Management
David Crafa
Owner/Founder
“Founded by a young engineer with no prior commercial studio experience, The Cutting Room is a text book example of how to grow a business in the face of tremendous overhead and competition.”
“To this day, the studio has financed itself from profits reinvested back into the business and Crafa has made sure that this kind of organic growth has set the pace for the studio as a business.”
Bio taken from Billboard Magazine article “New York’s The Cutting Room Enjoys Textbook Success” written by Christopher Walsh & from Pro-Sound News article “Urban Organics” written by Janice Brown.
The Cutting Room owner David Crafa started The Cutting Room while attending New York University in the early 90s. A musician himself, he moved his nascent business from a live/work loft on West 25th Street—where he was recording demos with a ½-inch 16-track recorder he saved up for—to 678 Broadway in the mid-90s, when rent for the fifth-floor space was a fraction of what the market would demand today. He never imagined he’d one day be the owner/operator of a world-class multi-room recording facility. “Back in those days I was engineering while trying to get my band together,” Crafa recalls. “You get a couple of gigs and think it’s just a shot in the dark, but all of a sudden clients turn their friends on to you.” The Cutting Room has had an organic life and has always paid for itself, including upgrades and relocations.
Crafa, who spent time at Berklee College of Music before heading to NYU, did mostly MIDI programming and sampling for dance and early electronic music in the 90s. Word of mouth built his clientele—with clients like Puff Daddy, who was working with Mary J. Blige, coming to his apartment—until there were too many sessions to handle. “Things started to kick into gear when we bought a 24-track 2-inch tape machine,” Crafa recalls. “Then we were compatible with other studios. We had constant work.” Around this time, Crafa began stepping back from engineering as The Cutting Room became a business in need of leadership.
“It seemed really stable,” says Crafa. “We kept getting bigger and earning more each month.” The Cutting Room moved to a large space on Broadway in the East Village in 1996—perfect timing for the graduating NYU student. “The work was already there. I didn’t have to pound the pavement.”
Putting in 70 to 80 hours a week, Crafa grew the business by wearing many hats and reinvesting profits. A turning point came with the purchase of the SSL 4000 G+. “It’s sunk in what we are and where we’re going,” he says. “Now that we have the SSL, it’s a different ballgame.” With A-list clients already on board, the move helped solidify the studio’s position. “We’re running a major studio with major clientele. I’ve got to take a look at my staffing.”
“The hardest part was getting a good staff together,” Crafa says, “and learning that that is really the heart of the place, not the gear.” His next move was to hire a versatile team. “We’re trying to do more than just be a commercial recording studio,” Crafa adds. “We’re trying to seize other opportunities.”