How Much $ for mastering?

A

Absolutepower

New member
How much money per song should one budget for the mastering of an album? My friend's band had their album produced a year ago or so, and he told me they paid something like $400 per song for the mastering. That just seems excessive to me, but with some things you get what you pay for, and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.
So seriously, can you get a great result for less money? I'm also skeptical that a top mastering job can somehow save an album, or make it way better or something. I feel that by the time it gets to that stage, its too late for that, and Mastering is just putting the final touches on, or the icing on the cake. But then again, if you have a great cake, but the icing is all screwed up, that's not going to be too popular with the guests at the party.
Anyone care to disagree, or voice an opinion on how much mastering is really worth? And I'm talking about indie stuff, bands making their own albums. Not how much a major label record pays for a famous mastering guy, that's a whole different thing.
 
So seriously, can you get a great result for less money?
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$400 per track is pretty huge - Yes, you can get great results for less money.
I'm also skeptical that a top mastering job can somehow save an album, or make it way better or something. I feel that by the time it gets to that stage, its too late for that, and Mastering is just putting the final touches on, or the icing on the cake. But then again, if you have a great cake, but the icing is all screwed up, that's not going to be too popular with the guests at the party.
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Precisely on all counts. Sure, on some projects, there can be a drastic improvement - But that's really up to the project -- RE-THOUGHT -- It's up to the engineer as well, but the engineer will always be limited by the potential of the mix.
 
Massive Master said:
$400 per track is pretty huge - Yes, you can get great results for less money.

Precisely on all counts. Sure, on some projects, there can be a drastic improvement - But that's really up to the project -- RE-THOUGHT -- It's up to the engineer as well, but the engineer will always be limited by the potential of the mix.
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Ok, good to know. I'll keep your studio in mind when it comes time to master my album. They also paid a ****-load of money for a producer, which also seems odd to me for an indie band. I can understand not wanting to take chances in the end, but that doesn't mean you should only settle for the guy who mastered Def Leppard, or something like that. Its not like there are only a few people who know how to to do it well.
 
There are a lot of good guys who will do it for $50 or less per song. Unless you are doing a fairly big release, $400 is outrageous.
 
Check the first ten tunes in my G M P Signature Link (Soundclick 128KPS). Mastered by finemastering.de in Germany. You can get prices on the website. Much less than $400. I've done Stem Mastering with them and I'm very pleased with the prices and quality. (If you dig a bit you can find a post or two of mine kast few months with a higher quality bit rate too of a few mastered tunes).
Personally I think it's well worth the price for me and I've had many comments on the improvement of sound quality before and after (also can be found in some old post here).
 
I know a recording artist in Nashville and she is doing her 3rd or 4th release and I remember she was pretty happy cause she found a well-known mastering studio that said they would do it for her at $50 a track. And I think I just read that Abbey Road was offering it for $130 a track. So I am betting you can get it done by a good masterer(?) for $100 per track or less.

I would probably just by MurdersGalore a 12 pack...
 
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