making a living in the recording biz?

  • Thread starter Thread starter postalblue
  • Start date Start date

how much are you making a year as a recording engineer?

  • under $50,000

    Votes: 52 86.7%

  • $50,000 to $100,000

    Votes: 4 6.7%

  • $100,000 to $200,000

    Votes: 2 3.3%

  • over $200,000

    Votes: 2 3.3%
  • Total voters
    60
1.) Do you own your house? i.e. have a mortgage or do rent your house?

Mortgage. But I rent out two rooms to students that proivides some security.

2.) If you own your house, and have people, namely, the public, come to your house to record, what does that do to your homeowner's insurance costs?

You take out seperate business insurance for that - it's still about £50 a month for £5million public and product liability and £20K equipment. To be honest insurance companies are fighting each other for business at the moment so it pays to phone around.

If you wanted to save money you could get them to sign a contract before you record saying enter at your own risk or similar.

3.) Aren't you afraid of someone getting hurt, or claiming to get hurt and suing you?

Isn't every business owner - what you have to ask yourself is - are the risks acceptible? I take every precaution outlined in my business insurance and more to ensure people don't get hurt.

As for the claiming to get hurt - all the people I have worked with I consider to be honourable human beings, plus if someone does genuinly get hurt and it's your fault then fair enough you only have yourself to blame.

4.) How are you protecting yourself against liablity claims?

Good insurance, good solicitor/lawyer - See above.
 
stu,

thanks for all the input. i'm going to try and put my current gear to the best use, and see if i can make enough money to break even and still invest a little bit.

michael,

do you think there's enough reason to worry so much about liabilities and law suits? i know i live in a different country with a different culture, but it still seems to me you're worrying too much, but then i'm not really acquainted with YOUR reality. :)
in my country, people usually go for months or years running a business without even legally registering a company, let alone paying taxes. they only go the legal way when a tax agent comes by to 'harass' them. i know this is wrong, but that's what people do most of the time. i understand why they do it- i did run a small enterprise some years ago, and because i wanted to do it the right and legal way, there were so many taxes i had to pay upfront upon starting the business (and later on too) that my investment was downright compromised, and we had to shut doors within 2 years. :(
 
Postal-
I'm not really worring about it, just concerned. I think most people are honorable, and have good intentions, but there's always the possibility of getting that one person that is not. If I were going to try to record people out of my project studio, I'd want to know how others are handling liability issues.
Trust me, if you're running a business out of your home, that's open to clientel, it (liability) is not a small issue.
 
i don't know american law, but wouldn't you have the same concern if you were running a business from a commercial location? i think stu's contract idea sounds good, i just don't know if it has any legal effectiveness.
 
Micheal - There is a good article on going legit in the February Electronic Musician. The article is called "Going Legit." What it basically concerns is the legal issues and the different types of buisiness models you can use. For example, if you set up your studio as a corporation, the studio would be liable for any lawsuits. That way you save your butt!! The drawback is, a corporation has to have shareholders, monthly meetings, and lots of other crap. Anyway its a good read and you can look at it for free. Here's the link.

http://industryclick.com/magazinear...aseid=9826&magazinearticleid=139716&siteid=15

I am looking into the same type of thing right now. Hopefully this summer we will be adding an addition on to my house which will be a studio. It will be about 750 square feet as planned. The building cost is only about $20,000 intitially. That is because we are building it outrselves and already have tie ins to water and electricity.

With regards to renting, I wouldn't do it!!! I would say if you can swing it, buy it. I know thats a lot of dough that I certainly don't have, but, what if for some reason your lease owner sells out and they want to kick you out. Since they bought the building, your lease is now trash. What do you do?? Hire a lawyer and spend a whole lot more money you aren't making with your studio?? Probably not. That way you aren't going to spend $25,000 to soundproof the existing room, just to be kicked out in 2 years. Not to mentoin that a buisiness owner doesn't have to give you a lease the next time. Who wants to take these chances??? Not me.

Just a lot of stuff I have been thinking about lately.

Beezoboy
 
At present, I am working in two studios in the local area and am very quickly working out that I am doing most of the work and somebody else is making most of the money - so I think, what the hell, I should do this myself!

I was wondering from the people who run there own professional studios, what set-ups do you have?

The reason I ask is because I have been thinking about doing it myself for some time - I went to the bank this week to discuss the business possibilities and on the whole they were very positive about it and offered me a very attractive package to help me get started.

