THE BEST RECORDING STUDIOS AROUND THE WORLD

You might be able to create whole musical worlds at home with just a laptop, software and good quality speakers, but sometimes  nothing beats being in a studio. With the best technology, musical equipment and the added inspiration and can’t-bottle-it magic of recording in the same space as one of your idols, which are the best recording studios in the world?

Including the beautiful scenic settings of Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and Ocean Sound Recording Studio in Norway, mau5 House and Steve Aoki’s tech playgrounds, via the history-making Sun Studio, our picks span spaces from the most famous recording studios to high-end personal set-ups.

The Best Music Studios

• Abbey Road Studios
• AIR Studios
• Muscle Shoals
• Synchron Stage
• Elfo Recording Studio
• Capitol Studios
• Metropolis Studios
• Question de Son
• Hansa Studios
• Ocean Sound Recording Studio
• Real World Studios
• Onkio Haus
• Electric Lady Studios
• Studios 301
• mau5 House
• Hans Zimmer’s Studio
• Sunset Sound
• Sun Studio
• Blackbird Studio
• Steve Aoki’s Neon Future Cave

Abbey Road Studios – London

The crown jewel of the studio world, the HQ of pop music’s most groundbreaking bands, and undoubtedly the most famous recording studio in London – maybe the world. Originally built in 1829, Abbey Road Studios was just a large house, bought by the Gramophone Company in 1928 as a project studio. They then set out to build the world’s first-ever purpose-built pro studio and later merged with the Columbia Gramophone Company to create Electrical and Musical Industries – later known as EMI Studios.

In 1970, the studios were renamed as Abbey Road Studios after the legendary Beatles album. And in 2012, the studios changed hands once again, when Universal Music Group took over EMI.

Abbey Road’s original recordings were jazz and swing bands. But when it comes to icons, Abbey Road has hosted nearly all of them. Studio Two became famous for the albums The Beatles recorded there (Please Please Me, The White Album, Revolver and A Hard Day’s Night, among others).

As you’d expect from one of the world’s premier recording facilities, Abbey Road has embraced modernity and innovation, with an impressive array of in-house equipment. This includes Bricasti M7 studio reverb processors, Yamaha SPX 1000s, an AMS NEVE 88RS 72 channel recording console and the GML 8200 EQ for accurate frequency modification and frequency range. The studio is also diving into AI in music, VR/AR/MR, source separation and spatial audio, and has broken new ground in the field of de-mixing.

As well as offering these superb studio facilities and recording software, Abbey Road also offers an array of online services, such as music production, vocal tuning, mixing and mastering.

AIR Studios – London

London’s AIR Studios have been the home of Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams, Radiohead’s OK Computer, and Adele’s 21. They’ve also been used by some of the industry’s most successful commercial artists, such as Dua Lipa, Katy Perry, Jake Bugg and Ellie Goulding, together with indie names such as The xx.

AIR – the first independent studio – was founded in 1969 when visionary producer Sir George Martin saw the need for a London studio that could record pop. The original studio was in Oxford Circus, but when the lease came up in 1992, the team moved to Lyndhurst Hall and shifted its focus to cinematic film scores.

The Hall, which has recently undergone a stunning renovation, will hold a 60-70 piece orchestra and is a favoured spot for Hollywood composers, rock bands and pop stars. Studio 1 can accommodate up to 45 musicians and is ideal for bands.

Muscle Shoals – Alabama USA

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio (MS Sound) is one of America’s legendary studios. Founded in Sheffield, Alabama in 1969 by owner and producer Jimmy Johnson, together with three other session musicians known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios, it helped to define the sound of Southern Soul. Who’s recorded there? Everyone from Aretha Franklin to The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Wilson Pickett, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, Cher, Linda Ronstadt and Bob Seger, Rod Stewart and even George Michael.

Cher’s sixth album was titled 3614 Jackson Highway, and this became the informal name for the studio. That building closed in 1979, relocating to a larger, updated facility at 1000 Alabama Avenue.

MS Sound is now run by a foundation, which began privately fundraising to restore the original building after its purchase in 2013. Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine from Beats Electronics saw a documentary about the project, Muscle Shoals, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and set up a philanthropic wing of Beats called Sustain the Sound to help to fund the restoration.

The studio reopened in 2017, and musicians can once more record there – it’s a working studio at night, with a Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano and a baby grand piano, plus a recording console and an analogue tape machine, together with isolation booths for vocals and percussion, just as it was in its 70s heyday.

