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Deleted member 196415
Guest
I was just wondering how much do producers charge on average. Also I would like to know if producers are payed by the hour, the day, ect.?
Any info is appreciated.
Any info is appreciated.
Morning_Star
ProTools + Reason user
I think you may be talking about engineers.
Engineers are the people you hire to record/mix/master your music.
Beatmakers make the beats and ARE NOT PRODUCERS.
Producers oversee a project, pick tracks, direct mood/vibe, and make sure that the engineers are making what the producer wants happen.
Engineers can cost anywhere from $20 an hour to over $100 and hour.
Engineers are the people you hire to record/mix/master your music.
Beatmakers make the beats and ARE NOT PRODUCERS.
Producers oversee a project, pick tracks, direct mood/vibe, and make sure that the engineers are making what the producer wants happen.
Engineers can cost anywhere from $20 an hour to over $100 and hour.
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chris carter
New member
In general, producers are paid an 'advance' against future 'royalties'. These days you rarely ever see the actual royalties becuase the records don't recoup.
As to what kind of advance the producer gets, it depends on the role of the producer. If you just make the beat (ie. "beatmaker") then you are going to get the least amount of money. If you are a full-on producer (ie. beat, vocals, guiding the song, logisitics, etc.) then you are going to get more money.
The biggest factor is your reputation and track record, vs. the quality of the what you contribute to the record, vs. what the client can pay and how much they want you.
Based on these factors you can get anywhere from zero to ridiculous sums. It used to be, when times were good, that the hottest producer in the land could get litterally $100k for one song. Those days are over now. My first release I got $0.00 advance for one song. I've gone as high as $10k.
It is also common at the super low level for beatmakers to give an 'all rights' buyout of a beat for a cash some. In this case, the client (artist, label, whoever) litteraly "buys" the beat and all of the rights associated, including the copyrights, and the beatmaker receives no publishing and (usually) no royalties. This is the worst idea known to mankind. To make things a little complicated, we often use the phrase "sell a beat" to mean both the all rights buyout as well as the traditional placement I first described.
I hope that answers your quesiton.
As to what kind of advance the producer gets, it depends on the role of the producer. If you just make the beat (ie. "beatmaker") then you are going to get the least amount of money. If you are a full-on producer (ie. beat, vocals, guiding the song, logisitics, etc.) then you are going to get more money.
The biggest factor is your reputation and track record, vs. the quality of the what you contribute to the record, vs. what the client can pay and how much they want you.
Based on these factors you can get anywhere from zero to ridiculous sums. It used to be, when times were good, that the hottest producer in the land could get litterally $100k for one song. Those days are over now. My first release I got $0.00 advance for one song. I've gone as high as $10k.
It is also common at the super low level for beatmakers to give an 'all rights' buyout of a beat for a cash some. In this case, the client (artist, label, whoever) litteraly "buys" the beat and all of the rights associated, including the copyrights, and the beatmaker receives no publishing and (usually) no royalties. This is the worst idea known to mankind. To make things a little complicated, we often use the phrase "sell a beat" to mean both the all rights buyout as well as the traditional placement I first described.
I hope that answers your quesiton.
D
Deleted member 196415
Guest
Thanks for that advice. I thought the engineer was the guy in charge of all the equipment. But the prices don't sound to bad. Once again thanks.
H
HakimCallier
Guest
I get 1/2 in advance Chris. That is the the policy at our studio. And most of our clients DON'T get royalties and will NEVER see a royalty. So an advance on royalties isn't even in our conversation in most cases.
Like my Dad always says,
These days. Lessons and CD duplication are paying the bills. A new thing that is getting popular is vinyl transfers.
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chris carter
New member
What do you mean by "half in advance" in reference to be paying "an advance against future royalties"?
By "advance" I mean that you are paid a block of royalties up front, before you earn them. It's often called a "producer's fee".
As far as how that payment is actually made, that is often done part up front part after completion (which is what I think you are referring to). I do this the same way, but it's 60% up front and the balance upon completion (before I turn over the goods lol).
That all said, it's always wise to make sure your contracts state that your producer's fee is in fact an advance on royalties. You NEVER KNOW who will suddenly blow up and you don't want to lose out. Is it rare these days? Yes. But you never know. An artist could be unsigned spending maybe $15k on an album and then next thing you know they are a superstar and in those cases the recording budget isn't much to recoup (and if your advance wasn't much, that's not much to recoup either).
Now engineers, in reference to what others have mentioned, get paid on an hourly, daily, or per project bases and generally do not get any royalties. In those situations (like when I mix records), I get a per project fee that is not an advance against royalties because I don't get royalties. Again, I charge 60% up front and the rest before I turn over the masters.
By "advance" I mean that you are paid a block of royalties up front, before you earn them. It's often called a "producer's fee".
As far as how that payment is actually made, that is often done part up front part after completion (which is what I think you are referring to). I do this the same way, but it's 60% up front and the balance upon completion (before I turn over the goods lol).
That all said, it's always wise to make sure your contracts state that your producer's fee is in fact an advance on royalties. You NEVER KNOW who will suddenly blow up and you don't want to lose out. Is it rare these days? Yes. But you never know. An artist could be unsigned spending maybe $15k on an album and then next thing you know they are a superstar and in those cases the recording budget isn't much to recoup (and if your advance wasn't much, that's not much to recoup either).
Now engineers, in reference to what others have mentioned, get paid on an hourly, daily, or per project bases and generally do not get any royalties. In those situations (like when I mix records), I get a per project fee that is not an advance against royalties because I don't get royalties. Again, I charge 60% up front and the rest before I turn over the masters.
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HakimCallier
Guest
I mean that the studio charges a per song rate or producer fee, that is usually very flexible for obvious reasons. Based on the terms of the contract the client will pay half of that rate up front.
For example, a church was charged $750 per song for 14 songs for production only. This does not include the studio costs and the engineer's hourly rate. The producer received $5000. Actually the client payed about $7000 which included some (perhaps all) the studio booking and engineer's rate but I'm not clear on how much time they have been booked its not my client.
I've been co-producer on some of these projects and the only thing that was different than the above was that I was written in as a writer on the contract, therefore royalties were handled.
Other than that, there has been no mention of an advance payment on royalties in these contracts. Perhaps, I'm missing something or my father does this differently, but that's where I learned it.
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chris carter
New member
Generally speaking, this producer's fee should be an advance against future royalties. This would be specified in the contract, and then there would be a section specifying what the producer's royalty will be and how it will be calculated.
That's generally how it's done. It's obviously in the producer's best interests to make sure his/her producer's fee is an advance against royalties. But it's obviously the producer's choice.... but I'd never do it that way
