I’m asking myself two things. How do I charge people I know really well like my brother or cousin or so? The other thing is how to not get people pissed when you put your rates back down? Because they might feel treated wrong because they were the only ones getting it more expensive?
It's no struggle. Simply work out how much you need to earn for a year. Divide that by the number of billable hours and there's your hourly rate...then double it :)
I feel like my work is starting to sound professional, but getting my name out there is a whole other story! I also love helping people too much to really get paid well. Not really sure what the next step is besides doing my very best on every job I get.
When I started my small studio and no one knew if I was any good,I would give people a few hours of tracking free. So they didn’t have to be locked into anything if they didn’t like the results or the workflow. I didn’t have a booth or even a mixing board. Just a 16 Input recording interface, a bunch of rack gear and 15 assorted mics.
@@jjrmusic7 If you like to help people go work for charity. If you want to make money you need to charge for your music. You spend years and years learning your craft for what! So you can give it for free to the people that honestly don't care for you? You need to look at it as an business, not as an charity.
Why doesn't this channel have a million subs already? (rhetorical question) People either don't know or don't care how much time, effort, knowledge and good will goes into planing, shooting, discussing, learning, teaching and all of the other things needed to do this kind of stuff. I understand that this is an advertisement and business idea/plan for Colt, but damn... one of the most badass, genuine and quality channels ever on the Internet. Hope this channel never stops growing. Cheers from Croatia! \m/
Tomi C Really appreciate that! Honestly means a lot! To be perfectly honest with you I started the channel as a way to just reply to the most common questions I get asked. It was starting to get difficult to have a 20 minute conversation with everyone who messaged me, so it was a way to be able to just reply with a link that contains all of my thoughts on whatever question was being asked. Then I started actually get into the filmmaking side of things. Either way, I enjoy making the videos, and if it helps even just a couple people it is worth it. Appreciate you following along!
As a session player in LA, it's very interesting to hear this perspective from a producer in Nashville. $75-300 will not get you an A-list player in LA. Big name-drummers with their own professionally outfitted studios generally start at around $500 per song. Although those rates will get closer to $300 per song if you hire them for a full album in one go. I've co-produced many songs here in LA and internationally, and even not-quite-A-list guitarists, bassists and keyboard players have quoted me and my clients as much at $1500 for a solo. Wild. I'm not quite an A-list player myself, although I've worked with many major name artists and producers. It's interesting to learn that I am operating at Nashville rates, while being in LA. However, the majority of my clients are outside of LA.
Well, to be fair, $75 will certainly not get you an A-list player here either. That’s just a common range of what I pay for my session players. There are session players in town that charge $400 and $500 per song, but at least here in Nashville $75-$300 is A pretty typical price range
One key to understanding rates in Nashville is to look at the union rates for demo and master sessions. All the information of what the A-list get paid for sessions is right there.
I'm a producer in New Hampshire just north of Boston. All of my session players charge between 100-150 per song and these guys are all A-list players. My rate for mixing a song is typically 75 - 100 a song depending on the complexity of the mix. My rate drops if I'm mixing the entire album. I can image in Nashville, LA, NY that the rates would be significantly higher. I went to hire Kenny Aronoff for a session where he me quoted 500 per song and 50 for additional edits and percussion which at someone from his caliber is expected.
@@sbanville4761 I guess it depends on what you mean by A-list. Is it A-list locally, or nationally, or globally? Being an A-lister in New Hampshire is quite different from being one in Nashville or LA, where an insanely disproportionate number of top-level musicians live and work. Also, being an A-lister in Portugal is quite different from being one in the US or UK - in terms of demand globally. And how does that factor in remote work? Regardless of whether you're in California or Germany or Zimbabwe, the A-lister you're hiring remotely doesn't really need to account for your local purchase power or the rates of your local A-listers, all of which varies wildly.
Yes, please make more videos on these topics! Very informative, helpful, and something I find truly interesting. Thank you and keep it up. Your videos are enjoyable and much appreciated
Flat rate is pretty much the standard for Record Producer's and Mix Engineer's as I honest don't know of a Producer or Mixer that charges by the hour because it can easily put an Artist over budget and not cost effective at all. It's not uncommon to spend more than a day on the same project. As a Producer I tend to be a perfectionist like Dr. Dre and Diddy when working with a rapper or singer in the studio as I'm making sure I'm getting the right performance and takes until it sounds right. Trying to cram all that by hourly would be very hard to do without sacrificing quality. I often use a *Producer Agreement* when I"m hired to work on a song or EP. My contracts are structured similarly to one with a label as I'm paid 50% prior the recording sessions and the other half once the entire song or project is completed. I may ask for points on the record from time to time.
Colt, I want to ask you a hard question - one that few Producers are willing to address. How long did you have to work a "regular" job - to pay the bills, keep your family fed - while using ANY money left over to acquire the equipment you would need to take on your first client - KNOWING, before that client came along, you already had the skills? I think a lot of us would appreciate that transparency. Speaking personally, I have a minimalist equipment set-up, but it is enough to produce any artist's vision. However, I would need to be booked solid, indefinitely, for the numbers to justify leaving my day job. It's risky. How did you justify taking that leap, and what, if any, were the repercussions of that 'leap of faith'? Thank you.
18:05 In the EDM Genre side of things, since the dawn of time of Dance Music. Its reversed. It was ALWAYS about the Single's and EP's. Not albums. Just wanted to clarify that for other people watching. So they dont get mis-informed or that its like that throughout the entire industry. I have first hand knowledge of this because I have 4 decades in the industry. Studio-54, Danceteria, Bonds International, Palladium nightclubs brings back memories. :) Even now a days its all about singles and EP's. You rarely see any albums for EDM. Seeing and experience music change from Disco to todays EDM is a joy to experience :)
Thank you for this. Most people don't take the time to really break down what goes on behind the scenes re: figuring out rates. This was extremely helpful.
