🏠 ONLY RAW RECORDS STUDIO

Overview

Only Raw Records Studio is a story-confirmed recording studio owned by Boobie Ike that becomes purchasable through narrative progression. At $950,000, it generates income through recording sessions, artist development deals, and music licensing while serving as a cultural hub connecting GTA 6's nightlife, radio, and music ecosystems. The studio features a professional control room, two recording booths, a mixing suite, and a lounge area where artists, producers, and criminal contacts mingle.

Owning the studio provides a unique revenue stream: songs produced here can be licensed to radio stations, generating royalty income. The more successful the tracks, the higher the royalties — creating a music business simulation within the broader criminal empire. The studio also serves as a safehouse with a hidden storage room behind the control booth for secure weapon and cash storage, and its late-night operating hours provide natural cover for criminal meetings disguised as recording sessions.

Location & Setting

The studio occupies a converted warehouse in Vice City's arts district, surrounded by galleries, boutiques, and coffee shops. The building retains its industrial character — exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors, and high ceilings that provide the acoustic volume essential for recording — while the interior has been transformed into a state-of-the-art audio facility. A graffiti-covered loading dock in the rear serves as the private entrance where high-profile artists arrive without paparazzi interference.

The creative neighborhood attracts NPC musicians, producers, and industry figures who create a vibrant social scene around the studio. The arts district location also provides proximity to Neon Mile's nightlife corridor, where many of the artists who book sessions perform live shows — making the studio a natural extension of Vice City's music ecosystem. The building's industrial-grade soundproofing serves a dual purpose: it contains the bass frequencies that would otherwise disturb the surrounding galleries, and it prevents outside surveillance from picking up conversations held inside.

Income & Revenue

Recording session fees from NPC artists generate $4,000–$8,000 per day, with rates scaling based on your equipment tier and the studio's reputation. Artist development deals — signing talented NPCs and producing their albums — pay $5,000–$15,000 per completed project, with each project taking 5–10 in-game days of active production. The real long-term money comes from radio licensing royalties: every track produced at your studio that gets picked up by a radio station generates ongoing passive income proportional to the track's popularity.

As your music catalogue grows, royalty income compounds — a studio with 20 produced tracks earning modest royalties can generate more passive income than the session fees themselves. The key financial insight is that the studio's income grows over time without additional investment, making it one of the few properties where long-term ownership dramatically outperforms short-term ROI calculations. Break-even from session fees alone takes approximately 120 in-game days, but compounding royalties can cut that in half if you produce popular tracks early.

Upgrades

Tier 1 — Pro Equipment ($100,000): Industry-standard recording gear including vintage analog consoles, tube microphones, and isolated tracking rooms that attract higher-profile artists willing to pay premium session rates. The analog warmth of Tier 1 equipment produces a distinct sound quality that audiophile NPC clients specifically seek out, commanding 40% higher session fees than digital-only setups.

Tier 2 — Mix Suite ($130,000): A dedicated professional mixing and mastering room with acoustic treatment, reference monitors, and hardware outboard gear. Tracks mixed in the Tier 2 suite achieve higher audio quality scores, leading to better radio placement and higher royalties. The suite also attracts mix engineers as clientele — they book the room independently, generating additional session revenue.

Tier 3 — Label Office ($150,000): Transforms the business from a studio-for-hire into a functioning record label with artist management, digital distribution, and marketing capabilities. Signed artists generate royalties on all distributed music, and the label's promotional reach increases the chance of radio station placement. This tier is the most transformative upgrade — it changes the studio's income model from session-based to catalog-based, where passive royalty income grows with every release.

Tier 4 — Music Video Stage ($200,000): Constructs a soundstage for music video production, adding a new high-margin revenue stream. Video production jobs pay $8,000–$20,000 per project and generate social media content that boosts both the artist's profile and the studio's reputation, creating a virtuous cycle of higher-profile bookings.

Management

Studio management involves booking recording sessions, scouting talent, producing tracks, and managing artist relationships. You can hire up to four staff: a sound engineer (determines recording quality and session efficiency), a studio manager (handles bookings and client relations), a talent scout (identifies promising NPC artists in Vice City's nightlife scene), and a security guard (protects expensive equipment and provides privacy for high-profile sessions).

The creative process is interactive — you attend recording sessions, provide feedback on mixes through a production mini-game, and make decisions about artistic direction that affect track quality and commercial potential. Artist management adds depth: signed artists have moods, egos, and creative differences that require navigation. A temperamental rapper might refuse to record unless you've furnished the lounge with specific items, while a collaborative songwriter produces better work when paired with compatible studio musicians. Managing these personalities is part of the property's unique gameplay identity — no other business in GTA 6 requires this kind of interpersonal management.

Strategy & Tips

The Only Raw Records Studio becomes available through story progression connected to Boobie Ike's narrative arc. Purchase it as soon as available — the royalty income system rewards early ownership since passive royalties accumulate over time. The Label Office (Tier 3) is the most impactful upgrade, converting the business from session-based to catalog-based income. Prioritize it over the Music Video Stage unless you need the immediate per-project revenue from video production.

Focus on producing quality tracks rather than volume. A single hit song that gets heavy radio rotation generates more long-term royalty income than ten mediocre tracks that never get picked up. Pay attention to genre trends — the in-game radio market favors certain genres at different points in the story, and producing music that matches current demand dramatically increases placement chances. Scout talent at Neon Mile venues during evening hours, where the highest-quality NPC musicians perform.

The studio's acoustic isolation at Tier 3 upgrade means absolutely no sound leakage — recording sessions, criminal meetings, and operational planning remain completely private. The vintage equipment collection attracts audiophile NPC clients who pay premium rates for analog warmth, and the studio's reputation grows with each successful recording project completed, attracting progressively higher-profile artists and larger session budgets.

GTA History

Recording studios haven't been purchasable properties in previous GTA games, though music has been central to the series' identity through radio stations and licensed soundtracks. GTA 6's Only Raw Records Studio is a creative first — integrating music production into the property business system and connecting it to the game's radio ecosystem.

The recording studio's creative industry connections make it unique among GTA 6's property portfolio — ownership provides access to Vice City's music scene, generating both direct recording session revenue and indirect opportunities through artist relationships. The studio attracts NPC musicians, producers, and label executives who book sessions at rates proportional to the studio's equipment quality tier. Premium analog equipment upgrades (vintage mixing consoles, tube microphones, and isolated tracking rooms) command the highest session rates and attract high-profile clients whose projects take multiple in-game weeks to complete, providing steady long-term income.

The studio doubles as a social venue — hosting listening parties and showcase events builds reputation within Vice City's entertainment industry, unlocking mission chains involving music industry politics, copyright disputes, and label rivalries. The property's sound-isolated construction makes it an excellent safehouse — the thick walls that contain bass frequencies also muffle conversations from external surveillance. A hidden storage room behind the control booth provides secure weapon and cash storage, and the studio's late-night operating hours provide natural cover for criminal meetings disguised as recording sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: April 26, 2026.