Client asked for his tracks to finish at another studio

[jangoux]

Ok..this never happened before and I am kinda upset with the situation. I get a lot of clients that can just track at some very restricted hours so sometimes I end up with clients recording one a week or so. This one is no exception - he is the owner of a big local sports store and he can only track at night. Currently, at night hours, I have a logjam of clients - about 4 bands and all of them have this problem of not being possible recording constantly.

ANyway, the guy travelled to Lebanon a month ago and we agreed to book his remaining sessions when he went back but his bassist would contact me before to track his parts. He didnt. Anyway, the client came back from his vacations on the 10th, his bassist appeared and I managed to find a hole on my agenda to track him (he also has VERY limited hours). So, today i talked to him, and he wanted a spot to record this week, which I dont have, and then he asked his tracks to finish it somewhere else.

To an extent, he has the right to do it anywhere he wants but it just pisses me off that those guy can´t understand I cant just remove a client off my agenda to accommodate their wishes. A few weeks ago, another client said I was ´slowing down´ his band because he had a gig and he wanted his song before the gig (thsi was before the date we agreed I´d deliver the mix)
I am also a little bit saddened because this never happened and i really liked the guy and his work. He is, without a doubt, the best guitar player I know.

I also have some issues. My studio is at home so I cant freely schedule bands because I´ve had problems with my neighbor. My wife has two very time consuming jobs and we share weekdays for work. He has a lot of shit to do at home and even works at night on a couple of days. We have a couple of small daughters (3 and 6yo) and unfortunately we cant just leave them somewhere everytime. I´ve been trying since december to get another place to move my studio but money has been a huge problem the last few months. So, these guys tht record at night only must wait a bit...

I dont know exactly how to handle all of this. I am tracking 8 bands at the same time right now (due to their own restricted schedules) and once in a while it looks they agree to just go nuts and behave weirdly.

 

[ArthurD]

Por isso eu fiz um contrato extremamente fechado. Se houve uma expectativa por sua parte de fazer todo o trabalho e ganhar o dinheiro, eles devem terminar com você, ou contrato encerrado, sem devolução de dinheiro.

What was the agreement? If they contracted with you all the sessions, they are obligated to finish with you or loose the money spent.

 

[Terminus]

I'd say as long as you get paid/credit for tracking, please the client and give them the tracks.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

To an extent, he has the right to do it anywhere he wants

You just answered your own question. Being professional means being above this sort of thing & not letting your emotions get to you. It sucks, and I really understand that it can seem hurtful. It sucks when it happens to me, too, but you just have to smile, give the client what they want, and move on.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

You just answered your own question. Being professional means being above this sort of thing & not letting your emotions get to you. It sucks, and I really understand that it can seem hurtful. It sucks when it happens to me, too, but you just have to smile, give the client what they want, and move on.

Yep this.

 

[jangoux]

Yeah, I am not against giving him. Just a little bit disappointed. The last couple of months have been a nightmare as far as scheduling goes, clients' patience seem to be shorter and sometimes recording many bands at the same time end up being a nightmare. It is like having 6, 8 different bosses with no patience at the same time. And i have 0 options as far as this career goes and the place where I live.

fenixdoido, ele nao quer o dinheiro de volta não, é mais o lance de ter perdido o trabalho mesmo. Se ele tivesse pedido o dinheiro, eu tava fodido

Fuck it..this issue ended up turning into something bigger and turned into a argument with my wife.

 

[Jind]

It's OK to be passionate about your work, but business is business - it's better to keep past and potential clients on good terms than to have them spreading the word about a unhappy result. A single unsatisfied client can cause more damage than many other mishaps. While not in this particular business, I am in a deliverable based career requiring me to keep my clients satisfied even though we all work for the same company.

As for turning into an argument with your wife - sorry to hear about that. Fights with spouses tend to never really be what you seem to be arguing about and tend to really be caused by some other underlying/unresolved issue. This too shall pass - if your passionate about your career choice keep plugging away - just always remember to treat business as business, nothing more, nothing less - clients come and they go, hopefully many more are satisfied than dissatisfied.

 

[if6was9]

Been there, bands expect you to somehow create time for them out of nowhere. I realised a while ago that bands don't care about whatever you do when they're not there, when they hire you they often assume you are their only priority. You've got to tell them when you are free and let them move things around to be able to use one of those spots, not the other way around.

All you can do in this instance is try to give the client tracks and keep things positive so it leaves the door open for them to work with you again.

 

[guitarguru777]

Glenn is 100% right. I have had this happen to me as well. In the new studio I am so booked (did 80 hours here last week) that some clients want their stuff to finish tracking elsewhere. You do what you have to do to get it done. They will still be coming back to mix. Just make sure they get DI's so if the guitar tone sucks you can fix it ....LOL