Any content about the business side of show business I would say is greatly needed. There must be 100k videos on using compression or eq hacks, maybe 10 actually explaining how the money works. Maybe no one wants to give up the secret sauce lol I get it! But that is the difference between a hobby and a career. Pointing out that yes, unfortunately a bar band is really in the business of liquor sales - but you should get 20%!! Very helpful. That alone can really help sus out what kind of venues your band might want to play at. Does your music make people want to drink more? Well you might do well in a bar that does 10k in liquor sales. Granted no one remembers you the next day. Maybe you'd be just as happy at a farmers market in a rich part of town where you sell some merch. Maybe you live stream your performances across the world. Maybe you take less pay teaming up with a couple other bands to put on a show at an actual music venue (that may happen to sell liquor). Maybe you have real fans and ticket sales work well. Gotta understand where you're at to figure out how to get where you want to be. Thanks for this video!
Love the insight you give and how you present it Colt, a lot of this information is really hard to find and a lot of home and small/medium project studio owners could learn a lot from it!
Relate much on this. Took me a little more than 10 years to be able to charge $500 in my currency. I do fold up on friends on indie bands and charge them minimally. But commercial rates have become stable for me. It takes time, sometimes a really long time. Experience, insights, and wisdom, is ultimately what you are charging for. And really, it's priceless.
@@chinmeysway I wish it was per hour. That's per production (on average). With equivalence of up to 40hrs. maximum. So I optimize my workflow to accomplish more in fewer hours to get more worth. Of course, there's a variable to it, depending on the type of production. Where it's $260-300 is the minimum wage, to be able to charge $500 is a huge leap. Especially for a really small production setup like mine.
I’m a full time educator and performer. My lessons are $1/minute, and then my studio rate is $35 unless offered a rate beforehand. I only set the studio rate this year after what I felt was comfortable to me since I have album credits and am a full time musician with over a decade of experience. I feel that those are fair numbers for me. Live I usually get $25-100/hour pending on the gig and type of gig (event band, wedding, cocktail hour etc.) I joined a full year event band and it was a great decision because I feel that I’m being paid fairly based on experience, travel, expenses and more.
I know most pay to play and local shows may not pay at all or only $2/ticket. Opening acts for smaller tours seem to get $250-500/show. This is what I see from people I know personally. I have done over a hundred shows at various rates so I can be picky. Theater shows can be anywhere from $40-100 per service. But are often not as great pending the theaters budget. Hence why I left theater work.
I am looking to hire a violinist for one song. Should I pay per hour or a flat rate? The person who has contacted me is a grad student at the local university. I don't want to rip any one off but I can't afford Nashville a-list prices. What do you think is a fair price?
Great video and tutorial on pricing Colt! I'm not even at a place yet in my engineering journey to do anything for a client yet, but I do like to look forward and hearing your breakdown and how you started and went about your early professional services really helps me to understand and look forward how I'll charge. Your details and life stories help greatly cement in your teaching. Thank you
Great video and perfect timing for me. I am moving from one stage that you described to the next and this has helped me think about how to navigate that and reflect it in my rates. Cheers good Sir 👍
Thanks for the great content as usual. I have been watching your vids for a long time but have never visited your website until now. Your examples of transformations from clients rough ideas to full production demos are full of great intros and production ideas, they sound great. I know this is off topic but just had to say congrats on that as you have obviously spent the time that those artists and songs deserved (as we all should do but sometimes in this industry doesn't happen with some producers) and it is clear why you can charge upfront (as well as your own explanation in the vid) as there is a clear example on how you obviously value your work. Keep it up Colt!!
how have you handled mix revisions that make the mix sound worse? Not subjectively or stylistic choices, but someone who is dead set on skewing the balance of the mix in an extreme way? I ended up just doing it and keeping my original mix in case they were unhappy later, but sometimes people want what they want and for those projects I just decided to go uncredited because it didn't sound worthy of being on my resume and made me nervous other clients might pass on me.
Man that is a rough one… Admittedly it has happened for less often in recent years you and your work. And that is far more important than putting out a mix where you didn’t like the direction of it. Also usually the The clients that were the ones making terrible mix revisions were not successful artists. So in addition to always making the artist happy, I came to the realization that almost all the time when this happens, your work is going to be heard by maybe 100 people. So it’s just not that big of an impact. And them being happy and telling others about you far outweighs the handful of people that will hear a mix you are not happy with. Hope that helps!
I really like how you explain and you are honest! keep it up and you will surely be appreciated by many like you and you will become even better! Thanks for all the advice !!!! Edy Van Mix
I've just seen the first minute and a half of this video and you've already said the main thing about setting up a contract/advertisement/terms and conditions of work. It's constantly evolving as you learn and you never stop learning. I've been an artist for over 30 years and running a studio since 1993 and everything you've said in this video is on point. With the getting paid in full up front the motto for it is (Jamaican accent) In God we trust, everyone else pays first. lol
You put this video out at the perfect time. I decided to try to be a session drummer. Pricing was a big question for me. I'm having trouble networking though.
..dude.. TOTALLY do extra videos on everything that you mentioned. i would love to see n hear more about the behind the scenes stuffs n inner-workings. \m/ ^_^ \m/
I charge $250 for tracking, mixing, mastering, and $150 for just mixing/mastering. I feel like I don’t charge enough. I’m also in Pittsburgh and I’m moving to Nashville July 1st where there is more demand. I was told by some Nashville producers that the Nashville scene is run on co-writes and getting your cut if the song gets big rather than charging a flat rate? Any thoughts on this? Should I switch to just a royalty %?
