Hi everyone! I'm a new recording studio here in New Orleanes, La. I plan on doing demo's for upcoming Christian artists. What do I charge? How do I put what I do in writing? How do I put what I expect from them in writing? How far does my services go? What if I have to tell them when they're flat or when're sharp, does that move into another area? What if what they're playing is out of tune or have misplaced notes and I tell them to correct it, what area have I moved into? In short I want them to be on key and in pitch and get paid for keeping it that way. Is that unreasonable? Finally can anyone send me a zip file of their contracts or service offering. I need all the help I can get. Thanks. Mr. Howard

-- Gregory Howard (greg58@bellsouth.net), August 23, 1998

Answers

When you say that you are "doing demos for upcoming Christian artists", what does that mean exactly? Are you simply doing the recording for them? Are you hiring musicians to bring their songs to fruition? Part of what your contract is going to do is define what services you are going to perform for them.

Also, some people consider performance evaluation (i.e., "that's a good take -- definitely a keeper!" or "try it again -- you're a little off-key") to be a producer job, not an engineering job, even though the lines obviously blur quite a bit. If this is an issue for you (it's not for me), then you need to delineate that clearly in writing ahead of time. I think that what it sounds like you need to do is to define for yourself exactly what kind of service you are providing, and then simply write it down on paper. As you start completing the recordings for clients, this will define what you want to do further. Your contract will probably continually evolve. My general terms of agreement certainly have.

-- Ken/Eleven Shadows (ElevenShad@aol.com), August 28, 1998.

Ken/Eleven shadows posted a great answer. I would say you also need to decide what you want to get out of the recording. Are you looking to record the demo's and move on or help in the demo shopping process and go on to produce the act for a label. If it's the latter, you really need to get in writing what your expectations are and what the band's are. Also, this is commonly known as a spec deal, it's rare that you would get paid for your initial services.

-- rob hoffman (rob1622@ix.netcom.com), November 10, 1998.