Why we don’t do recording studio internships
And it isn’t in your best interest to give your work away for free
A lot of people want to know if we do recording studio internships, or maybe they got turned down by another studio and still haven’t given up yet. We do Not in fact do unpaid internships!
Give us a call and ask why studio internships are stupid. You think you’re gonna get a good job? Not from an internship anymore. This is a gig based economy! You think I’m on salary? There are no salaried positions available. Hardly anywhere. Call the biggest labels and ask if they have any positions open for someone with 0 experience. Audio engineering is the worst thing to get a degree in. And you have zero album credits
Restaurants just don’t give their food away to try to get diners to spend money there. They realize if they have good tacos, people will pay. If you take a free taco, you are risking getting a bad taco, and it isn’t fair to the taco hut to have to give away free tacos. All other industries charge money and the sooner the music, and entertainment business realises there is value in people and their time the better.
When I came to Cleveland, I tried to get an internship at a studio (and it didn’t work out) but I have a had some good volunteer experiences but the sooner you start charging money for your services the better, and you can bet your buttons nobody’s gonna give you a free internship without expecting to make your life hell. You think your idols made it big by getting an amazing internship? No way. Internships are a scam. A way for the college or technical program to maybe get you a small amount of real experience, or maybe you’re so cool you will get a job. In which case you don’t need to do an internship or the college to make a friend at the studio. Trust me I can make my own coffee and we never sweep the floor anyways. You need a job not an internship silly. Why not skip the internship, and walk in the the nearest studio with a $40,000 check and ask to be a partner, or start your own studio. You learn a lot of stuff from college but hardly any of it is likely to be used in your career. Maybe what they should be teaching is how to respect yourself, respect your work, and respect your life, and screw the “internship” experience. Do sound for your friends band. Get a job at the record store or a coffee shop. Teach lessons. Apply for a business loan or grant. Recording your own music even. All of those are better ideas.
