My rates are $75 per song for 8 hours of tracking and if it runs longer than 8 hours I charge $10 an hour for overtime. I usually edit drums while the band is there or on break. I'm basically charging $10 an hour at minimum. If I'm working on an Ep with 5 songs, the bands get 40 hours to track before overtime kicks in, but it usually ends up around 25-30 hours. In that case I'm making a bit more than $10 an hour
Working with a bigger band for a discount
- Thread starter topsoul182
- Start date
Jarkko Mattheiszen
The FU guy.
I charge per day for everything except mastering. When mixing I always want to see the material beforehand to evaluate how long it'll take, and I'll give the band a package price based on that, because that's what bands want to see. They don't want surprises. I know my workflow well enough to give accurate quotes.
DanLights
Santa Hat Forever
Ermz said:
Not beneficial for bands, put yourself in their shoes, they're not gonna like not knowing how much they're gonna pay until after it's done. As Jarkko, it's important to know the material and musicians beforehand and give an estimate, just calculate in your favor so if it ends up shorter than expect, better for you
Edit: sounded like I was trying to tell you what to do, obviously not my intention, it's just my take on things.
$4/hr? Fuck that man. They are taking advantage of you plain and simple. If they are as successful as you say, they might not be rolling in dough, but they can sure as hell afford more than that. Just as they seem to be able to afford to buy the gas that gets them to shows. I'm all for doing someone a better deal if they are short if you feel it's the right thing to do, but I'd rather pass than have someone make me their bitch.
I've been battling with how to price for a while now but the only way that makes sense to me at this point is to charge hourly or by block for tracking/editing as that is really dependent on their skill and then charging a flat rate for mixes as time spent is dependent on my skill. That and if I want to spend more time on a mix because I feel it can be better I don't have to worry about someone feeling like I am riding the clock out just for the sake of $.
jipchen
ForesterStudio
While we're on this topic: How do you guys deal with charging per day?
If the band comes in for only 2 hours to finish some solos or overdubs, do you then calculate the amount per hour or are you telling them beforehand "a day at the studio is $ XXX and has 8 hours, if you only use 2/3/4... the full day will be charged nevertheless"?
I like the per day calculation because it's easier for them to calculate the rough costs (even though one should think they know what's 8 x (rate per hour) = daily rate), but there are often days where you only track for a few hours and it kinda sucks then. Thinking of charging per hour for tracking and editing in the future.
If the band comes in for only 2 hours to finish some solos or overdubs, do you then calculate the amount per hour or are you telling them beforehand "a day at the studio is $ XXX and has 8 hours, if you only use 2/3/4... the full day will be charged nevertheless"?
I like the per day calculation because it's easier for them to calculate the rough costs (even though one should think they know what's 8 x (rate per hour) = daily rate), but there are often days where you only track for a few hours and it kinda sucks then. Thinking of charging per hour for tracking and editing in the future.
Ive been thinking about the same question too. I was thinking that < 3 hours have it hourly and 4-7 hours be the day, but I could see bands getting mad about that saying they didn't use a full day. But my reasoning would be whether they're there for 2 hours or 7 hours I have that whole day dedicated for that specific band
Scott Horner
Scottimus Maximus
I'm about to record a 10 song album for a guy for $100/song. The only reason I'm doing it for that cheap is because he's just a single person (singer/songwriter) and I know it might be hard for him to come up with more by himself and I want his business. I make exceptions in cases like this. However, if it were an actual band, there is no way I would charge that little. You have to think that if you are recording a 5 piece band and only charging $75 per song, that's only $15 per person, per song. Unless they are paying in foods tamps, that's fucking ridiculously low. There should be no problem for them to come up with a few hundred each for a good recording.
jipchen
ForesterStudio
Exactly, that's what I forgot to write: If you allow them to be at the studio for 2 hours once, they will do it everyday. I already had that happen, the band wasted like 14 of my days but if you added the hours it would've been only six days with 8 hours of tracking. I really really don't want to do that again. That's why I switched to daily rate in the first place..
THat <3 and >3 thing sounds logical, but as you said they will bitch if its 3,5 hours or even 4. Fact is the studio can't be booked by another client on that day and so you basically waste your time and get no money. On the other hand for some clients it's hard to be in the studio everyday for 8 hours.
