how much to charge ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Keith_H
  • Start date Start date
we charge $30Hr.. when the new equipment gets in the rate will be $40 or $45hr...
sometimes if i like the artist...$400...
that'll get you:
10-12hours recording
4hrs mixing
2hr Stereo mastering
1 master on cd-r....

thats a deal to me....at $30 10-12hrs recording is already $300-360

i have 9 artist right now that only use me, and i'm getting new ppl every week it seems since i made business cards. so 9 that are mine with out a doubt and 4 more...so not bad.. i usually have someone doing something...
 
c9-2001 said:
we charge $30Hr.. when the new equipment gets in the rate will be $40 or $45hr...
sometimes if i like the artist...$400...
that'll get you:
10-12hours recording
4hrs mixing
2hr Stereo mastering
1 master on cd-r....

thats a deal to me....at $30 10-12hrs recording is already $300-360

i have 9 artist right now that only use me, and i'm getting new ppl every week it seems since i made business cards. so 9 that are mine with out a doubt and 4 more...so not bad.. i usually have someone doing something...
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So, ummm, what kind of equipment are you using too draw them in?
 
Michael Jones said:

So, ummm, what kind of equipment are you using too draw them in?
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actually a lot of ppl come to me to get beats...
equipmet.. my home studio is o, but i have access to a HD3 studio, and if they make something hot over here i take um to the big studio...

me:
Delta 1010 w/Athlon XP1800 and 1900 daw running XPpro....
Triton(partners
motif(partners
mpc(partners
Uad-1
SX and nuendo
Tascam m3500 or m3700 on the way...

i'm about to get some blue sky monitors...
Mic:
U87ai,custom made mic,Se5000, tlm103...

but most ppl come to me for beats.. a few of my artist told their boys about me, let them hear their tracks and they want me to cut them a demo...
 
we're about to buy a building and really build a sound proofed studio... right now its not trully sound proofed in here...
if we get the building i'm gonna have some studio builders build it with a nice size control room,iso booths all that. but i have to get all the money first...:) anybody wanna give me a loan :) ;) i'll tern the money around and have a album mastered in 6months... :) PLS

but on the real i have a entertainment group looking at backing us with the needed cash..so we'll see where things go...
 
What to charge?

Keith_H,
On the one hand, I agree with some of the others around here who have suggested that you do the first few for free to kind of get your feet wet and see what you are really getting into as well as to start building a reputation.
On the other hand, if you don't charge anything there are some bands out there who will get in your place and want to try everything under the sun and you'll spend forever on one song. Not a good situation as I remember.
Why not throw $15-$20 an hour out to them? You said they have nice equipment so they probably don't mind spending a little bit of cash to get a decent sound. This way you'll be most likely be lower than the other "pros" in town but still be making something off of your inverstment in equipment and time. Just make sure they know on the front end that you are new to this and be prepared to be generous in their favor in the number of hours you'll charge them. You'll start building relationships one band at a time that way...
 
Re: $8 an hour???

Michael Jones said:
I won't even turn the lights on in my studio for $8/hr!:rolleyes:
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For $8 an hour, I'd allow them the opportunity to stand outside, looking in, while I record (for free) the sound field mice make when you gently squeeze them.

:)
 
My favorite - the barter system :)

There are several organizations like "The Barter Network" which formalize this process, but trading gear for studio time is never a bad thing, assuming the gear is worth something and useful in your studio.

Years ago a good friend of mine gave up 4 days of his studio in exchange for a set of 44x15 Dick Cepeks for his truck (well, my truck, I sold it to him :) )



mastahnke said:
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
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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.
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Nothing wrong with that at all. If it works for you, thats great.

My comments on this BBS are never to argue, insult, or make others uncomfortable - I just share my thoughts and experiences - that and a dollar thirty seven will get you a 20 oz cup of coffee in NJ :)
 
Sennheiser said:
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.
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I'd like to comment on this from a "pro studio" point of view if I may...