Synchron Stage – Vienna

Vienna’s Synchron Stage specialises in recording large orchestras and film music. The landmark protected building was constructed from 1939-41 for picture-synchronised sound recordings, hence its original name ‘Synchronhalle’. In order to shield it from outside noise and vibrations, the recording hall is isolated from the rest of the building by a custom foundation and insulated against air traffic by an elaborate roof structure.

In the mid-1960s, the complex was acquired by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and hosted eminent classical artists such as Herbert von Karajan, Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich. The hall was purchased by the Vienna Symphonic Library in 2013 and developed into a globally unique music production facility. Its largest recording hall, Stage A is 540 square metres and can accommodate an orchestra of up to 130 people.

Since 2021, Synchron Stage Vienna has been an official Dolby Atmos studio and can offer Auro-3D in addition to stereo and surround sound. Plus, it offers four concert grand pianos, a Steinway D-274, a Bosendorfer 290 Imperial with CEUS performance reproducing system, a Yamaha Disklavier CFX EN PRO and a Fazioli F308.

Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions chose the studios to record music for Ron Howard’s Inferno and the Netflix series The Crown. Film scores for Ad Astra, Promising Young Woman and Marvel miniseries including WandaVision and Ms Marvel have also been recorded at Synchron.

Elfo Recording Studio – Tavernago, Italy

Surrounded by tranquil countryside, Elfo Recording Studio’s triple-studio complex can house a 20-piece orchestra and 50-person choir in its main room. From a technical perspective, there’s an API 1608 console, plus DAWS. Studio 3 has an elliptical shape owing to a meticulous study of sound refractions, making it perfect for editing, composing and creating beats, while Studio 2 is ideal for overdubs, voiceovers, dubbing and film scoring.

Built in 2002, rock, classical and jazz musicians have all made it their home. Major names who have recorded at Elfo include Daniel Lanois, Van der Graaf Generator, Deep Purple and Greg Lake.

Capitol Studios – Los Angeles

Built in 1956, Capitol Studios was reserved for artists signed to Capitol Records until 1968. The building is 13 storeys high, with the studio in the rectangular part of the building on the ground floor, which is topped by a 150-foot tall cylindrical tower. The largest recording space, Studio A, has seen everyone from Nat King Cole to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Beach Boys and Muse pass through its doors. It now has a NEVE 88RS 72 channel recording console, an EMT 140 plate reverb and 7.1 surround monitoring capability.

Plus, at the cutting edge, Capitol’s famous recording studios have eight custom-built ‘echo chambers’, which each have their own characteristic sound to perfect any desired frequency response. These are part of an underground concrete bunker designed by legendary guitarist and sound engineer Les Paul to get a better reverb sound.

Just a few of the Studios’ major hits have included Michael Jackson’s Invincible, Jay Z’s The Blueprint, The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, Snoop Dogg’s Doggumentary and Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz.

Capitol Studios also does plenty of recording sessions for TV, for studios such as Warner Brothers and Universal, as well as film mixes. ‘Georgia’ from the film Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, was filmed at the Studios.

Metropolis Studios – London

Over the last three decades, Metropolis Studios has gained a reputation as one of Britain’s top tier studio hubs, having seen everyone from Queen (who recorded their last two albums, Made in Heaven and Innuendo there) to Madonna, George Michael (Listen Without Prejudice), The Rolling Stones and Ed Sheeran pass through its doors, plus Adele, whose chart-topping 25 was recorded at Metropolis, including the single ‘Hello’, winner of two Grammys.

Founded in 1993, high end recording studio Metropolis Mastering was set up with the aim of going beyond the standards of the day in terms of mastering. Featuring four main recording studios and mix rooms, it’s one of the most impressive mastering studios in the UK, with several leading mastering engineers based at the facility.

Studio A has a large stone and wood live room, a dead room and a stone room (modelled on the classic Townhouse Studio Two stone room). The control room is over 80 square meters with separate machine and amp rooms. The control room houses an SSL 9072 J series console with PMC main monitors. The live room is also used for concerts and album playbacks.

Studio B is based around the classic SSL 4064 G Series console and features Genelec main monitoring. The live area comprises a central live area surrounded by two spacious isolated areas that offer more controlled acoustics. As well as being a great tracking room, Studio B is one of the most sought-after mix rooms in London. Notable clients have included George Michael, The Stone Roses, U2, Elton John, The Verve, Rihanna and will.i.am.

