Working with a bigger band for a discount

T

topsoul182

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Dec 18, 2009
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There's a band that wants to record with me that's toured all over the U.S. and is pretty popular in the midwest. They've talked to me about recording demos but they don't have a big budget (barely any.) My normal rates are $75 per song (8 hours of tracking.) They said they have another guy that will do $20 for 5 hours. From what I've heard from they're other demos the quality is not that great.

The only upside I can see to this is getting some publicity for recording with this band, but at $4 an hour I don't think its totally fair on my end. What would you guys do in my situation? Record this band for minimum pay and hope to get some other bands out of it or just tell em to screw off?


Here's one of my more recent recordings.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1950013/Bad News.mp3

Thanks for the opinion guys
 
I know some engineers work for dirt cheap when it's absolutely bound to bring new, better business. It can be a good move, but unfortunately, personally I can't afford whoring myself out if I want to even pay my rent. (That being said, if I was a millionaire, I'd work for free and only with bands I think are awesome, just to be a cunt.)

On the other hand, it's not really fair in terms of competition. Look at your situation: you're already cheap, and some schmuck is taking the gig because he doesn't even charge a third of that. That happens a hundred times a day in the business.
 
I wouldn't do anything for $4 an hour, let alone record bands... There's not enough time in a day for $4 an hour to be worthwhile.
 
I wouldn't do it.

I kept giving bands discounts because I wanted to do their recordings because I really liked them but I found it really took the enjoyment out of it when after such long, hard work I'd come out of it with so little. Like yourself, my regular rates are very cheap so it's not like it's expensive anyways at full price. I've stopped offering cheaper rates and everyone pays the same now and since I've done that I've not had any complaints. Either I do the gig and get a half decent wage or they go with someone else who's not going to do a very good job for cheaper. Every now and then if a band is doing a full length and taking alot of days then I'll cut them a little slack and round it down or give them an extra days tracking but only if they're doing alot of days like 2 weeks or something.

It's hard cause you want the work but you have to draw the line somewhere. You're super cheap already.

Are they on a label? If they are then they have enough to pay you properly at your rates, if they're not then maybe take what they have as deposit and get the rest when they've finished it, gives them some time to get the cash. You gotta remember aswell that your fee in total is only gonna work out at like 100-200$ a member which really isn't all that much.
 
Loren Littlejohn said:
Tell them to pound dirt and go to the other guy. Fucking $4 an hour? You can't even get a respectable hamburger for that.

Fucking assholes for real man.
Click to expand...

+1, your rates are already pretty cheap man, but that is just ridiculous. It is simple, if they want their shit to sound good they can pay a little more.
 
thanks guys this was my response

"What studio is it? I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to go that low, thats only $4 an hour. Would you ever work for $4 an hour?

I'd really love to work with you guys, I know it will turn out great and help both of us out but right now I can't work for that low. If your budget increases let me know and well set something up"
 
$4 per hour is just plain insulting. I'm surprised you'd even respond to that. Fuck that.
 
I was flattered that the band wanted to record with me because I've always looked up to one of the drummer, he's my age (20) but has always played in some big touring bands, I'm sure some people around here have heard of them. But $4 per hour is just pushing it
 
Haha yeah $4 is pretty cool :lol: Especially since you effectively get half the money (at max) after taxes and expenses. So it really is 1 or if you're lucky $2/hour. No matter how few dollars they've got, thats plain ridiculous. Perhaps they should work at some burger store for $1 per hour to try it out.
 
jipchen said:
Haha yeah $4 is pretty cool :lol: Especially since you effectively get half the money (at max) after taxes and expenses. So it really is 1 or if you're lucky $2/hour. No matter how few dollars they've got, thats plain ridiculous. Perhaps they should work at some burger store for $1 per hour to try it out.
Click to expand...

Somehow I think this four-buck-guy isn't really concerned about taxes :lol: Hell, he might have Waves Mercury too!
 
Here's a story:

As soon as a band mention 'another guy' to me in an attempt to undervalue my services, I cut communications & never work with them out of principle.

There's being conscious about one's finances, and there's being an utter tightwad. The latter just isn't worth dealing with at all. You don't want to engage in a creative process with somebody who only sees the bottom line.
 
Ermz: Sometimes the bottom line is the bottom line. And there are reasons for being thrifty (one being that tour-money is more important than demo-recording money).

I think the OPs reaction is much smarter business-wise than yours. Mentioning another guy is just a standard negotiation-tactic or even just a naive way of telling you that there is competition for this job. If you react like you do, you lose potential future customers (plus negative word of mouth: "that shitty Ermin never even got back to me, he's totally unreliable and stole my guitar. He also killed my cat!").

Of course if you are fully booked, making a good living, you can do whatever you want ...
 
smy1 said:
Ermz: Sometimes the bottom line is the bottom line. And there are reasons for being thrifty (one being that tour-money is more important than demo-recording money).

I think the OPs reaction is much smarter business-wise than yours. Mentioning another guy is just a standard negotiation-tactic or even just a naive way of telling you that there is competition for this job. If you react like you do, you lose potential future customers (plus negative word of mouth: "that shitty Ermin never even got back to me, he's totally unreliable and stole my guitar. He also killed my cat!").

Of course if you are fully booked, making a good living, you can do whatever you want ...
Click to expand...

Agreed. Cutting communication is my number one pet peeve in this business. You can be strict and frank, just answer something.
 
I'm talking about the inquiries that immediately reference the 'friend', 'relative' or 'acquaintance' who has a 'full pro tools system and all the waves plug-ins' and will allegedly do it for a completely unsustainable fee. Ultimately it's just a waste of time.

Even when the prospective client sounds legit, many times you can write up a very detailed quote sheet only to never hear from them again. That's about how 50% to 70% of my e-mail interactions go. To further waste your time with someone who obviously has skewed priorities from the outset just isn't worth it IMO.
 
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