Legendary music studios are disappearing at an accelerating rate. “A recent roll call includes Cello and Royaltone Studios, both in Los Angeles, and New York’s famed Hit Factory, and that’s just in the past two months. Illegal downloading, which means less revenue for record companies and less money for recording budgets, is partly to blame. A much bigger factor, though, has been the rise of cheap digital recording equipment: A high-quality home studio system can be had for well under $50,000 — about what it would cost to spend three weeks in a high-end studio like the Hit Factory.”