How much work do you get?

[Erik Monsonis]

1- Bedroom "studio", about 500€/month total income. That is a couple of demos per month. Some months I get to mix a long EP or even some albums, but that's not the most common thing.

2- If my flatmates want to charge me for using my room as mixing room (with cans) I'll kick their balls!

3- Released a couple label albums, and few demos that were successful in Spain, so I get most of my jobs from that, then MySpace and a couple of forums (including this one of course).

4- Never charged VAT to the clients, mostly because I don't want to declare myself as a self-managed worked or whatever it's called in English, cuz goverment would try to suck every single penny I make, and as a college student I'm very broke, my parents can barely pay the tuitions and I pay for my rent, so I say fuck Spanish government!

4a- Fuck Spain. If they gave decent scholarships to study abroad I wouldn't need to work my ass off and study at the same time. Got 0€ from them till now.

5- Ask for 50% before actually putting your hands on the tracks, then the other 50% before they put their hands on the masters.

Cheers!

 

[CatharsisStudios]

1 3-4 bands a month persay
2. bedroom ( i has 2 roomz though :3
3. WORD OF MOUF
4. :\ not legit yet
5. DO NOT OVER BOOK

 

[Harry Hughes]

Fuck yeah, I've gotten one whole demo EP for a friend that I'm gonna get paid like, 100 bucks for when it's finally done Obviously I'm just a bedroom guy. I'm not really one of those "Cracked plug ins ZOMG" kinda guys, I mainly just fuck around with stuff for my own enjoyment.
Apart from just doing some cheap ass demos for the odd friend who don't have access to real drums and stuff, which is way beyond a semi pro/pro would want to be doing anyway, I figure it's not really my business to go around stating that I'm more capable of that and trying to steal market share off the bigger guys, so I'll just stick to some ultra low end shit for now

 

[lolzgreg]

I'm a bedroom mixer. I currently have 14 projects lined up.

I live with my parents- I'm only 21. I'm saving up money to build a studio.

I make sure every client is more than happy and that everyone can hear my work.

Never compromise, no matter how small the project. If you took it on, put your all into it.

 

[brianhood]

1. How much work are you getting (specify if you have your own studio or if you're a bedroom mixer).
I have my own studio, set inside a 2600sq ft building that was originally built as a cabinet shop. I'm currently (over)booked solid from now to july

2. Do you own your own studio premises or are you renting?
Renting, although the landlord is all for letting me build whatever i want inside here.

2a. If renting, how to you get by when you've had a quiet month?
I've only been at this building for 4 months, and i paid 6 months rent in advance, so this hasn't been an issue yet fortunately.

3. What do you do to generate business?
word of mouth i suppose. I don't advertise

4. Tax! Do you try to avoid the taxman or are you 100% legit?
100% legit. Every little scrap of income is accounted for in a receipt book, as well as every single expense, which is all given to my accountant at the end of the year.
4a. Do you try to avoid paying tax when it comes to small jobs?
Nope. I'm trying to get a home loan within the next year or two, so i need my taxable income to be as high as possible.

5. Any other tips?
As ryan so elegantly put it, DONT OVERBOOK. Pulling 90 hour weeks is not a fun thing...ever.

 

[Ermz]

I think this thread needs Joey to come in and tell us about what overbooking truly means.

 

[jangoux]

Hey guys, just a couple of interesting questions.

1. How much work are you getting (specify if you have your own studio or if you're a bedroom mixer).

2. Do you own your own studio premises or are you renting?
2a. If renting, how to you get by when you've had a quiet month?

3. What do you do to generate business?

4. Tax! Do you try to avoid the taxman or are you 100% legit?
4a. Do you try to avoid paying tax when it comes to small jobs?

5. Any other tips?

1- I have my own bedroom studio AND work at a pro studio. The bedroom is for my rock projects and the pro studio i get most of brazilian crap music work. Lately i am getting a good quantity of projects on my bedroom studio and some stuff on the pro-studio, but it comes and goes. When it comes, my boss wants me to work at a rate i need to skip some steps (not enough editing, not enough RIGHT vocal tuning...) to have it completed by the deadline.