I think part of the reason why the bank were so keen to help me is that I used to be a full time primary school teacher. The last year or so I have been working in studios but I occasionally still do some supply teaching when there isn't much work around. It tends to be really flexible here in the UK as we have a real teacher shortage. I can make a phone call at 8am and have work for the day by 8.05am - and the money is really good. Unfortunately, the job sucks and my heart has never really been in it. As far as banks are concerned, this back up really helps to pay bills in times of trouble and so I believe this is why they look more favourably at my ideas.

Actually, my application for an Australian Permanent Residence Visa has recently been accepted. So really I have to make a decision about where I should start this project. Do I stay here and make a go of it for a few years and then go or do I go in the next few months and attempt the project in Australia. This is something only I can answer. I tried to do some research about available work in Australia and have written to many musicians and studios asking for information and advice - so far, no replies!

Stu - I have looked to some of your website - I was very impressed! Well done!!!

Ian
 
At present, I am working in two studios in the local area and am very quickly working out that I am doing most of the work and somebody else is making most of the money - so I think, what the hell, I should do this myself!

I was wondering from the people who run there own professional studios, what set-ups do you have?

The reason I ask is because I have been thinking about doing it myself for some time - I went to the bank this week to discuss the business possibilities and on the whole they were very positive about it and offered me a very attractive package to help me get started.

I think part of the reason why the bank were so keen to help me is that I used to be a full time primary school teacher. The last year or so I have been working in studios but I occasionally still do some supply teaching when there isn't much work around. It tends to be really flexible here in the UK as we have a real teacher shortage. I can make a phone call at 8am and have work for the day by 8.05am - and the money is really good. Unfortunately, the job sucks and my heart has never really been in it. As far as banks are concerned, this back up really helps to pay bills in times of trouble and so I believe this is why they look more favourably at my ideas.

Actually, my application for an Australian Permanent Residence Visa has recently been accepted. So really I have to make a decision about where I should start this project. Do I stay here and make a go of it for a few years and then go or do I go in the next few months and attempt the project in Australia. This is something only I can answer. I tried to do some research about available work in Australia and have written to many musicians and studios asking for information and advice - so far, no replies!

Stu - I have looked at some of your website - I was very impressed! Well done!!!

Ian
 
Beezoboy-
Thanks for the great link! I knew most of the stuff about setting up a corporation. Until recently, I was a shareholder in a fairly large corporation that I helped set up and establish. I sold my shares in it, and now I fool around in the studio pretty much full time. I understand the pros and cons of buying vs. building as well. I really didn't want to do this out of my house, but I think maybe I'll look into converting my garage and expanding it. Then I can raise some capital, and look into buying a commericial building in the near future.
 
Yikes!!

So is anyone actually making any money here?

For me I would have to gross over 60 grand a year, on a bad year, to justify the cost of that kind of adventure. Health insurance is around $490 a month if your not corporate affiliated. Most guys I know started in the house, built up a decent plan, funneled money into a studio fund. Then one day executed the plan after some cushion is in the Biz account...without the cushion, 3 bad months can destroy the whole thing. IMO

Peace,
Dennis
 
Just cruising the forums and thought I'd open up this old gem again, get some updates on what you guys are doing now.

I've updated my web site, got in some serious new toys to play with and got myself a job teaching City and Guilds Creative Sound Engineering, 2 days a week - which supplements the studio income very nicely.

How are you guys doing?

Remember how I was saying you have to make you gear work and do any work you can with it? Well I just finished a web site for an equipment reseller who swapped me gear (namely microphones in this instance) for web design/code.

Stu
 
"All about Making Shit work for you"

That is a true statement. Dr. Dre recorded NWA's first album on a 16 track mixer, with two of the tracks broken. When asked how he did such a good job with that sorry equipment, he said, " I don't give a shit if you have a million dollar board, if you don't have the gift, it ain't gonna sound good. It's ALL about the man behind the board, not the board." I had MINIMAL equipment and my stuff sounded WAY better than 95% of people I hear in 250,000 dollar studios.
 
Adriano, ya know, I'm thinking the greatest marketing asset for you and your buddy may be your location. You already know a lot about recording, are fluent in English and globally connected to a knowledgable bunch of sound tekkies... sounds like a pretty good mix so far.

If, in fact, you guys can get a moderately good studio pieced together, remember how earlier posts opined on how important the trappings of the recording environment can be. In your case, you can provide intangibles that few recording studios can... namely a venue in a uniquely "tropical paradise", home to the hypnotic sound of Samba and the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana (shit, you're not in Sao Paolo are you?). There's a reason big stars like James Taylor hang at Rock In Rio -- it's indisputably one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We all tend to take what we have for granted. I think the key is to use what you have for free to your advantage.

