Record label executives and popular artists who topped charts half a century ago might hardly recognize the music business in its current form. Digital recording tools and the rise of file sharing and streaming services have altered the industry’s fundamental business model.

But one thing has remained steadfast, even gaining value and cachet over the generations: L.A.’s venerable recording studios.

Many are unassuming and easily overlooked despite their prime locations, largely in the heart of Hollywood. Inside, the owners — a good percentage of whom remain independent — have meticulously maintained acoustic design and historic recording equipment.

To the average passerby, the buildings may seem plain. But to artists, they are the stuff of legend.

“Places like this are places where professionals like to come together and work together, and that’s why places like this still exist,” said Jeff Greenberg, chief executive of The Village Studios (formerly the Village Recorder).

Tucked away in an inconspicuous nearly century-old building in West L.A., the legendary studio has hosted artists including Smashing Pumpkins, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Taylor Swift. It was converted from a Masonic temple into a recording studio in the 1960s.

Greenberg took over the business more than 20 years ago when it was on the verge of being liquidated. To him, studios like Village “stand on their own in the hierarchy of this town.”

Hollywood’s secret hideaways

In Hollywood, United Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios and EastWest Studios are among the most historic locations cited by Drew Waters, vice president of music preservation and archiving group Veva Sound.

The three boxy buildings are easy to miss on a morning commute down Sunset Boulevard or Melrose Avenue, but they produced famous recordings by The Beach Boys, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Prince, Frank Sinatra, U2 and other major acts.

Other well-known studios in Hollywood include Sunset Sound (also on Sunset Boulevard) and Sound Factory on Selma Avenue.

Some of the industry’s historic studios are flashier. The iconic Capitol Records Building, at 1750 Vine St., looks like a stack of records. And the front gates at Henson Recording Studios, at 1416 N. La Brea Ave., are hard to miss.

“A lot of artists say when the gates open, they immediately feel like they’re removed from Hollywood and in a different location, and no other location has that feel,” said Faryal Ganjehei, vice president of operations at the studio.

Henson Recording Studios is at the former A&M Studios location. A&M Studios was founded in 1966. The building originally housed Charlie Chaplin’s studios.

Sound City, located in Van Nuys, recently regained attention and acclaim when Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters directed and produced a documentary about the studio’s storied history. Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers both recorded there, as did Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and others.

In 1973, studio co-founder Tom Skeeter bought an expensive analog console that he stuck with through the 1980s when many other studios went digital, Tom’s daughter, and studio president, Sandy Skeeter said.

Eventually they decided to lease out the studio. There were no commercial services there from May 2011 through 2016, but it reopened for commercial services in 2017. It has two producers in residence and is booked for several years.

The industry today

Today, many of the important recording studios of decades past are broadening their array of services. They still offer recording services for musicians, but some also lease out private office space or rent out larger rooms for events.

Waters said booking recording sessions at some at the venerable studios can be too expensive for artists who often record albums on their own dime.

“Capitol Records artists can’t afford to record at Capitol — it’s cost prohibitive,” Veva Sound’s Waters said. “A lot of legacy artists are the only ones who can afford the high-end studios.”

Craig Hubler, the general manager for Sunset Sound, said as consumers have shifted toward digital downloads rather than buying full albums, it’s affected the amount of money labels and artists have to spend on recording.

“The budgets have contracted for the vast majority of the artists because they don’t have hard, physical sales anymore; it’s all digital downloads,” he said.

Hubler said a lot of the studio’s revenue comes from the artists through their management companies and not the record labels.

Many artists have turned to recording in their home studios. Greenberg said there are some downsides to in-home recording — for one, it can take longer, and it can feel for some like they’re disconnected from the broader industry.

But Hubler said while home recording changed the business, in the last few years, “The waters have settled.”

“We’ve learned how to coexist,” he added. “We’re not competing with one another anymore.”

That’s partly thanks to a general recovery in the economy and the music industry’s slow adaptation to new digital norms.

Recording studios’ success is tied to the labels’ success, said Cameell Hanna, studio manager at Serenity West Recording, which runs a handful of recording studios including the Sound Factory.

“Studios like Sound Factory … have really always been in service with record labels. As the records do well, they do well,” she said.

“We’ve noticed that the (record labels) are out of that period of recession. They are ready to invest in music,” she said, adding that Sound Factory is booked up for the next two years — roughly 75% to labels and 25% to individual artists.

Where the Music Happens

Capitol Records

1750 Vine St., Los Angeles

Owner: Universal Music Group

Artists: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin,

Paul McCartney

Conway Recording Studios

5100 Melrose Ave., Hollywood

Owner: Buddy Brundo

Artists: Taylor Swift, Beyoncé

Knowles-Carter, Prince, Ray Charles

EastWest Studios

6000 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Owner: Doug Rogers

Artists: Mamas & The Papas,

Frank Sinatra, U2, Blink-182

Henson Recording Studios

(formerly A&M Studios)

1416 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood

Owner: Jim Henson Co.

Artists: Phil Spector, Carole King, John

Lennon, Kiss, Dr. Dre, Maroon 5

Larrabee Studios

4162 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood

Owner: Kevin Mills

Artists: The Rolling Stones, Madonna, One

Direction, Alicia Keys

Sound City Studios

15456 Cabrito Road, Van Nuys

Owner: Family-owned

Artists: Tom Petty and the

Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac,

Elton John

Sound Factory

6357 Selma Ave., Los Angeles

Owner: Serenity West Recording

Artists: Jackson 5, Dolly Parton

Sunset Sound

6650 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Owner: Camarata Family

Artists: Van Halen, Beach Boys,

Tom Petty, Elton John

United Recording Studios

6050 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Owner: Hudson Pacific Properties Inc.

Artists: Green Day, John Mayer,

the Beach Boys, Josh Groban

The Village Studios

1616 Butler Ave., Los Angeles

Owner: Jeff Greenberg

Artists: Smashing Pumpkins,

Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, Lady

Gaga, Coldplay, Taylor Swift