How much would you pay for a live demo?

[Lifer]

Hi guys, going to offer my services to the bands around my area. Real simple deal of recording them in their practise space live.

Just wondering how much I should charge?

4 hour rehearsal is £35 (covered by band) and I'll be paying £10 for mics and lead hire.

Was thinking ~£50/song mixed and mastered? Don't really want to charge per session as I put in a good number of hours on the mixing front and I'll be going along to a practise session to hear the songs they want to record first.

Any comments are very welcome!

Thanks

Gareth

[Stylon Pilson]

I'd suggest having an hourly rate for recording, and then a flat per-song rate for mixing and mastering. Then you're covered in case they turn up under-rehearsed and need 3,000,000 takes to get it right.

S.P.

[51m0n]

Make sure they understand that the Mix rate is PER mix PER song.

Otherwise you'll get the usual "Can you just tweak this/that/the other" until you're blue in the face.

Also if they want to be present when mixing thats fine, but if they want more than one member of the band present then the rate may change if it becomes mix down by commitee, which can take hours, and is very non-productive.

[Lifer]

So maybe £10/hour recording and £20 mixing/mastering per song?

Sound reasonable?

That would work out at £100 for 3 songs recorded in one session, mixed and mastered.

How about that includes one evalution and tweaks before mastering with extras mixes @ £15?

[Stylon Pilson]

From the perspective of your clients, that is a very attractive deal. If you're happy to work for that rate, then go for it.

S.P.

[Lifer]

I think starting lower is better than too high! Basically want to offer a service for bands who can't afford to go into a 'proper' studio. Have recorded my mate's covers band in this way I'll post up a link later.

Thanks for the help!