Music City Studios - West Monroe, Louisiana

Calli Sinclair

Before receiving my Bachelor of Arts degree in communication at ULM in the spring of 2023, I interned at Music City in West Monroe, LA. At ULM, I served as chief photographer and photo editor for The Hawkeye, ULM’s award-winning newspaper.
Because of my background in photography, writing, and music journalism, I had faith that Music City would hopefully meet my needs as an intern, allowing and encouraging me to grow in my field. Unfortunately, my experience at MCS left me unfulfilled. However, I am not alone in my dissatisfaction with this place.

The way MCS presents itself to the public is often warm and inviting, yet its façade of professionalism and generosity melts away once you’re behind closed doors. In the beginning, I was led to believe I would be given consistent opportunities to not only bring my skills to MCS, but to improve them as well. Although I did my part as an intern within the first half of the semester by shooting events, scheduling photoshoots, interviewing artists, writing press releases, and attending weekly meetings, I never felt positively challenged by these assignments. This is because with each task I and other interns were given, my patience was tested. If anything, my entire experience at MCS was a lesson in self-preservation and perseverance. Not to mention, I could not be told where an article I had written was sent upon inquiring. To my knowledge, interns are not paid either.

I learned through meetings and interactions with the business owner, Scott Frick, that one of his main priorities for MCS is religious indoctrination through emotional manipulation. It was difficult to focus on my work when I was continuously preached to, had my personal space disrespected on numerous occasions, and seen as someone the owner could potentially convert through deception. Despite declining each time, I would be met with more invitations. At some point, I told him once more that I was not interested in his religion, and the lack of communication from him that followed was funny, but not surprising. Whereas in the start of my internship I was presented with opportunities, now I was treated as if I was no longer there. Similarly, when some engineers became sick with COVID, they were not given the proper care that a concerned business owner would have, even after being told they’d be taken care of. Paid time off was nonexistent for the majority of the staff and engineers never had the option of working from home during illness. Payments were almost always late for engineers as well.

During a meeting, the owner referred to the studio as “his ministry,” boasting about his successful attempts at converting people. Rather than being treated as a genuine recording studio with quality equipment and service, MCS is a poor excuse for a studio with outdated and subpar equipment and owned by someone with incredibly unethical business practices. Issues surrounding equipment were brought to the attention of the owner and other engineers. However, none of them were dealt with accordingly. Instead of resolving issues by upgrading equipment, unnecessary purchases were made for podcasts and equipment that didn’t require upgrades. After podcasts, trash would be left in the studio for engineers and artists to clean up the following morning. The owner was MIA every few weeks also. I was told he was on “vacation.” Apparently, he would be too busy to answer calls, make timely payments to engineers, and simply care about his business.

Gear was often misplaced and broken. One engineer, Dave Posey, would repeatedly remove gear and not return it to the proper storage area. Other engineers would be forced to pick up his slack. Aside from trashing the studio during his sessions, he would deliver late work to artists he recorded. This was enabled by the owner. Scheduling was extremely disorganized with overlapping sessions; the entire business is disorganized. Any artist, band, photographer, videographer, or engineer with dignity, look elsewhere for a business that’s worth your time or money.

John Smith

Terrible service, they don't care about you or your project. Polish guy answers the phone and doesn't even know english, plus he's rude and arrogant. Terrible sound quality. A trashy home studio posing as a state of the art facility. They use no outboard gear, and a mixer that was outdated 10 years ago. Cheapskates squeezing money from innocent artists. Suspicious and despicable. For the love of God RUN from this place and go to a real studio.

Ashley Salard

I love this studio and its workers! Mr. Scott is so knowledgeable and Adam is my producer/engineer for life!! Will always come back.

Ashten Morgan

I had the great pleasure of working with Mr. Jordan Alexander on the mix for some music I recorded with my band. He was so wildly patient and kind as I obsessed over every detail of the mix. Echoing the voices of all the others here, I can say that you really feel like a part of the family and a part of the creative process.

And wow...the studio. We recorded in Studio A, which came equipped with all the finest recording and mixing hardware. I won't pretend to understand all of it, but I can simply say that this is a fully-equipped and legitimate recording space for both experienced artists/voice actors and for those that are just getting started.

I'm so excited for the next time my band and I get to work with Jordan and the fabulous team here!

Mindy Johnson

I had to change my rating on this studio as I learned more from being here. The owner is one of the worst people I have ever met. He is rude, greedy, and just a bad person. I would suggest that any artist go somewhere else because the owners do NOT care about you, or your creations. They are hypocrites that only care about how much money the can squeeze from you. The owner, Scott, clearly has no idea what he's doing in terms of engineering.

Travis Stahlman

Friendly and very helpful staff. Had a great time. If you need help or looking for good quality studio time for a good price get a hold of David Posey

Neriah Tolliver

I came to music city studios in support of a dear friend of mine. And I can say this studio goes above and beyond to make you feel like you are at home. Every time I come to Monroe I make it a mission to come here with my friend and support their dreams. ❤️

Ryan Reid

I’ve done voice work for independent projects all the way up through national broadcast media. I can say without a doubt that Music City Studios offers the best equipment and best production team that I’ve ever seen. I could go on for pages about the hardware they use, but what is even more impressive is the quality of the people. Every single staff member at Music City takes a personal interest in making your audio the best it can possibly be. They’re a close-knit group that obviously acts as a family and wants to open that same care and attention to you as a client. On top of that, the price there is more than fair compared to studios in other cities that would charge thousands more for the same work. I’m so glad I started using Music City Studios. I can’t recommend them enough, and I trust them to keep my sound at the top of my game.