Meraki Studios

7/25/2019 Meraki Studios

1/13

Meraki Studios December 2015

MerakiStudiosKatie Barnes

1915 W 24TH, Lawrence,KS 66046

p. (816)867-5309www.katiejbarnes.com/meraki-

studios

[email protected]


2/13


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 3

Objectives ........................................................................................................... 3

Mission Statement .............................................................................................. 4

Code Of Ethics .................................................................................................... 4

Business Description ........................................................................................... 5

Technology ......................................................................................................... 5

Our Edge ............................................................................................................ 5

Location And Area Studios .................................................................................. 6

In Home Recording ............................................................................................. 6

Custom Design.................................................................................................... 7

Starting Expenses: Studio A Equiptment (Table 1) ............................................... 9

Starting Staff (Table 2) ...................................................................................... 10

Recording Business Projections (Table 3) ........................................................... 11

Label Artist Business Projections (Table 4) ........................................................ 12

Combined Business Projection .......................................................................... 12

Marketing ......................................................................................................... 13

Promotion ........................................................................................................ 13


3/13


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMeraki Studios was created to be an avenue of self-expression for musicians and producersalike. Founded by a passionate music lover, Meraki employees will strive to continuously learnthe music business industry and develop the proper skills to make higher quality products sothat every piece of audio that leaves our studio will have Meraki in it. Meraki is a Greek wordthat means to put your heart, soul, creativity, or something of yourself into the work you do.Even the smallest projects will be treated with that mentality. Lawrence, Kansas is a city thatappreciates artistic culture in the same way we do.

We are a service to established musicians and content creator and a gateway for up andcoming artists. Musicians and other record labels can purchase studio time to record their ownprojects. They can also pay extra to have their projects mixed and mastered by one of ourengineers. Voice over work and some post-production services will also be available. For upand coming artists that our team will choose, we will offer studio time in exchange for a recordcontract giving us rights to the songs and a cut of the sales.

Good songs come from good equipment. Our studios will only use the best microphones tocapture the purest and most authentic sound. The start of our technical objectives can befound in the Technology section on page 5.

Bringing the label and the studio together makes the life of a musician easier and gives themthe creative freedom many of them search for.

OBJECTIVES

Meraki Studios aims to be an artist focused studio. There are many recording studios andrecord labels that focus solely on sales and audience opinion. When artists make music theyare proud of and when they put a piece of themselves into their music the rest will fall intoplace. It will sell and the audience will listen because its something that will connect the artist

to the audience on a relatable and personal level.


4/13


MISSION STATEMENT

Meraki is a Greek word that means 1. To do something with soul, creativity, orlove. 2. To put something of yourself into what you're doing. Meraki Studios

will strive to do exactly that. Music should do more than simply sound good, itshould feel good. It should be music that the artist would be proud of and theaudience would be able to relate to. We will work with our artists to create a highquality product that excites both artist and audience.

CODE OF ETHICS

Music is a highly influential medium. Meraki Studios takes that fact very

seriously. We will not promote illegal activities, abusive behavior or harmfulhabits in our music. Any failure by an artist or employee to uphold this standardwill result in a penalty. Every employee and customer wants to be heard andunderstood. Open communication and respect will bring out the best inemployees and customers. We dont want anyones talent going to waste.


5/13


PRODUCTS AND SERVICESBUSINESS DESCRIPTION

Meraki Studios is a recording studio and record label that has one full sized/ multipurpose recordingstudio, one smaller recording studio and one post-production/post-recording studio. We are here tomake the artists dreams come true. We want to help them create content they are proud of byrecording, mixing, mastering, and distributing

TECHNOLOGY

We plan to have one full sized studio (Studio A). The studio will feature an Allen & Heath Qu-32soundboard with an AB168 Digi Snake connection to the studio. It will have an iMac 27-inch computerwith the latest version of ProTools. We will build an extensive mic closet with vintage and modern mics.Our studio will contain a vocal booth and a drum room. The start of the rack will contain a Millennia HV-

3D-4 Four Channel Microphone Preamplifier, Avid Hd I/o 16 X 16 Analog Interface, PreSonus CentralStation Plus, Golden Age Project Pre-73 Preamp MKII, Behringer Powerplay Pro-8 HA8000, etc. StudioB will consist of similar rack gear but in smaller sizes for example it will have an Allen and Heath Qu-24.

OUR EDGE

We are a recording studio and record label combined. We will allow our facilities to be used by artistsoutside our label but precedence will be given to our signed artists. This gives our company a family feeland provides artists with an "all-in- one option. Our artists will write, record , tour, be promoted andmarketed all through Meraki Studios.


