For a college music supplement for a BA, it can be one piece and even cued for the best 3 minutes (ask the schools what they prefer). It does not have to be conservatory level quality in our experience. I would not go to huge expense. Does he already have a solo performance to submit?
We weren’t even sure that admissions passed my kid’s recording on to faculty. They may have just gone by the resume.
For a BM music prescreen it does need to be professional and there are requirements to meet, in order to gain audition.
Others can chime in…it’s been awhile for us. Those doing recordings or videos for BM programs can also share how they do them. We used a Zoom H-2.