Question de Son – Paris

Question de Son’s owners, Jordan Kouby and Frédéric Vectol, had both worked at large studios before setting up on their own, with the ‘philosophy of a big studio in a smaller place’. The former garment factory in the 10^th arrondissement was built in the 1930s and had been empty for over a decade. Remodelling began in 2010 to create Studios A and B, plus editing and production suites.

Studio A has a live room with three acoustically variable zones: the main area, a stone room, and a separate booth. Its main feature is a vintage Neve desk. Commissioned in 1975 for EMI Mexico, its most notable features include a total of 24 1093 input modules and a pair of EMI TG12413 limiters. Outboard processors including a Gates SA-39 and a Gyraf Gyratec X complement the equipment collection.

Prefer mixing through an SSL? Studio B is for you. It houses an SSL 4048 G+ desk, together with a pair of EAR 660 limiters, a Gates SA-39B, a GML 8200 EQ and a set of three Pultec EQH-2s, with a Martinsound MultiMAX surround controller available on request. A feature is the stompbox side rack, which holds dozens of pedals and offers all the functionality to combine them within a line-level mixing environment. There’s also a Yamaha C3 grand piano, Yamaha CP70B, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos, a Hammond B3 organ, a modified Minimoog Model D and the entire Roland Juno family of synths.

Question de Son’s roster of recording artists includes notable French names and Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Babyshambles and Beck.

Hansa Tonstudio – Berlin

Hansa Studios started in the early 1960s as a small recording studio in the headquarters of Berlin’s Hansa Music Production, founded by brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel.

As the number of Hansa artists expanded, the Meisel brothers decided to found Hansa Tonstudio GmbH at the start of the 1970s, and built their own studio in order to be able to produce independently. Hansa Studio 1 opened in 1973, and in 1975 the brothers took over the former Sonopress Studio on Köthener Street, turning it into Hansa Studio 2. Further property purchases at the end of the 70s and the start of the 80s resulted in the brothers running five studios.

With a ‘factory’ ethos, hits from Mireille Mathieu, Drafi Deutscher, Peter Maffay, Udo Jürgens and Roland Kaiser came from the studio. But it was David Bowie who truly put them on the map. He wrote ‘Heroes’ there, and also recorded Low, Heroes and Baal.

Other major artists and albums include U2’s Achtung Baby, Depeche Mode’s Construction Time Again, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ The Firstborn is Dead, giving the studio near legendary status within the post-punk and synthpop genres.

Studio 1 remains active as Hansa Studio, while the Hansa building on Köthener Street houses independent studios and production companies from music to film scores and dubbing.

For a look inside, Anton Corbijn shot parts of the video for U2’s ‘One’ at Hansa.

Ocean Sound Recording Studio – Giske, Norway

Ocean Sound was first established in a small boathouse in 2005 as a private studio for Norwegian band The Margarets. In 2009, American sound expert Ric Vaughan designed the purpose-built Ocean Sound to be one of the best acoustically treated spaces to record music in. Ocean Sound has a large live room, twin ISO rooms and a large control room – plus, with a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean, could there be a better place to hole up to record an album?

Having upgraded their Studio B mixing space in 2022, they’re now a Dolby Atmos Music Studio and have welcomed artists including Swedish House Mafia, Sigrid, a-ha, Kygo, Arcade Fire, Sampha and Travis.

They also offer analogue tape, with multi-track and 2-track tape machines, mixing and mastering. Tech on offer includes a Rupert Neve 5088 Shelford console, an Amphion 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos System and a mass of preamps, Eq, effects and digital equipment.

Real World Studios – Bath, UK

Set in stunning rural surroundings near the city of Bath, Real World Studios is a unique residential recording facility where artists, producers and engineers can escape their daily distractions and focus solely on making music.

Peter Gabriel conceived Real World as both a studio for technical excellence and an idyllic retreat in 1987. It’s been the location for many landmark albums by musicians from all over the globe, and is also home to the WOMAD festival and Real World Records.

Close to the water and with plenty of natural light, Van Morrison, Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Björk, Coldplay, Paul Simon, Jay Z, Kanye and Beyoncé have all kicked back and chilled out at the idyllic location, designed by Gabriel so that the musicians aren’t separated from the engineer or producer.

