Many Lanes, One Career: Catharine Wood on Running a Recording Studio Business (Episode 26)

Make Music Your Business.

If you have an iPhone, you have probably heard Catharine Wood's work. She engineered the very first iPhone commercial, "Hello." In Episode 26 of The Career Musician, Nomad sits down with the producer, composer, engineer and owner of Planetwood Studios to talk about running a recording studio business when the way people make and pay for music keeps changing.

Planetwood started in 2002 as her publishing company and grew from apartments and dining rooms into almost 800 square feet of space rebuilt for everything she does. Here is what she shared.

Many lanes, one career

Nomad is a big believer in versatility within your lane. Catharine has built several lanes and keeps them clear: engineer, producer, composer. Inside each one she covers the whole job. When she composes, she also records and mixes it. When she produces an artist, she can track drums, bass, keys, guitars and vocals in her own room, then mix it. As an engineer she does audio post, voiceovers and dialogue, plus music mixing.

At the time of the interview she was finishing a year and a half long mastering project: around 150 albums of instrumental computer music for one composer, an academic project for university music libraries. Volume, she said, had become the name of the game.

She also made a point about the old phrase "jack of all trades, master of none." When you have done each of these jobs professionally, the "master of none" part goes away.

Stay flexible or get left behind

Catharine laid out how much had changed in about ten years. Downloads gave way to streaming. A placement on a big TV show used to mean a spike in paid downloads. Now a statement shows thousands of streams and pays enough for a sandwich, if that. She took part in advocacy with the Recording Academy, where she is a voting member and part of the Producers and Engineers Wing, and the table talked through the Music Modernization Act as it moved through Congress.

Her answer is not to complain. It is to rethink where the income comes from. Maybe most of it comes from work that is not with artists, and when she does work with an artist, it is because she really likes the music.

"In this field it's changing so much that it's critical to have an open mind and be open to doing things a little differently than even how you might have done last year."

Catharine Wood, 15:17

That is Make Music Your Business in one line: know your values, and stay open on the methods.

Studio etiquette is respect

Nomad asked for her definition of studio etiquette. Ask before you pick up an instrument. Don't patch cables yourself. Don't fiddle with knobs. And put the phone away while you are working. She puts her own phone on airplane mode in session so the client gets her full attention.

"It makes me feel like you think our time together isn't valuable. ... If you're gonna be paying me to do this, at the very least I would think you'd want it to be efficient."

Catharine Wood, 12:54

Take breaks for texting. Not mid-take. That is Low maintenance / no drama from the other side of the glass.

Her own focus is just as deliberate. She knows her modes, keeps a neat space and a checklist, and plans days around the work, like seven songs tracked in a day, followed by a full editing pass before mixing. She also plays music just for fun at the start and end of the day, to remember why she does this in the first place.

Vibe is kind of everything

Her advice on networking: start with the more social organizations, then graduate to the boards and serious functions once you are at a level where they help you. And actually care what is happening in your industry. If you don't, maybe you should be doing something else.

On standing out in a saturated market, she quoted Seth Godin: be really good. Then she added her own rule, cleaned up for this page: don't be a jerk.

"Negativity doesn't sell anything. It doesn't work, and it especially doesn't work here. Even if you don't like something, don't be negative about it."

Catharine Wood, 19:36

She says she knows right away, from the energy, whether a session will be great or a train wreck. That is why everything you do is an audition, including lunch before the session. Nomad noticed she does exactly that: breaking bread first so she has perspective before she produces, composes or mixes for you.

He also called out how she gives back, volunteering her engineering skills at the California Copyright Conference and the Production Music Conference.

The takeaway

Build more than one lane and master each one. Rethink your income when the business shifts. Respect the room, and bring good energy into it. If you want to be the player a studio calls back, start with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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