Studio management tips?

[mystasynasta]

Hey guys. I'm running a studio out of my house that stays booked about 40-50 hours a week at $15/hr. I've been having issues with no shows and people owing money. I wanted to know if you guys had any tips or studio rules that you keep to prevent this from happening. I guess I'm having problems being "business-like." I also want to know what other rules you keep while people are in the studio. I currently don't allow smoking or drugs in the studio but I do allow alcohol. I also have been having problems with artists bringing girlfriends and friends into the studio while they record which is really distracting. What kind of rule do you have to prevent this? What rules do you keep for payment or cancellations? Do you keep all of the artists material on the computer or do you make the artists responsible for back up? Do you charge the artists for a back up?

I've been running the studio for about 5 years now and these questions all arised when I had a hard drive failure and lost about 7 weeks of raw projects. It made me want to reorganize my entire business to make it more professional. I now have 2 500 gig hard drives ran in a mirror raid so it automatically backs up all information. But i lost a lot of money due to down time, hard drive costs, and time which i allowed some people to re-record there stuff.

Any tips would be apreciated.

Thanks guys!
-Lee

[rory]

You need to take a deposit before their date and require payment before they leave (at the very latest before you give them a CD).

[mystasynasta]

I was thinking that too. But the problem is that I have several people daily and it would be very difficult to take deposits (most of them are rappers and rnb artists). Not giving them a cd is an excellent idea.

[HangDawg]

Originally Posted by mystasynasta

I was thinking that too. But the problem is that I have several people daily and it would be very difficult to take deposits (most of them are rappers and rnb artists). Not giving them a cd is an excellent idea.

Yeah, don't ever let any project leave the premise unless they are paid up to date. If they are paid up to date and want a copy of what's been done, no problem. That's what I do anyway. If I have a no show, I just make them bring me a 12 pack the next time the come. Works for me.

[rory]

Originally Posted by mystasynasta

I was thinking that too. But the problem is that I have several people daily and it would be very difficult to take deposits (most of them are rappers and rnb artists). Not giving them a cd is an excellent idea.

I don't see a problem with taking a deposit? If they don't have the money up front, just part of it, thats a problem for me. All professional studies require a deposit, especially if they're usually booked.

[chessrock]

Originally Posted by mystasynasta

(most of them are rappers and rnb artists).

So you're working with rappers, and you're having trouble with no-shows.

Big surprize there.


The main fault in your business model, other than catering to a music segment that tends to be rather flakey, is that you are creating scheduling and business nightmares for yourself. Your sessions are too short and too numerous; working with multiple artists in a given day for I'm guessing 2-3 hour blocks? Yikes. You realize that doctors work that type of scheduling, and they generally need at least a couple of people on hand to keep track of all of their appointments and to handle cancellations, payments and other business matters. For $15 hr and working with rappers, you're biting off way more than any reasonable person could be expected to chew and to manage.

The first thing you should do is raise your hourly rate to at least $20, and offer the 15 as a "block" rate. In other words, if you block 8 or more hours in succession, you get the 15 rate. With the caveat that the block is paid for up-front. At the end of your next session with Joe Rapper, tell him that you look forward to working with him again. Unfortunately, due to expenses, you're going to have to raise your rate. But good news is that if they want to keep working with you at $15, then they can buy an 8-hr chunk from you in advance, and use the hours at their discretion. If they don't show for a session, you're still paid.

Another option is to simply ask for all deposits and/or payments upfront. You can set up a paypal account and accept booking deposits that way, which would cut down on a lot of the hassle for you.

If you require cash upfront in some form, then you can use that to protect the time slot. Basically if two artists are inquiring about the same day or time, you give it to the one who can get you cash first. That way, worst case scenario is that a cancelled session becomes a personal inconvenience rather than a lost financial opportunity.

Without cash upfront, you give the time slot to the first one who shows up, again avoiding any missed financial opportunities . ... but let it be known that without cash, you reserve the right to cancel or reschedule the session at your discretion, with or without notice. If the artist has a problem with that, then they can pay you cash, lock in the date and avoid the hassle. Sets up a win-win for everyone involved.
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[boingoman]

Reorganizing the money thing can be a hassle, but it's worth it. I did the same thing for my sound work. I had a period where my business fell off a bit, as I lost the flakier clients. But they eventually got replaced by clients who were more responsible.

[punkin]

It's like the lesson slots I have here...pay in advance monthly, need to reschedule, call me a week in advance, don't show up, thanks for the freebie.