Even though we charged by the hour, by the foot for media, etc etc etc, we never stopped the reels if the creative juices were flowing, and often, we billed on a "professional day" which is typically 8-10 hours. A little overtime I never cared about, and the only time we were a little prickly on the bill is when the band/group/whatever we were asked to record was obnoxious, rude, annoyingly egotistical, stubborn, twiddles knobs, argued on the bill, or spilled coffee on the floor :)

While we obviously attempted to maintain profitibility, customers willing to pay our $75 / hr rate were not exactly plentiful so we attempted to be reasonable, treat people with respect, and if things drag on a little, not a big deal.

Aside from myself, I had two engineers that often recorded/mixed in my studio, which I paid on a per-day rate rather than a per hour rate, based on the same 8-10 professional day concept.

While we had a really BIG sign above the reception as to what our rates were, nothing was carved in stone for talented, friendly, team-oriented people.
 
keilson said:
squeeze them?! what are you sick?
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Um, er, that was sarcasm.

No field mice were ever injured or damaged in any way to make my sarcastic point. :)
 
keilson said:
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.
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Charging by song instead of by hour most people would think of it as a deal otherwise its pointless to do, so

Say you Charge $15 per hour , Recording and Mixing together takes 4-5 hours , then 15 x 5 that would cost then $75, so take off 10 or 15 , make it deal... i dunno thats the only formula i know of that could find an idea of how much to charge per song, but it varies allot, sometimes the band your recording and mixing has a good day and your charging by song and it only takes 2-3 hours instead of 4-5 then... you must figure it out, i suggest you actually make a table of charges for different situations and times of how much it takes out of your time etc, i think it would work, but if i was you i'd just stick to charging per hour

pz
 
I think you want to charge by the hour, but work with the artist ahead of time to map out a detailed project plan. To wit:

4 hours getting drum sound (sounds like a lot? NOT!)
12 hours getting drums and bass down
12 hours getting guitars recorded
4 hours keyboards
8 hours vocals
12 hours misc overdubs
8 hours mixing
8 hours remixing after the lead guitarist's girlfriend said it sounded bad

... so forth and so on.

Then, the band gets an idea of the time it takes and how quickly they are blowing their budget on replacing snare hardware.
 
Well, when I started out, I charged AUS$50 for a days recording, from 10am to whenever I could kick them out. It was just a token amount as acknowledgement that it was my time, my gear, and my house - and we all knew that the results would be ok, just. Usually work to 4-5 songs in a demo format.

I'm better at it now with a better setup (but still not real flash) so the rates gone up, but I still consider myself learning (and I'm still not charging like a real studio). It depends on what they want to record, how many songs, how much effort they want to put into the end result.. I'm pretty negotable.

Willy.
 
I charge by the song. Yes it can burn you, but as long as you're careful, and cover your bases it works well.

I tell my artists that the per song rate gives them unlimited time, as long as they come to me prepared, and aren't wasting time. I state that it's up to my disgression. It's in a simple contract. Say they're having trouble with a guitar part...."go home, practice it and we'll do it next session" If it gets rediculous, charge the hourly for the time that's wasted because they aren't prepared.

I usually won't record a band unless I see them play or hear demos. That way you get an idea of problems before the arrive. Nobody has fun recording bands that can't play their instruments.

I've lately been charging $65 a song, which includes $15 per song that goes to the studio where we track drums. A year and a half ago when I started, the first project I did was a full length (i had to program drums too) and I charged $20 a song. It took a month, but I learned so much---I gained so much more in experience. Since then I've been increasing my rates and the work flow has been picking up.
 
Why not charge per megabyte - and make sure that each session includes an obligatory 1 minute silence (on all tracks).

Why not work for nothing less than you could earn through your chosen career per hour.

Why not take a real jump into reality and consider the time it has taken to accrue the knowledge and skills needed to record then add it to your hourly rate and finally really give yourself a shock and work out the annual depreciation on your gear (and I mean cables, headphones, everything...) and apportion that to your rate...

Not forgetting of course tax, rates, electricity, etc., etc., etc.
 
I charge $10/hr + $25/song.

The only people I apply these rates to are those I either don't know or don't like (musically). Otherwise, I record for beer.
I enjoy it so much that I'm usually just happy to have someone to record.
 
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