Record Studio Tycoon

Start a record label in one borrowed room in 1950. Keep it alive until the end of the 2010s.

THE TALENT — Every Friday at Woolsey’s, anyone with a song and the nerve gets a shot. Your scouts find them. You decide who’s worth the ink.

THE TERMS — Bonus, royalty, how many records they owe you. Lowball them and they’ll sign reluctantly, or walk.

THE SESSIONS — Writing, recording, producing. You call every one.

THE PRESS — Six papers, six critics, six ideas of a good record. Learn their tastes or learn the hard way.

THE STUDIO — A borrowed piano today. Ribbon mics and a mixing desk tomorrow, if the money holds.

THE COMPETITION — Rival labels want the same acts and the same top spot. The chart says who's winning, every week.

THE YEARS — Sixty of them. The sound keeps changing. Keep up.

Scout a growing list of venues, each with its own genres and crowd

• Negotiate contracts against what each artist actually wants

• Record in three phases, finding what each artist does best

• Release to six publications with distinct tastes and voices

• Hire scouts and producers with their own strengths

• Upgrade your studio with era-appropriate gear and permanent choices

• Compete with rival labels for talent and chart positions (DELETE IF NOT IN BUILD)

• Ride genre popularity as it rises and falls across seven decades