Pricing

jeid

jeid

Terribad
Mar 9, 2009
1,966
4
38
41
Scotland
I know there was a thread about how much to charge not so long ago, but I'm looking for sort of specific advice.

Right now I'm doing demos for a band, still trying to make them sound as badass as possible though. They're good friends of mine and it's the first time I've charged a band for recording. I offered £60 a track.

Another couple of bands have gotten in touch since then and asked for recording. I'm good friends with one of them and said that since I'm just starting out, I'd do £60 a track but it's only cos I'm just starting and prices are likely to rise as I get more practise/confidence/get better etc.

Another band have asked me to record them and I've never ever heard them before. I reckon they'll take a fair bit of work. Is it really good business practise for me to be asking for more money from them because I think they'll suck?

I've been asked to record drums for a solo guys EP as well, 5 tracks. I spend aaaages on drums. I was thinking of charging £150 for the 5 tracks including quantizing and sampling.

I don't wanna rip people off and have people be like "Oh Jeid ripped me off... motherfucker"

I live in a small town so I wanna keep my options open for recording bands.
 
I think it depends on how much time you spend man.
Say if you spend a week mixing a song for a band i think 60 is cutting it short for yourself.

I charge around $200-$300 for a full day, and that will turn into more like 2 days just because if its not good enough in one day i will throw in a day because i don't want them to leave with something they hate(I also have a HEAP of spare time).
I will not be doing this when my profile rises, but for starting out it works and it makes sure customers are happy with what they get.
If I'm mixing a song i will mix until they really like the mix, even if it takes a few weeks.
So in the end my price isn't high.
And I think I'm one of the only people in my area offering recording services unless they want to travel to Melbourne to get something done, and then prices are much higher and they get much less time.

Find some places near you and compare your quality of records to theirs.
Charge accordingly to this IMO.

Obviously people won't pay an unknown guy what they would pay a reputable studio.
But don't destroy yourself on prices.
 
This guy is local and he's charging £20 an hour, I don't think he does much work. My ears hurt :(

http://studiograff.co.uk/Born to be Wild.mp3

http://studiograff.co.uk/Astro Dancer.mp3

http://studiograff.co.uk/Rosalea.mp3

He's got some nice gear too. Neumann mics, an Allen & Heath desk.

I'll need to think about it. £60 is mates rates pretty much. I got asked by the band I'm doing demos for just now to do an EP for them and to charge what I saw fit. So I don't feel bad about bumping up the prices for them now :p

I don't have a whole lot of time, I work full time, but I spend hours making sure things are right and that drums are sounding as good as I can get them etc. I'm not experienced enough to be demanding a big fee, but people are pleased with what I give them and I work to their needs.
 
Well sit down and work it out. £60 for recording track.

How many hours are you recording?
How many hours are you editing?
How many hours are you mixing?

More than 10 hours for everything? You are getting £6 an hour for a skilled job which is just above minimum wage.

I know the feeling I have done jobs were I have ended up getting paid £2-3 an hour in the end, the amount of hours I have put in. I would say charge flat fee £10 an hour. I don't know your setup, but at least people won't take the piss.

Several weeks after recording

"Oh I want to add a flute, and replace all toms with egg splats.....what do you mean I have to pay more? I paid you 20pence to record the song."

Etc etc
 
True, I haven't given a price yet, I was just hoping for some advice and this is all good. My drummer reckons I'm selling myself short.

For the demos (@£60 a track) that I'm doing just now, I'm making about £2-£3 an hour... haha. That sucks :( But I'm enjoying it a hell of a lot.

I'll need to think about it some more for sure :)
 
Recently i was gonna do some drum programming for a little dosh.I found many "onlinedrumrecording" services,most of them charged
from £100/track.so i thought charging £35-40 would be fair.
today i found one service in local classified who offered live drum tracking for £40/track! i checked his website,
everything is up to standard,decent playing ability,nice gear....i am now like - WTF?????
unlike me,he has to pay rent for his drum room,huge electricity bills,etc.... i mean cost of the "business" is quite high.why???
why is he doing that?
 
That's pretty ridiculous.

I do everything but track drums at home. I do drums on location, ie, in a rehearsal space etc and then edit them at home. I track guitars/bass/vocals here too.

The money I make, tbh, is just extra cash to upgrade bits of gear, pay for alcohol. I do it for fun, but maybe I should charge a few more quid. I should upload a clip of what I'm doing just now and you can tell me how much you'd pay for it?

EDIT/ And yeah, I stay right at the very north of Scotland, so living costs are low.
 
I wasn't fishing for compliments btw, but I appreciate the positive compliments on the songs.

I guess I didn't wanna charge too much and have nobody to work with. I need to re-assess.
 
This has been said numerous times, but the problem with charging a flat rate per track is that bands tend to drag the recording process into the extreme time-wise.
 
Charge an hourly fee; with a minimum hourly quota. So you can still make at LEAST the £60... by saying minimum of six hours work. But will probably end up getting more.
 
