Production cost HELP!

[irishtea]

Hello to all. Looking for help!

I'm in the process of trying to get some of my songs produced.....finally. I'm a singer/songwriter but will be having other musicians come in to play on each track. Around 6 songs. Paying the producer for studio time, the other musicians, etc., what's a number I should be looking to spend?

I realize this is a very general description of what I'm planning on doing, but I'm just trying to get an idea.

Thank you!

[mojobone]

It varies pretty widely, depending on the size of the studio, the geographic location (square footage is more expensive in metro areas) and the equipment, (live drums? real piano?) and the number of players, but in an economically depressed area like mine, you could spend anywhere from $250 for as many songs as you can record in a single session (one guy, one computer, one microphone, mixing inside the box with all virtual instruments and plugins) to $1200+ per song, (six piece band, large format mixing board, great mics and hardware in a large acoustically treated space) with $600 per song or thereabouts being the median. Of course you can always pay more, if you need real strings, brass, an arranger, a copyist, someone to fetch and pour the tea....

I recommend discussing the project at length with potential producers and working out a package deal, as opposed to hourly rates, cuz everything in the studio takes at least twice as long as you think it will, and there's also mixing and possibly mastering to contend with. HTH, and best of luck with your project.

[irishtea]

Brilliant! Thank you. That definitely helps.

I've been speaking with a couple of producers in the L.A. area. $600 - 800 per song or about $5000 for six songs. This is in a very nice space, with back up instrumentation, possibly some virtual. Mixing as well.

I'm definitely not looking to half ass it and wanted to make sure I was in the right ballpark.

I appreciate your words of wisdom.

Thank you kindly!

[mazz]

If you're planning on pitching the songs for film/tv placements, you'll need work for hire agreements from everyone and clarity that these recordings are going to be "masters" and not just demos. You need to get that clear up front because some musicians and producers have different pay scales for demos as opposed to masters. You also need to have those work for hire agreements in place because some libraries and publishers will require them so they know the songs are 100% clean (meaning no one is going to come to them after the song is heard on some TV show and demand a cut of the proceeds, that needs to be cleared up before you set up one microphone).

This is very important.

Good luck!

Mazz

[mojobone]

Also, welcome to the 'boards, Mr. Tea

[eliotpister1]

I think I can give you a really broad range from my experience...

GOOD players (those that do it for a living) seem to be in the $75 - 125 / song range. I've found that many arent' willing to give a break on doing a bunch of songs at once ("can you just charge me a day rate?") because the really professional players don't want it to be held against them that they're able to rip through songs by the bushel full. You see the savings instead in the reduced studio time. Speaking of which...

Nowadays, studio and Producer go together, unless you're doing something on the Nashville level. For film/TV placements, I'm assuming you're looking at somebody local who has a good stack of equipment and is adept at getting a good product from it. In my area (Vancouver, BC), a project studio with an experienced engineer/producer at the controls would charge you about $35/hour - give or take. You may be able to negotiate a better hourly rate if you're doing say, 20+ hours of recording and if the guy has a big car payment.

So for a track that requires 3 players (plus yourself), let's put a stake in the ground and say a film/tv cue would cost:

$100 x 3 players = $300
$35 x 8 hours studio time = $280.
ALL TOLD: $580 / cue. (+/-)

This depends wildly on how much production you intend on putting into each song. Studio time for a pop/electronica song with lots of sequencing work may take 20 - 40 hours of studio time if you go completely nuts. Probably this isn't money well spent given the nature and size of licensing fees, but that's for you to decide.


You can definitely help your cause by doing as much pre-production as you can on your own on your laptop, before you're on the clock in a commercial studio.

That's my two cents worth. Somebody else may chime in with a number that's way lower or higher than I'm estimating, but that's cool.

Oh, one other thing. Take Mazz's advice seriously.... each player needs to sign a Work For Hire agreement so you know you completely "own" their performances!

Cheers, ELiot.

[irishtea]

Wow, thanks guys! Some great information here that I wasn't aware of. Especially the "work for hire" agreements. Thanks for passing it on Mazz. I like these boards already! Glad to be here.

I've "secured" a producer who I'm excited to work with. We're gonna work on a song to song basis to see if we mesh well together. But I like what he's said so far. And he's quoted me a price which I like and which will not be exceeded per our agreement. A number pretty close to what you quoted Eliot. Great name by the way. My sister just had a boy a week ago and named him Elliott. Different spelling. Same genius.

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks again!

[billg1]

this doesn't directly relate to your question I guess but . . .

if there are any indie BANDS (by that I mean that you don't have to hire musicians) and if you're near my neck of the woods in Virginia or N.Carolina you can hire Mitch Easter & his studio (REM producer among others)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Easter

$800 for a 12hr. blocks . . . can't go wrong if you're an indie rock band.
the studio site http://fidelitorium.com/index.html

[mojobone]

Excellent point, Bill. Eliot's info jibes pretty well with my experience; if you have MIDI gear and chops, you can save money by doing pre-production at home, even more, if you already have a well-rehearsed band. Double A Daddies did their entire record (minus overdubs) in two sessions for such an obscenely low price, I'm not allowed to quote it. We're lucky to have a world-class facility in our neighborhood that offers engineering courses; (well under half a grand) once you've graduated, you qualify for their 'engineer' rate (means they don't have to 'babysit' their gear)-a substantial discount. The joint where we recorded basics is no longer available, but Sound Logic is a world-class facility that even has housing available in a secluded yet easy to access setting. (and no, I don't get a discount for saying that, heh) We used it for mixing; not sure why Slash was there, Cooter said he bumped into him in the hallway...

[shorttonpro]

There are other options if your budgets are more constrained. Quite alot of sessions going on over the internet nowadays. Sites like esession.com, virtualmixengineer.com etc, you can usually end up saving on costs because there is less overhead. Even though they have some live video feed software, nothing can totally replace being in the same room, getting a nice vibe and groove going though.
Another risky cost saver is getting some local high schoolers or college kids who are eager to get some experience to play on the record. They can't learn as fast as session musicians of course, but if you meet before you are in the studio and work through everything can be an option.