how much to charge ??

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Keith_H

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I'm really really really new to this, in fact I just made my first decent recording last week and a guy who practices near my band liked it and wants me to record his band. I used a Fostex digital 8 track (borrowed) with 3 sm57's on my drums (kick, snare, overhead). then 2 57's on the guitar cab, bass DI, and vocals with a 57. I don't really have any effects processors to speak of. I used a reverb from my PA on the snare to make it sound a little better but nothing other than that. No compressors or anything. Anyways, how much would be a fair amount to charge these guys?? They are a tejano band with electonic drums and all this nice stuff so I think it would be pretty easy. I don't know how many songs they want, so I guess a price per song is what I'm asking for. If you want to hear what I recorded before check it out at:

http://people.tamu.edu/~gkh1650/nstdemos.html
(Not a chance is the best song I think)

We probably spent 12 hours total recording and mixing these songs if that is any help.

Thanks!!
 
I reckon you should pay them $20 per hour for letting you play with and try out your toys. ;);)

cheers
John
 
There's a lot of variables associated with setting a price, some of which is available equipment, geography, the market you are in, competition, experience, certifications, training, etc.

However, most pro studios charge between 35-100 an hour factoring all the above in.

If you're new to recording, you'd probably want to be on the more generous side, but that call is entirely yours :)
 
I've been contemplating this issue, myself. Does anyone charge by the song rather than by the hour? I'm thinking as a novice if I do this I won't waste a lot of their hourly money to give me an education in various recording situations. Once I've got my act together, then go to an hourly rate.

Darryl.....
 
I've been doing $15 an hour at my house. This allows local bands to come in an record affordably. I was thinking about doing per song also so I wouldn't waste their time in certain situations, but no idea how much to charge per song.
 
yea, i am definitely a novice so the generous side would be the way to go. I just don't want to rip anyone off (including myself).
 
For what it's worth, a project studio in my area has been offering a three-song demo deal for $150, including "mastering." I don't know any other details, though.
 
DDev said:
I've been contemplating this issue, myself. Does anyone charge by the song rather than by the hour? I'm thinking as a novice if I do this I won't waste a lot of their hourly money to give me an education in various recording situations. Once I've got my act together, then go to an hourly rate.

Darryl.....
Click to expand...

Having run a pro studio, I would never charge per anything that I cannot measure.

Hours/days/weeks (time)
feet, MB, platters (media)
etc

Just because its very possible that 2 songs are done in an hour, and the 3rd song takes three or four days. If you haven't factored that into your studio schedule, you have to bump everyone out which annoys your customers.

As a home studio, you can absolutely do what you want because you are only impacting your personal projects, not paying customers.

Just a thought :)
 
Well, I've recorded in many studios. Each with their own way of charging. Per hour, per song, etc.

But, If it were up to me, I'd charge per project. i.e., I would charge for the whole project, instead of by hour, or by song. That way, they don't have to worry about rackin' up hours, and won't be afraid to try something for the better. I dunno, just by opinion.

Set your price to what you want it, though.
 
I think if you're new you should do your first few sessions for free.

If you start charging by the song instead of by time, you could be asking for headaches.

Trying new things on songs instead of tracking it the way it was. Practising instead of tracking, goofing off, etc. You get the picture.

If they know the clock is running these thing don't happen as often.
 
frederic said:


Having run a pro studio, I would never charge per anything that I cannot measure.

Hours/days/weeks (time)
feet, MB, platters (media)
etc

Just a thought :)
Click to expand...

Has anyone thought of charging by track (Excluding the REALLY easy ones)? I think this is a good compromise between an hourly rate and a per-song rate.

Scott
 
I said this before in another thread, but I'll say it again here.

In running a studio, your are selling something. You're selling a service, and you're selling time - your time. The most practical block of time to calculate is the hour.

If you want to sell your service by the song, the track, a 4 song demo, whatever, you have to know how long it's going to take you.

Let's say your sold your service by the song. A typical song is about 4 minutes. How long does it take you to set up, mic, sound check, adjust, check, adjust again, check, track, record, mix and master 4 minutes of music? For me, I find that 1-1/2 to 2 hours per minute of finished music is pretty tyipcal. So for a 4 minute song, you could be involved with it for as much as 8 hours or maybe as little as 6.

How much is 6 hours of your time worth to you?
$15/hr?
$20?
$35?
$100?
You have to decide, but you can see how important it is to know how many hours you'll have to dedicate to a particular project.

Don't just take a shot in the dark, and say "I can do it for $50 per song", (or what ever rate you come up with) because you may be selling yourself very, very short!
 
I agree on not charging per song. I did that on my last project and got hosed. I wouldn't do it again. Charge per hour, even if it isn't much. The client will be more focused if you charge them on a per time basis. You might try 8$ per hour plus media charges if you are brand new. I don't know. Other good plans are to get them to buy you gear. I.E. say you are looking at a 300$ mic. Tell them, if you buy me this mic you can get up to 30 hours of service from me. Anything over that is 8$/hour. (This method helps on taxes and such).

--MIKE
 
$8 an hour???

I won't even turn the lights on in my studio for $8/hr!:rolleyes:
 
Yes, well you do that for a living. Recording for us HOME Recordists is a hobbie. I charge little for small bands. Allows me to work on my hobbie and them to get inexpensive quality recordings.
 
keilson said:
Yes, well you do that for a living. Recording for us HOME Recordists is a hobbie. I charge little for small bands. Allows me to work on my hobbie and them to get inexpensive quality recordings.
Click to expand...
I'm just messing with ya dude!;)
I don't do it for a living either. But I sure as heck won't do it for free.
 
ok, sorry didn't mean to sound defensive....how much do you charge oper hour?
 
keilson said:
ok, sorry didn't mean to sound defensive....how much do you charge oper hour?
Click to expand...
Just starting out, your first few sessions, I'd probably go pro-bono. (haha)
For real. Build a reputation, get your name out there, good marketing strategy. Then slowly work up to your minimum profit margin.

I ran a minimum profit analysis in another in another thread.
It's not pretty. :( The goin' rate in my area is anywhere from $35 - $65 an hour; more for LARGE studios.

That's for sessions. For video post, I'm just barely past the "beggin to do stuff for free" mode, and I'm finding that for original music, scored to film, working with the director and musical supervisor closely, on independent features, I can charge $65 per minute of finished music. One minute of original music (means I write it) takes about 3 hrs. So, my market is bearing about $22/hr right now. (sigh, depressing) The problem is getting a good director to work with, and who understands the recording process in general, and the amount of time involved in it. So many of them want it for a buck-ninety-eight, and they wanted it yesterday.
 
My rates are as follows

$20.00 and hour flat, but if paid in cash in advance $15.00

And for Karaoke singers $100.00 for an 8 song disc, $10.00 per additional song, first burned copy free, $5.00 each additional copy. usually works out to be about $130-150.00.

I hook up the session players and they work out a fee with the client, but I charge extra for my services as a session player.
 
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