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Studio Security Newsletter

Dan Daley, editor

Issue #8 — February, 2001

Let's get personal

As important as protecting gear is, the need to protect the individuals working on and with it is paramount.

Recording studios can be pretty plush on the inside, but they're often situated in less-than-charming neighborhoods. We've discussed the importance of how and under what conditions people have access to facilities, but how they get out is just as important. Security experts recommend a buddy system: when clients leave -- and that includes their hired hands, such as session musicians and singers -- they should be escorted at least to the door, preferably to whatever transportation is awaiting them. Studio parking areas should be well-lit and without visual obstructions, such as bushes or hedges, to provide employees the opportunity to see that clients get to their cars safely and to not give criminals places to hide in wait.

Employees should get similar protections. When changing shifts, have the incoming personnel make sure that those going off work get as far as is reasonable in safety -- into a cab or the parking lot. If you have video monitoring of perimeters and parking lots, use it for this application.

If someone is less than completely sober when they leave, call the cab yourself. There actually is a liability potential for the studio if a client is injured in the commission of a crime on your property or reasonably near it if the facility knew that intoxicants were being consumed on the premises and did not prohibit their use.

Stay in touch with the local police to see if crimes against persons or autos has spiked in the area recently, and advise clients of that. Discreetly -- there's no need to alarm anyone. But if the right information is conveyed, it could prevent a crime from ever taking place. Studios have enough problems with deadbeats -- they don't need dead clients, too.

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