Whats a fair % for an engineer in your studio?

MetalWorks

MetalWorks

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Apr 19, 2007
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Sacramento, CA
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I am considering hiring an engineer to run my studio in the hours or days that I am not recording.

What is a fair percentage to pay/take?

Considering that the engineer doesn't own any of the gear or pay any of the bills.

I have been charging $25 per hour for a while now and am about ready to bump up to $30.

If I have another engineer working for me I was thinking of charging $30 per hour and paying him $20 per hour.

Does that seem fair?
 
I don't know if this helps, but the studio where I am interning charges $55 an hour. I asked one of the Engineers there (somewhat of a dick move I admit since for some salary is personal but meh...) what there take home was:

$15.

Needless to say I was shocked, but then again the overhead for this place is probably high.

So $20 sounds kick ass to me personally. What is that if you were working 40 hours a week? Like 40k or something?

I would think it's up to them if they are okay with the price, more experience probably wont be but I dunno.
 
The engineer would have some catching up to do and I am guessing he would be happy to make $20 per hour.

I'm just trying to gauge what seems right in accordance to me taking the $10 an hour.

And I was thinking that if I had him there shadowing/assisting during a session that I would pay him $10 per hour.

Most of his experience has been working with Radio Stations using Pro Tools LE and Cool Edit.

I think he has had some limited time in a real recording studio here and there but has been taking Recording Classes and Live Sound Classes at a Junior College for a few semesters and has taken the first two Pro Tools Certification Courses.
 
if I was single my studio would be covered in trash, I wouldn't have anything to eat and would probably be an alcoholic....luckily I've got a nice girl that helps me getting through running a studio ;)

Now I just need to make my money back.....what could take a couple of years (or more like 20-30 ;) )...
I'd be pleased if I'd be able to pay all my bills, insurances and the rent etc every month before I think about "making my money back" ;)
 
GuitarGodgt said:
So $20 sounds kick ass to me personally. What is that if you were working 40 hours a week? Like 40k or something?
Click to expand...

Just as a general guideline...

If you work 40 hours a week, and you work every week of the year except for two (50 weeks a year), you're working 40hrs/wk*50wks = 40*50hrs = 2000 hours in a year.

At $20/hour, that does come out to 40K. Of course, this neglects benefits and taxes, and other such fun stuff, but that needs to be figured out after the fact anyway.

Anyway... not a bad deal. I really need to stop looking into this as a possible career, it's getting more and more tempting with every minute of academic regulation bullshit to just jump ship once and for all and start doing audio forever.

Jeff
 
finish your course first.
You never know when you might need to fall back on it..
Trust me on that one
 
greyskull said:
finish your course first.
You never know when you might need to fall back on it..
Trust me on that one
Click to expand...

The degree is basically done, I'm just going through grad school for practically forever. Ph.D. in mathematics, probably at least a Master's in physics, possibly some CS if I can find a school that does COMPUTER SCIENCE and not SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, but there's just so much administrative bullshit that I don't know if I need to take a break (regain some energy but risk getting bored and going seriously bonkers) or keep myself so busy with interesting stuff that I can't notice how fucked up academia really can be (opposite of before, running the risk of burnout to save myself from losing more of my grip on reality), as I need to do one or the other and I sure as hell can't see any middle ground...

I'm sure this stuff will at least help pay some bills here and there, so I'm seriously thinking about at least part-timing as a studio nerd/mad scientist somewhere around these parts.

Jeff
 
Yeah, here in Kentucky, I could live high and mighty on 40K a year. Very comfortable. But I hear California has a higher price of living.
 
DSS3 said:
I couldn't imagine living comfortably off 40k a year - no way in hell.
Click to expand...

That's because you're in bloody Ventura. Come back to the real world and you can live comfortably off half that. I'm renting a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at $850/month and after sharing that with two roommates it's under $400 a month, utilities and internet included. After twelve months that's under five grand on the home. Spending $25 a day on food I'm up to fifteen grand. I'm fed and sheltered for not even half that in a big city (right by the medical center, too), and income tax doesn't touch me that low.

Jeff
 
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