Keep a book...I mean a real book. A day timer/calendar and let the clientel see that you work a professional facility. " Hey yo, can you hook me up with a session next week?", "Just a second, let me see what's in the schedule". "I can hold down Tuesday for you but I'll need a deposit to secure the time slot and to cover the studio set-up fee". Many of the new faces I get don't understand that there's set up time and prep. Let them know that there's more to it than throwing up a couple mics and making magic.

I think the bigger problem you have is that some of your clients have an expectation...now you're wanting to change it. That's going to be tough. Be honest with them, you get no shows, no pays and it hurts you in the wallet.

Be straight and professional.

[freakkguitarist]

i was in the same pickle you were in about a year ago, i have a small home studio and i was getting no shows, was owed money, everything was a wreck.

now i keep a calander of all the dates and bands, and i can click on the band and bring up all their information on my computer, when the time was booked, deposit sent/received. my rules are, deposit is due within 1 week of the day of booking. most bands are only doing 2-4 days at a time with me, but any project over a week i make them give me half up front at booking, the other half when the session is done....then they get their cd, no if ands or buts. ONLY when the balance is paid in full. also make it a point to put on your rules list... "you will be charged for ALL the time booked" so bands dont show up late and expect to jip you out of another hour of pay.

[Dani Pace]

It seems that you want to make at least $15 per hour, right? Tell your clients that you offer that rate for "pay in advance" or it will cost them more (say $25 per hour) for payment on delivery. Never turn over a CD or tape untill you recieve payment. Print out your rates, and post them in plain sight. Book studio rental time seperately from recording, require studio rental time payment in advance. As for girlfriends and such, charge a "posse fee" or "possy tax (if you would rather call it that)" of $X per hour, per person. Try to get them to understand that the more people, the harder it is to get good quality recordings. Just a few ideas, hope some of it helps.

[mystasynasta]

Thanks guys, this is a big help. All these years I have been focusing on making good recordings and learning my craft but I never really focused on the business end very much. I guess the fact is that I have to bite the bullet and follow through with these plans. I think I am going to raise my rates to 20/hr, print out rules, expectations, policies, etc., put the rules on the wall, and require a 50% down payment for large sessions. I already keep my booking pretty professional and organized so thats not an issue for me at this moment. The charging less for 8 hour blocks is a great idea and requiring a deposit up front for those sessions are even a greater idea. If there's a no show then the whole day isn't lost, atleast financially. Usually when there's a large amount of people in the studio I just work slower on purpose so that they get the point not to bring people. It works about half of the time lol. I'll have to explain that anyone over "x" amount of people is a dollar extra an hour, or something similar. I am goin to draw up a business plan and follow through. Luckily my brothers a cut throat business type and he's been trying to help for years, so I might accept the help now. Thank you for all of your responses. You have all been very helpful.

-Lee

[mikerestricted]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, I just joined.
I wanted to tell you that you could easily get away with charging upwards $20/hr. Sure, it might work out for you to do it that cheap but some of the stuff on your myspace page is the quality you'd have to pay around $50/hr here.

[Ironklad Audio]

I'll have to explain that anyone over "x" amount of people is a dollar extra an hour

fuck that

don't let anybody in who isn't directly involved in the process of making the recordings

not only do friends/girlfriends and shit cause distractions, but it's also always best to have as few people as possible knowing that you have a shitload of gear in your place. you never know who might get a hair up their ass someday and want to go rob "that one guy...you know, the one who recorded my buddy's band"

[timthetortoise]

Originally Posted by Ironklad Audio

fuck that

don't let anybody in who isn't directly involved in the process of making the recordings

not only do friends/girlfriends and shit cause distractions, but it's also always best to have as few people as possible knowing that you have a shitload of gear in your place. you never know who might get a hair up their ass someday and want to go rob "that one guy...you know, the one who recorded my buddy's band"

Agreed on this. This is one of the biggest reasons I haven't taken the plunge and started a studio. Some of the shadiest people play music or are friends with people who do, and inviting them to see all your gear is basically asking for them to get ideas. The fewer the better.

[mystasynasta]

Very good points here. I have already put new rules in place and are being accepted pretty well. People seem to understand the new rules being put in place. Thanks mikerestricted. I want to keep my prices where they are at to compete with other studios in the area who are charging 18/hr. Ill raise my prices when they do bewcause their quality is atleast matching mine and they have a larger client list, atleast when it comes to bands (he's a drummer from a very popular band in our area).

