How much do you charge?
- Thread starter ahjteam
- Start date
i might be doing a full-length this summer for a band i'm trying to join...but i'm going to make it very clear that if i record the album and am in the band, the rest of the members are paying me. if they don't have me do it they'd be paying someone else to do it regardless, and recordings of the quality they want won't come cheap.
honestly i probably won't even charge them a rate - i'll just tell the other 4 guys to all pitch in and get me a new quadcore PC and call it even! :Smokin:
I absolutely agree, a lot of studios with high end gear have crappy end results, but that is for the band as a consumer to do the shopping. As far as being in the shoes of a band, I have been there. My comment above was mostly geared to the engineers on here that make great recordings, not beginners just starting out. If you make good records, (RYAN) you should follow through accordingly with a price of a good recording. 400 dollars a day is very reasonable IMO, a good band should be able to get a song or 2 done in a day. If they cant then they aren't ready to record. Here in Nashville studios go as high as 3000 dollars a day to track and 5000 dollars a day to mix. I am not trying to say someone with M-Audio monitors and an untreated room running a firepod should charge 500 dollars a day. I am trying to say if you have good recordings, you should respect your own work and charge accordingly regardless of gear. Don't underrate yourself guys, if you believe you have good recordings, you should charge like you have good recordings. If you think your clients are getting what they pay for, they will too. I promise. I just feel that so many people nowadays just lower the standards of the industry and think are low balling prices it to get some clients. Theres 100000s of bands out there and a lot of them are serious and are trying to make a career out of it and are 100% willing to pay 400 dollars a day. Most entry studios here in Nashville charge 400-600 a day plus the cost of an engineer, at least the ones I've been in.
jipchen
ForesterStudio
Ha! I'm just booked for the first time by a paying customer.
Until today i only recorded my own band, a friend's solo project and a friend's band for free (they bought me some t-shirts and gig tickets, though).
And yesterday a band contacted me, they want a 5-song EP (pop-punk) and liked my samples.
I had no clue how much i should charge so i read this thread and was like... "eerrrrrm 40€/Song for tracking + 20€/Song for mixing?".
And 5 minutes later they said "OK, we do it. See ya next week".
I guess the price is okay to me because there's programmed drums and they won several live-contests so I guess they can play their tracks pretty good. Think we will need about 5 days.
Noooiicceeeeee
I'm fucking excited and happy. Gotta write a contract or something, i don't want to get buttraped..
Until today i only recorded my own band, a friend's solo project and a friend's band for free (they bought me some t-shirts and gig tickets, though).
And yesterday a band contacted me, they want a 5-song EP (pop-punk) and liked my samples.
I had no clue how much i should charge so i read this thread and was like... "eerrrrrm 40€/Song for tracking + 20€/Song for mixing?".
And 5 minutes later they said "OK, we do it. See ya next week".
I guess the price is okay to me because there's programmed drums and they won several live-contests so I guess they can play their tracks pretty good. Think we will need about 5 days.
Noooiicceeeeee
I'm fucking excited and happy. Gotta write a contract or something, i don't want to get buttraped..
scorpio01169
Member
The last band I was in I asked them to help me out on some compressors so we could record and they said no..because..they would be mine after the recording and why should they buy stuff that will belong to me afterward. I then suggested that we all pitch in and go to another studio. They kicked me out. I don't play in a band now but if i were to ever play in a band again, I will keep my studio separate from the band.
Norris-wf
Member
I had the opposite experience to you now personally! Although things can get tricky, my mates were willing to pitch in for the greater good and get the recording good. I've since moved away and theres been no issues, although there were some tricky "events" in the past alright I'd rather forget! But I agree, Best bet is to always keep them seperate!
What I find hard about recording my own band is that since its for free, when I've alot of work I don't have time to work on it, but at the same time I can't turn down work to make time for it because I need all the money I can get to pay bills and eat and stuff!
I couldn't agree more. Most of the people around here who are undercutting just to get clients feel that there is an actual need for serious competition. What I've found to be more true is that the studios that do quality work have plenty of work lined up. I stay booked about six months out, and I NEED for there to be several other studios to TAKE all the extra work that is available.
You should charge based on your skill level. This will take care of itself really though. If you're good, the work will come, and you'll have to start charging more.
Oh, and by "around here" I meant my city, not the forum, ha. I wasn't being snotty in the least.
Josh Bodnar
New Metal Member
These days nobody wants to pay for a quality recording. Especially when there are new guys out there who have a cheap setup charging $40 per song. Personally I charge between $150-$200 per song and that still is not enough. I'm reconsidering my rates and planning a way to get the better bands that I deserve. I'm tired of consistently getting very poor musicians that have not practiced very much for their sessions.
BTW, I live in Cleveland, Ohio and the music scene in my opinion is not doing so hot. Unless you are into dubstep. I typically record metal bands but I want more experience with other genres.
Where should I move?? Im thinking Chicago maybe?
BTW, I live in Cleveland, Ohio and the music scene in my opinion is not doing so hot. Unless you are into dubstep. I typically record metal bands but I want more experience with other genres.
Where should I move?? Im thinking Chicago maybe?
