What do you charge for a remix?

Mike Goodwin · Post by **Mike Goodwin** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:23 pm

I am looking to find out a what would be considered a reasonable flat rate for remixing a song outside of the "dance" genre. I am obviously new to the game of having people pay me upfornt for this job but am not new to remixing. The song is a commercial "easy listening" kinda thing. Will be licensed and hopefully get some airplay. Not underground in any way.

nuxnamon · Post by **nuxnamon** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:46 pm

if your name is not known, id say do it for free and you'll gain much more from getting your name out there..

Slightlydelic · Post by **Slightlydelic** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:10 pm

dont do it for free, if its a comercial project you want your fair share for your skill & labour.

the_antagonist · Post by **the_antagonist** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:17 pm

dont do it for free. you want to be competitive.

mnmlmike · Post by **mnmlmike** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:38 pm

I'm with antagonist on this. Def charge, even if its just for the "perceived value" psychological factor of your client.

With that said no one has answered your question. It really depends on who you are and who you're working with. I've seen remixes
go for as much as 10,000 usd or as low as free. I would just see what you think their budget is and go as close to that as possible.

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:57 pm

A blow job and a Kit Kat.

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:20 pm

You've kinda just told us "Look, I'm going to buy this car. It's not the usual white one I bought 2 years ago, this time it's green. How much should I pay for it."

Mike Goodwin · Post by **Mike Goodwin** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:17 am

timothyallan wrote:You've kinda just told us "Look, I'm going to buy this car. It's not the usual white one I bought 2 years ago, this time it's green. How much should I pay for it."

Fair enough. I would have given more info but I don't have much. This is an independent producer, the budget is small. I am beginning to look at it as a mixdown plus creative work based loosely on an hourly rate. I would also add what I would call a "modest mastering" job if it was going straight to market.
so not more than a few hundred bucks at the moment. As for how much people are willing or able to pay is another story.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:22 am

a few hundred? are you that good or is this a case of 'how much can I get away with charging?'

pay yourself like $10/hour and consider how much time you'd spend on it. be cool, it could lead to more work.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:45 am

Ask the client how much they can afford to pay you. And get it up front, or at least a sizeable deposit, as I have read several tales of woe recently on other forums about mix engineers/mastering peeps being stiffed by clients, especially small labels who often will not release the record anyway, so don't feel like they should be bothered paying the engineer.

Anyone signed or with an agent who knows what he's doing knows what the rates are. In Toronto, studios vary from 40-100 dollars an hour typically depending on location, facilities, gear and the reputation of the owner/engineers for recording. There is usually a minimum fee too. Most remixes are typically in the 175 - 375 dollar range per track, depending on complexity and length. Typically 4-5 hours work.

Remixing and Mastering is often charged as a flat fee, but can be done on hourly rates if the client goes for it.
Remixing is more time consuming, so typically costs 2-3 times what a mastering job costs.

Most mastering houses in Toronto charge between 40 and 100 dollars per track (with 40 bucks being an ITB software mastering job, if you want top MEs with top rooms and racks of analog outboard, then you're looking more in the 75-100 dollar range), with discounts for 4 track EPs or albums. An album is typically anywhere from 375 - 1200 dollars (again the 375-500 range being mostly ITB software mastering), depending on the number of tracks and length of the album. On albums, some studios prefer to charge hourly rates, this can work for you or against you depending on the music content.

At the end of the day, if the client says they can only afford x amount of dollars (usually well below standard rates), you have to decide whether or not it's worth your time to get your credit for the work and potentially follow up business.
You might well get the follow up business but only on the premise you give them similar cheap rates !!! It's a hard line to walk, because go too low or free and people will flock to you but expect you to be cheap or free and won't pay you what you're really worth. Go too high and no-one bites.

Mike Goodwin · Post by **Mike Goodwin** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:25 am

Thanks for your time. That is the type of information I was looking for.

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:35 am

leedsquietman wrote:Most remixes are typically in the 175 - 375 dollar range per track, depending on complexity and length. Typically 4-5 hours work.

Remixing and Mastering is often charged as a flat fee, but can be done on hourly rates if the client goes for it.
Remixing is more time consuming, so typically costs 2-3 times what a mastering job costs.

I think you're talking about re-mixing a track, and Mike is talking about remixing... as in making a new track, no?

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:34 am

You are correct.

What you mean is a 'creative' remix where you for example, take a track say a pop track, and then make a deep house version of it.

I guess that is a very broad and negotiable range then, depending on budget from the original artist's management or label and how much they like your version.

I don't know why I didn't think of this first, given that Live is a primo remixers tools = Doh !

I was talking about mixing another artist's tracks from their own audio tracks.

I need to return to doing more work with Live, been working much more in a traditional linear way with Cubase recently hence my line of thinking ... although the other info I gave on studio rates and mastering prices in Toronto are accurate.

Bleep Blop Ima Robot · Post by **Bleep Blop Ima Robot** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:40 am

Tone Deft wrote:a few hundred? are you that good or is this a case of 'how much can I get away with charging?'

pay yourself like $10/hour and consider how much time you'd spend on it. be cool, it could lead to more work.

+1, id say it would probably be best to do this, also considering if you are good enough and you believe your final work deserves more or less...an hourly wage starting off might be better and easier to figure out

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:41 am

Heheh Leeds, I was thinking that 4 hours for a full remix was cutting things a bit tight

That said, most of the time the label has told me what they are willing to spend. I don't tell them first. My Dad once told me "The first person who mentions an actual dollar figure, loses". Then you get a ballpark figure and you can haggle from there

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