Ocean Way Recording was a series of

recording studios A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...

established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in Englis ...

. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but Ocean Way Nashville continues to operate under the ownership of Belmont University.

History

Background

In 1972, Ocean Way founder Allen Sides opened a studio he had built in a 3 1/2-car garage on Ocean Way in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

for the purpose of demonstrating tai-amplified loudspeakers of his own design. In 1977, Sides, who had worked as a runner at United Western Recorders in the late 1960s, purchased enough equipment from Putnam's company

UREI United Recording Electronics Industries (UREI) was a manufacturer of recording, mixing and audio signal processing hardware for the professional recording studio, live sound and broadcasting fields. History Bill Putnam Sr. founded Universal ...

to completely fill the garage space for just $6,000, attracting the attention of Putnam. Sides and Putnam became friends and business partners, and Putnam offered Sides exclusive rights to sell UREI and United Western Studios' surplus equipment, providing Sides and his studio with a wide variety of studio equipment.

Ocean Way Hollywood

In 1976, after the lease on Sides' garage studio was abruptly canceled, Putnam provided space at United Western Recorders, leasing United Studio B to Sides. Six years later, Sides lease at United Western expanded to include United Studio A. When Putnam sold his companies to Harman in 1984, Harman sold the Western building and its contents to Sides, who later also acquired the United building. Sides renamed the United Western Studios complex Ocean Way Recording after the location of his former garage studio. Ocean Way Studios operated the two-building complex from 1985 until 1999, when the former Western Studios building at 6000 Sunset Boulevard was partitioned, sold, and renamed Cello Studios. In 2006, the studio again changed ownership, and has since been in operation as EastWest Studios. Ocean Way Studios continued operations in the building at 6050 Sunset Boulevard until 2013, when it was sold to

Hudson Pacific Properties Hudson Pacific Properties is a real estate investment trust with 15.8 million square feet of office buildings, 1.5 million square feet of sound stages, and undeveloped rights for 3 million square feet of additional commercial property. Its prope ...

. Since 2015 it has been known as United Recording Studios.

Ocean Way Nashville

In 1995, Sides and Gary Belz purchased the 1911 Church of the Advent, a 100-year old Brownstone church building in Nashville's

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...

district, converting it to open Ocean Way Nashville the following year. In 2001, Sides and Belz sold the studios to

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

for use by the

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

College of Entertainment & Music Business (CEMB). The university continues to operate the commercial studios, while also utilizing them as hands-on classrooms to teach audio engineering. Belmont University maintains license of the Ocean Way name and Sides remains a consultant.

Other Ocean Way studios

The Ocean Way Studios Group also included Record One studios in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density th ...

, which was acquired by Sides in 1988, and another Ocean Way Studio location in Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities.

Other Ocean Way companies

Sides is also the founder of Ocean Way Audio, a manufacturer of speaker systems. Ocean Way Drums, a partnership between Sides and producer Steven Miller, produces virtual instrument software.

References

External links

Ocean Way Recording - About