's raging entertainment industry, companies and people involved have to be fresh, innovative and intelligent. Film, music, art, television, and all of the places and people involved in each level of production and distribution are included in entertainment. The music industry is a nine billion dollar a year industry worldwide. It all starts with the musician in the studio where music is produced and ends at the record company with the distribution of actual albums.

Most recording studios are primarily focused on quality of music and not large income as opposed to record labels who look at the question, "How much can we make off of this record?". Small recording studios like DJ Ritchie Studios in Ostrander, OH are often equipped to produce the same quality of music as large studios that charge one hundred dollars per hour for artists to record. However, many improvements can be made.

At the studio we target upcoming artists who are looking to record their talent onto a digital format. The group referred to as Fifth Year are always present when new talent arises. The producer and owner, M. Ritchie is also the drummer for Fifth Year, so it is no surprise why they are always there. We have found talent through word of mouth, family relations and friends. Many times the musicians that come to DJ Ritchie Studios can produce quality music so we ask them to come back.

We do not have any local competition in the Ostrander area, however the statewide, nationwide and global competition is obviously present. We try to combat this in several innovative ways. First all the equipment in the studio is bought by donations in what we call the 'Merv' fund. This fund is basically a large jar with a distorted picture of myself glued on. We also have people there that are not musicians.

This helps produce a radio show currently under construction, gives inspiration for new music and gives the studio more of an atmosphere for a great recording. For example, local non-musician Vaughn, is there every week helping in creating sound clips for songs or the radio station. He also has the second personality of Gout-man, which he received after having gout in his foot. We also have other entertainment in the studio such as a pool table, a big screen projector and a whole bunch of plastic ball guns.

I feel that being innovative would have to be our key to the success we've had so far. Also by Internet publishing and ratings, we can see what the people like and what they dislike. Every week someone new is in the studio, which is excellent word of mouth advertising. Everyone goes home with at least one copy of the Fifth Year album Rags to Riches to give to someone or to keep if they are new. We even have a security camera setup at the front door. However, we could be doing more in advertising. Small things like business cards, stickers and mass CD production are all simple and inexpensive to create. By giving these out to people we do not know personally, we could easily charge them an entrance fee at the door. Even if only four or five people came, we could buy more equipment quicker than with only donations of mostly spare change.

I sat down with M. Ritchie in studio to discuss his business and plans for the future. I asked a few questions and received a few answers listed below:

Q. Who is your listening audience?
A. "I'd have to say the age group of fifteen through thirty-five"
Q. How do you market DJ Ritchie Studios?
A. "Well advertising is the key, but Wednesday night is not enough to produce income. Also advertising ourselves, going out with the DJ angle. Of course our main advertising market is word of mouth."
Q. What is the DJ angle?
A. "It would be like deejaying weddings and stuff. Right there is advertising, you've got word of mouth and a whole group of people to advertise."
Q. What is the next piece of equipment do you plan on purchasing?
A. "I want to get a six track recorder, a true six track recorder. Six different microphones six different levels. Right now we have two boards with two levels. I'd also like to setup a plexiglass soundproofed booth for whoever is recording."
Q. What hardware do you use to record now?
A. "I record on to a HP Media Center computer. It's fast and relatively new so we've got an ass load of space to save .wav files."
Q. What could be done to improve the studio?
A. "Well theres a lot of wasted time. As long as a recording takes to record, it takes eight times longer to mix it down and get the levels right."

If I were in his shoes I would most likely travel in the same direction. Getting out to weddings and other social occasions as a DJ would boost the reputation of the studio. Right now it is only mildly spreading through the small town, but with other events outside the town we would both make money while getting nearly free advertising.

By doing this I could afford to build the soundproof box. I would also keep the donations as the entry fee until we ran out of space for people. I would also train a few more technicians to do mixing as a donation to help with the wasted time. I would also open the studio for more than one night a week after we found more talent to be recorded.

As well as staying in the studio other days for mixing and setup of new equipment. As for the technology section of the studio, I believe I am handling the section very well but would recommend a larger network of computers. Also I would setup simultaneous recordings after the soundproof booth was setup. I would also give funding for an uninterrupted power supply. One time, about a year ago while recording, the electricity went out and we lost the entire night of recording. With the UPS we could save progress and shut the computer down before completely losing power.

After much review of our organization, one can easily see our faults and accomplishments. By looking at these facts ourselves we can figure out what to keep doing and what to change. As with any recording studio large or small, they must realize these points in order for growth and eventually making it to the top. Especially in the large group of entertainment, recording studios play a major role in any sort of sound or music production. Without advancements in the studio, there would be a huge lack in production value in the United States and even the entire world.