Equipping my house-studio

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Richard Odhiambo, also known as Arry Zeddy. I live in a small town named Chuka, and this is where my school is situated. I am a third year student at Chuka University, Kenya, taking a B.A in Communication and Media. I like singing, writing poems, photography and travelling. Apart from being a student, I am a performing and a recording artiste. I do this because of my passion in it and I believe through music, I will be able to make ends meet and at the same time change the lives of many people across the world through the messages in my songs. My music currently does not constitute any earnings because they are not yet registered with the Music Copyright Society of Kenya. It is this irresistible passion that led me into doing inquiries about music production. I found out of the basics required and I gave it a try. I therefore started a music production house studio and named it “Underground Records”
The main reason as to why I started underground records was to serve the artistes who study at Chuka University and also the ones who are in its environs. The absence of a recording studio in town made the artistes suffer a lot; others had to travel for very long distances in order to find a production house. The ones who could not travel could just write their lyrics in their books and keep them. Their talents were never exploited, nurtured and brought into the lime light. This led me into setting up a small studio in my crib using my laptop, a headset with a microphone and music software such as Fruity Loops and Adobe Audition. Through this, I would make beats of my own, record the music from the artistes and also give advices to the upcoming artistes on how to up their game in the industry.
At first, for the start, I used to record for the artistes for free, as I was trying to catch up and developing the concepts of recording, mastering and mixing of music. I did this for a month, after which we had a meeting and we all agreed that the artistes would start making payments for studio sessions, making beats for them, recording and even mixing their music. These charges, however, wee and are still considerate of the fact that all the artistes I deal with are students and do not have a table source of income yet. Much of the cash that pay are sacrifices they make hoping that ne day music will pay tem back.
With the little earnings I make from the studio, I have been able to purchase a studio headphone and a microphone stand, of which I hope to acquire professional studio equipment and thereafter upgrade the studio into the standards that are able to produce quality music for the upcoming and underground artistes. There is also going to be significant marketing strategies to be put in place for the artistes to enable them reach a larger audience.

My Business

The major source of income when I was starting the studio was the personal savings. The studio’s initial capital was relatively affordable since I started with what I had. I used and am still using my personal laptop in the production process. The other equipment, the headphone is the one that I acquired from the earnings of the studio that accrued for the whole of last month. This saved me a lot. Again, I never had to rent another house for the production. I set it up in my own house, taking advantage of the serene and cool environment that is free from noise.
Underground Records is solely a music production studio, though there are other little services that I offer to the artistes. I have established contacts with the school’s student’s representatives to be allowing the artistes to perform at an agreed fee. Again, I market their songs through online sites such as reverbnation.com and even soundcloud.com. This gives the artistes an opportunity to ineract with their fans and also promotes their music.
Typically, I charge $15 to produce a whole track. This can be broken down as follows: Recording only costs an artiste $7.50 and then beat making and mixing also costs $7.50. The number of artistes can range to 15, excluding the jokers. In a week, I can record at most 4 tracks, which amount to $60. This is a satisfactory amount, considering the nature of the clients I deal with and the nature of the studio too.
There are several risks faced. First, the quality of the output I not up to the standards of the mainstream radio stations in the country. This is brought about by the equipment used. There are no sound absorbers, no recording booth and even mixers and professional microphones for the studio are absent. This produces quite a lower quality than expected. The other setback is the balancing between academics and my business. Sometimes the studio sessions clash with the classes and thus I am forced to choose one. Whichever I decide not to attend to, there is a consequence. This is a challenge too.
Regarding the sales, a high season (when the students are in session, I am able to make from $ 60 to $100 a week. Working out the internet charges, house bills and even upkeep expenses, I am left with a minimum of $15. This is a commendable amount to start with. At present, I personally have very little to attend to. This boosts my business.

Loan Proposal

If given the loan, I will first buy a professional studio microphone for recording, and then create a recording booth that is going to be fitted with improvised sound absorbers for the start. Thereafter, with more advancement, I will buy a desktop computer designated strictly for studio businesses.
The benefit it will create is that through this studio, I will be able to nurture more and more talent from the students and even beyond. Besides, I will be a more independent individual who is self-employed and thus the opportunity of creating employment for others will be created.
My polite request to lenders is to support my initiative to build up this studio to a professional level that will attract more artistes and be the home of music talents all over the world as time goes by.

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