Ocean Way sold

CHANGING SIDES: Ocean Way Recording, one of L.A.’s busiest and most historic high-end studios, has been sold by longtime owner/operator Alan Sides to Hudson Pacific Properties, whose holdings include the adjacent Sunset Gower and Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood. According to the announcement, the recording studios will remain untouched, with staff retained, although the lounges and common spaces will undergo "significant upgrades." Said HPP President Howard Stern (no, not the King of All Media), "It's with great pride that we announce this strategic alliance of our legendary film and TV studios and soundstages with arguably the most honored music recording studios in the world. This combination of cutting-edge visual production with the epitome of music recording is a monumental day for Hollywood." Added Sides, "Our standards of recording have never been matched by our peers, and we could not have found a better successor to continue Ocean Way Hollywood's legacy as the premier recording studio in the world." Sides will continue to provide his technical and sonic knowledge to the studio operations. He apparently has no plans to sell Record One in Sherman Oaks, Ocean Way St. Barth's, Ocean Way Nashville, or the Ocean Way-branded equipment and drum manufacturing companies. (2/13a)