I dont really have a stable price for my recording sessions :\

R

RomoDrummer

New member
So, the other day I got a text from some one that wants to record and they ask for my rates.. now i get a pretty decent end result. but, since I'm new at this whole "charging people for recording" deal.. I'm not sure what I should charge people, so I gave them a random number, I'm sick and tired of doing stuff for free. way too many people take advantage of that these days.


here is the actual text.


Person texting me: hey, i really want to record some songs what are your rates?

Me: Sure, no problem. I can help you. I charge $ 15 an hr. or $ 30 per song. Let me know what you want to do.


is that good or what should have I done better? i thought I'd start off low at first so i can get more clientele.
 
Are you talking about recording a full band with real drums, guitars, bass, vocals, etc....?

Or are we talking about rappers just doing vocals over backing tracks?

Or something in between?
 
I'm kind of at the same spot myself. I'm finally confident enough to have someone besides me record here. I have a co-worker who wants to do a promo for his band. They came down, saw what I have and heard what I can do. Next question: how much? $30 an hour is reasonable, considering my experience and facilities. They paid $75/hr somewhere else, and it sounds like two cats f#$%ing in a bucket of chains. Anyway, I worked out a deal for $20 an hour and vocal contributions to my personal project. Everyone's happy. Starting low to get clientele is a good idea, but what happens when they come back and you want more? Be up front with them and let them know that if they are happy with the results, next time the rate goes up. By the way, I personnally would never do a "per song" rate. Sorry to ramble.
 
When I was first getting to grips with home recording I offered to track some songs of a friend for posterity as a bit of recording practice, and was offered a bottle of whisky in exchange. Two years later I've had 20 different musicians through my dining room to add tracks to the sessions, and there's no end in sight. I've still not seen that whisky....
 
RAMI said:
Are you talking about recording a full band with real drums, guitars, bass, vocals, etc....?

Or are we talking about rappers just doing vocals over backing tracks?

Or something in between?
Click to expand...


well.. im hoping for the for future yes it would be bands maybe solo artists that have backing tracks and want to record their vocals over the music, but its been kinda slow and i havent been getting anyone in lately im not populating that much and im not much into rap so rap is out of the question :)... and yes i am planning to record all the instrument, real drums, guitars, bass, and vocals and also BG vocals as well.. whatever the artists want thats what i'll do, the whole 9

i still dont know what to do though. im stumped when it comes to dealing with money

what would be your suggestion for me to do?
 
well.. im hoping for the for future yes it would be bands maybe solo artists that have backing tracks and want to record their vocals over the music, but its been kinda slow and i havent been getting anyone in lately im not populating that much and im not much into rap so rap is out of the question :)... and yes i am planning to record all the instrument, real drums, guitars, bass, and vocals and also BG vocals as well.. whatever the artists want thats what i'll do, the whole 9

i still dont know what to do though. im stumped when it comes to dealing with money

what would be your suggestion for me to do?
 
RomoDrummer said:
i am planning to record all the instrument, real drums, guitars, bass, and vocals and also BG vocals as well.. whatever the artists want thats what i'll do, the whole 9
Click to expand...

OK, that's why I asked. I'm not going to give my opinion on waht to charge, because I know nothing about you. But if you say $15 an hour or $30 a song, you might want to re-think the math involved here. Just getting a drum track ready to record can take an hour by itself. Recording a drum track can sometimes take up to an hour. Then, you're adding guitars, bass, vocals, etc.....With all that, $15 an hour/$30 a song doesn't make much sense.
 
RomoDrummer said:
i dont know i never had to deal with the stuff you just described
Click to expand...

But you can find out easily enough. I just posted those two as a starting point.

You are a craftsman. Are you an apprentice, journeyman or master? If you don't know you are an apprentice. If you think you're a journeyman there's a good chance you're really an apprentice.

What is the range in your area and your specialty for someone at your level? What do the "real" studios in your area charge? You'll probably want to charge less and promise less. As your client list grows and you collect testimonials you increase your fee.
 
RAMI said:
OK, that's why I asked. I'm not going to give my opinion on waht to charge, because I know nothing about you. But if you say $15 an hour or $30 a song, you might want to re-think the math involved here. Just getting a drum track ready to record can take an hour by itself. Recording a drum track can sometimes take up to an hour. Then, you're adding guitars, bass, vocals, etc.....With all that, $15 an hour/$30 a song doesn't make much sense.
Click to expand...

And then you also may want consider if your charging for mixing separately or everything together. Just as an example: Tracking, $15/hr or $150/song, then $15/hr mixing.
 
Come up with an hourly rate, what do you thinks fair taking into account:

What your time is worth (recording instead of watching football or socialising).
How experienced you are.
What value you have in the gear you own.
Overheads: being rent, electric, maintenance of gear (everyone forgets this), the cost of updating gear as new technology is required.

When you have an hourly rate, then work out a day rate. The day rate may be equal to say 6 hours of the hourly rate but the client gets 8 to 10 hours of time. I love day rates best as it stops clients trying to cram a days work into a few hours while watching the clock, my day rate is roughly 70% of the hourly rate (30% discount). I also offer the day rate per hour once a day has been completed so that if the project takes a day and a half the hours in the half day are charged at the equivalent of the day hourly rate.

One rule: Do not work for free or price per song, the project will never finish. The client will come back for endless tweaks and adjustments and expect not to pay any extra, if a fee is involved they think twice.

Alan.
 
You should figure out what you are worth per hour.
Take your annual salary at work and divide it by 2080 (40 hrs / wk) if you are salary.
Or just use your hourly pay if you are hourly in your day job.
This way you can base what you charge on something concrete in your mind at least.

I don't do anything myself (change the oil in my car, do work for others, etc) if it is going to cost me more than what I think I am worth per hour.
Your life has a limited number of hours - use them wisely.
 
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