Whatever you feel your time is worth.

You have to make the distinction of whether you are trying to attract as many clients as possible, regardless of their finances or commitment, or if you are after guys who value your services and are willing to spend accordingly.

I've usually positioned myself in the latter category, and as well as sending me broke on occasion, it has generally provided me with bands that are much easier to work with. All these horror stories about morons in the studio... I don't really have any simply because I valued my time enough to put a stamp on it and weed out all the cocksmok... I mean time-wasters.
 
Ermz said:
All these horror stories about morons in the studio... I don't really have any simply because I valued my time enough to put a stamp on it and weed out all the cocksmok... I mean time-wasters.
Click to expand...

Haha, I lol'd.

Drew made sense though. Maybe I should charge a certain amount for say, 10 hours and then after that an hourly rate? That makes sense.
 
That's a decent way of putting restrictions on how much time in a day you're willing to spend.

My daily rate is booked in blocks of 8 hours, but if bands want to go over-time it turns into an hourly fee that really kicks in the diminishing returns. That way we avoid getting burned out in the studio every day, and if someone is really persistent to do it, at the very least I get compensated for feeling like shit after.

Mixing and mastering is per-song.
 
jeid said:
Haha, I lol'd.

Drew made sense though. Maybe I should charge a certain amount for say, 10 hours and then after that an hourly rate? That makes sense.
Click to expand...

No reason you need to make your default as high as 10 hours. Fuck that. Presumably we do this shit because we want it to be fun, and to be a way from not having to work a till in a supermarket.

10 hours, good band or no... that's gonna make your balls explode with fury.

With my band, I did all our recording and mixing for our first album. We did it in blocks of weekend days; and no evenings. So I would do a whole day for twelve hours (breaks in between still though) and nothing during the week.

Even doing that, I still got a bit burnt out.
 
Nice tracks man.
They're def. worth more than £60. Especially for the Scottish market [got the style DOWN].. they're good.

I'd be charging double, and people can suck it if they don't like it.
 
drew_drummer said:
No reason you need to make your default as high as 10 hours. Fuck that. Presumably we do this shit because we want it to be fun, and to be a way from not having to work a till in a supermarket.

10 hours, good band or no... that's gonna make your balls explode with fury.

With my band, I did all our recording and mixing for our first album. We did it in blocks of weekend days; and no evenings. So I would do a whole day for twelve hours (breaks in between still though) and nothing during the week.

Even doing that, I still got a bit burnt out.
Click to expand...

Yeah man, I meant 10 hours spread out, jesus, I did 8 hours on the drums alone for the two tracks recording, editing, triggering, leveling them out etc in one block. I was seeing grids and transients for days!

We did the guide guitars on a Thursday night followed by the drums straight after. I edited the shorter song in about 2 hours and took a bit longer on the other track, one of the fills fucked me up.

The other plan was to offer tracks at £80 a track for the first 3 songs and then £60 a track for anything after that. To try and entice people in. But there would be no hard and fast rule, I think doing it on a project by project basis might serve me well. If the band are shit and going to be a nightmare (lots of editing etc) then bumping up prices might be the best idea. If a band are good, can play their instruments etc, give them a fairer price.

At the end of the day, I'm doing this for fun and obviously, to fund my GAS. We all want nice toys in our studios :D

-Noodles- said:
Nice tracks man.
They're def. worth more than £60. Especially for the Scottish market [got the style DOWN].. they're good.

I'd be charging double, and people can suck it if they don't like it.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I really appreciate it.

This place has a lot to answer for. I do ask stupid questions from time to time, but I've read a fuckload of stuff on here.

Dan from My Minds Weapon also gave me a fuckload of good advice.

Are you based in Scotland yourself?
 
Ermz said:
Whatever you feel your time is worth.

You have to make the distinction of whether you are trying to attract as many clients as possible, regardless of their finances or commitment, or if you are after guys who value your services and are willing to spend accordingly.

I've usually positioned myself in the latter category, and as well as sending me broke on occasion, it has generally provided me with bands that are much easier to work with. All these horror stories about morons in the studio... I don't really have any simply because I valued my time enough to put a stamp on it and weed out all the cocksmok... I mean time-wasters.
Click to expand...

Absolute Fact.

Im trying to position myself in the same latter category.
Its far better for your career and for your health.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Melodeath
How much should I charge?
Replies
5
Views
671
Andy Sneap
Loren Littlejohn
L
L
Sample offer / some questions
Replies
0
Views
499
Andy Sneap
Lustrum
L
The Unavoidable
Recording a live performance
Replies
6
Views
503
Andy Sneap
MartijnPaauwe
M
jeid
Live Recording
Replies
3
Views
570
Andy Sneap
-Noodles-
N
jeid
How do you get credited?
Replies
2
Views
538
Andy Sneap
RedDog
R
Top Bottom
Back