Being a “track guy“ within a co-write is certainly a common angle for a producer to get work or be involved in the song. And I think there’s nothing wrong with that approach. Personally I’m never involved in the writing process, and that has not held me back in anyway. The Nashville songwriter/artist scene absolutely does run on cowrites. But it’s definitely not a necessity as a producer to be involved in those cowrites.
Hi Colt! I love your content. I’m 19 and have been producing/recording/mixing music since I was about 14. Even though I’m at the point where I can get my mixes to sound the way I want them to for the most part, I find it hard to justify charging others for my services. This is for two main reasons, in the past I’ve been rejected from recording bands because they wouldn’t take me seriously because of my age, and because I feel like it takes me too long to finish my mixes. As for the first reason, there’s not much I can do about that. But for the second one, how long is too long to finish a mix for a client? It currently takes me anywhere from 3 days to a little over a week working 5-8 hours a day on it to finish a mix. Thank you and keep up the awesome (and helpful) videos!
A full week is a long time. As long as the tracks are recorded well you should be able to get a good static mix, EQ and compress, then tweak some automation. Take a break and come back to it later in the day and just listen to a rendered version, take some notes on what needs to be changed, go and fix the issues and you should be done at that point. Its ok to sit on a mix to listen with fresh ears but if you are mixing non stop for a week straight then something tells me the tracks aren't that great and you have to do lots of fixing before you can get to mixing.
Unfortunately you cannot do anything about your age, as you already said. Just Get the best results you possibly can, and let your work speaks for itself. In terms of how long it should take you to finish a mix, there’s no right or wrong answer here. It would regularly take me 12 or 15 hours to complete a mix in the first handful of years I was working on music. Now, I can pretty consistently get a mix knocked out in three or four hours, even for a complicated one. But every once in a while I still get hit with a song that takes eight or 10 hours to mix. This is also somewhat genre dependent. If you’re mixing film score stuff that has 300+ tracks, that’s going to take a while. If you’re mixing pop stuff that has 160+ tracks that’s going to take a while. If the session, or the productions aren’t very clearly laid out in a way that is intuitive to mix, that’s going to take a while. What I can suggest is spend time refining your workflow. Figure out what won’t let you work faster. I spend a lot of time, effort, and honestly money setting myself up to work at a higher rate of speed. Acoustic treatment is super important, good monitoring is super important, a lot of people rely heavily on templates within their DAW. Just experiment with lots of different things and anytime you can shave 15 minutes off of a mix, do that. Hope that helps!
Colt Capperrune I just recently started experimenting with templates so maybe once I have that sorted out It’ll really speed up my work flow. As for acoustic treatment and monitoring, I’m currently stuck in a 10x10 room which is less than ideal. I have 3 fairly large bass traps and some 3 inch acoustic foam strategically placed around the room, but physics seems to be against me haha. I’m also using Adam Audio T7V’s as my main monitors. Thanks for the advice!
Doctor McFarland Studios To an extent, yea, the tracks I’m often working with are less then stellar so you do have a point there. I’ve really been working on getting better source recordings but I’m mainly limited by the acoustics of the rooms I’m in until I can invest in more and better acoustic treatment. Also I’m just a perfectionist so I’ll spend hours tweaking the smallest details to get it perfect.
Money is an objective/quantifiable representation of value, if you want to get good with money you have to start thinking in terms of value. If you spend 40 hours on a mix someone else would spend 4 hours on, well are your providing 10x the amount lf value to client? Are their album sales going to be 10x higher for example, because you spent 10x the number of hours on the mix? If not then you're likely wasting everyones time. At the end of the day the client doesn't care how the sausage is made. If it took you 1 hour or 10 to deliver great results, the value to the client hasn't changed, and neither should your compensation.
awesome content.. i've recently built a studio and was wondering on what rates i should charge. This video gave me a very good way on how to go about things.. Thanks a lot.. ohh BTW i love your studio setup
As of right now I charge $500 a song. That includes all tracking, mixing and mastering. Any extra musicians are paid by the artist. Most of the time I am producing and playing all the instruments for a client that brings me their unfinished song and they need me to "flesh it out". I like doing full band projects as well.
@@garrettpatten6312 they vary in nature but if they are released to streaming etc then I ask for a percentage of the sales. Most digital distribution services offer a Splits option so it makes it easy to share royalties across collaborators.
Thank you Colt. Do you have any suggestions on how to break I to the scene as a session guitarist? I’ve had a few reach out to me as I’m an independent solos artist, but other than that, I really have no clue on how to promote that service in a way that would entice people to use me.
what's your advice on finding a tracking spot with minimal issues. I drum in my townhouse basement and no one complains anymore, however, it's not in a proper zoning spot. my parents have a house with 5 acres and a basement, so do a few of my friends. They all said NO! haha.
Also ... what about a musician (or producer !) input making a song sooooooo much better like putting this greeeaat hook that makes everything explode ... Do you d7ggest the artist to share a little share on the publishing? I do ..its rare but I do even it happens musically (melody hooks) or lyrically
Hi...... Colt ... Do you have your mind set on expanding on the artist pay rates etc? Very interesting %s for each situation etc Just subscribed about 30 minutes ago 🤘😎👉
Wow I thought I was the only one who is going through waiting on a major label to pay thanks man for the video I have been wait on my Check for over on year
Hey Colt, like your videos very much. Just wanted to ask, how do you normally get paid on an hourly basis? Do you charge the client every session? I mean, do you actually get paid on hand every session depending on the hours worked?
