Published on 17 January 2025
Revenue streams for small, creative businesses such as rehearsal studios can feel limited at times, with many relying on bookings from the same regular clients to keep them ticking over. But what if you could make small changes that tap into new income opportunities, taking your business from one-hit wonder to music legend?
1. Make the most of what you’ve got
You have a great space, some great customers. Why not lean on them? Could your current customers help you reach a wider client base through their connections? Could you do more to sell the space you have?
When you look down your bookings, what kind of customer do you bring in? If you find you’re only attracting local bands for regular sessions, who else could you appeal to? How will you connect with them?
Reach out to the community to find new customers. Social media is a great way to do this. Advertise on local community and music pages, using strong imagery and bold headlines to draw people in, at no cost to you. Perhaps throw in a discount using Jammed vouchers.
Keep on top of the local music scene. Is there a professional band in town that could use your space in the day time to practise?
And don’t forget, it’s not just your rooms that are for hire. Make your backline equipment available for rent to other venues and events, making sure your studio branding is working for you while the gear is out on the road.
2. Tailor your service and space to attract more clients
Try appealing to more clients by offering them exactly what they need, whether they’re a solo artist on low funds or a high-end band with a big budget:
- Roll all your best equipment and largest room into one premium hire package to draw in the big players.
- Advertise your smaller rooms and basic kit to attract customers on a tight budget.
- Offer additional extras to your room hire rates to help kit out those artists without their own gear, like mics, amps, keyboards, synths and mixing boards.
Hire out time with experts, like recording engineers, vocal coaches, studio and mic set-up professionals. - Offer your more high-tech controllers, Mac computers and studio speakers to ramp up DJ rooms and EDM spaces.
3. Overhaul your pricing strategy
There are loads of ways to flex your pricing strategy, helping to make your offering appeal to more and more customers.
Who doesn’t love a happy hour? If you find your space is always deathly quiet at certain times of day or night, set cheaper rates for those times and fill up your bookings 24/7. Setting minimum hire periods will also help to ensure the more unpopular hours are fully booked.
Consider offering shorter daytime slots at a lower rate to encourage working musicians to use the space out of hours.
Or you could set up tiered pricing to encourage customers to book for longer and fill those gaps. This allows you to set one rate for a 1-hour slot and a cheaper rate for any subsequent hours in the same booking.
4. Go back to school!
Schools, universities and exam boards could all make use of your rehearsal space, helping you max out your daytime bookings.
Try approaching local high schools to offer work experience placements or see if the primary school choirs want to use your space for rehearsals or a fun recording session
Music students at university and college can get a discount with their NUS cards – worth a few flyers being dropped around campus?
And don’t forget that when exam boards like Trinity College use your space, they usually need to book two adjacent rooms to ensure there’s no sound spill, so that could be a source of reliable income at off-peak times too!