What do you tell a friend who wants to make mix tapes for free?

[Dkorg]

Hello fellow music makers. I have a problem with people who want to make music for free. What is a fair rate to charge for making mix tapes? I am in the process of purchasing all my equipment alone, no help from friends. But they want to make music. So how do I not lose friends and still accomplish what i want to do? please help!

[Buck62]

You might want to stress how much time and effort it takes to record and mix music. Remind them of how busy you are, and that doing stuff for them takes away from the time you could be spending on your own music. Also hint to them that you have too many requests to do them all for free, so you have no choice but to either charge a fee or forget doing outside work all~together. If they can't understand that, then you probably should find new friends who aren't "users".

[Buck62]

Oh yeah, I forgot... I think $25 an hour would be reasonable. Most local studios charge about $50 to $60 an hour, so that's a good deal.

[The Green Hornet]

Hey DKorg: [are you named after a keyboard?]

Tell your "friends" the recording time is free; however, it costs 40 dollars per hour to do the mix, and, man, it does take time to do a good mix!!

If you run into a good, and I mean GOOD, vocalist, you might do a couple of freebies to experiment with HER voice and enhance your skills, providing SHE brings her own CD music backgrounds and you don't have to cope with the arrangements.

Friends are good. I do my best to keep them but there is a limit to "freebies."

Green Hornet

[Recording Engineer]

No matter what, you should at least charge them for your costs; media and a portion of mantainence and equipment depresiasion costs.

[Fishmed]

I get this often, so I tell them that I had to spend money to get where I am today with the gear I have. If they think that it is cheap to get what it takes to make a great sounding product, then they should go out and price the gear. They should realize that it is cheaper to pay you for your services than it would be for them to buy their own studio. Often they will decide if they are good enough to spend the money on themselves. Unless you think they have some great talent, I don't think you would want to waste your time recording music that the musicians themselves don't have enough confidence to invest their own money into.

Another reason to charge people for recording time is to reduce the hours spent in the studio. If a band knows they are charged for the time they spend in the studio, then they will be a bit more professional about what they are doing. Often if they have no time limits, they might end up goofing off and not taking your time too seriously. You also might have the other extreme, a band might get too picky about what you are doing, or just too demanding. I don't mind doing things right, but for a free session it will get old quick. In this business "Time is Money". Even if your studio is just a hobby, do it in a way that it is enjoyable, and if not that, a little profitable.

I think $25/hr is fair price for home studios. You can always reduce it for those SPECIAL friends with Lots'O'Talent if they can't afford your regular price. If they are talented enough, you might barter studio time for their talent. Never know when you'll need a good banjo player.

[This message has been edited by Fishmed (edited 11-29-1999).]

[Dkorg]

Thanks, for all your replys. I dont know if this will help my friends understand, but it sure helps me understand, im not the only one dealing with this problem.

[ecs113]

I just put together a small studio in my apartment (or should I say put together a small apt in my studio and have been talking to my friends and acquaintances about it.

Problems -

one friend I want to come over so that we can both make music; we are enthusiastic about having fun. we bang on drums, make noise, experiment. I am not charging.

another "friend/acquaintance" (mutual to the previously mentioned friend) wants to bring in some "good" guitarists so he can do some recording (I can easily do what he needs on guitar). he is a user, impatient (thinks gear is a burden) and condescending. he is also is an active singer/songwriter/guitarist who has quite a bit of raw material to hone my production skills. I am considering offering him my special: free demo, $/hr after that

problem - they are friends: i am charging the one and not the other...

ugh, the fun of mixing friendship and business....

www.deharmonic.net

[Sennheiser]

I really didn't know how to start out this reply, but it pisses me off sometimes as to what people think we do with this equipment we own. "Oh yeah he records his own stuff on some kind of recording stuff he keeps in his basement. He won't mind us coming over and recording awhile."

Free? Screw you. My time, talent, and equipment is worth something.

If your friend is in business as an accountant, does he expect you to ask if he'll do your taxes for free? Set up your 401K roll-over for free, maybe set up a trust for your children? I mean, hey you do it out of your home, it can't be that serious of an operation can it, so what the heck?

"I've got some friends who would like to get together and talk about tax laws and investments with you." Do you do that for free on your own time or do you do it on THEIR time?

Never mix business and friendship. Even my buddy who owns a prosperous auto repair business charges his friends. Fortunately, I can work on my own car and record my own music.

I'm not saying you're engineering at The Plant, but your time and investment and TALENT is worth something other than a 12-pack and a fatty.

[ecs113]

maybe i should wear my suit when my friends come over....

[Sennheiser]

Or your work coveralls.

[rushfan33]

Maybe you should explain what your goals are and that you need to spend your time on the business instead of having hangout sessions. If friends are worth a damn, they'd understand that!

Let them know that you have to dedicate some serious time in the studio doing other projects and its hard when people just pop in. A business is a business! Man do I sound like my dad right now!!

Just a thought....
RF

[ZEKE SAYER]

i would just tell them this.......

"i would realy like to record you free but, it takes money and time to record. if i let everybody record free, then i would not have a studio in about a year!"

i think that $25.00 per hour is good. but always,ALWAYS make them pay for the first 2 hours or more because, i was recording a guy once and we recorded 2 sessions, he ask if he could have a cd to take home so i thought that would be okay......he never came back! (and you better belevie that i did'nt get my money!)



zeke