The Hit Factory, the New York recording studio where many top recording artists made countless hit records for 30 years, will close within a month reports RPM. The studio at 421 W. 54th St. — one of most famous studios in music history — was home to sessions by such artists as U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Donald Fagen, Tony Bennett, Toni Braxton, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jay-Z, Beyonce and many more. The Manhattan studio was opened by producer Jerry Ragovoy in 1968. It quickly made its name and became favored by top producers, engineers and artists. In 1975, it was sold to the late Edward Germano, who transferred it to a luxurious 100,000-square-foot space with seven recording rooms and five mastering suites. His first customer was Stevie Wonder who recorded part of Songs in the Key of Life there. The new location, six blocks north, opened in June 1993. In 1994, music recorded, mastered or mixed inside the pre-eminent facility captured a staggering 41 Grammy™ nominations. “The Hit Factory paved the way for how recording studios approached the artistic process of making music,” said Janice Germano, the studio’s owner. The Hit Factory, which will continue to operate its recording facility in Miami, acknowledged in a statement announcing its decision that there was “a burgeoning shift in the music industry away from large-scale recording facilities.” The emergence of relatively inexpensive digital audio equipment that has allowed virtually anyone to produce high-quality recordings is seen as the main culprit. In the war of technology, Pro Tools is the victor.
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