Screening process or reference check?

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:46 pm

Do any studio owners have any process that they use to keep majorly undesirable clients out of thier studios? I'm just wondering as I am planning on opening up my project studio to the public next year. My studio is in my home and therefore, it's that much more important to me to not bring in people that I dont want around. The only ideas I have so far, aside from a contract in general stating the general terms of agreements, would be a certain amount of money down, and maybe personal or professional references. I guess my biggest worry would be someone coming in to basically case the joint. Ideas? Thanks.

Eric

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:11 pm

Downpayment works. You should also make sure you have adequate insurance that covers equipment used in a business. Regular homeowners won't cover your gear, and a homeowner rider will probably not cover equipment used in a business.

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:31 pm

Quote:

Regular homeowners won't cover your gear

Would that hold true for gear used for hobbyist, non-commercial use? I mean one could easily have $20k in home theater equipment, or a $30K Steinway grand piano. I just always assumed that anything not generating income was household contents.

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:50 pm

Most homeowners and renters policies cover contents, but contain significant exclusions for things like jewelry, cameras, artwork and musical instruments. Coverage for these items can be added by obtaining a rider to the insurance contract that lists the specifici items covered, and appraised value. Of course, there are additional premiums for this. I don't think anyone could steal a piano, but you have to worry about fire and other casualty.
Equipment used in a business generally cannot be added to a homeowner policy, but must be insured separately. I used to cover my instruments under my home owner policy with an appropriate rider. The coverage did not extend to gigging.

You should check with your agent. The rider is not expensive. I think jewelry is the most expensive coverage, because it is easy to lose.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:16 am

I've actually got the equipment covered right now under a seperate business policy. Of course, once I get the studio up to snuff this year, I'll need more. But it's really very reasonable at the moment. It adds up to less than $500 per year for half a million liability and covers about $25,000 in equipment. It's kind of a weird situation though because the liability is for my HVAC company and the equipment coverage is for my studio.

Anyway, thanks for the response. I was almost thinking of making an application form for clients to fill out before they ever even come over, so I can perhaps tell how serious they are and also get them to sign to the terms of agreement beforehand.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:11 am

You'd be surprised how very little it adds to the premium to upgrade to $1 Million in liability. Just FYI, most of the halls I work in require a minimum of $1 Mil on liability insurance. Just food for thought.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:27 am

I don't know how practical this is in your particular situation, but when I had a commercial studio and took in bands at night, I made a practice of a couple of things:
A) I took a 20% deposit and ran the check ASAP. No clearing, no recording. This is done after I've done (B)...
B) I would visit the group at at their rehearsal place. I'd make notes about certain things, like license tags on motor vehicles. Are they up-to-date or expired? How do the band members conduct themselves in that setting? Illegal activities, high alcohol consumption,excessive smoking,lots of hangers-on, etc. can mean trouble in your room. I ended up having to inspect and Xerox all drivers' licenses of anyone entering the room. This occurred after the theft of some very nice mics. It was a necessary evil.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:48 am

I did the same thing moonbaby - I would take every single persons' driver's license upon entering the studio and photo copy it and have them sign in on a log sheet for the studio.

The funny thing was, I would tell everyone that the alarm system would only allow 1 person to enter the building to turn off the alarm - any more and it would immediately trigger the silent alarm. It was at this time that I would have everyone hang around outside and I'd take their driver's licenses in and photo copy them and disable the alarm.

I also made every person turn off their cell phones and put them in a pile on the desk in the control room. This allowed me to keep people from casing the place with a camera phone acting like they were talking to people on it.

Restrooms - I had a camera (Axis Communications 207 - http://www.axis.com/products/cam_207mw/index.htm) mounted just outside the restroom entrance. I've found that most people would try to steal things or case the joint while "using the bathroom."

Having the camera pulled up on a laptop in the room made people very aware that I meant business. (BTW - the camera costs around $300 and is WELL worth it! You can broadcast the video over the internet as well as keeping the ip on the local intranet and take snapshots with it too.)

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