The Music Lockout
- Trevor Mason
- Sep 9, 2014
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 1
If you’re tired of hauling your gear from home to practice room and back, then a music lockout might be just the solution.
What is a “lockout” or "lock-up" music practice room?
They fill a very particular niche. A lockout music practice room is about having your own space for you and your band members to rehearse and gel as a performing group. You never know when inspiration strikes and a lockout room brings convenient access to your gear anytime day or night, safely and securely.
Lockouts are usually rented monthly and available to hirers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Utilities such as electric, heat and WiFi are included in the rental, but no gear is provided. Pricing depends on the size of the room and the location. Added extras can include a weekly clean and access to a bar and refreshment area.
They are often part of a complex of lockout rooms with 24-7 access to a bathroom. You'll have keys to the room after you’ve paid a deposit and signed a contract. The room becomes a workspace with your stuff, with your vibe, putting your commitment to music on a professional level.
Benefits
Renting a lockout room can bring many benefits. Their attraction lies in no waiting time for the music rehearsal space to open its doors. You and your band members are able to leave gear set up permanently how you like it, so no more setting up and breaking down for each rehearsal. Attendance can become more consistent and productivity increased due to decreased setup time.
You can also share or sublicense your room with other bands and musicians and store equipment between gigs. And you can decorate the room to make an awesome personal space that’s conducive to creating great music.
Such facilities feel it is important tenants have a clean, secure, professional music rehearsal environment. Many major and independent record labels rent rooms for their clients. Well-known acts use lockout rooms for privacy away from public view. Facilities do not advertise their location address for these reasons.
And they can come in all sorts of sizes...
Size
There are no standard sizes since each music space is housed in a building with its own character and configuration.
However, we took a look at several spaces and room sizes. They are designed to accommodate different uses and loosely, but typically, fall into four categories:
Individual: 8 X 8 ft (64 sq. ft.) or slightly larger - good for small drum room, music production, songwriting/recording and storage
Small: 10 X 14 ft (140 sq. ft.) - can accommodate a 3-piece band
Medium: 13 X 18 ft (234 sq. ft.) - very comfortable for a 4-piece band
Large: 15 X 20 ft (300 sq. ft.) - spacious; two bands can easily share or a jam space
Self-storage units
Self storage facilities are an often over looked solution for rehearsal spaces, though many bands have actually been using them for years. There is an interesting blog capturing the prevalence of this growing market in the US found here: http://tinyurl.com/lov4ljz. Hootie & the Blowfish penned and practiced their hits "Hold My Hand" and "Only Wanna Be With You" in a self storage facility in the mid 90s.
Self storage can be a flexible alternative to the traditional rented practice space. You can downsize your rented space temporarily if you don’t need it for a while, and get more space when you return. You might even want to expand to a bigger space, if you get some new gear or a new member joins. With self storage, you have the option to cater the space to suit your needs. Magenta Studios is such a space, based in a Personal Storage facility in Acton, West London. It offers full back line, PA and secure storage space for instruments and equipment.
Security is important with any practice space. If you’re storing your precious equipment, you need to know it’s in safe hands. Often, a storage centre can actually be safer than a traditional multi-user rehearsal space, where musicians are shifting gear in and out at all hours.
Band members can each have a key for the unit, able to come and go as they please within the access hours of the storage centre. This is a great way for several people to store gear in one place and allows each user to pick up gear for a gig whenever they need it.
You can also use your storage unit for its intended purpose: to store amps, gear and even drum kits when you’re not using them. It’s also a great place to store all the t-shirts, CDs and posters that you plan to sell as soon as you get your first gig. Climate control is important when storing instruments and amplifiers for long periods of time. Guitars (and other wooden instruments) can become warped by damp conditions and temperature change. The constant temperature and dry conditions of a self storage unit can help keep your instruments safe and in good condition.
When arranging self storage, it is important to make your intentions clear: don’t try and sneak around the subject. It’s a common misconception that self storage companies don’t want musicians making noise, but the majority of them are actually very accommodating, so long as you make your situation clear.
Storage units as practice spaces have become so popular that many companies include special band practice clauses in their rental agreements. Storage facilities in Dallas, Nashville, Los Angeles and New York all host band practice sessions.
Garden Studios
Green Rooms is a company that manufactures a range of sound attenuating booths which can be used indoors as well as outdoors. All their rooms come in panel form and can be put up quickly. Some can be self assembled, or can be installed by the company. Its range of acoustic rooms can be put down the end of your garden and used for all sorts of applications including music practise, music teaching, classrooms, sound recording and production.
Music Practice Rooms.com
This UK-based manufacturer supply and install sound-isolating music practice rooms. Its acoustic music practice pods are used by schools and universities and also make good recording studios.
The modular, relocatable design means the rooms can be virtually any shape or size to accommodate a solo singer, a band or a full orchestra in rehearsal.
Shipping Containers
Container City is an another interesting solution. A development company has provided six new sound studios in London’s Docklands. Each housed within a single or double 20ft shipping container, the Music Boxes have a fully glazed entrance, porthole windows and good sound insulation.
The small size of each container enables the management company to keep rent low and encourage small businesses to develop.
Membership schemes
Suburb is a rehearsal facility just outside Leeds in Keighley, West Yorkshire. It understands bands want regular access to a practice room. It offers a block booking membership scheme at £100 per month. This includes four sessions per month, late night rehearsals with no time restriction on sessions, a personal set of keys, 24-hour storage and 20% off its recording prices. Survival Studios in London offers a loyalty reward based on the London average hourly rehearsal rate. Users will be rewarded a cash discount on block booking an evening rehearsal.
Case studies
Gem Studios is a leading Lockout facility in Birmingham. As a resident band you become part of a musical community – ideal for gig-sharing, co-promotion, creative collaborations and simply making friends.
If you rehearse more than five to 10 hours a week then a lockout can be a more affordable option. Some rooms are big enough for two or more bands to share which makes a lockout more attractive. Stayfree Music in Leicester offers what it calls 'resident rooms' as well as sessional practice rooms.. It charges £150 per band per month for two bands sharing. Warrington's Tuff Gong Studioplex also offer residential/lockout rooms for long-term rent.
Robannas Studios is located in Birmingham. It offers for a fixed weekly rent exclusive access to a secure, sound-treated room. As a resident lockout band you have access to their chill-out spaces, free pool and football tables and an in-house equipment repair workshop. Prices vary based on the amount of bands sharing and room size.
Rather surprisingly, London only has one lockout space, Rooz Studios in East London allowing sub-lets to third parties. The music lockout room sector is under-developed in the UK compared to the US.
Monthly rental prices in the US can start at $300 per month (approx. £190) with larger rooms costing $1500 per month (approx. £950), usually rented to record companies for artist development. ABC Rehearsal Studios is one of the largest 24-hour lockouts with nearly 200 practice rooms across two locations in a range of different sizes and layouts in the Los Angeles area. It owns both buildings, which allows it more control to invest in practical and aesthetic amenities to ensure its facilities serve the music industry in the best ways possible.
Not all music rehearsal spaces offer lockouts, but it's worth looking in to if you have the opportunity.
More information
TK Productions 24 Hour Lockout Rehearsal Studios Lease
Studio Rental Agreement - Open Flight Studio
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