How to make money, or how to make MORE money - as an engineer

[Jules]

?

[Jules]

Any one engineering 'on spec' and actually getting paid for it eventally?

ANY EXAMPLES?

TIPS?

With the record industry in decline, are engineers out there being offered more spec work?

Thanks

[toolskid]

I still occasionally do things on spec and I suppose the only things I can offer in the way of advice maybe obvious, but anyway here they are:

1) Before you do a single thing, including accepting any data or tapes etc. is to get the deal in writing. BEFORE you do ANYTHING. In my bitter experience if they are not together enough or are too slippy to sort out the terms of your deal b4 you start it probably isnt going to get sorted later when they're holiding your amazing master tapes, hardrives, ringtones etc...

2) There are some really useful pre-made spec-job contracts floating around if you don't have management to deal with that side of things for you. I'll try to link or attach a copy asap.

3) It can be easy when working for nothing to forget that you should be treating the session as if it was a full-paid gig. I have been guilty of this before when I was younger, but now every gig is the same in terms of my attitude.....

4) If you are doing a spec job for your friends the above tips apply doubly so!!!

5) It amazes me how going with a gut feeling and working on something for nothing that you really should be paid for can yield incredible results. Sometimes a credit is worth more than money and will result in £££ anyway!

[Jan Folkson]

Spec deals are typically minefields, there are too many nebulous variables to really account for. The best way to deal with 'spec' deals is to 'spec' that there won't be any backend.

The way that I work on 'spec' is as follows:

Let's use a daily rate of $1000 for our example.

I'll agree to work on a 'low budget' project for half of my regular rate, $500/day. In the event that the band or artist get a publishing deal or standard record deal with any label, major or independent within 24 months. I get the difference from what they would have paid me for double my daily rate (which would be $2000/day), in this case an additional $1500/day.

In this way I'm taking a risk along with the artist. If they don't get a deal within the specified time period, I'm out $500/day. At the same time, at least I got paid something for my time.

You need to treat the sesssions as if they're regular paying sessions with signed work orders etc, and provide a full accounting of your time at the completion of the project. As mentioned above, don't do ANY work on the project until you have a signed agreement.

The simplicity of the deal makes it much easier to administrate if the artist gets a deal. There are no points to account for, no future production arrangement (which the artist usually has very little control of), and no record sales to track.

In addition, the fact that the artist is paying something up front and potentially a lot more on the backend, they're less likey to waste time in the studio. I also specify to the artist that because there's no guarantee of any backend that they're time in the studio is bumpable if a full paying session comes along.

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by Jan Folkson

In addition, the fact that the artist is paying something up front and potentially a lot more on the backend, they're less likey to waste time in the studio. I also specify to the artist that because there's no guarantee of any backend that they're time in the studio is bumpable if a full paying session comes along.

This may be the single most important thing in Jan's post for me - far too often have I seen spec projects turn into to party time for the artist - or worse, self absorbed masterbation. having them pay SOMETHING for every day puts a stop to that (or at least puts a crimp into it).

[johnjm22]

I'm a rookie engineer. I got out of school about two years ago and have been doing freelance work for the past year, so I have a couple of questions for you guys;

What's a spec deal?

I was also wondering if all you freelance engineers out there have business liscenses. I was thinking about getting my DBA, that way I could write off my equipment purchases. Is it common practice for freelance engineers to have DBA's?

[doug_hti]

Originally posted by johnjm22
I'm a rookie engineer. I got out of school about two years ago and have been doing freelance work for the past year, so I have a couple of questions for you guys;

What's a spec deal?

I was also wondering if all you freelance engineers out there have business liscenses. I was thinking about getting my DBA, that way I could write off my equipment purchases. Is it common practice for freelance engineers to have DBA's?

a loose interpretation of a spec deal...is having an agreement that you (the person offering a service) will perform services to the client (artist/whoever) for a reduced rate(or nothing) up front under the possibility that you will receive something (typically money) in the future if the project you worked on goes somewhere. There are MANY different deals that happen. But generally spec deals involve working for little to nothing and then hoping the artist gets signed and you get a production deal out of that, or songwriting credit(s), or producing jobs....or simply reimbursed for something you do earlier.

