There’s something magical about the idea of the big recording studio. The huge live rooms, the racks of gleaming analog gear, the grand pianos, the worn-in couches where hit songs were born.
For decades, these spaces weren’t just places where music was made, they were cultural hubs, workplaces, and dream factories rolled into one.
But as Rick Beato and Tim Pierce discuss in Rick’s recent video, “These Jobs Are Never Coming Back”, that era is all but gone.
The traditional commercial studio system, once the backbone of the music industry, has quietly collapsed, and with it, a whole ecosystem of creative jobs and opportunities has vanished.
Yet, as the old world crumbles, a new one rises.
Let’s explore what’s happening, why it matters, and why, despite the loss, this could actually be the best time ever to be a musician.
1. The Fall of the Great Studios
Rick opens the conversation by rattling off a list of legendary studios in Los Angeles: NRG, Royal Tone, Ocean Way, Sound City, Record Plant, Capitol, Westlake, and more. Names that once represented the pinnacle of professional recording.
Today? Many of these studios are either privately owned by wealthy producers and artists, sitting inactive, or simply gone. A few remain open, but often booked out by megastars for months at a time, effectively shutting out anyone else.
The golden age of the large commercial studio? It’s over.
2. When Studios Become Playgrounds for the Privileged
This shift isn’t just about real estate. It’s about access. Big-name artists with unlimited budgets now buy up these studios or block-book them indefinitely. They’ve become private creative playgrounds.
For emerging artists and everyday working musicians, this means one thing: those doors are closed.
3. The Rise of the Private and Home Studio
The collapse of the commercial studio model forced many producers to adapt or perish. Tim Pierce, like many others, saw the writing on the wall as early as 2005. With record label budgets shrinking and traditional sessions drying up, he built his own space, investing in drum kits, amplifiers, microphones, and enough gear to compete with the big rooms.
This wasn’t just survival. It was evolution.
4. The Vanishing Middle Class of Music Jobs
The saddest part of this transition? It hollowed out the middle. Gone are many of the jobs that kept the studio world running: assistant engineers, technicians, maintenance staff, session workers. These were skilled professionals who knew how to get sounds, run sessions, and make records happen.
As the studios fell, so did these livelihoods, and these jobs, as Rick points out, are not coming back.
5. The Gear Revolution Nobody Saw Coming
But here’s where the story takes a turn. In the middle of this decline, something remarkable happened: a golden era of recording gear arrived.
The rise of high-quality, affordable equipment, like 500 series racks, boutique microphones, top-shelf converters, and digital modellers, put serious studio power into the hands of anyone willing to learn how to use it.
You no longer needed a multimillion-dollar room to make a record that sounds world-class. All you needed was a decent space, a good ear, and the right tools.
6. The Bittersweet Irony of Timing
As both Rick and Tim reflect, it’s almost cruel how this explosion of great gear coincided with the death of the traditional studio scene. They both agree: this is the best gear they’ve ever had in their careers, better sounding, more reliable, and more accessible than ever.
If only this gear had been available when studios were bustling 24/7.
7. Adapt or Die: Reinventing Yourself in the New Era
Both Rick Beato and Tim Pierce are perfect examples of what it means to adapt. They each started their YouTube channels in their 50s, embracing the new tools, the new platforms, and the new ways of connecting with audiences.
Instead of lamenting the loss of the old system, they built new ones. They became their own publishers. Their own gatekeepers.
In a world where so much has closed off, they opened new doors, for themselves and for the countless musicians who now learn from their experience.
8. Persistence Over Talent (Yes, Really)
One of the most powerful takeaways from their conversation is this: talent alone isn’t enough. Persistence, tenacity, and the willingness to work, often without immediate reward, is what separates those who make it from those who don’t.
Rick shares a piece of wisdom: “Keep losing until you win.”
In other words, stay in the game long enough, and the odds start tipping in your favor.
9. The Reality of the Double-Shift Musician
If there’s one myth that needs to die, it’s that musicians are lazy or unmotivated. The truth? Most serious musicians work harder than anyone gives them credit for.
Beato and Pierce talk about 7-day workweeks, obsessive dedication, and the reality that true creative work often demands a “double shift” not because anyone forces you to, but because that’s what it takes to create something worthwhile.
It’s not about hustle culture. It’s about passion and commitment.
10. The Freedom of the New System
Here’s the twist: while the old system dies, the new one offers something that was never possible before, independence.
Platforms like YouTube, Bandcamp, and Patreon allow artists to own their careers, their content, and their audiences. The power to say no. The power to work on your own terms. The power to create without permission.
This is the upside of the collapse. This is the opportunity buried in the loss.
The End of One Era, the Beginning of Another
Yes, the jobs are gone. The studios are gone. The system we knew is gone.
But the dream? The dream is still here.
It’s just taken on a new shape, one where the tools are in your hands, the gatekeepers are gone, and the only thing standing between you and your music… is you.
So the question remains:
Why can’t it be you?