This is all fine info, but it would be VERY helpful to have hard figures, even if it’s just like “if you have recorded 10 or fewer albums, here’s the minimum you should charge”. It’s hard to even know what high or low is when there’s no absolute figures being used. Is $50/hr a lot or a little for a producer? Does that include an engineer or do you pay an engineer separately? Is $100 a song a lot or a little for a session player? I truly have no idea. Both of those simultaneously sound high and low depending on how you look at it.
I record a cello player that charges $75 an hour. On the other hand I record a singer for demos and I give her $50 a song. The cellist is more in demand and she knows what she wants for her time. You get paid what you are worth. I am worth $50 an hour for my time and nothing less. If you can't afford it then I will go play with my kids till you save up the money or find someone else.
Time ≠ money. Time is a limited resource not even the richest man on earth can get more of. Money is prinited out of thin air, and the purchasing power of said money is changing all the time. So instead of asking for hard figures that no one could honestly provide, maybe give more thought to the value being created for both parties. If you mix an album for $1000.00 that goes on to do $1,000,000.00 in sales then you got screwed. If you need to create X amount of value to provide for you and your family but an artists album sales wont create that X amount of value to pay you, thats their problem and maybe you two just aren't the right fit. X is a variable, and it's a good thing. It requires more math and thought on the front end but it can also create the most win/win situations. Maybe you normally wouldn't mix for less than $300.00 a song but a bad storm came and wrecked the roof on your house, well your time/value equation might have to change until your roof gets fixed. And maybe that's some starving artists big break thanks to mother nature lol I mean just think about inflation, if you're priced aren't going up 5-7% a year your wages are going down.
Beginner producers/mixing engineers/artists can't afford having contracts. Or force them to apply to other rules. Because the client will just go to another guy (not always, but pretty often). It all sounds great in theory and might work fine for a guy like you with dozens of thousands of subsribers. But realisticly, for most people, it's the market and the customer who dictates the rules, not vice versa
Can you provide links to some of the 'literally thousands of records' you've played on please? 1:10 Just found your channel and wondering what you've done. Only 3 records on Discogs!?
Cars and Audio are two different things. A project can cost more money than recording a track, now if recording a track is a project i dont know what to tell you.
I charge $ 8.88 per hour. Eighty dollar and eight eight cents per hour. Why? How can I, or any unknow muscian, afford to go into a studio, a good studio with a decent drum room, not someones bedroom, and record and mix a full length CD? So with an average of 100 hours??? Do the math based on your local studio. By the way, my studio was in operation for 16 years, three to ten hours per day, sevem days a week.
Lucas Michalski Man… The stories I have heard are endless… Producers ghosting artists halfway through the project. Producers losing files and not being willing to re-create them. Producer’s taking payments, and then disappearing. Basically just in a bad business practices.
@@ColtCapperrune yes, I understand. Thanks for explanation. How would you approach people who are not willing to pay upfront? I'm starting my own little mixing business and noticed that people are not keen to pay upfront. Thanks
It’s kind of like the 10,000 hr rule of mastering your talent. Wether it be as a artist or what ever. Far as mixing goes after you have completed successfully 300-500 mixes you will be able to look back & look at your bank account & that’s the high light of your career growing proving to yourself your a pro. Execution with precision & quality. Not to mention the speed of your workflow. It’s the same as a successful tattoo artist. You will be working greater volumes lots more $ not rushing, but working without second guessing your next move. Nobody is going to turn on a switch and it works for you. You have to work it , it’s a mind set & dedication before receiving the glam of the lifestyle.
![ทุกครั้งที่หลับตา (Lucid Dream) - AYLA's [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4i1OBAQyv58/mqdefault.jpg)
How are you struggling with setting your rates??
I’m asking myself two things. How do I charge people I know really well like my brother or cousin or so? The other thing is how to not get people pissed when you put your rates back down? Because they might feel treated wrong because they were the only ones getting it more expensive?
It's no struggle. Simply work out how much you need to earn for a year. Divide that by the number of billable hours and there's your hourly rate...then double it :)
I feel like my work is starting to sound professional, but getting my name out there is a whole other story! I also love helping people too much to really get paid well. Not really sure what the next step is besides doing my very best on every job I get.
When I started my small studio and no one knew if I was any good,I would give people a few hours of tracking free.
So they didn’t have to be locked into anything if they didn’t like the results or the workflow. I didn’t have a booth or even a mixing board. Just a 16 Input recording interface, a bunch of rack gear and 15 assorted mics.
@@jjrmusic7 If you like to help people go work for charity. If you want to make money you need to charge for your music. You spend years and years learning your craft for what! So you can give it for free to the people that honestly don't care for you? You need to look at it as an business, not as an charity.
"Demand determines your worth, not your talent" is some of the best advice this man gave 💯
A video about charging as an artist would be really helpful!
He does talk about it on this video.
Your rate just went up 20% with that 🔥 haircut my man. 😎
My man hahaha
Why doesn't this channel have a million subs already? (rhetorical question)
People either don't know or don't care how much time, effort, knowledge and good will goes into planing, shooting, discussing, learning, teaching and all of the other things needed to do this kind of stuff.
I understand that this is an advertisement and business idea/plan for Colt, but damn... one of the most badass, genuine and quality channels ever on the Internet.
Hope this channel never stops growing.
Cheers from Croatia!
\m/
Tomi C Really appreciate that! Honestly means a lot! To be perfectly honest with you I started the channel as a way to just reply to the most common questions I get asked. It was starting to get difficult to have a 20 minute conversation with everyone who messaged me, so it was a way to be able to just reply with a link that contains all of my thoughts on whatever question was being asked. Then I started actually get into the filmmaking side of things. Either way, I enjoy making the videos, and if it helps even just a couple people it is worth it. Appreciate you following along!
This is an amazing resource
"Demand determines your worth" great line.