In the last two contracts I had the daily rate and the "doesn't matter how long (as long as it's not more than 8 hours), you pay the daily rate if you come in" and they didn't complain about it. I could always change to hourly if a day is real short and they are cool people. But it feels strange, perhaps it's my german blood (
) but I want everything black on white and no exceptions (with no evidence if the shitstorm actually gets you).
Uros
Sonic Incision
Charge per song for mixing (which depends on a project; I also take amount of editing that will be required into account), and charge per block (4 and 8 hrs blocks), that's how I roll.
For tracking I rent a room at a studio, so that's the main reason why charging per block, (because when I book it, the studio can't have other clients, hence loosing money, so they don't charge per hour), but it actually is really not bad idea. If we track 4.5 hrs I charge like it's 4 hrs, but if we end up tracking like 6-8 that's whole 1 day block. Would not want loosing whole day over 1.5 hrs of recording solos or something, fuck that.
For tracking I rent a room at a studio, so that's the main reason why charging per block, (because when I book it, the studio can't have other clients, hence loosing money, so they don't charge per hour), but it actually is really not bad idea. If we track 4.5 hrs I charge like it's 4 hrs, but if we end up tracking like 6-8 that's whole 1 day block. Would not want loosing whole day over 1.5 hrs of recording solos or something, fuck that.
crillemannen
Member
@ Jipchen
I agree with you man.That is important. I always tell the bands that they book by the day. If they show up 2hours late then it is their loss, not mine. You set the rules and set them wisely. You try to run a business, atleast I try to. Then you can't fool around.
When it is only a mix then it is easier to charge per song or per album. If it is something that needs corrected (bad edits, reamps etc) I contact the band and tell them how much it will cost them additional to the fixed rate.
I agree with you man.That is important. I always tell the bands that they book by the day. If they show up 2hours late then it is their loss, not mine. You set the rules and set them wisely. You try to run a business, atleast I try to. Then you can't fool around.
When it is only a mix then it is easier to charge per song or per album. If it is something that needs corrected (bad edits, reamps etc) I contact the band and tell them how much it will cost them additional to the fixed rate.
Genius Gone Insane
http://www.¯\(°_o)/¯.com
Sure you get that, but by recording for free you're also getting top dudes asking about you. My break came from recording a band for free (they bought me gas and pizza).
^^Yes serious and yes, you speak truth, some parts are missing upstairs (Republicans tell me that all the time).
Completely agree, you book by the day. If someone comes in and does a few hours the day is now useless for you to everyone else. I've had bands show up a few hours late with no great reason (being hungover isn't a good reason!) and not once given them a few quid off for not using the full day.
I hate doing a record in small sessions of a few hours, it takes forever and the focus is never 100% there. It never works out well for the engineer financially either as you spend so much time editing and prepping the sessions over such a long time.
DanLights
Santa Hat Forever
Recording for free is better than for 4$/hour in my opinion, and from what I´ve read I´m not the only one on that. Recording for free makes it clear it´s a one-off thing, and you usually don´t go cheap.
Just curious though, are you now charging a lot? or still lowballing after your "break"?
No offense intended, it´s a genuine question
I'm not trying to become a full time AE, so I price per project just as a nice simple way to lay it out for bands. I usually charge 100 bucks a song to mix/master, and if they record with me or the studio I work with, then they pay the day rate for recording. If I do a 5 song demo, I'll make 500 bucks. Sometimes I end up making 5 bucks an hour, sometimes 10 bucks an hour once the work is done and the time tallied. But I have a day job and it's flexible, so I can do a lot of studio editing at my day job. I also probably make more than 99.99999% of the AE's around here make with studio work being their only source of income, so I can charge less, do this in my "off time" and still pay rent. I don't see how people doing this as a full time job can NOT charge at least 50 bucks an hour if they have a nice studio. I'm kinda glad I do it my way, lol. I don't envy people working full time in the biz these days.
Genius Gone Insane
http://www.¯\(°_o)/¯.com
Good question... No, still not charging a lot. But yes charging more than before because I've done XXX band.
egan.
daylightdies.com