You know some good local musicians, and can probably find people who are good with the indiginous instruments of Brasil. Fill your fridge with Antarctica beer and decorate your studio with pics of Tom Jobim, Maria Batania and Caetano. Then invite Peter Gabriel and Brian Wilson down for an informal benefit concert for the kids of your favorite favela. See what happens! Who knows, maybe even Lula would show up.
 
dcdoggy,

thanks for the ideas but most of your suggestions can't be applied where i live. brasília is right in the middle of the country, about 1,000 mi from the sea and 2,000 from any forest. it's more like arizona here. the one thing you got right is that lula might show up since he lives so near. :D
btw, antarctica sucks, brahma is the way to go. :)
 
Didn't know you're in Brasilia till now. Have had a sister-in-law there for about the past 10 years. That does make things more challenging, and my beach-blanket marketing plan sure goes out the window. I think Stu's posts about the practical day-to-day work he chases after are very insightful. Being near the seat of government, you should probably try to make contacts that can land you some gov't work (voice-overs and the like). Not super fun, but good training and it pays the bills for the more enjoyable stuff.

I'm with you on the Brahma/Antarctica issue. Just that Antarctica's got the good Budweiser-esque marketing thing going. As you know, real men worldwide drink beers of color (Guiness, etc.). I especially love the trademark bottom-of-the-bottle sludge layer that lets you know your sipping down a Brahma.
 
Didn't know you're in Brasilia till now. Have had a sister-in-law there for about the past 10 years. That does make things more challenging, and my beach-blanket marketing plan sure goes out the window. I think Stu's posts about the practical day-to-day work he chases after are very insightful. Being near the seat of government, you should probably try to make contacts that can land you some gov't work (voice-overs and the like). Not super fun, but good training and it pays the bills for the more enjoyable stuff.

I'm with you on the Brahma/Antarctica issue. Just that Antarctica's got the good Budweiser-esque marketing thing going. As you know, real men worldwide drink beers of color (Guiness, etc.). I especially love the trademark bottom-of-the-bottle sludge layer that lets you know your sipping down a Brahma.
 
i supppose i could go after a lot of non-music jobs like voice-over and stuff like that, but that's REALLY not fun. i'd rather try to record some music. :D
i've been working as a free lance translator for a few years, and the fact that i'm so near to the seat of government hasn't helped me a bit. it does help me in the sense that i'm a public worker, which is a pretty stable occupation, and pays decently well.
as for the beer, antarctica looks cooler than brahma (the little penguins are a trademark), but it gives me gruelsome headaches. :)
when your sister-in-law comes to visit you, ask her to bring you some 'cachaça de alambique'. it's a bit like tequila, only burns more.;)
 
Well to go back to the issue of renting out a place, I am wondering how this would work: If you were to buy a small house. This way you could write off most of the payments because it is for your buisness and you are putting your money into an asset instead of throwing it into a rental pit. You can then do all kinds of modifications to it, and you are only paying a fraction per month of what a lot of rental spaces go for. I have been to a studio like this and it was a great place, the atmosphere is nice also. I may be way off base but let me know if this would work.
 
I'm already a confirmed cachaça junkie. Even have an official Caipirihna t-shirt for when I'm making 'em for my buds. Usually try to finagle a 2-litre 7-Up bottle fillup from my father in law's private reserve barrel before I come back up to the states.

Do you have any contact info on D'Giorgio guitars (think they were in S Paulo)? Couldn't find them via internet search engines. Here's a picture of one similar to what I'm looking for:

http://www.fatcatmusic.com/myguitars5.htm
 
dcDoggy said:
I'm already a confirmed cachaça junkie. Even have an official Caipirihna t-shirt for when I'm making 'em for my buds. Usually try to finagle a 2-litre 7-Up bottle fillup from my father in law's private reserve barrel before I come back up to the states.
Click to expand...

won't you get into trouble with that? i heard it's really a hassle to get any kinds of food or beverages into the states by plane.

dcDoggy said:
Do you have any contact info on D'Giorgio guitars (think they were in S Paulo)? Couldn't find them via internet search engines. Here's a picture of one similar to what I'm looking for:

http://www.fatcatmusic.com/myguitars5.htm
Click to expand...

how about http://www.digiorgio.com.br? :D
 
Hmmm, haven't tried since 9/11. Last time I came in, customs wanted to know what kind of meat I was carrying. Dunno, must have looked kind of beefy that day. But never have they questioned my 7-up bottle. Looks like 7-up! Hey, I thought it was 7-up.
 
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