Recording studios as museums? Record producers’ perspectives on German rock studios and accounts of their heritage practice

Jan-Peter Herbst

doi:10.1017/s026114302100009x

Abstract

AbstractRecording studios are shrouded in mystery. Some have become sites of pilgrimage; other studios have been converted into heritage museums. These practices are driven by city authorities, commercial heritage institutions or music fans. This interview study gives a voice to an understudied group: record producers and studio owners as the people in charge of popular music creation. Three German rock and metal producers expressed their opinion on the usefulness of studio museums and explained their own heritage practices. Their insights demystify the ‘magical aura’ associated with recording studios, picturing these spaces as places of pressure and anxiety. Hardly convinced of the technologically deterministic ‘magical contamination’ of technical equipment, the producers see little sense in studios as museums. For them, the released record is what counts. To stay in touch with the community and to keep the memory of their work alive, they prefer to use social media.

Highlights

The discussion of issues related to heritage and preservation has flourished in popular music studies in recent years
This research aimed to explore what record producers think about integrating studios in popular music heritage, what forms of preservation they consider suitable for production work and how they preserve their studios and productions themselves
Contrary to the often-romanticised notions of recording studios, the producers were surprisingly pragmatic and unemotional about these places. Even if they feel flattered when journalists, music fans, city authorities and scholars show interest in their studios and work, they are generally not convinced by studio museums

Summary

Introduction

The discussion of issues related to heritage and preservation has flourished in popular music studies in recent years. Such research has often focused on the authority of heritage and cultural preservation (Roberts and Cohen 2014), usually characterised by a tripartite split between (a) officially authorised institutions like state-funded museums, (b) commercial heritage industries and (c) the community that assembles material artefacts, often by less canonical artists, and exhibits them in self-authorised collections offline and online. This article focuses on a group currently understudied in popular music heritage research: record producers and their work environment, the recording studio. In their roles as artistic executives of the music industry and intermediaries between artists and audiences, producers are crucial for the creation of popular music. It allows them to express how their legacy – their records and studios – should be preserved as heritage, regardless of the motives of third parties such as state or commercial institutions (Roberts and Cohen 2014)

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