Clients showing up late...

[B36arin]

I've had a lot of this recently. Somebody books a session at 11:00, and nobody turns up until 11:30. It's pretty annoying, because it means that we're going to be working later into the night. I work in a studio which charges pretty decent rates, so I usually work with professional projects and mostly really nice people, so I really don't mind staying a bit late. But clients booking me and not turning up until 30 minutes later is just plain annoying. I'm wondering how many of you guys get the same issues and if you're doing anything to prevent it.

 

[egan.]

Just let it be known that you bill from the booked time and make sure there is an email confirmation stating the time. You'll probably end up making some exceptions but it's still a good policy.

 

[amarshism]

It doesn't bother me. The session begins at the alotted time and doesn't go later because of it. I usually have some small jobs I can attend to in the mean time.

 

[zer0_c00l]

The band i've been doing normally shows up like 1hr or 1h30m late, I arn them and they suffered once because I had a band ready to rehearse right after they started lol

 

[if6was9]

Happens all the time. They have a window during the day to get their work in the studio done. If they are late they have less time to work. Simple as that!

Once had a band arrive 3-4 hours late because they were out the night before and were hungover. They had 2 days to do 3 songs. They brought it up when paying for it and I stood my ground, I was there and did as much setting up as I could prior to their arrival. It's their problem not yours.

Ever had a band show up really early to the studio to try squeeze more out of the day? I told a band come at 11 before and they arrived at 9.30. That was weird. I was in bed when they arrived!

 

[B36arin]

If we have other people booked later they get priority, of course, and if I'm working by the hour I always charge the full amount. But we usually only book full days in the studio. The guidelines say that a full day is 10 hours, but most of the time we need another hour or two to get the last stuff done. I've been considering being much stricter with the 10 hour rule if bands show up late, but then again that'd have an impact on the final result, which would make the rest of the day less meaningful. Charging for extra hours is another idea which we've been considering but haven't put into effect.

 

[if6was9]

Charge a higher overtime rate for after hours. Means they'll be keen to get it done within the cheaper timeframe and will be more inclined to show up on time

 

[crillemannen]

It doesn't bother me. The session begins at the alotted time and doesn't go later because of it. I usually have some small jobs I can attend to in the mean time.

+1

I have my working hours and if the band decide to come later (for all the lame reasons) then they are gonna have to pay me more if the recording takes longer then we set up for.

And to OP. Why work 10h?? I usually always work 8hours + 1h lunchbreak (which rarely is 1h) Those times i've gone over 9h then the results always suffer. Be efficient and work normal days if you are gonna have a healthy relationship with your job.

 

[B36arin]

And to OP. Why work 10h?? I usually always work 8hours + 1h lunchbreak (which rarely is 1h) Those times i've gone over 9h then the results always suffer. Be efficient and work normal days if you are gonna have a healthy relationship with your job.

The 10h includes a lunch break, which is usually one hour, so there's not that much of a difference between our days. 10h is just about breaking point for me, after that things aren't efficient and it's better to do it the next day. But we've been getting quite a bit of one day bookings lately, and getting the clients to book another day is usually too expensive. If I work from home or do stuff outside the studio I usually do slightly shorter days and charge by the hour, but most of my work at the moment is in the studio.

 

[B36arin]

I should probably mention that I'm mostly doing engineering at the moment, almost all projects which I do in the studio have an external producer. If I'm producing and have the final responsibility of the end product I'll always stop when things get too fatigued, which can vary from day to day.

 

[mva801]

I charge by the hour. If I'm there at noon, my billing starts at noon. I never really have much issue with this, as I'll always talk to the artists beforehand and will almost always have some setting up to do anyway. If you're charging roughly by "the day", you have to expect that there will be some spillover from earliness/ lateness/ and the sessions going overtime. It's like being a salaried employee. You know you'll have the odd bit where you don't get fully compensated.

 

[aortizjr]

Musicians are typically ALWAYS late. Usually there is always stuff to get going before they show up anyway. Booting things up, double checking mics, starting to get stands going, etc.

So there is plenty to keep me busy till they show up. And since I am working on things, I start billing and make that clear to them. I haven't run into a problem with that yet.

As far as hours, all depends on what is going on. I usually don't schedule bands back to back unless it is some really short stuff. But obviously the next band would get priority and the pay is hourly, so hours are hours. Day rates we go till the results suffer. Sometimes that is 8, 10, 14 hours. More hours usually means more breaks, so it works out.

 

[BLUElightCory]

Just establish the hours beforehand. If the start time is 10:00, the clock starts at 10:00 regardless of if the band has showed up. If there's work to do in the meantime, the engineer should take care of those things after the clock has started.

 

[ArthurD]

Follow these steps:
1) On the contract write that you bill from the booked time. (10 minutes of tolerance is fine)
2) Install a fucking huge digital clock that starts at the time.
3) BILL THEM!
4) If they arrive at time give them some cookies or a little quantity of beer.
5) This is band training!

PS: Do step 4 if the band member is playing tight. If not, electric shock him with a taser.

 

[miguelrx10d]

^^ i lol'ed

 

[Vicioushead]

Me too

 

[tempe]

We charge hourly and well the clock starts at the time the session is supposed to start, not when the band rocks up. Let them know that they're paying for time they aren't using and then they're surprisingly more punctual next time.

 

[Sloan]

Agree on how many days you aim for, get at least half of the money for said days up front, if not ALL MONEY - before even booking it. If you have been paid, they will most likely show up on time.

 

[jeid]

If a band turned up early, I'd literally piss my pants.

 

[Melb_shredder]

It doesn't bother me. The session begins at the alotted time and doesn't go later because of it. I usually have some small jobs I can attend to in the mean time.

^^^ This! Just because you show up late doesn't mean the clock didn't start ticking from the agreed time. For me it's usually 11-7. And if you show up at 1pm.. you're working til 7... and that's it. Otherwise overtime pay. That's how it goes.