Tom Masters Mixing thanks!! It’s the best way I could figure out how to put it
As a session player in LA, it's very interesting to hear this perspective from a producer in Nashville. $75-300 will not get you an A-list player in LA. Big name-drummers with their own professionally outfitted studios generally start at around $500 per song. Although those rates will get closer to $300 per song if you hire them for a full album in one go. I've co-produced many songs here in LA and internationally, and even not-quite-A-list guitarists, bassists and keyboard players have quoted me and my clients as much at $1500 for a solo. Wild. I'm not quite an A-list player myself, although I've worked with many major name artists and producers. It's interesting to learn that I am operating at Nashville rates, while being in LA. However, the majority of my clients are outside of LA.
Well, to be fair, $75 will certainly not get you an A-list player here either. That’s just a common range of what I pay for my session players. There are session players in town that charge $400 and $500 per song, but at least here in Nashville $75-$300 is A pretty typical price range
One key to understanding rates in Nashville is to look at the union rates for demo and master sessions. All the information of what the A-list get paid for sessions is right there.
I'm pro and charge 15 an hour, it's just music
I'm a producer in New Hampshire just north of Boston. All of my session players charge between 100-150 per song and these guys are all A-list players. My rate for mixing a song is typically 75 - 100 a song depending on the complexity of the mix. My rate drops if I'm mixing the entire album. I can image in Nashville, LA, NY that the rates would be significantly higher. I went to hire Kenny Aronoff for a session where he me quoted 500 per song and 50 for additional edits and percussion which at someone from his caliber is expected.
@@sbanville4761 I guess it depends on what you mean by A-list. Is it A-list locally, or nationally, or globally? Being an A-lister in New Hampshire is quite different from being one in Nashville or LA, where an insanely disproportionate number of top-level musicians live and work. Also, being an A-lister in Portugal is quite different from being one in the US or UK - in terms of demand globally. And how does that factor in remote work? Regardless of whether you're in California or Germany or Zimbabwe, the A-lister you're hiring remotely doesn't really need to account for your local purchase power or the rates of your local A-listers, all of which varies wildly.
Yes, please make more videos on these topics! Very informative, helpful, and something I find truly interesting. Thank you and keep it up. Your videos are enjoyable and much appreciated
I love your videos dude. Super down to earth, Zero ego, zero filters and 100% honesty. Keep it going Colt. Always waiting for the next video🤙🏾
Really appreciate it!
Flat rate is pretty much the standard for Record Producer's and Mix Engineer's as I honest don't know of a Producer or Mixer that charges by the hour because it can easily put an Artist over budget and not cost effective at all. It's not uncommon to spend more than a day on the same project. As a Producer I tend to be a perfectionist like Dr. Dre and Diddy when working with a rapper or singer in the studio as I'm making sure I'm getting the right performance and takes until it sounds right. Trying to cram all that by hourly would be very hard to do without sacrificing quality. I often use a *Producer Agreement* when I"m hired to work on a song or EP. My contracts are structured similarly to one with a label as I'm paid 50% prior the recording sessions and the other half once the entire song or project is completed. I may ask for points on the record from time to time.
Colt, I want to ask you a hard question - one that few Producers are willing to address. How long did you have to work a "regular" job - to pay the bills, keep your family fed - while using ANY money left over to acquire the equipment you would need to take on your first client - KNOWING, before that client came along, you already had the skills? I think a lot of us would appreciate that transparency. Speaking personally, I have a minimalist equipment set-up, but it is enough to produce any artist's vision. However, I would need to be booked solid, indefinitely, for the numbers to justify leaving my day job. It's risky. How did you justify taking that leap, and what, if any, were the repercussions of that 'leap of faith'? Thank you.
I just took the leap with faith, once time opens up you get better and can take on more gigs.
Skills are a must
Man! The struggle!! Giving clients breaks and then regretting it! haha. Thanks for this, Colt!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching!
Bro. This video is eye opening and very inspiring. I appreciate the transparency and the time you took to make this.
18:05
In the EDM Genre side of things, since the dawn of time of Dance Music. Its reversed. It was ALWAYS about the Single's and EP's. Not albums.
Just wanted to clarify that for other people watching. So they dont get mis-informed or that its like that throughout the entire industry.
I have first hand knowledge of this because I have 4 decades in the industry. Studio-54, Danceteria, Bonds International, Palladium nightclubs brings back memories. :)
Even now a days its all about singles and EP's. You rarely see any albums for EDM. Seeing and experience music change from Disco to todays EDM is a joy to experience :)
So so good
I have also learned all of this the hard way, but would never be able to express it this well.
Thanx for all your great content,
Thank you for this. Most people don't take the time to really break down what goes on behind the scenes re: figuring out rates. This was extremely helpful.
Any content about the business side of show business I would say is greatly needed. There must be 100k videos on using compression or eq hacks, maybe 10 actually explaining how the money works. Maybe no one wants to give up the secret sauce lol I get it! But that is the difference between a hobby and a career.
Pointing out that yes, unfortunately a bar band is really in the business of liquor sales - but you should get 20%!! Very helpful.
That alone can really help sus out what kind of venues your band might want to play at. Does your music make people want to drink more? Well you might do well in a bar that does 10k in liquor sales. Granted no one remembers you the next day. Maybe you'd be just as happy at a farmers market in a rich part of town where you sell some merch. Maybe you live stream your performances across the world. Maybe you take less pay teaming up with a couple other bands to put on a show at an actual music venue (that may happen to sell liquor). Maybe you have real fans and ticket sales work well.
Gotta understand where you're at to figure out how to get where you want to be.
Thanks for this video!
