What do you charge?

[slo77y]

Hey guys!

I know, difficult topic; and hugely dependend on the factors of the production; but by estimate, what do you charge for full production?


I live in germany so we have euro here, in full production i charge 250-300€ (311 - 373$) per Song, including Recording, Editing, Mix & Master.
Sometimes more, often times less.

Other buisness model is 30€ (37$) for my time, whatever i do. But i work rarely per hour. (and thats a big mistake, i know)


As a couple thousand come together for a full production, bands (that i record) tend to think it is a huge amount of money, and sometimes claim its too expensive.

I feel that this is the bare minimum of money you NEED, to be able to make a professional production without starving during the time you are working on it. To be completley honest, i usually run out of money 1-2 weeks before the thing is finished.



So, balls out, what do you charge? And please, be honest.



Im currently thinkin, maybe i should become a full-time FOH Engineer, as it seems to be a lot easier to earn money with that. (at least in my experience)

 

[Trevoire520]

Hey dude, I'm in about the same ballpark as you, £300 per song for full production, unfortunately studio costs eat up 40% of that, so it doesn't leave much for me.

It's definitely easier to earn doing live sound, I have no problems getting £100 a night doing that, though for me it's typically only weekend gigs, and it's nor unusual to have no work for 2 weeks then suddenly 3 different venues all want you on the same night!

 

[crillemannen]

I've been doing this part time for about 5years and I'll try to charge 540euro for 1 song full production, mix and master excluding VAT. When I record a full album say 4 weeks total I'm not that inclined giving a discount because that is just way to much work. And i'll try charge 215euro/day ex VAT when I record.

But as all people know trying to work in the audio business it's sometimes less. I feel I've reached the peak of what I can charge unless I make it big, working with the bigger names in the business.


Btw.. Does anyone know what Sneap charges for mixing an album?

 

[Arsenu,]

Hey guys!

I know, difficult topic; and hugely dependend on the factors of the production; but by estimate, what do you charge for full production?


I live in germany so we have euro here, in full production i charge 250-300€ (311 - 373$) per Song, including Recording, Editing, Mix & Master.
Sometimes more, often times less.

Other buisness model is 30€ (37$) for my time, whatever i do. But i work rarely per hour. (and thats a big mistake, i know)


As a couple thousand come together for a full production, bands (that i record) tend to think it is a huge amount of money, and sometimes claim its too expensive.

I feel that this is the bare minimum of money you NEED, to be able to make a professional production without starving during the time you are working on it. To be completley honest, i usually run out of money 1-2 weeks before the thing is finished.



So, balls out, what do you charge? And please, be honest.



Im currently thinkin, maybe i should become a full-time FOH Engineer, as it seems to be a lot easier to earn money with that. (at least in my experience)

Hey man, I also live in Germany and I used to be in your position once charging some ridiculous 200€ per song or so, until I realized what a huge mistake it was, and i'll tell you why.

Eventually what it all comes down to is deciding what VALUE your services have in the clients eyes, and you are the one who makes that decision.
To clarify my point i'll give you an example:
If I told you you have a choice between 2 cars - One costs 1000€ and the other 100000€, what would most likely immediately assume that the second car is a lot "better" than the first one, despite the fact that i didn't tell you ANYTHING about it.
The second car could be a piece of junk that's not worth the money at all, but whoever ends up buying that car will find hold it more valuable than the guy who buys the first car (assuming they can both afford it), since for that guy is expecting to get his moneys worth.


Same principle applies for your services.
Do you want to be that guy the serious bands go to? or the guy who records bands who wrote their second song last week?
Serious musicians won't mind dropping and extra grand or even more as long as they know they will get the value for their money, and they would rather go to the producer who charges a bit more than the market price if it means getting a good product. You'll also find out those kind of bands are more reliable, play better, are more fun to work with and will also trust your word more since they are PAYING FOR IT.

My advice to you is to change your quotes to an estimated hourly rate per recording time (and don't forget it's ESTIMATED, meaning if it will take longer you get paid more, meaning the clients are going to PRACTICE).
Mixing and mastering can be done for a flat-rate as you're the only one who knows how long it takes you, though that's just my opinion.
Mastering shouldn't go below 50€/song and mixing can range between 100€-300€, but not less than that.
Note that some engineers charge the same hourly rate for mixing and do it with the client. it's a good strategy as the client will always be happier and you will get paid more, but the mixes will almost always sound like crap.
I know a high-end studio in Berlin where the owner does that and though he gets paid extremely well and the clients always return, the results are nothing above mediocre.

Hope that helps,
viel erfolg

 

[mva801]

I've never charged per song. I charge $200-$250 per day (10 hour day) for my services alone. $300 per day if it's at my studio.

Sometimes if I'm just mixing I'll charge, say, $75 per song. But I usually go into it knowing about how long it will take.

 

[Clockwork]

I try and charge per day whatever I think I can get away with and still keep the gig if it's a gig worth keeping. Constantly being undercut by people who will do a shitty job for free makes it hard to keep concrete rates. :/