How do you figure up how much to set your recording rates for?

R

Red Dog Studios

Member
This is just a question that i've been wondering about and i'd like to get some of your advice on how you go about setting your rates. I know that alot of it has to do with how good you are, the kind of gear you offer your clients to work with, and so on, but i would just like to hear some of your opinions on how you figure up your rates for Recording, mixing, mastering and so on.


Thanks
 
You just answered your own question for the most part. I would say another factor is simply how much money you want to make. :D
Which of course is highly dependant on how much someone is willing to pay you.....which of course depends on how good you are, your gear, your experience, etc....which again brings us back to my first point....that you already answered your own question. :D

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a smart ass.

FWIW, I charged next to nothing (usually nothing) when I started recording people because I just wanted to do it. When people ended up being happy with what I did, I was able to charge more in the future and people were happy to pay it because they were comfortable that I would do a decent job. Now mind you I still charge very little relatively speaking, but that's because I know I am an amateur and I have very modest gear. But it does illustrate that what you charge depends on your market as well.
 
What you need to do is let the market forces of supply and demand establish an equilibrium price.

In your case, that would probably mean that you'd have to pay customers to come record with you. But everyone has to start somewhere.
 
lol yeah i know what u mean chess.

metalhead: yeah i understand what your saying. i think i'm gunna start out by just doing freebies here and there to make a name for my self around here and then start chargin people when they like what they here. does that sound ok you think?
 
chessrock said:
What you need to do is let the market forces of supply and demand establish an equilibrium price.

In your case, that would probably mean that you'd have to pay customers to come record with you. But everyone has to start somewhere.
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You really baited him and he didn't bite. You're losing it, Cressy. :p
 
FWIW - I do this as a hobby. When a band or songwriter I know wants some stuff recording, we negotiate something beneficial to both of us. That way no-one leaves unhappy. It'd be nice to get paid real money ... but for that you need to invest real money and I already have one business on the go!
 
Hourly Rate = (Monthly operational cost + Desired Monthly Take-home Salary) / Expected Monthly Hours Booked

Calculate the monthly hours based on what you project to be booking a year from now. Have enough money or another income to live off of until them.

Be compatable with the market. Check the local Yellow Pages and see what the market/competition is getting for comparable services. If you can't compete in a year based upon the above formula, you'll have to either find a way to decrease costs, increase bookings or lower your income expectations.

G.
 
I initially did this only as a hobby, and I had no real intentions of making any money. (Of course I'll never quit my day job), but it is nice to make a little money off of a session every now and then. It helps to justify buying new gear if nothing else. But yeah, just start off slow. If you're any good people will figure it out and the money will be easy to deal with.

Again, FWIW... This is how I charge people and I am definitely VERY small time:

Most bands I deal with are recording a 3-5 song demo of heavy metal. (these seem to be the only people that know anything about me, which is convenient because it's the only thing I like to record :D ) I usually charge $125 bucks for a full day. If we leave the session set up and come back another day I charge $10 bucks an hour. If I've gotta set everything up a second time (which pisses me off tremendously) I charge $50 bucks + $10 an hour. This works out pretty good for me most of the time. Outside of these circumstances, (which oddly enough, has never happened :D ) I would charge $25 a song or $10 an hour (whichever is highest) and I include mixing in that cost. If people are really serious about their recording then they will take it somewhere else for mastering, but sometimes people will pay me a little more afterwards to get the songs as close to that level as I realistically can. I don't know if any of this means anything to you, but I thought you might be interested in what a total small timer/hobbyist is doing as far as money goes.

On a related note here's a link to my shitty web page I recently put up due to getting alot of interest from local bands lately and I wanted this information to be accessible.

The Metal Lab
 
thanks Metalhead that helped out alot. it gave me some ideas as in what to charge now. i'm just gunna look around at other studios with the similar experience and gear and see what they are charging and compare that to what i want to make. of course i don't expect my studio to make money to where i need not worry about a day time job (although that would be nice...but back to the real world...lol) i do expect to go to college for this kind of thing and work my way up in the business. thanks for all of your replys people.
 
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Rates are determined by how much business you get. If your studio is vacant chances are your rates are too high--lower them; if your studio is slammed beyond capacity chances are your rates are too low.

It's pure free market capitalism. If you are in demand you raise the price to maximize profit, if you are not in demand you lower prices to maximize profit.

As far as studios go, I think that you can realistically charge about 10$/hour for every 50,000 dollars of equipment you have, including the cost of the building (within reason) and stay competitive. This is a good starting rate.

If you are an unknown in your area, or just starting out, better subtract 10$ per hour.

Reputation for audio excellence, how comfortable the studio is and the personality of the engineering staff will obviously add to the rate. But the reputation must be earned first before you can charge for it.
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
As far as studios go, I think that you can realistically charge about 10$/hour for every 50,000 dollars of equipment you have, including the cost of the building (within reason) and stay competitive. This is a good starting rate.
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Maybe in Hickville where you live, but not here in Chicago. :D

Over here, $10 / hour might land you a real sweet recording space on lower Wacker Drive.

I tend to subscribe to the Janitor / Burger King rule. If there are janitors making more than $10 / hour somewhere in your town, then you should highly consider a career in the custodial arts before opening shop as a recording guy. Same thing with Burger King employees. Chances are one of the line cooks or assistant managers there is making well over $10 / hour ... so I think it's important that you seriously weigh that option as well before charging $10 / hour for what will most likely be 5 to 10 hours per week starting out (and even during slow months after you're already established).

Otherwise you will forever be mocked by the pizza delivery guy who is living larger than you ... making more money off tips than you do for an hourly wage.

.
 
Rates are determined by how much business you get. If your studio is vacant chances are your rates are too high--lower them; if your studio is slammed beyond capacity chances are your rates are too low.
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It also depends on the sprt of clients you want to attract. Cheap demo rates will attract bands that are barely able to play with cheap shitty sounding gear that will only produce a cheap shitty sounding product. Higher rates will bring in the bands that can afford better gear and can probably play well enough to justify it. Makes your job easier in the long run.

I like the cheap shitty bands myself..
 
chessrock said:
Otherwise you will forever be mocked by the pizza delivery guy who is living larger than you ... making more money off tips than you do for an hourly wage.
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Honestly I can't complain about the money I've been making since I went to recording full time.
 
Something often overlooked is the complexity of what you are recording. A simple demo with just one guy singing and playing guitar is a lot easier than an entire band wanting a more professional sounding recording, adjust rates accordingly. By all means have a minimum charge, you have to cover your opperating expences but don't worry about charging more for a bigger job. I make more teaching guitar than I do from running a studio (I use the same space for both) so I have to charge at least as much per hour just for the space. I don't charge extra for any time i spend mixing, my $20 per hour balances it all out.
 
Dani Pace said:
Something often overlooked is the complexity of what you are recording. A simple demo with just one guy singing and playing guitar is a lot easier than an entire band wanting a more professional sounding recording, adjust rates accordingly.
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Honestly the complexity shouldn't be an issue if you know what you are doing, hence the flat rate.

It doesn't matter how "complex" someone wants to do something--in the end it's all pretty easy... unless they suck as musicians.
 
i agree with chess. if you're ok with 10$ an hour, get a job where you're not responsible for taking your own taxes out.
and booking clients
and managing a business
and dealing with the financial ups and downs that come with owning said business.
etc....

not worth it.
 
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