6/13


COMPETITION ANALYSISLOCATION AND AREA STUDIOS

Lawrence, Kansas was chosen as our location because it is an established and still growing artisticcommunity. There are classic record stores, music shops, art galleries and more. There is also numerousvenues for musicians to performing including but not limited to Liberty Hall, the Granada, TheBottleneck, Jackpot Saloon & Music Hall and Lied Center. This not only gives our artists places toperform but also places for management to scout, network, and recruit artists to come record at ourstudios. It is also not far from Kansas City where there are even more venues. There are some otherstudios in the area. 1009Studio did not have a website but based on their Facebook page its clear theyare devoted to hard rock. Blacklodge Recording also did not have a website so I had to refer to

Facebook. Their timeline is devoted to only one artist. Recital Recordings is also in Lawrence but I couldfind very little information on this studio. They dont have a website or Facebook page. Our biggestcompetition seems to be Daybreak Media Services. They do offer recording, however, they only haveone recording studio that is very large. While this is good for orchestral and foley (which they offer)services sometimes it is not the most suitable option for small bands or solo artists. They also offervideo and live event services. Meraki Studios is a music focused studio that will produce the bestproduct by giving it the time and attention it deserves.

IN HOME RECORDING

In home recording poses a large threat to any recording studio. Professionals can even record on the

road. So why choose a studio? Meraki Studios will be a place devoted to music, creativity, andinspiration. Anyone who has tried to work from home knows that distractions are everywhere and it canoften be difficult to get work done. Trying to use in home studios as an artist can be difficult because ittakes more than musical talent, it takes knowledge of audio processing, signal path design, mixing andmastering, etc. This also takes a lot of time. For these reasons, it would be much more efficient for themusicians to choose the professional studio route.


7/13


BUILDING PLANSCUSTOM DESIGN

Meraki Studios will be housed in a free standing office building running at about $1,962.52 per monthfor mortgage and $300 estimate for utilities. Some rooms will have to be redesigned to fit the studiodesigns.

Studio A Inspiration

Floor Plan


8/13


Studio B Inspiration Floor Plan

Studio C Inspiration


9/13


FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTSTARTING EXPENSES: STUDIO A EQUIPTMENT (TABLE 1)

Item Quantity Cost

Building Plan estimate 1 $300,000 min.

Allen and Heath Qu-32 anddSnake

1 $5,000

Allen and Heath Qu-24 1 $2,800

Allen & Heath Qu-16 1 $2,000

Millennia HV-3D-4 FourChannel Microphone

Preamplifier

2 $5,960

Avid Hd I/o 16 X 16 AnalogInterface

1 $3,000

Lynx Aurora 8 1 $1,800

PreSonus Central Station Plus 2 $1200

iMac 3 $9,200

ProTools 1 $700

Behringer ADA8200 1 $200

Studio Monitors (KRK RokitPowered 5" Generation 3 )

6 $900

Mogami Gold Studio 25Microphone Cable Quad

Conductor 25 feet

30 $1800

AKG K553 PRO Closed-BackStudio Headphones

10 $1700

Behringer Powerplay P16-MPersonal Mixer 8 $2000

Powerplay 16 P16-I 2 $400

Neutrik 48-Point TRS Patchbay 2 $180

Switchcraft QGPK332MFB 16XLR Male - 16 Female Patchbay

2 $400


10/13


Live Wire TRS-TRS BalancedPatch Cable

40 $400

Musician's Gear Tripod MicStand with Telescoping Boom

Black

10 $250

On-Stage Stands MS7311B KickDrum/Amp Mic Stand

2 $60

Rode Microphones NT2-AStudio Condenser Microphone

Bundle

1 $400

Rode Microphones NTKMicrophone

1 $530

Golden Age Project Pre-73Preamp MKII

1 $350

Neumann TLM 103 CondenserMicrophone

1 $1,100

Shure SM81 Condenser Mic 4 $1,400

Shure SM7B 1 $350

TOTAL COST (building plans excluded) $44,080.00

STARTING STAFF (TABLE 2)

Job Title Job description and role Average salary peryear

CEO/Head engineer(Myself)

Oversees all financial decisions and businessventures. Also will start out as the primaryrecording, mixing and mastering engineer untilcompany is large enough to hire those positions.

$56,000

Public Relations andMarketing Intern

Works with the artists to determine marketingstrategies and public exposure.

$0

Bookkeeping Clerk Manages the checkbook. Plans investments andhandles salary, bills, and sales.