Colt, you always drop gems and they are greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Love the insight you give and how you present it Colt, a lot of this information is really hard to find and a lot of home and small/medium project studio owners could learn a lot from it!
Thanks for watching!
Relate much on this. Took me a little more than 10 years to be able to charge $500 in my currency. I do fold up on friends on indie bands and charge them minimally. But commercial rates have become stable for me. It takes time, sometimes a really long time. Experience, insights, and wisdom, is ultimately what you are charging for. And really, it's priceless.
500 in your currency... as in?? Per hr or per day or what. Does that mean. Thanks
@@chinmeysway I wish it was per hour. That's per production (on average). With equivalence of up to 40hrs. maximum. So I optimize my workflow to accomplish more in fewer hours to get more worth. Of course, there's a variable to it, depending on the type of production.
Where it's $260-300 is the minimum wage, to be able to charge $500 is a huge leap. Especially for a really small production setup like mine.
Short back and sides, exactly how I like it!!! Looks so dope man!
My man! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I’m a full time educator and performer.
My lessons are $1/minute, and then my studio rate is $35 unless offered a rate beforehand. I only set the studio rate this year after what I felt was comfortable to me since I have album credits and am a full time musician with over a decade of experience. I feel that those are fair numbers for me.
Live I usually get $25-100/hour pending on the gig and type of gig (event band, wedding, cocktail hour etc.) I joined a full year event band and it was a great decision because I feel that I’m being paid fairly based on experience, travel, expenses and more.
I know most pay to play and local shows may not pay at all or only $2/ticket. Opening acts for smaller tours seem to get $250-500/show. This is what I see from people I know personally.
I have done over a hundred shows at various rates so I can be picky. Theater shows can be anywhere from $40-100 per service. But are often not as great pending the theaters budget. Hence why I left theater work.
Good insight :)
I am looking to hire a violinist for one song. Should I pay per hour or a flat rate? The person who has contacted me is a grad student at the local university. I don't want to rip any one off but I can't afford Nashville a-list prices. What do you think is a fair price?
@@edwardmorris3453 $100/commitment. They have to prepare, travel, setup, perform, break down, and travel back home.
Great video and tutorial on pricing Colt! I'm not even at a place yet in my engineering journey to do anything for a client yet, but I do like to look forward and hearing your breakdown and how you started and went about your early professional services really helps me to understand and look forward how I'll charge. Your details and life stories help greatly cement in your teaching.
Thank you
Great video and perfect timing for me. I am moving from one stage that you described to the next and this has helped me think about how to navigate that and reflect it in my rates. Cheers good Sir 👍
100% up front always for me also brother. It also increases your quality of clients 🙂
Thanks for the great content as usual. I have been watching your vids for a long time but have never visited your website until now. Your examples of transformations from clients rough ideas to full production demos are full of great intros and production ideas, they sound great. I know this is off topic but just had to say congrats on that as you have obviously spent the time that those artists and songs deserved (as we all should do but sometimes in this industry doesn't happen with some producers) and it is clear why you can charge upfront (as well as your own explanation in the vid) as there is a clear example on how you obviously value your work. Keep it up Colt!!
What should an artist pay to side musicians to do a show or tour?
So many parallels to my career. Spot on, good stuff!
how have you handled mix revisions that make the mix sound worse? Not subjectively or stylistic choices, but someone who is dead set on skewing the balance of the mix in an extreme way? I ended up just doing it and keeping my original mix in case they were unhappy later, but sometimes people want what they want and for those projects I just decided to go uncredited because it didn't sound worthy of being on my resume and made me nervous other clients might pass on me.
Man that is a rough one… Admittedly it has happened for less often in recent years you and your work. And that is far more important than putting out a mix where you didn’t like the direction of it. Also usually the The clients that were the ones making terrible mix revisions were not successful artists. So in addition to always making the artist happy, I came to the realization that almost all the time when this happens, your work is going to be heard by maybe 100 people. So it’s just not that big of an impact. And them being happy and telling others about you far outweighs the handful of people that will hear a mix you are not happy with. Hope that helps!
I'm dealing with that currently.
uncredited, nice lol
Didn't know you worked with Lester Estelle. I use to do shows with Pillar and his brother Brandons old band Superchick. Small world!
This is the best video on this topic I’ve found! Thanks!
man, your videos are precious!
I really like how you explain and you are honest! keep it up and you will surely be appreciated by many like you and you will become even better! Thanks for all the advice !!!! Edy Van Mix
Big hello from London
Great video. Wish you had a longer intro and outro theme song. Cheers!
Thanks always for the great advice Colt!
Great insight as always, perfect timing for me personally as I weigh recording (and release) options during these weird covid times. Thanks brother!
I've just seen the first minute and a half of this video and you've already said the main thing about setting up a contract/advertisement/terms and conditions of work. It's constantly evolving as you learn and you never stop learning. I've been an artist for over 30 years and running a studio since 1993 and everything you've said in this video is on point. With the getting paid in full up front the motto for it is (Jamaican accent) In God we trust, everyone else pays first. lol
Funny how it always comes down to the math or should i say percentages candid advice as always,!
Enjoy as always🌼
Wow definitely educational! Thank you Colt!!! 🙏🏽
Love your videos and I’m slowly applying them on my audio for TH-cam! Hope i can meet you one day
You put this video out at the perfect time. I decided to try to be a session drummer. Pricing was a big question for me. I'm having trouble networking though.
Hope it helps! Best of luck!
..dude.. TOTALLY do extra videos on everything that you mentioned. i would love to see n hear more about the behind the scenes stuffs n inner-workings.
\m/ ^_^ \m/
thanks for all the great insight
Great video Colt!!!!
Thanks!
Excellent Advise Thanks Colt
I Value lot more that as a band you get out of sessions still Owning your stuff....how much? You got it!!!
