Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W.

54th Street 54th Street is a two-mile-long (3.2 km), one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan. Notable places, west to east Twelfth Avenue *The route begins at Twelfth Avenue (New York Route 9A). Opposite the intersection is the New ...

, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It opened in 1993 and closed in August 2007. In addition to being the production facility for new popular, classical, and other albums, it was also used as space for soundtrack recording and mixing, post-production, and rehearsals. Sony Music Studios also had facilities for live and taped television broadcasts. Prior to its acquisition by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

in 1993, the industrial red-brick barn was owned by Camera Mart for 20 years and leased the space to movie and television producers.

History

Movietone Studio

William Fox, President of the Fox Film Corporation, had worked with inventor

Theodore W. Case Theodore Willard Case (December 12, 1888 – May 13, 1944) was an American chemist and inventor known for the invention of the Movietone sound-on- film system. Early life and education Theodore Willard Case was born in 1888 in Auburn, New Y ...

to develop a method for capturing sound on film eventually becoming the Movietone sound system. In August 1926 the Fox-Case Corporation was created, making $200,000 worth of improvements to what had been the Fox Annex, a warehouse at 460 W. 54th St. (Fox Films New York ran out of the giant building at 850 Tenth Avenue, around the corner. It eventually became DeLuxe, and is now Independence High School). Fox-Case at first devoted its efforts to developing talking Movietone News newsreels. On April 30, 1927 (six months before Warner Brothers “debuted” the talkies with “ The Jazz Singer”), the first talking Fox Movietone subject debuted in New York; it was a sensation. By the end of 1928, Movietone was churning out four talking newsreels a week, and a string of film shorts soon thereafter. The March of Time documentary film series began in rented space on the second floor from 1934–1936. Fox Movietone newsreels ceased production in 1963, but by then the studio had become popular for film and commercial production. Among the features made there: '' Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), ''

On The Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. ...

'' (1954), ''

Middle of the Night ''Middle of the Night'' is a 1959 American drama film directed by Delbert Mann, and released by Columbia Pictures.''Variety Film Reviews, Variety'' film review; May 20, 1959, page 6.''Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews, Harrison's Reports'' f ...

'' (1959), ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safet ...

'' (1964), ''

The Pawnbroker ''The Pawnbroker'' (1961) is a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant which tells the story of Sol Nazerman, a concentration camp survivor who suffers flashbacks of his past Nazi imprisonment as he tries to cope with his daily life operating a pawn sho ...

'' (1964), ''

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

'' (1966), '' The Owl and The Pussycat'' (1970), '' Where's Poppa?'' (1970), ''

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

'' (1971), and ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...

'' (1973). Fox leased out the complex to various independent film and television producers such as A.B.T. (“America’s Best Television”) Productions (1949) with such TV series as '' Inner Sanctum'', '' The Reporter'', and ''

I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

'' produced at the location. The famous "I Love New York" ad was filmed there in 1978. Printed records are murky on precisely when Twentieth Century Fox divested itself of the property.

Sony

In 1968, Manhattan Sound Studios ran a short-lived "Manhattan ‘54" operation there. After this, it appears to have been bought by Camera Mart, who leased shooting space at “Stage One” and “Stage Two” until at least 1980. For one brief year, 1979, Stage One became a major dance and ballet performance space. Camera Mart owned the property until selling it to Sony in 1993. On November 18, 1993, Nirvana recorded their unplugged set at Sony Music Studios in New York City. The complex hosted the first US version of '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1999 (on a one-day delay), before the current syndicated version and occasional specials moved to ABC-owned studios farther north on the West Side of Manhattan. Other programs recorded or aired live from the Sony Music Studios included '' MTV Unplugged'' (including '' MTV Unplugged in New York'', 1993 by Nirvana ), '' Sessions at West 54th'', '' Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' and

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

’s ''Hard Rock Live''. Sony Music was also home to the current version of the word game '' Chain Reaction,'' hosted by

Dylan Lane ''Chain Reaction'' is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, in which players compete to form chains composed of two-word phrases. The show has aired five separate runs: Bill Cullen hosted the original series on NBC from Jan ...

. ''Millionaire'' and ''Chain Reaction'', both packaged by Michael Davies, are the only two daily national quiz shows currently produced in New York. Sony Music Studios also hosted '' America: A Tribute to Heroes'', a live telethon held 10 days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

and the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

. The special also featured segments from

CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...

in Los Angeles. Neither location was disclosed before air time because of security concerns. On June 7, 2007, after a buyout attempt by Sony Music Executive Vice President/Studio Head Andy Kadison stalled, Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced that it would be closing the studios. Sold in November 2007 for $44 million, the building was razed and replaced by luxury condos. The last television production housed by the studio was '' Grand Slam'', another Michael Davies and Embassy Row production, hosted by Dennis Miller.

Major labels

Artists

This company is responsible for the development of many well-known artists such as

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, Beyonce,

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, John Legend and other international artists such as Romeo Santos and Maluma. Before the recording studio ended in 2007, some classics were recorded there including: *Shakira - "Hips Don't Lie" *Destiny's Child - "Lose My Breath" *Kanye West - "All Falls Down" *Marc Anthony - "I Need to Know" *Mariah Carey - "Anytime You Need a Friend" *Michael Jackson - "Who Is It" *Jennifer Lopez - "Love Don't Cost a Thing" *Elton John & Tim Rice - "Alda" *Britney Spears - "Radar"

References

External links

Sony Music

Discogs: Sony Music Studios
{{Coord, 40.76688, -73.98905, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Recording studios in Manhattan Television studios in the United States Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Sony Music