One of Hollywood’s most historic music recording complexes is hitting the market as its founder prepares to step back after almost half a century. Owner Buddy Brundo is seeking $15 million for Conway Recording Studios, a sprawling site spanning over an acre on the edge of the Melrose Hill neighborhood at Melrose and Western avenues. The listing marks the end of an era for a space that has hosted generations of top-tier musical talent, including Burt Bacharach, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift, and Kendrick Lamar. Media and communication on a scale the industrial revolution did to agrarian and handicraft economies more than a century ago, the digital revolution rocked the analogue world of art.
Brundo, a native of Buffalo, New York, originally acquired the property in the 1970s with the intent of creating a lush, sunlit oasis in the middle of Los Angeles. Moving to California to enjoy the warmer climate and sunlight, he designed the compound with large soundproof windows that allowed natural light to flood the workspaces, breaking away from the windowless, sealed chambers conventional to traditional recording spaces. Entertainment real estate broker Nicole Mihalka of CBRE, who holds the listing, noted that the studio’s serene, tropical environment has kept clients returning for decades. Conway Recording Studios is a jungly hideaway on bustling Melrose Avenue created by a transplant from chilly Buffalo, N.Y., who arrived in the 1970s with a vision to create an L.A.-style oasis in the middle of the city w. According to people have asked Brundo for years when he might sell the studio he has operated since 1976,, Mihalka, who has the listing. “Ten years ago I wouldn’t even think about this,” Brundo said.
The listing includes three full recording suites, administrative offices, extensive gear including two grand pianos, client lounges, and a customized kitchen built without a stove to maintain cleanliness. Over the decades, Brundo frequently adapted the space to accommodate major artists. He once downsized his personal office to enlarge a private lounge for Courtney Love, who stayed on site for two months while working on an extended project. Other iconic moments include Mötley Crüe arriving by motorcycle to record their hit 1987 albumGirls, Girls, Girlsin Studio B. More recently, Korean pop icons BTS tracked their comeback albumArirangat the complex following their military service, a process captured in a March Netflix documentary in which Brundo appears. The unique space has attracted big names for decades, while many studios have struggled. Jumping up to play air guitar to Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” while showing off the powerful sound system in Studio B, he works out three times a week and appears fit. Where members arrived by motorcycle, the band recorded the hit 1987 album of the same name at Conway Studios.
Now 83, Brundo explained that while he remains healthy and active—exercising three times a week—he decided it was the right moment to retire. He noted that while he would not have considered selling a decade ago, he wanted to step away while still in good health. Taylor Swift, a longtime client of the facility, famously brought widespread attention to the venue by wearing a Conway Recording Studios sweatshirt in public, triggering a wave of inquiries from fans and industry figures asking when the property might become available. “I’m 83, and how long can I keep this up.
The sale comes at a transitional time for the modern music industry. Real estate data firm CoStar highlighted that the rapid growth of home recording technology and digital production software has reduced the industry’s historical reliance on massive commercial recording facilities. Digital innovations like Pro Tools in the 1990s and the emergence of digital streaming platforms in the early 2000s fundamentally restructured music production models.
Despite these technical shifts, high-end production facilities with large live rooms, rare vintage equipment, and decades of acoustic heritage are becoming increasingly difficult to replicate. According to data from the Recording Industry Association of America, U.S. recorded-music revenue expanded by 7% to reach $6 billion in the first half of 2026, driven by broad financial gains across streaming platforms, physical album sales, and music licensing formats.
