Studio charging

[Jayme]

O.k I'm new to this so i was wondering if anyone could help me (i'm not shore if this is the right forum but anyway..). How do you charge people for recordings? what i mean is, do you charge by song, by hour spent on the song, for a set amount of songs??

[Track Rat]

It depends. If someone only wants a couple of tunes, by the hour. If they have a larger project in mind, they can buy a lock out which is cheaper than the hourly rate.

[Jayme]

What dose Lockout mean??

[Track Rat]

They "buy" the studio in 8 hour blocks. A one day lock out costs a bit more per day than if they buy five days and so on.

[lykwydchykyn]

Most people will tell you to charge by the hour, but I can't tell you how many more projects I've done on a per-song or per-project basis (on either end of the deal). Most home and project studio guys work on the per-song or per-project basis, because they have low costs and generally work with people who have a very tight budget for a project. Most pro or semi-pro studios are going to charge by the hour, because every hour a client spends in the studio is an hour another client didn't spend in the studio.

The benefits of charging by the hour are obvious, but unless you have the quality to bring in clients who can afford to work by the hour, you may find yourself working for whatever people are willing to offer.

[leavings]

I suggest allowing your clients to choose between the various payscales mentioned in the previous post, at least initially. People who are well-rehearsed and don't need a lot of production will appreciate hourly rates; others may require more time and would prefer to pay by the song or project.

Superficially this may end up saving your clients money (which naturally means less money that you'll receive), but recognize that you don't have to charge everyone the same rate. If one of your prospective clients has ill-prepared, sloppy work that's going to require a lot of time and effort to produce, and they want to pay by the project because they know how many hours are necessary to get what they want, just give them a higher project rate.

Size your clients up; you can feel comfortable asking them about the details of their project. How prepared are they? How many songs are they going to record? Do they want a lot of effects? How many people are in the band? Once you know what you're getting into and the client has chosen a payscale that suits them, give them an estimate of what the entire project will cost. Remind them that it's only an estimate, but naturally try not to let the final cost exceed your estimate by too much.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Hope that helps.

Peter

[leavings]

And one more thing, use a contract...
for which you'll need to know how to spell.


Peter

[Jayme]

Giving the fact that i'm new, how much do you think i should charge an hour?

[Blue Bear Sound]

There's no way for people to tell you that from across the web... it depends entirely on your experience, and the going rate for studios in your particular area. Look up what some of the bigger boys are charging locally - use that as a starting point, then deduct for lack of comparable equipment, and lack of experience.

[timboZ]

Originally Posted by Blue Bear Sound

Look up what some of the bigger boys are charging locally - use that as a starting point, then deduct for lack of comparable equipment, and lack of experience.

You could end up recording and mixing for free just to get the experience.

[Massive Master]

Which is how a lot of people start out also. It's not necessarily a bad thing to get some experience AND build a reputation at the same time...

[Jayme]

When i said I'm new, I ment I have spent 3 years writing, recording, mixing and mastering songs for people in my free time, but this is the first time I'm going to be charging for it!

[Pro Tools User]

Like Blue Bear said, find out what other studio's in the area charge. Base your rates on the quality of work you have done in the past.

Sometimes I feel alot of people under charge for their talents and end up not getting business they might have if they charged a higher amount. If someone does not know your work or has never used your services before, see's that your rates are alot cheaper then the studio down the street. I would bet that, in their mind they are saying this studio must not put out quality work to be so cheap. Yep, they are at the other studio recording and your sitting there wondering why you are not as busy as you think you should be.

Dont charge to point of being cocky but dont cheat yourself thinking your making a name for yourself neither. In the end when your name is out there and your making money consistantly, remember your cheaper rates if you havent raised them is killing all the other studio owners. In my opinion not a cool ideal.

I have recently graduated from Audio/Video Production and have been tryin to land a part time gig at a few studio's around here and the response is they are not making the money to hire someone in, even if it is only part time. Smaller studios are basically putting the squeeze on the bigger studios and not really giving a damn about the future of studios period but are more concerned with making that quick buck. We all start somewhere but be aware of the impact that you have on your studio brothers.

Im rambling, lol so now Im gonna shut up. Charge a fair price and let your work speak for itself.

Peace

[dcwave]

I charge by the song. I figure about 1.5 hours per minute of song, I adjust my rate so that I get about $20-$25 per hour this way - but my clients and I don't have to feel rushed - also, I cater specifically to broke singer-songwriters and wanna be rockstar teens and do not make a living doing this but it pays for itself and lets me pay off my other bills and debt and buy goodies every now and then.


Something to keep in mind tho'... many states have certain rules about how you charge people - charging different rates for different people might be looked at price-fixing. To get around this set up a standard rate sheet, then when making the invoice apply a discount. YMMV