One of Hollywood's legendary music recording studios is officially for sale. Conway Recording Studios, the leafy compound on Melrose Avenue where Taylor Swift, BTS and Mötley Crüe have all made music, is hitting the market with an asking price of $15 million as its 83-year-old owner looks to close out a run that stretches back half a century.
Buddy Brundo has operated Conway Recording Studios since 1976, and according to the Los Angeles Times, he founded the operation and built it into a sprawling, more-than-an-acre property on the edge of Melrose Hill. Brundo told the paper, “I'm 83,” and said he is ready to walk away while he still can, hoping to end his half-century run by handing the keys to someone who will keep the facility making music rather than turning it into stores or housing.
A Jungly Hideaway With a Built-In Basketball Court
The Times, in reporting by staff writer Roger Vincent, described Conway as a jungly hideaway on bustling Melrose Avenue, featuring large soundproof windows that bring in natural light. The property includes three studios, offices, recording equipment, two grand pianos, lounges and, notably, a kitchen that pointedly lacks a stove. Brundo explained the omission plainly, saying every studio he worked with had a stove, and the kitchen was a mess.
The compound also boasts 59 striped parking spaces that have at times held about $2 million worth of luxury cars, per the Times' reporting. Brundo even painted a full basketball court on the asphalt so singer The Weeknd could play during studio downtime, a detail that captures the eccentric, client-first culture Brundo has cultivated since moving to California from Buffalo, New York, in the 1970s. “I moved to California to be outside in the warm. I like sunlight,” he said.
Decades of Hits Recorded Behind the Gates
Conway's client list reads like a cross-section of popular music history, including Burt Bacharach, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, U2, Guns N' Roses, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. Mötley Crüe recorded its hit 1987 album “Girls, Girls, Girls” at the studio, and more recently BTS recorded its comeback album there following the group's military service, a process documented in a Netflix film released in March. Nicole Mihalka of CBRE, who holds the listing, said the property feels like Hawaii or somewhere else entirely, which she credited with keeping it busy.
Brundo's willingness to accommodate artists has become something of a legend in itself. He once reduced the size of his own office to enlarge a lounge for a singer-songwriter who needed room to stay, and he accommodated Courtney Love, who wanted to book substantial studio time and have a place to unwind, staying at Conway for two months with her children and clothing in tow. The studio's air-conditioning and filtration system uses charcoal filters and blue lights to clear smoke and kill bacteria, and Conway's smoking policy amounts to whatever clients want.
An Industry Reshaped by Streaming and Home Studios
Conway's sale lands amid a broader transformation of the recording business. Digital production tools and home studios have eliminated much of the need for traditional recording space, a shift traced back to the advent of Pro Tools software in the 1990s and the rise of music streaming services in the early 2000s. Mihalka said she has also seen a reversion back to the real, with backlash against AI-generated music prompting some artists to return to live instruments and larger recording spaces.
Industry revenue figures tell a mixed but generally upward story. The Recording Industry Assn. of America reported that U.S. recorded-music revenue rose 7% to $6 billion in the first half of 2026, according to the Times' citation of the trade group's data. A separate account from CoStar put the increase at 6.9% to $6 billion for the same period, while a report from thatericalper.com placed the figure at $5.975 billion, also up 6.9% from the prior year.
Other Studios Also Changing Hands
Conway is far from the only recording facility testing the market. CoStar reported that Track Record Studios, which includes two freestanding buildings totaling about 6,865 square feet, is listed for $5.25 million or available for lease at $45,000 per month, while the 10,731-square-foot LA Studios complex with six studios is listed for $5.95 million. In Nashville, TMEC Nashville purchased the 8,560-square-foot Benchmark Sound facility on Music Row for $3.85 million earlier this year, and the Dark Horse Estate near Nashville has been marketed between $19.5 million and $24 million.
Closer to home, Studio 880, the former Green Day-owned Jingletown Recording Studios compound in Oakland, recently came to market for $3.9 million. In North Hollywood, NRG Recording Studios, which sits on a 16,501-square-foot lot at 11128 Weddington St. and includes three acoustically isolated studios and 19 gated parking spaces, has been listed for $13.5 million including the business, equipment and instruments. The Los Angeles market has also seen bigger-ticket activity, with a group of investors including musician John Mayer and director McG acquiring Henson Studios in Hollywood for $44 million, and Drawbridge Realty paying $140 million for a 225,778-square-foot office building fully leased to Universal Music Group that includes two recording studios.
For Brundo, the sale closes out a chapter defined as much by hospitality as by hit records. He expanded the Conway footprint over the years by acquiring and demolishing 10 houses, and he once bought a neighbor's house a year after an arrow from musician Ted Nugent's bow missed its mark and passed through a fence near that property, prompting Brundo to buy it once its price had risen. Whether Conway's next owner keeps that colorful history alive remains to be seen, but Brundo has made clear he hopes whoever buys the property keeps the music playing.