2- I dont pay rent, but my bills get all fucked up. I earn almost the exact amount to pay all my bills, and when i dont earn enough, i get screwed. This is why I am back at college to earn my degree

3- Word of mouth.

4- In Brazil I am not required to pay taxes as I dont have my own studio yet.

5- Dont see need for that.

Any tips? If you're coming to work on a pro studio, make sure your boss makes contracts for everything, make him sure you need time to work and SAVE money, specially if you have family. Gear is great but paying bills is more important.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

2- I dont pay rent, but my bills get all fucked up. I earn almost the exact amount to pay all my bills, and when i dont earn enough, i get screwed. This is why I am back at college to earn my degree

So true...

 

[avrinder]

Gear is great but paying bills is more important.

agreed. I wish I had more gear, but I get by with what I have now...no complaints from my clients. (yet haha)

 

[avrinder]

1. Bedroom mixer. I'm on average getting 2-3 clients a month. Nothing too big, project wise. demos, or 3-4 songs for a split release.

2. I record at the bands' jamspot, and little things at my place.

3. Word of mouth. I recorded my friends recently, the local scene dug it. I'm getting decent business now.

4. No taxes yet. Legit software though

5. Any other tips? Be honest/hard-working, yet easy going. I've heard recent clients tell me their past experiences with recording sucked, and that I changed their perception of it all. It means a lot.

 

[::XeS::]

Oh...I forgot the say that in Italy, if you have a garage or a basement, and you wanna build your studio there....it's not that simple. Most of the times, you can't use them like a commercial activity because a garage/basement doesn't have the habitability. Otherwise you have to have a safety standard electrician system, a toilet inside, all the security standards, etc... you understand that all these shit are very expensive. And it seems that you can't make your home toilet like the commercial activity toilet.
And of course it's the same if you build a studio inside you home, with additional wall, wood frames, etc... So it's very easy to do a legit activity if you can do it in your bedroom without a problem.

 

[cloy26]

1. Bedroom mixer. I'm on average getting 2-3 clients a month. Nothing too big, project wise. demos, or 3-4 songs for a split release.

2. I record at the bands' jamspot, and little things at my place.

3. Word of mouth. I recorded my friends recently, the local scene dug it. I'm getting decent business now.

4. No taxes yet. Legit software though

5. Any other tips? Be honest/hard-working, yet easy going. I've heard recent clients tell me their past experiences with recording sucked, and that I changed their perception of it all. It means a lot.

This is pretty much me. I try to fit in bands between going to school and work and writing my own music. Well, except I have people come over because I hate traveling with all my mics and gear and shit.

 

[>>>GENZ<<<]

Cool thread.I got dumb question.
How exactly you advertise on myspace? spamming every band in your area? PM them with links?
or am I missing something about myspace?

 

[::XeS::]

Spam with some kind of banner, but initially you can send private message to one band that has to record something.After that, if you do a good work, they will speak with other bands,etc...
Anyway a good spam, also writing about your studio activities, is a good starting point.

 

[SkybluestudiosBEN]

1. How much work are you getting (specify if you have your own studio or if you're a bedroom mixer).

I work roughly about 6-15 days a month, Im in a commercial building recording studio

2. Do you own your own studio premises or are you renting?

I am Renting

2a. If renting, how to you get by when you've had a quiet month?

Think positive

3. What do you do to generate business?

Positive Thinking and word of mouth and myspace

4. Tax! Do you try to avoid the taxman or are you 100% legit?

100% legit
4a. Do you try to avoid paying tax when it comes to small jobs?
NO

5. Any other tips?

Raise your prices so us studios can actually charge what we feel is fair instead of undercharging to survive.

 

[Paulie!]

Quick question.. for those of you that are 100% legit.. i assume your paying taxes at the end of the year correct?

-Paul

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Quick question.. for those of you that are 100% legit.. i assume your paying taxes at the end of the year correct?

-Paul

Monthly, based on the estimate I give the tax collector. At the end of the year it's evened out.

 

[digitaldeath]

So how many here actually earn a living from their work?

 

[greyskull]

Work out of other studios...
other than little editing tasks i do at home.
Make enough to pay all my bills. (renting apartment etc )
100% legit.
Don't want to get caught with your Tax pants down.