As far as DBA....well as long as you are a sole proprieter, it doesn't matter if you have a dba or not. Your default dba is simply your name. You can get one. It doesn't protect you legally or give you any advantages. If you want to use your own name...go ahead, you can without filing anything...and to my knowledge have all the same tax advantages. You may want to get a tax id number if you don't want to hand out your social security number to everyone.

And if you want to actually make a company name, just go down to the courthouse and file your name and publish it in a newspaper.
As far as a liscense, you probably don't need one if you are offering services at other facilities. If you are having clients come to your house all the time or if you rent a building, you may have issues..but then you will have to follow zoning laws and a whole nother set of issues.

i'm sure there are state laws that vary, but that is the gist.

So just report your income and you can write off gear to your hearts content. Just look at the rules about reporting losses, if you intend on doing so.

[soundmoves]

I was wondering if anyone is using a manager? I do know some engineers with managers but they primarily handle the finances, collection etc. Any one with a manager who is actually hustling up some work?

[Bob Olhsson]

Most successful studios in my experience have somebody doing some selling. In some cases this is the manager and others it's a dedicated salesperson.

[toolskid]

My management is remarkably consistent in generating work, especially adverts and short-run tracking dates...

[Jules]

My trick, that I put to good use in the mid 90's was, to find a studio that was 'hurting' for business and do a deal with them.

The Deal:

We would agree a rate including my services as engineer - and split it - perhaps 60-40 to the studios favor or just 50-50. This rate would be LOW for the studio.

BUT - My clients never knew a) what the studio was making or b) what I was making.

The payment was made at all times to the studio, I would get my share from the studio once the payment had cleared.

The ego of the studio owner was preserved - as the low rate studio was never revealed & I was able to make a living as an engineer + keep building my client base

I would raise the rate when ever I could.

For example

£250 per day (£150 studio £100 for me)
Then
£300 per day (£175 studio £125 for me)
Then
£350 per (£175 studio £175 for me)

You need to find a quiet studio you can trust to do this deal & to have your OWN clients.

I did this at five 24 track 2" studios around London from 1994 - 2000 (until I opened my own studio)

I found 'hiding' my fee within the overal daily charge was VERY usefull to control evil band managers who put pressure on you to 'do the work for free' because you 'belived in the band' tutt .

[JMS]

I've got a manager and it has worked some of the time. However it has been a little hit or miss on the finding of work issue but the contract and production finances part is great.

I've been working deals with bands for a percentage of sales with a minimum starting fee upfront.

Example: I'll mix their record for $400 a track. They pay me $1000 upfront for 10 songs. Then they pay me 25-50% of sales until they pay off the $3000 left in the balance.

WARNING!!: They have to have the built in market for sales, proven or at least a promotional plan. The contract has to be tight.

I haven't had any problem collecting because we stay on top of numbers via phone calls and stores as well as the wonderful audit clause that can be enacted at ANY time if there seems to be screwing around.

As long as the artist knows what risk your taking and that there are repercutions if stuff doesn't add up then 99% of the time they are great.

[Berolzheimer]

Originally posted by doug_hti

As far as DBA....well as long as you are a sole proprieter, it doesn't matter if you have a dba or not. Your default dba is simply your name. You can get one. It doesn't protect you legally or give you any advantages. If you want to use your own name...go ahead, you can without filing anything...and to my knowledge have all the same tax advantages.

I must respectfully disagree with this. The IRS has cracked down on freelancers in the last few years, making it harder to write off expenses, get paid via 1099's, claim rental income etc, if you just file under your name. My accountant insisted that I form a DBA and it's gone well for me in that regard. It's easy, just post an ad in the business announcements section of your local paper, keep a record of that ad & renew it when necessary, I think it's every 5 years. I chose a business name that includes my last name, so whether a check is made out to my name or my business name it can still be business income & go into the same account.