Thanks again for the replies.

-Lee

[andyhix]

As a sort of aside, how is it that studios can charge so little and still make money. $15/hour!??! I'd like to think that I could get that in take home pay from many jobs, skilled or unskilled, professional or unprofessional. And we all know that getting a studio that is worthy of charging people to use requires an investment of thousands of dollars in gear. What is your actual net income? 8 or 10/hour? Probably less after taxes (you do pay taxes right?)

A plumber or electrician is going to charge you $40-60$ just for labor to do a simple repair in your home. It's awesome that you can make ends meet grossing $15/hour; I just don't get it.

[cello_pudding]

45x15=675...i wouldn't make it

[eeb]

ya it's tough out there.. especially if you're building up to "pro" status but not quite there yet.. right now i'm charging $20 an hour with a block rate of 100 for 7 hours (2 hours free kinda deal) but I also have a day job and i'm doing this on the side until i build my client list to the point where I can only do this. If/when that happens I will likely start charging a bit more.. (i'd like to get up to around 30$ an hour so I can still compete with the only other worthy studio in town(we're actually aquainted and we're trying to help eachother out so it's all good ) and still make enough to pay bills and whatnot.

[xstatic]

I would let the band bring as many people as they want in. If it distracts you it slows you down. If it slows you down, then the band will have to spend more hours. If the band spends more hours they will have to pay you more. Explain to the band how them bringing extra people costs them cash...

[SonicAlbert]

The other thing you could do with the entourages is have a seperate lounge area for them. Then have a "nobody in the control room unless you're working" type rule.

[Ironklad Audio]

I would let the band bring as many people as they want in. If it distracts you it slows you down. If it slows you down, then the band will have to spend more hours. If the band spends more hours they will have to pay you more. Explain to the band how them bringing extra people costs them cash...

having people around doesn't slow ME down, it slows down the band

and it would be nice if the people i work with had more money to pay me for more time, but in most cases it's "how much can we get done with x number of dollars?"

then when nothing gets finished, guess who everyone's pissed at? it's usually not their girlfriend, unfortunately.

[Fishmed]

My number 1 rule is that no material leaves the studio unless the time spent is paid to date.

I do recording on the side, but I charge a good amount so that i attract the better bands who believe enough in their music to pay my fees.

My producer and I have put together rules of doing business, and if someone is scheduled to start at a certain time, the clock starts ticking whether they are there or not.

For block time we require payment up front. We are starting to require a down payment on a percentage of the time scheduled, and it will be non-refundable if the cancellation is within 48 hours of the start time.

We have different price incentives for them to pay upfront or right after the session, but under no circumstances will anyone take recording out of the studio without being paid up to date.

Yes… I have been burned before and I have no hard feeling enforcing my rules.

[Fishmed]

Originally Posted by Ironklad Audio

having people around doesn't slow ME down, it slows down the band

and it would be nice if the people i work with had more money to pay me for more time, but in most cases it's "how much can we get done with x number of dollars?"

then when nothing gets finished, guess who everyone's pissed at? it's usually not their girlfriend, unfortunately.

My studio id VERY small, so I try to discourage extra people at all costs.

[mystasynasta]

I also have a very small studio. It's actually in my basement and the ceilings are quite low. The more people there is in the studio the slower i work because my lounge area in in the control room. The more people, the louder it is and the more i have to watch these people around my equipment and answer questions (you know, the usuall "how much did all of this cost" and "how long have you been doing it" and of course the annoying one "I'm gonna put a studio in my house, what equipment do I need?"). I don't turn my music up to compensate because i plan on doing this for many years to come and would like to keep my hearing. People who bring alot of people to the studio usually end up with a product that they dont like. Needless to say, they dont bring the people the next session. And for the cheap studio time, its because I dont have overhead. Im young and I live in my moms house. I still have bills, just not the morgage payments or electricity. I will be upping the price soon so that I can start putting money away to buy a building.

-Lee

[xstatic]

You have the wrong clients then if they can not see what is really happening

Originally Posted by Ironklad Audio

having people around doesn't slow ME down, it slows down the band

and it would be nice if the people i work with had more money to pay me for more time, but in most cases it's "how much can we get done with x number of dollars?"

then when nothing gets finished, guess who everyone's pissed at? it's usually not their girlfriend, unfortunately.