ideas on charging for my pro home studio

[earworm]

hi guys, very very interesting subject !
i've been trough this too! and my rates are changing ALL the time,

i tell everyone: Come over NOW, this month, cause next month i'll be more expensive !
all my equipment is NICE, its midrange but i make the best demos around,
no kidding, hey, this is belgium, everyone's broke and there's not many decent studios here (or they're NOT affordable).

i record hiphop songs= €15 per song,
i hate charging those local hiphoppers an hourly rate cause they're amateurs, they improve every month, but they always walk in the studio with unfinished songs, so they feel good about 15 per song,
that means i make 150 per hiphop cd, UNDERGROUND stuff , ok.

next are the punk bands i record, they're even more broke,
they play on my drums, amps, equipment cause its always better than theirs, they pay per day:
€75 for a "live demo", they play their songs kinda live, and i record in multitrack

next are the rockbands and more expierienced hardcorebands,
they pay about €50 a day,
they don't wanna record a demo that is done in one day,
they wanna do drums and everything seperate, i love working with them,
takes days, weeks to finish something, and the results are nice,
not pro, but so fucking nice for such a low low price !

i begin real low, i recorded handsful of demo cds FOR FREE,
but now my equipment AND training is good enoug, i mean, way too good to keep on doing everything for free.

start cheap, and everytime u record a band, u earn a little bit,
spend all that money on new equipment, and then charge a little more,
after 6 months your studio won't look the same anymore,
every band i record means an upgrade for me,
and more expensive prices for the future bands

i'm in a good situation, i know about 100 people that have a rehearsal room and a minidisc player or a computer in there, they call that a studio
(HA HA)
so every band that walks in here goes like, "ok, tiny place, we'll see what it sounds like, ......they put the headphones on, play a chord and go like....WOW DUDE, THIS SOUNDS LIKE REAAAALLLL !!!!"

i love that, i wish i could do everything for free, cause i love it!!!
but i spent thousands of euro's already,
time for some "pay-back"

 

[MichaelM]

I think you have used the word 'pro' too many times in your website.. It's starting to look like a Behringer catalogue.....

 

[jazzyt]

pro = professional, i.e. someone who makes a living from what ever they do.
I think I qualify more than well enough to use that phrase. Do you big M?

 

[sweetnubs]

I repeat my question then.

 

[jazzyt]

(Hi sweetnobb and Michael-mmm that tastes good nobby): you two guys seem to have taken a slightly offensive approach to this thread, you must be american?

Anyway ->

Give positive feedback on a genuine question for advice for dont give any.

cheers!

 

[NYMorningstar]

(Hi sweetnobb and Michael-mmm that tastes good nobby): you two guys seem to have taken a slightly offensive approach to this thread, you must be american?

Give positive feedback on a genuine question for advice for dont give any.

cheers!

You must be American? What kinda crap statement is that? You worry about them being a little offensive so you turn around and get real offensive? Try taking you own advice and while your at it learn the freekin language.

 

[MichaelM]

No, if you look next to my name you'll see that I'm Australian, and if you look at the end of my post you'll see the big smiley face ... I didn't mean to offend you. Humour doesn't always translate well over the net.

That was kind of an honest critique of your website though, you asked for comments didn't you? It really did jump out at me. I would be trying to sell my studio by explaining what you have to offer, and why people would want to come to record there. Not just throwing 'pro' around.

As for pricing, you can only charge what your local market is willing to pay. And no, I don't qualify to sell my self as a 'pro' studio setup, and I'm not doing it.

 

[MichaelM]

By the way, have a read of the Sound Design page of your website, you've really explained well why people should use your services. What I mean above is write your studio page more along those lines...

 

[PERRANFULO]

hey guys...i think this is my FIRST post here on this forum.


anyway...i think that the SKILL of someone is more important than their GEAR.
the beatles did SGT. PEPPER on a 4 TRACK. skill on the part of the musicians and their composing abilities?. yes. but it was a 4 track at the end of it!

and the FIRST of the beatles albums were recorded onto 2 TRACK TAPE..NO OVERDUBS.




i am pretty sure that if you know your equipment and have good skill then the project will come out ok...BUT if the person(s) you are recording suck, then thats a different ballgame


GARBAGE IN-GARBAGE OUT

 

[giraffe]

while that's true, you can have the 4-track and an sm57
i'll take the neve and a neuman
our abilities being equal, mine would sound way better

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

anyway...i think that the SKILL of someone is more important than their GEAR.
the beatles did SGT. PEPPER on a 4 TRACK. skill on the part of the musicians and their composing abilities?. yes. but it was a 4 track at the end of it!

um.... you are aware that the calibre of those "4-tracks" was state-of-the-art analog that would rival the specs of even today's high-end analog....

Yes - they were 4-tracks, but not the "portastudio" variety that I suspect you were thinking of.

 

[jmorris]

Jazzyt,
I charge 28 buck per hour. I have a nice place in a pretty fair size city,good gear. Ugly room mind you but for some reason the sound works well enough. Studios in my town are all over the place as far as prices. 18-125 per hour. Myself, I would go cheap, and as you get busy, bump up the price accordingly.As you develope a client list your busy schedule, or lack of, will determine if your price is in the right ball park.Check out my place and see where I'm at. Wait for the darn video to load...darn thing takes about 3-4 minutes. Hope this helps www.jolexrecording.com

 

[jmorris]

Yeah Bear! I'd kill for one of those( J37's I think.) Never under estimate old gear.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Blue Bear had the most direct suggestion so far- let me state it again clearly:

You have to charge something that makes sense where you are. Period.

So get out your favorite search engine and find out what range of recording services are availible in your area and how much they cost. Why? Because your potential client is going to be doing exactly that and if what you're charging doesn't make sense they won't even call you.

See what the other websites look like for studios in your area to get some ideas for how to build yours. At the moment your site looks like a Logic commercial and doesn't really tell me anything about what services you offer or what it will be like to record with you. What other projects have you worked on? Can I hear samples?

Good luck!
Chris

 

[MichaelM]

At the moment your site looks like a Logic commercial and doesn't really tell me anything about what services you offer or what it will be like to record with you. What other projects have you worked on? Can I hear samples?

Good luck!
Chris

Exactly!
10 characters

 

[andyhix]

I have a 424 mkii and a sm58 beta (with mic stand!). I charge 2 beers per track recorded.

 

[notbradsohner]

i pay people to come record at my place! mabye somem day ill get better.........

 

[fraserhutch]

I have a 424 mkii and a sm58 beta (with mic stand!). I charge 2 beers per track recorded.

I think with the cost of gas going up, you'll need to raise your rates to 2 beers and a whiskey shot.

 

[fraserhutch]

Man, I hope you know the folks at wavemage.com (unlikely, given that they're in Germany) cause you pretty much just copied their webpage onto your Sound Design page.

http://www.wavemage.com/services-en.html

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

How classy of you, Jazzyt -- can't come up with you own website content so you steal/plagiarize others? Nice...........

Loser....