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
I've hit the point where if the band isn't willing to pay, then I just don't do it. Audio Engineering isn't may day job, but it's slowly starting to slip in there...
As it stands though, I track for $150 a day (8 hours), Mix $100 per song and as I know my limits for mastering it's only about $20 per song etc, but that adds up for an EP/ Album and so on! When I get more work/ better I'll definitely raise that price, but I'm not there yet.
As much as I love doing it, it's STILL work.. and it has to be treated that way. And at least locally, I've proven my worth enough so I don't deal with the, 'He will do it cheaper etc etc'. Then I just say go there and I hope you're happy with the end result
As it stands though, I track for $150 a day (8 hours), Mix $100 per song and as I know my limits for mastering it's only about $20 per song etc, but that adds up for an EP/ Album and so on! When I get more work/ better I'll definitely raise that price, but I'm not there yet.
As much as I love doing it, it's STILL work.. and it has to be treated that way. And at least locally, I've proven my worth enough so I don't deal with the, 'He will do it cheaper etc etc'. Then I just say go there and I hope you're happy with the end result
::XeS::
Member
I still charge 250€/song all inclusive. 100€/song for mix/master. Doin' it for free is cool for the first work you do, but after that you don't have to sell yourself.
The bad thing is that if everybody do it for free, these jobs will start to disappear. Now bands have recordings for free, photos for free, artworks for free....so engineers, photographers and graphics are becoming more and more useless in terms of earnings.
Some months ago a band asked to my girlfriend if she can do a photosession...she said "50€!"....and they went with another guy that did the session for free. Now, I mean seriously, 50€/5 are 10€/person.... you can't invest 10€ for a cool photosession when you spend at least 50€/night at the pub? Same with recordings...you move gears, you use your own (paid) equipment, your experience...for what? I charge because time is money, I don't want to loose my free time doing something for free, for some moron maybe.
The bad thing is that if everybody do it for free, these jobs will start to disappear. Now bands have recordings for free, photos for free, artworks for free....so engineers, photographers and graphics are becoming more and more useless in terms of earnings.
Some months ago a band asked to my girlfriend if she can do a photosession...she said "50€!"....and they went with another guy that did the session for free. Now, I mean seriously, 50€/5 are 10€/person.... you can't invest 10€ for a cool photosession when you spend at least 50€/night at the pub? Same with recordings...you move gears, you use your own (paid) equipment, your experience...for what? I charge because time is money, I don't want to loose my free time doing something for free, for some moron maybe.
mva801
Member
- Nov 18, 2009
- 1,870
- 13
- 38
I charge $20 an hour. Wether I'm using my own gear, or at a studio, mixing, mastering, tracking and editing. All $20 an hour. If I did something like $200 per song, I'd end up working for $6 an hour. Fuck that I don't know how you guys do it. Maybe it's not a big source of income for lots of you, but engineering is how I make 70% of my money.
This stuff is tricky and honestly doing flat rates for tracks is a good way it seems to screw yourself. I'm currently working on 2 projects simultaneously so differences are really obvious to me right now. At this point I'm thinking charge tracking tracking by the hour and mixing at a flat rate is the way to go. Tracking speed is dependent on them, mixing speed is dependent on you for the most part.
Some of you and your charging though... wow. Although I suspect some of you probably have no $$$ nice gear and use a lot of amp sims and stuff. Which there is nothing wrong with that but when one channel of my tracking is running through $5k+ of gear there is no way in hell I'm tracking someone for these prices some of you are talking about.
Some of you and your charging though... wow. Although I suspect some of you probably have no $$$ nice gear and use a lot of amp sims and stuff. Which there is nothing wrong with that but when one channel of my tracking is running through $5k+ of gear there is no way in hell I'm tracking someone for these prices some of you are talking about.
KHE
Member
if i would work in this buissnes, this would be my way to go i think.
i think when they have to pay tracking by hour, they will practise their parts more because they see the the total price rising consantly. if you charge by song, didn`t they think they can record each part 1000x until "perfection" instead of practising?
Erik Monsonis
Member
My rates are usually around 1500-2000€ per album (mixing and mastering only, no tracking). The actual price always depends on the number of songs, length and so on.
Right now I'm charging £150 + VAT a day. Anyone whos asks if I can "do a quick demo for £50" gets told to kindly fuck off.
If you truly read the thread, most of the dudes with the lower prices are a.) still learning, b.) have other jobs to pay the bills and do the AE thing on the side.
In the end it doesn't matter what kind of signal chain it runs through, sims and programmed drums or a 5K setup, etc. If the end result of the guy with no money in his setup sounds better than the guy with the 5K signal chain, what does that really say about the guy with the 5K signal chain
I don't mean that as a slam, either, I know plenty of laptop dudes who turn out a product that people rave about.And, really, any band worth their salt will go to the person who they think will give them the best recording at the best price. It is what it is.
I don't do a lot of projects these days unfortunately, lol. Even at dirt cheap prices, bands in the style I work in dont have any money, so they do everything themselves with sims and programmed drums, have a friend, or dont record.
I don't setup tracking anymore, I take the bands that want to track to a real studio and they pay the day rate for the studio (~240-350) and myself. Then a flat per song rate to mix and master.
