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[imdrecordings]

What do you guys do when the Band asks for separate WAV files, after the album has been finished?
I have a band asking for all of the separate tracks to all of the songs on an album I just finished a month ago.
Their album has already been released.
Some of the songs have up to 68 tracks with editing, so I'd have to sit their and bounce them all individually.

I use Samplitude V10 and one of things I could do is drag the Session Folder over to their hard drive and tell them to download the Demo of Samplitude v10 (good for 30-days), and they can do it themselves.

If I have to bounce these myself, how much should I charge?
Hourly?
What would you do?

Thanks!

[Chris Ilett]

You could give them the choice of either downloading the demo and doing it themselves or you do it for them.

If they can't do it themselves, then they need a pro.

You're a pro, so charge a pro rate.

[j.hall]

if they are paid in full they own the masters.

i tell ALL my clients that i am not "long term storage"

i have archive drives that are merely for the archiving of projects while i'm working on them in case my main drive dies.

i tell clients to send me DVDs, buy mine from me, or bring/send me a drive once the album has been pressed.

i do nothing to the files, i merely copy my session folder to their media and label it appropriately.

I.E.

Hundred Years War LP
mix session ARCHIVE
24 bit 48k wav files
Pro Tools 7.4.1

i'd give this band your samplitude sessions.  all the files, everything.

make a clear note what system you used and software version.  if they want all the wav files continuous and lined up, you have to figure that out with them.

[sam161]

Could you not do it for them, but charge them by the hour? That way if you've got some spare time (maybe?) you can earn some money in a break or what-have-you.

I dunno, just an idea...

[j.hall]

charging the band for something that is already theirs, that they already paid for is unethical.

archive the session to DVDs, label them appropriately and your done.

[Jason Poff]

The odds are pretty good they'll need consolidated files. I assume they have not paid you for consolidating them. If both these facts are true, there is absolutely nothing wrong with charging them for the time it takes to give them what they need.

[Hank Alrich]

j.hall wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 18:32

charging the band for something that is already theirs, that they already paid for is unethical. archive the session to DVDs, label them appropriately and your done.

Charging clients for the services one provides, regardless of whether or not the product has gone to press, is hardly unethical. However one goes about it, getting paid for one's work is legit.

[grantis]

j.hall wrote on Sun, 07 September 2008 20:32

charging the band for something that is already theirs, that they already paid for is unethical. archive the session to DVDs, label them appropriately and your done.

I know of several studios that charge $25 or more per DVD archive.  I don't think it's unethical at all.  Ridiculous maybe (when hard drives are so cheap), but ethical.  

However, a friend of mine got fired from an aforementioned studio when he started copying session to clients hard drives for free in lieu of burning DVD's and charging...$50 a disc I think at their place.

[grantis]

In reply to the original question...

I don't know Samplitude, but I'm sure there's a way to consolidate all files down to one wav per track.  If you do that, it will make the band's life a whole lot easier if they want to go back into the tracks later.

Also, they won't have to have Samplitude to read the edits.  They could use the DAW of their choice.

[NelsonL]

I've become more and more convinced that conslolidating files along the way is just a good idea in general. I like to do so on a new playlist so I can toggle back and adjust any edits if needed, or change a x-fade etc.

As for pricing, I doubt J. is saying to give your time away for free--

$50 for a DVD back up is punitive. I can understand charging a premium for rough mixes though, they're a serious annoyance at the end of an already long day. I actually prefer to tote the drive home and email out an mp3 on my own time.

As for masters, I'm not sure I want my session files delivered intact-- consolidated edits are fine, high res mix files are required. I can print any special fx, e.g. prominently placed tempo syched delays etc. I just think I'm affordable enough that I should get to make any changes.

Then again, sometimes I move to the middle east in the middle of a record-- in that case I make sure my studio partner has everything he needs to carry the torch.

[rankus]

Billable hours over here...

[grantis]

rankus wrote on Mon, 08 September 2008 02:41

Billable hours over here...

True true.

For guys who charge by the song though, it can be hard to incur another fee on the client who has already paid "in full" for a DVD.

[sam161]

Doesn't that depend... if they've have paid for their song to be recorded, and for a final mix to be produced, then they have paid for that. So asking for additional files afterwards wasn't part of the deal.

If they ask beforehand, then fair enough, don't charge extra afterwards. But personally, I think if a band asks for all the files after the recording has been done you should do it for them and just charge them by the hour. It wont take long, less than an hour I'm sure.

Just my thoughts

[Fibes]

I dump a session to a hard drive of theirs for free.

Before we track a single note they have to sign off that I'm not responsible for archiving if they aren't going to pay to do it properly.

To me properly archiving is:

1. Consolodating all files to zero and exporting them into folders by song. I export to Aiff and .wav for future proofing.
2. One hard drive and two DVDs of the project that they take.
3. I keep a consolodated session on hard drive and DVD just in case.

If they don't want to pay to consolodate and back up, they have signed that they understand I will keep one copy at the studio and do my best to ensure its safety without any guarantees due to hard drive failure, natural disasters or theft and that although there is no 100% guarantee that proper archiving is the way.


If the band just wants the files to dick around with, they can have them, but any translation time is on their dime or time.

[j.hall]

NelsonL wrote on Mon, 08 September 2008 02:21

As for pricing, I doubt J. is saying to give your time away for free--

not at all.  the original post implies that additional "archiving" fees were never mentioned to the client up front.  

i don't know how you guys run your businesses, but i try very hard to be transparent.  if i forget to tell my client that something is going to cost them extra from the bid, that's on me.  i certainly let them know that i typically bill for the service, and next time they will be expected to pay.  

personally, i don't charge for archiving.  to me, the client paid for the masters by paying the agreed upon rate for my services.

i work on a G5 mac with a full license of Toast and Jam.  i can rip DVD's with Toast in the background will i'm mixing, editing, overdubbing, something else.

if the band brings a drive in, it takes less then 10 minutes to copy their files over via firewire.

with shrinking budgets, i can't justify rubbing my clients wrong over 150 bucks.  i simply don't need to lose clients over that little cash.

i also don't bill the client for the time it takes me to fill out their invoice..............

to me, this is all "house keeping" stuff.  and it's not billable.

your mileage may vary, and that's perfectly fine!