The Big Room is a 2000 square foot live room and control room, with a custom wraparound 72 channel SSL 9000 XL K Series mixing console at its centre; it’s designed as one large collaborative recording space with no dividing walls. The Wood Room has a 24 channel SSL AWS 924 console and features a more lively acoustic character.

Onkio Haus – Tokyo

With over 40 years covering recording, mixing, mastering and post-production, Tokyo’s Onkio Haus is one of Japan’s most well-known studios – especially for Japanese pop songs and jazz music. Their tech includes an SSL SL9064J-64VU mixing console, a Sony PCM-3348 multitrack recorder and EVE Audio SC408 and SC207 monitors.

Electric Lady Studios – New York

In 1968, Jimi Hendrix and his manager Michael Jeffery bought a newly defunct nightclub called The Generation in New York’s Greenwich Village — a venue that Hendrix had frequented for impromptu performances and late-night jam sessions. Instead of renaming the club, Hendrix was persuaded into converting the space into a professional recording studio. It became the only artist-owned recording studio in existence at the time.

The grand opening was in 1970, with guests including Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ron Wood, and Patti Smith. Electric Lady Studios was made famous by Jimi Hendrix and classic 70s sessions with The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, and Patti Smith, among others, and it’s the oldest working recording studio in New York City.

Recent projects include Kendrick Lamar’s Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Love for Sale by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, plus albums by Frank Ocean, St. Vincent, Adele, Taylor Swift, and Lorde.

There are four studios (A-D), with Studio A the most sought-after, owing to its place in rock ‘n’ roll history. It’s home to a fully restored Neve 8078, a hand-wired analogue console, plus an impressive collection of vintage microphones, instruments and amps. Studio B features an SSL 9000J 80 channel console and a Yamaha U30a upright piano.

Mix engineer Tom Elmhirst works out of Studio C – he currently holds the record for most Grammys won by an engineer in a single year, having worked on Adele’s 30, James Blake’s Friends that Break Your Heart and albums by David Bowie and Amy Winehouse.

Studios 301 – Sydney, Australia

Australia’s most iconic recording studio lays claim to having the largest recording space in the Southern Hemisphere and being the only Tier One recording studio in Australia. The studios were established as a subsidiary of the Columbia Gramophone Company in 1926, later becoming EMI Records, then Studios 301, so it’s also Australia’s longest-running professional recording studio. They also have outposts in Stockholm and Byron Bay.

The current set up boasts music recording studios, production suites, mastering rooms and digitisation facilities and has hosted artists spanning every genre, including INXS, Elton John, Prince, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, U2, The Weeknd, Lizzo, Charli XCX and Migos, to name a few.

Despite its heritage, Studios 301 isn’t one to rest on its laurels; it’s been at the forefront of pioneering audio formats in Australia, and the 301 Academy offers new engineers and producers the experience of working within a professional recording studio environment.

mau5 House – Toronto, Canada

Deadmau5, aka Canadian DJ/producer Joel Zimmerman, has an enormous studio space stacked with a visual feast for techies. The Dolby Atmos-certified studio features nine custom-made ATC speakers, a top-secret black box, a $50,000 analogue recording console and more. Take the full tour with Linus Tech:

While you may not be able to book the studio yourself, it’s definitely something to aim for, if you’re planning your own home set up (you just might need to have a string of massive global hits first, in order to afford a custom Modcan Series A, five custom-built PCs and a near-limitless quantity of hard drive storage space.)

Hans Zimmer’s Studio – California

If you fancy a studio that could also double as a gentleman’s club with gothic tinges, then look no further than legendary film composer Hans Zimmer’s beautiful California studio, complete with comfy sofas, Persian rugs and gorgeous, warm lighting.

There’s vintage outboard gear, the Bosendorfer piano which has often provided the foundation for his epic scores, together with a 3M multi-touch screen workflow, with custom-made software to navigate Zimmer’s go-to DAW, Cubase.

Zimmer is perhaps best-known for being Christopher Nolan’s favourite composer (The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar), but he’s also created everything from themes for Pirates of the Caribbean and The Crown to scores for Dune and the synth programming for Top Gun: Maverick here.

Sunset Sound – California

Once an automotive repair garage, Sunset Sound was set up in 1958 as a recording studio for Disney. Bambi, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmatians – these and dozens of others were recorded in magnificent mono.

