#Engineeringquestion- What’s your rate?

When I was in school one of the biggest lessons I learned was when my teacher asked, “What are you going to charge people for your services?”. Now, I can honestly tell you it’s one of the hardest things I have to deal with in this business because it’s putting I price on something I love doing. When I first started 10+ years ago, I interned like everybody else so money wasn’t a factor. The following year I started getting opportunities to engineer major label tracking sessions and I had no idea what I was supposed to invoice the label for my services, so I asked the studio manager what was the standard rate. He told me simply, “Standard is x and certain engineers get y.” I asked, why is that? He said because of their experience, high profile clientele, and the relationships they have with certain people at the labels. The one piece of advise he gave me was whatever you decide to charge people is what they will always expect that price to be so if you start off low just to get their business you’re going to piss people off if you raise your rate on them. Keep in mind, we are talking about a time when recording budgets were crazy so if you were good at what you did and worked with certain in-demand producers or artists you could rightfully name your price and labels had no problem paying it as long as everyone remained happy. As record sales began to decline and the industry went into panic mode, outlandish recording budgets were the first to go. Artists and producers began building their own recording rooms, putting the squeeze on major studios to keep the doors open thus leaving alot of engineers without work. This was an eye opener for me. I had to now figure out how do I eat and provide for my family while remaining competitive in a market that seemed to be turning into a bargain basement. I had to ask myself, was I charging people based on what I felt I was worth, or what I knew I could get because the money was there. I’ll tell you, I was always tempted to “rape” the label because I knew I could, but never did because I had too much integrity. I mean it’s not even the labels money, it’s the artists and we were technically on the same side so the decision was easy for me. To this day, I still charge labels the same recording and mixing rate because that is what my work is worth. This brings me to my other clients, independent labels, artists and production companies. Independents are the biggest portion of my business now, and I charge them a little less for various reasons. Working with them affords me alot more flexibility in my schedule, they are less demanding, and I dont have to wait 30-60 days to get paid like I do with the majors so I show them more love. At the end of the day when figuring out how much you should charge your clients there are a couple rules you should take into consideration:

1. Your rate should reflect your work. 

2. How does your work compare to the competition? If you are getting better feedback       what’s wrong with charging more than them?

3. Don’t charge based on what you think they can afford. 

4. Keep your expenses in mind. Are you booking studio time or are is the client?

5. Make deals but don’t compromise your value. It will show in your work.

I hope this helps. 

-Brizz

5 things to do outside the studio to be a better engineer

5. SLEEP

Any engineer will tell you they have done 20 - 24 hour sessions before and that not sleeping is part of the recording industries unspoken rules to success but extended bouts of sleeplessness can cause an array of physical symptoms and might eventually kill you. It kills your immune system and makes it harder to concentrate. Power naps are helpful but your body needs adequate time to reproduce hormones you lost while your awake. Do yourself a favor and go get a few hours in and go back refreshed and ready to make that next hit!

4. WORKOUT

This is pretty self explanatory. You spend countless hours on end in a sedentary position (sitting) or moving a little around the control room to get different sound perspectives but thats about it. Putting together a workout schedule around your studio time will give you more energy and stamina to put more into your craft. Fitness is a great stress reliever and let’s face it, the better you look and feel the better you perform.

3. GO TO THE CLUB

I make it a habit to hit a club every  other month or so to get a feel for how the latest hot records are sounding. Most of my clients are going out to promote their music at these venues, and hopefully getting their records played by the DJ. While its playing they’re listening to how it stacks up against other records along with the crowds reaction so your recording or mix better mix right in with other records or it’s bye bye to that client.

2. GO TO A CONCERT/LIVE SHOW

It’s important not to lose perspective on music from the live point of view. These are the visual musical cues that stay with us. You ever forgot a concert you went to? Probably not. When somebody is playing an instrument in front of you, its just how that instrument sounds, no eq no compression just that instrument and that performance. Anytime I hit a show (a good show) Im doing as much critical listening as I am in the studio, the next time Im in the lab, Im listening to the music while visualizing the performance. This helps me create a recording or mix where my goal is making the listener visualize the music.

1. TAKE A VACATION

Getting away for a couple days is the perfect reward for the person thats always indoors. Give yourself the opportunity to miss the studio and the music. If your the traveling type, go somewhere you’ve never been before. If you’re the chill at home type get yourself some rest and catch up on the house work you’ve been putting off.  This is also great if you are in a relationship with someone not in the music industry because It’s hard to build or keep a relationship going due to the demanding hours necessary to remain relevant in this business. 

SUMMARY.

Music is all about balance. If you are 100% about something the other aspects of your life will suffer thus trickling into everything you do. We know when it comes to the studio time is money and being away from it means missing out on some money. Treat your downtime like an investment and you will have more gain in the end guaranteed.

Brizz