Sound Royaltie s is announcing its recent support of The Lab Studios, an innovative recording and events space in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The Lab is the culmination of years of hard work by Latin GRAMMY-winning producer Paul Irizarry, better known to the music world as Echo and one of the original shapers of reggaeton. The studio and the team of producers and engineers behind it promise to strengthen the infrastructure for Latin music creation, right at the heart of a key music city.
Sound Royalties supported Echo’s efforts with its artist-friendly financing that advances future royalties, allowing music creatives to take advantage of timely opportunities. The Lab project demonstrates how prompt and savvy funding like this enables creatives to invest in their communities without giving up ownership of their core asset, their copyrights.
“Catalog sales make splashy headlines and may be the right decision for some artists. But there are truly transformative finance stories driven by artists, producers, and creatives that reflect deep investment in their career and their community, the kind of investment that creates foundational changes to their lives and the community around them,” explains Alex Heiche, CEO and founder of Sound Royalties. “Building the infrastructure that lifts all involved is one of the main ways our customers use royalty advances, and The Lab shows how powerful that can be.”
“I’ve been developing a relationship with Sound Royalties over the last five years. They helped me get this dream across the finish line,” Echo recounts. “In 2001, I built the original The Lab Studios, a huge studio facility in Puerto Rico that’s still in operation. Historic albums like Daddy Yankee’s Barrio Fino and Don Omar Los Bandoleros were recorded there. But in Miami, I saw a real opportunity in the market for a very high-end, professional studio, with great acoustics, equipment, and sound, in the right location to serve our creative community. There was nothing like what I envisioned, and Sound Royalties helped me get it done.”
The Lab, with its Dolby ATMOS mixing room and state-of-the-art equipment, was built to make superior recordings and function as the heart of urban Latin music in Miami. This fits Echo’s long-term trajectory as creator and instigator. At his first studio in Puerto Rico, located in a part of his father’s furniture factory, he laid down foundational tracks by some of reggaeton’s founding fathers. He had to build it himself because no one took the music seriously: “Reggaeton was starting, most of the people in power [in Puerto Rico] didn’t want it to succeed. We’d call the salsa and professional studios and they wouldn’t even rent to us.”
Later working with major names such as Pitbull, Maluma, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee, and many others, Echo helped create a new sound that took the world by storm. Yet even as he did, he had his own dreams. “You can be the world’s best chef, but if you don’t have the right tools or a good kitchen, you can’t cook,” he notes. Echo wanted a pro-level gourmet kitchen.
Now he has it. “The studio has been filled with incredible energy. Sessions are going on non-stop, though we only opened recently,” Echo says. “We had 300 people at our opening. I have no doubt it will become a real headquarters for my creative team and my process, as well as an incredible creative hub for talent in Miami.”