I charge $250 for tracking, mixing, mastering, and $150 for just mixing/mastering. I feel like I don’t charge enough. I’m also in Pittsburgh and I’m moving to Nashville July 1st where there is more demand. I was told by some Nashville producers that the Nashville scene is run on co-writes and getting your cut if the song gets big rather than charging a flat rate? Any thoughts on this? Should I switch to just a royalty %?
Being a “track guy“ within a co-write is certainly a common angle for a producer to get work or be involved in the song. And I think there’s nothing wrong with that approach. Personally I’m never involved in the writing process, and that has not held me back in anyway. The Nashville songwriter/artist scene absolutely does run on cowrites. But it’s definitely not a necessity as a producer to be involved in those cowrites.
Your channel is incredibly good man!
This has definitely been useful, thank you very much!
Great video, was looking forward, and now i am satisfied :) thanks
You should also discuss points, royalties, etc.
Awesome work, brother.
Hi Colt! I love your content. I’m 19 and have been producing/recording/mixing music since I was about 14. Even though I’m at the point where I can get my mixes to sound the way I want them to for the most part, I find it hard to justify charging others for my services. This is for two main reasons, in the past I’ve been rejected from recording bands because they wouldn’t take me seriously because of my age, and because I feel like it takes me too long to finish my mixes. As for the first reason, there’s not much I can do about that. But for the second one, how long is too long to finish a mix for a client? It currently takes me anywhere from 3 days to a little over a week working 5-8 hours a day on it to finish a mix. Thank you and keep up the awesome (and helpful) videos!
A full week is a long time. As long as the tracks are recorded well you should be able to get a good static mix, EQ and compress, then tweak some automation. Take a break and come back to it later in the day and just listen to a rendered version, take some notes on what needs to be changed, go and fix the issues and you should be done at that point. Its ok to sit on a mix to listen with fresh ears but if you are mixing non stop for a week straight then something tells me the tracks aren't that great and you have to do lots of fixing before you can get to mixing.
Unfortunately you cannot do anything about your age, as you already said. Just Get the best results you possibly can, and let your work speaks for itself. In terms of how long it should take you to finish a mix, there’s no right or wrong answer here. It would regularly take me 12 or 15 hours to complete a mix in the first handful of years I was working on music. Now, I can pretty consistently get a mix knocked out in three or four hours, even for a complicated one. But every once in a while I still get hit with a song that takes eight or 10 hours to mix. This is also somewhat genre dependent. If you’re mixing film score stuff that has 300+ tracks, that’s going to take a while. If you’re mixing pop stuff that has 160+ tracks that’s going to take a while. If the session, or the productions aren’t very clearly laid out in a way that is intuitive to mix, that’s going to take a while. What I can suggest is spend time refining your workflow. Figure out what won’t let you work faster. I spend a lot of time, effort, and honestly money setting myself up to work at a higher rate of speed. Acoustic treatment is super important, good monitoring is super important, a lot of people rely heavily on templates within their DAW. Just experiment with lots of different things and anytime you can shave 15 minutes off of a mix, do that. Hope that helps!
Colt Capperrune I just recently started experimenting with templates so maybe once I have that sorted out It’ll really speed up my work flow. As for acoustic treatment and monitoring, I’m currently stuck in a 10x10 room which is less than ideal. I have 3 fairly large bass traps and some 3 inch acoustic foam strategically placed around the room, but physics seems to be against me haha. I’m also using Adam Audio T7V’s as my main monitors. Thanks for the advice!
Doctor McFarland Studios To an extent, yea, the tracks I’m often working with are less then stellar so you do have a point there. I’ve really been working on getting better source recordings but I’m mainly limited by the acoustics of the rooms I’m in until I can invest in more and better acoustic treatment. Also I’m just a perfectionist so I’ll spend hours tweaking the smallest details to get it perfect.
Money is an objective/quantifiable representation of value, if you want to get good with money you have to start thinking in terms of value. If you spend 40 hours on a mix someone else would spend 4 hours on, well are your providing 10x the amount lf value to client? Are their album sales going to be 10x higher for example, because you spent 10x the number of hours on the mix? If not then you're likely wasting everyones time. At the end of the day the client doesn't care how the sausage is made. If it took you 1 hour or 10 to deliver great results, the value to the client hasn't changed, and neither should your compensation.
My 3rd video you are a great speaker and get your point across intellectual....I subscribe and appreciate the work you put into your videos!!!-Dez J.
Dope video I learned so much thank you 🙏🏿
Want to learn how to record at home not much money,I just want to say thanks for the info you put out I have learned a lot through your vids
awesome content.. i've recently built a studio and was wondering on what rates i should charge. This video gave me a very good way on how to go about things.. Thanks a lot..
ohh BTW i love your studio setup
Great straightforward advice, mirrors a lot of what I've experienced too. Time to get rid of my unlimited revisions :)
Killer video Colt!
What do backup singers on tours for major artists usually make? Is there a 'norm?'
As of right now I charge $500 a song. That includes all tracking, mixing and mastering. Any extra musicians are paid by the artist. Most of the time I am producing and playing all the instruments for a client that brings me their unfinished song and they need me to "flesh it out". I like doing full band projects as well.
😳 thats low !!!
Are these just personal/hobbyist projects or are these songs ending up on released albums with sales?
@@garrettpatten6312 they vary in nature but if they are released to streaming etc then I ask for a percentage of the sales. Most digital distribution services offer a Splits option so it makes it easy to share royalties across collaborators.
This was really good
This is a really good breakdown
Thanks for the great video Colt! It's a great insight on US scene.
Thanks again for sharing the info Colt :-)
Thank you Colt. Do you have any suggestions on how to break I to the scene as a session guitarist?