$40,000

Recording Technician Assists in the recording process and ensures thatall studio equipment is functioning properly.

$40,000

Studio Intern Assists set up and take down of studio sessions.Keeps the studio clean. Answers phone calls andmonitors general business emails.

$0


11/13


RECORDING BUSINESS PROJECTIONS (TABLE 3)

Studio A: $40 per hour minimum of 3 hours.

Studio B: $25 per hour minimum of 2 hours

Demo deal: Solo artists can record a demo (3-5 songs) and have it mixed and mastered for $500.

Bands can record a demo (3-5 songs) and have it mixed and mastered for $1000

Studio C: Voice overs can be recorded for $20 per hour.

Mixing: $40-60/song depending on instrumentation and length

Mastering: $40-60/song depending on instrumentation and length

Post-production work costs will be determined based on the project.

rs/month 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Type

io A $400 $800 $1,200 $1,600 $2,000 $2,400 $2,800 $3,200 $3,600 $

io B $250 $500 $750 $1,000 $1,250 $1,500 $1,750 $2,000 $2250

io C $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600 $1,800

l $850 $1,700 $2,550 $3,400 $4,250 $5,100 $5,950 $6,800 $7,650 $

mber ofects 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

ing $120 $160 $200 $240 $280 $320 $360 $400 $440

tering $120 $160 $200 $240 $280 $320 $360 $400 $440

mo(Band) $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000 $7,000 $8,000 $9,000 $10,000 $11,000 $1

mo(Solo) $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 $3,500 $4,000 $4,500 $5,000 $5,500 $

l $4,740.00 $6,320.00 $7,900.00 $9,480.00 $11,060.00 $12,640.00 $14,220.00 $15,800.00 $17,380.00 $18,960

Based on the table above, if Meraki Studios sold 60 hours of Studio, A, B, and C time, did 2 band demosand 2 solo demos, mixed 5 songs and mastered 5 songs in a month we would make $8,100. Meaning,minus building costs, we could break even in 7 months with a profit.


12/13


LABEL ARTIST BUSINESS PROJECTIONS (TABLE 4)

Meraki Studios will enter into a contract with artists that we sign. We will produce, market, anddistribute their music for 60% of the sales. 1/3 to Meraki (producer), 1/3 to Meraki (artist management)

and 1/3 to the artist. Meraki will lose money in regards to studio time with this formula, however it willbe made back in sales.

If just ONE of our artists sell 2,000 copies of only ONE song in a month at 0.99 cents thats $1980. $66 ofor each of the 3. Thats for ONE song. 2,000 copies of 10 songs at 0.99 cents is $19,800 or $6600 foreach of the 3. This is highly profitable for Meraki Studios.

Number ofsongs sold inmonth

Total sales($0.99)

Cost to makewith 10 hoursspent in StudioA per song

Profit MerakisCut

Artist 1 5songs

10,000 $9,900 $2,000 $7,900 $5270

Artist 2 1song

5,000 $4,950 $400 $4,550 $3,005

Artist 3 15songs

25,000 $24,750 $6,000 $18,600 $12,276

Total: 21songs

40,000 $39,600.00 $8,400.00 $31,050.00 $20,551.00

COMBINED BUSINESS PROJECTION

After the first year, based on example at the bottom of table 3 and table 4, Meraki Studios would make$343,812. Take out the $44,000 for startup equipment, $27,500 for mortgage and utilities and totalsalary and we re left with a profit of $136,312.


13/13


MARKETING AND PROMOTION PLANS

MARKETINGMarketing our musicians and our studio will be very important. All of our content will be uploaded toYouTube with the Meraki logo watermarked on every video. We will create merchandise for bothmusician and Meraki, though the musicians merchandise will have our logo on it somewhere. Socialmedia will be crucial to connecting our artists to the audience and our studio to potential clients.Lawrence is a college town so we will form a relationship with the University of Kansass arts and musicschool. Having interns who are college students gives us a connection to the campus. Getting involvedat the local venues, record stores, and instrument stores will also be very important.

PROMOTION

Meraki will promote by going to local shows and talking to the unsigned artists. Well offer the demodeal or a one-time reduced studio rate. We will connect with artists who are already on a label by goingto their shows as well. Many musicians like to be in the studio while on the road. They could use MerakiStudios while visiting Lawrence for a show at the Granada or Liberty Hall. We will give out businesscards and USBs that contain a video describing our company and showing off our facility as well asexamples of previous projects.

Documents

Meraki Studios