They were once the heart of the music industry, creative hubs where some of the greatest music of all time was committed to vinyl, but now the UK's recording studios are in crisis, according to new research.



Recent years have seen the closure of some of the country's most famous studios, including Olympic Studio in Barnes, west London, where Procol Harum recorded A Whiter Shade Of Pale, and Wessex Studios in north London, where The Clash laid down their legendary album London Calling.



Studios are finding themselves squeezed on one side by record companies constantly driving down what they are prepared to pay for facilities and on the other by the rise of home recording technology which means musicians no longer need a professional set-up to lay down good quality tracks.





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