Studio 1 eventually grew into a three-room complex and became a home for artists as well as soundtracks, including The Doors (The Doors and Strange Days), Janis Joplin, Van Halen, Whitney Houston, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Carly Simon. The Rolling Stones recorded Exile on Main Street here and it’s also the home of the Beach Boys’ iconic Pet Sounds. More recently, Macy Gray’s multi-million selling debut, On How Life Is, was recorded at Sunset.

Film scores as varied as My Best Friend’s Wedding and Dune, Rocky II and IV, Wayne’s World and The Big Lebowski have all been created at Sunset Sound.

The studios’ tagline is, ‘high quality in a historical custom setting’ and its 60-year history has produced over 300 gold albums. Studio 1 has a 68 x 16 Sunset Sound custom discreet console with flying faders automation, while Studio 2 has a 48 x 48 x 16 Class-A Discreet Neve 8088 console.

Sun Studios – Memphis, Tennessee

One of the most famous recording recording studios in the States – and known as the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll – Sun Studios launched the careers of musical legends in the 50s from BB King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, and genres spanning blues and gospel to country and rock.

Record producer Sam Phillips worked as a DJ in the 1940s in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, whose ‘open format’ of broadcasting music by white and black musicians alike would later inspire his work in Memphis. In 1950, Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service, aka Sun Studio, which drew performers such as BB King and Howlin’ Wolf. Phillips launched his own record label, Sun Records, in early 1952.

Although it’s mainly open for tours now, you can still book a recording session there from 7pm, using a blend of Sam Phillips’ original analogue techniques, together with modern tech. There’s also a 1960s Ludwig drum kit, a 1950s Hammond B3, a 1950s Wurlitzer Spinet piano and a 1950s Kay double bass.

Blackbird Studio - Nashville

Music capital Nashville is home to the hallowed Blackbird Studios, which has welcomed everyone from Dolly Parton to Taylor Swift, Beck, Kesha, The White Stripes, Faith Hill, Neil Young and Kings of Leon through its doors.

Founded by sound engineer John McBride and his country superstar wife, Martina, in 2002, Blackbird Studio is known for its state-of-the-art production facilities and an impressive collection of vintage and modern recording equipment.

There are nine different recording studios, The Blackbird Academy, a post-secondary audio engineering school and Inside Blackbird, an online learning platform. Studio A has a Neve 8078 console and features a 1930 Hammond B3 organ and a Wurlitzer 200A. Studio B’s equipment list includes an API Legacy Plus console and a range of mic pres, equalisers and dynamics.

Steve Aoki’s Neon Future Cave - Las Vegas

If you want to have a good time, head to electro house DJ and producer Steve Aoki’s Neon Future Cave. Aoki’s debut album, Wonderland, received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album and he’s collaborated with artists such as will.i.am, Afrojack, Iggy Azalea, BTS and Fall Out Boy.

This home-turned-studio – equipped with a foam pit, skate ramp and futuristic neon lighting – certainly isn’t your traditional studio and is set up according to Aoki’s belief that creating music, ‘shouldn’t be work. The best way we can create is when we’re in a really positive mood, and when there’s no pressure.’

Billboard described the studio – converted from the house’s former movie theatre - as ‘what the Jetsons would have if they were producing dance beats’. The ultra high quality recording studio is centred around a large workstation housing an ‘epic’ Slate Raven Z3C digital mix rack and Focal SM9 monitors. Plus there’s a prized Sony C800G microphone, a Universal Audio Apollo 16 interface with a DSP Accelerator and a combination preamp and compressor/limiter, the Universal Audio UA 6176, through which Aoki runs all his guitars and bass.

Audio Network and the World’s Best Studios

Much of Audio Network’s high quality original music, from a huge range of global artists, composers and producers, is recorded at the world’s most renowned recording and music mixing studios, including Abbey Road Studios, AIR Studios, School Farm Studios in Maplestead and Synchron Stage, Vienna.

Our music spans every genre and mood, and is ideal for licensing for TV, advertising and digital content. Explore our hand-picked playlists and collections, tailored for every possible production genre, together with our latest albums – we refresh our music every fortnight. From hip hop to trailer music, classical to global, we have everything you need when it comes to music made for sync. And if you’re a musician or composer who fancies becoming part of the Audio Network roster and potentially having a recording session at Abbey Road Studios, then find out how you can submit your music to us.