I’ve had a few reach out to me as I’m an independent solos artist, but other than that, I really have no clue on how to promote that service in a way that would entice people to use me.
what's your advice on finding a tracking spot with minimal issues. I drum in my townhouse basement and no one complains anymore, however, it's not in a proper zoning spot. my parents have a house with 5 acres and a basement, so do a few of my friends. They all said NO! haha.
This is great thank you!
Very interesting.
More artist pls!
Also ... what about a musician (or producer !) input making a song sooooooo much better like putting this greeeaat hook that makes everything explode ... Do you d7ggest the artist to share a little share on the publishing? I do ..its rare but I do even it happens musically (melody hooks) or lyrically
This was....so helpful. You got a new subscriber in me. 👍🏻. Thank you.
awesome thank you for the info
Hi...... Colt ... Do you have your mind set on expanding on the artist pay rates etc?
Very interesting %s for each situation etc
Just subscribed about 30 minutes ago
🤘😎👉
Very helpful, thank you!
great video dude!
love the videos !!!
Hey I would be interested in hearing your opinion on twitch not allowing copyrighted music and whether artist should allow It to be used if they can
Wow I thought I was the only one who is going through waiting on a major label to pay thanks man for the video I have been wait on my Check for over on year
Hey Colt, like your videos very much. Just wanted to ask, how do you normally get paid on an hourly basis? Do you charge the client every session? I mean, do you actually get paid on hand every session depending on the hours worked?
I once charged a past client a $500 flat fee for his album.... worst experience EVER. Most work I've ever put into a record and I got totally screwed!
$500 for an ALBUM?!?!? I do single songs for $200 fairly regularly..
Thank you!
This is all fine info, but it would be VERY helpful to have hard figures, even if it’s just like “if you have recorded 10 or fewer albums, here’s the minimum you should charge”. It’s hard to even know what high or low is when there’s no absolute figures being used. Is $50/hr a lot or a little for a producer? Does that include an engineer or do you pay an engineer separately? Is $100 a song a lot or a little for a session player? I truly have no idea. Both of those simultaneously sound high and low depending on how you look at it.
I record a cello player that charges $75 an hour. On the other hand I record a singer for demos and I give her $50 a song. The cellist is more in demand and she knows what she wants for her time. You get paid what you are worth. I am worth $50 an hour for my time and nothing less. If you can't afford it then I will go play with my kids till you save up the money or find someone else.
Time ≠ money. Time is a limited resource not even the richest man on earth can get more of. Money is prinited out of thin air, and the purchasing power of said money is changing all the time. So instead of asking for hard figures that no one could honestly provide, maybe give more thought to the value being created for both parties. If you mix an album for $1000.00 that goes on to do $1,000,000.00 in sales then you got screwed. If you need to create X amount of value to provide for you and your family but an artists album sales wont create that X amount of value to pay you, thats their problem and maybe you two just aren't the right fit. X is a variable, and it's a good thing. It requires more math and thought on the front end but it can also create the most win/win situations. Maybe you normally wouldn't mix for less than $300.00 a song but a bad storm came and wrecked the roof on your house, well your time/value equation might have to change until your roof gets fixed. And maybe that's some starving artists big break thanks to mother nature lol I mean just think about inflation, if you're priced aren't going up 5-7% a year your wages are going down.
What do you think about rates for FoH engineers?
Great content
Beginner producers/mixing engineers/artists can't afford having contracts. Or force them to apply to other rules. Because the client will just go to another guy (not always, but pretty often). It all sounds great in theory and might work fine for a guy like you with dozens of thousands of subsribers. But realisticly, for most people, it's the market and the customer who dictates the rules, not vice versa
The market is literally the buyers and sellers.....so you're just as involved.
Can you provide links to some of the 'literally thousands of records' you've played on please? 1:10 Just found your channel and wondering what you've done. Only 3 records on Discogs!?
I like your hair man
Awesome
Very helpful.
Cars and Audio are two different things. A project can cost more money than recording a track, now if recording a track is a project i dont know what to tell you.
You get what you pay for. That rule applies to everything.
I charge $ 8.88 per hour. Eighty dollar and eight eight cents per hour. Why? How can I, or any unknow muscian, afford to go into a studio, a good studio with a decent drum room, not someones bedroom, and record and mix a full length CD? So with an average of 100 hours??? Do the math based on your local studio. By the way, my studio was in operation for 16 years, three to ten hours per day, sevem days a week.
👏👏
how much do you charge to record in your house? I'll bring the pizza and hot wings
Math with beer are so much more easier to understand!
Im a shitty basement producer who only sells production on fiverr. Thank you, this was very helpful
What did you mean by burning your clients? I mean thing you should never do? Thanks for reply.
Lucas Michalski Man… The stories I have heard are endless… Producers ghosting artists halfway through the project. Producers losing files and not being willing to re-create them. Producer’s taking payments, and then disappearing. Basically just in a bad business practices.
@@ColtCapperrune yes, I understand. Thanks for explanation. How would you approach people who are not willing to pay upfront? I'm starting my own little mixing business and noticed that people are not keen to pay upfront. Thanks
It’s kind of like the 10,000 hr rule of mastering your talent. Wether it be as a artist or what ever. Far as mixing goes after you have completed successfully 300-500 mixes you will be able to look back & look at your bank account & that’s the high light of your career growing proving to yourself your a pro. Execution with precision & quality. Not to mention the speed of your workflow. It’s the same as a successful tattoo artist. You will be working greater volumes lots more $ not rushing, but working without second guessing your next move. Nobody is going to turn on a switch and it works for you. You have to work it , it’s a mind set & dedication before receiving the glam of the lifestyle.