Never ever never ever spend ANY unnescary time in the studio. It's a place to take care of business that HAS to be taken care of and NOTHING more. A great recording of a great song with the right producer will make money and open doors damn near every time. ANYTHING short of that will close more doors and limit more opportunities than another good one will ever open again. If you need a decent demo for your band or want to gauge progress or need to hear yourself singing dat down a live performance and have a good producer beat it up awhile(6-to-1 hr per hr), sell it at bar gigs, give it to girls to get laid, and put a copy on the mantle and make company listen to it. "ALMOST LIVE" is 2008 bar-band/indy industry standard. IF you're after air-play/major label deal(it's just a loan btw)....... 3 CDs worth of copyrighted unreleased GREAT SHIT in the "can" and 10,000 cd sales in your home market is about where industry lawyers start talking turkey. Remember, U2 and Usher are after the same airplay slot you want and cheap won't cut it. BEFORE you record anything make sure what you're going to do with it and let that determine the process.