The Hit Factory, the New York recording studio where many top artists made countless hit records, will close within a month, Billboard said Friday.

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The studio at 421 W. 54th St. -- one of most famous studios in music history -- was home to sessions by such artists as Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, U2, Barbra Streisand and Paul Simon. John Lennon recorded much of his "Double Fantasy" album there and Bruce Springsteen recorded "Pink Cadillac."

Billboard said the closing provides "the starkest illustration to date of the precipitous and, many audio professionals fear, irreversible decline in the fortunes of commercial recording studios" -- owing to the emergence of relatively inexpensive digital audio equipment that has allowed virtually anyone to produce high-quality recordings.