Why just single tracks

[WBM]

I like to know what's the secret on this business, How I will be able to leave with just mastering single tracks?
First I'm not an American, and I feel like people don't want to deal with an spanish ME in the US even if I been here for 20 years, I'm frustrating.
I been doing mastering not for a long time, but I put a lot of effort to it and the few clients I have, they returned real happy but with singles tracks.
How the hell you can click with a record label, even the spanish artist going with the US ME?
At this point I don't know, to sell all my gear or go back to my old country to do this ME job, where I don't even belong anymore.
I know society in this country is racist as hell.
People in the US born with a high grade of hearing more than anyone in the world?
Has anyone in this forum went thru the same things?
Sorry for my typo
Home Page

[J.S.Vega III]

If I may make a suggestion (albeit not relating to the repeat business/single tracks issue), your website has more than a few English/grammatical errors which I would get somebody to look at if I were you.

I think it doesn't project the right image as mastering engineers are supposed to be "perfectionists".

I would also include more info about yourself, not just the gear. Why should I trust you with my tracks? What does WB even stand for?

Best of luck

[wado1942]

I'll believe there's more racists in the U.S. than a lot of other places because virtually nothing is not tolerated here, including intolerance. But to say that the whole society is racist makes me think you're the racist one. I could pull the same card if I wanted. For the longest time I did nothing but rap records. Is it because I used to live in a big gang banger city?

People make a name for themselves by what they do. There's only a few names the record labels really trust simply because it's who they've always used. You're making a name for yourself mastering singles so that's what people bring you. You should be happy you have any business at all while other studios are folding left and right because of idiots that think they can master themselves for free. I've been doing this for 10 years and am doing very well right now but it took me a long time to get where I am. I still have a part time job at a TV station to cover myself in the slow times. Stick with it and if you do good work, you'll get more clients.

[WBM]

Originally Posted by wado1942

I'll believe there's more racists in the U.S. than a lot of other places because virtually nothing is not tolerated here, including intolerance. But to say that the whole society is racist makes me think you're the racist one. I could pull the same card if I wanted. For the longest time I did nothing but rap records. Is it because I used to live in a big gang banger city?

People make a name for themselves by what they do. There's only a few names the record labels really trust simply because it's who they've always used. You're making a name for yourself mastering singles so that's what people bring you. You should be happy you have any business at all while other studios are folding left and right because of idiots that think they can master themselves for free. I've been doing this for 10 years and am doing very well right now but it took me a long time to get where I am. I still have a part time job at a TV station to cover myself in the slow times. Stick with it and if you do good work, you'll get more clients.

Thanks for what you saying make sense, but I'm not racist.
Just look CNN what going on with the new spanish lady getting into a supreme court and what about the elections we went thru.

[WBM]

Originally Posted by J.S.Vega III

If I may make a suggestion (albeit not relating to the repeat business/single tracks issue), your website has more than a few English/grammatical errors which I would get somebody to look at if I were you.

I think it doesn't project the right image as mastering engineers are supposed to be "perfectionists".

I would also include more info about yourself, not just the gear. Why should I trust you with my tracks? What does WB even stand for?

Best of luck

Thanks and you are right, I must have some grammatical errors, but I'm not a professor from a university, I'm an ME and may be I have to do the hole website in Spanish, but I tried to be a perfectionist in mastering.

[WBM]

Originally Posted by WBM

Thanks and you are right, I must have some grammatical errors, but I'm not a professor from a university, I'm an ME and may be I have to do the hole website in Spanish, but I tried to be a perfectionist in mastering.

WB Stand for Wave Balance
and who knows me ?
people knows gear .

[wado1942]

Thanks and you are right, I must have some grammatical errors, but I'm not a professor from a university, I'm an ME and may be I have to do the hole website in Spanish, but I tried to be a perfectionist in mastering.

That's the ticket right there. If you want to work with Spanish speaking musicians, your site should be Spanish. You don't have to be a professor to have a good site, but having good, detailed structure is a must. Another thing you may want to consider is get somebody who speaks good English to edit your site. Maybe set up a trade of some kind with a musician you trust? You work on his music for free and he works on your site for free.

[J.S.Vega III]

Originally Posted by WBM

WB Stand for Wave Balance
and who knows me ?
people knows gear .

Well, evidently nobody knows you as you don't give them the opportunity to find out who you are. It's about building trust. Your name isn't even mentioned on the site, as far as I am concerned as a mixer I would never send my tracks to a faceless/nameless online service. I want to know who I'm dealing with.

Gear is important but the person using it is even more so if I am to trust you with my project.

It's all very well telling me it stands for wave balance... what I mean is it should probably say it on the site or it's just two meaningless letters!

[24-96 Mastering]

Originally Posted by WBM

Thanks and you are right, I must have some grammatical errors, but I'm not a professor from a university, I'm an ME and may be I have to do the hole website in Spanish, but I tried to be a perfectionist in mastering.

I agree with J.S.Vega here. The web site has some errors that need fixing. It needs to make a good first impression and significant language mistakes are working against you. I would advise to have the web site checked / corrected by a native speaker who is well aware of audio terms, ideally even another audio engineer.

And as wado suggests, have the web site in spanish too (with language selection on the start page maybe). That can be your ticket to secure your own niche market crowd to fill up your calendar.

Another thing is that the client list looks rather short. If you don't have more names to list at this point, maybe you can add some client testimonials?

Good luck!

[J.S.Vega III]

Originally Posted by wado1942

That's the ticket right there. If you want to work with Spanish speaking musicians, your site should be Spanish. You don't have to be a professor to have a good site, but having good, detailed structure is a must. Another thing you may want to consider is get somebody who speaks good English to edit your site. Maybe set up a trade of some kind with a musician you trust? You work on his music for free and he works on your site for free.

Exactly. I'm not asking you to go and get an English degree, just get someone with good writing skills to go over it (or just do it in Spanish).

[Waltz Mastering]

Where you are located is also one of the biggest hubs for Latin music, you should try to make that to your advantage.

[WBM]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

Where you are located is also one of the biggest hubs for Latin music, you should try to make that to your advantage.

Thanks guy's for the input, tonight I will work a hole night just changing my hole website to spanish, but what i don't get is that music is an universal language.

you right I leave 15 years in NY and now I'm in Florida guess why?

After so many deceptions.

years ago I produce this project and I don't even used one spanish instrument and end up in the garbage.
Home Page

Where I'm from I grow up listening to The WHO, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, tango and many others not salsa, merenge, bachata or reggeton so why the hell I have to follow that style of music, I'll not enjoy the work that much as the styles of music i like.

[Waltz Mastering]

I might be worth doing it in both, where people have the option to chose the language or 2 separate sights.

[J.S.Vega III]

Originally Posted by WBM

Where I'm from I grow up listening to The WHO, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, tango and many others not salsa, merenge, bachata or reggeton so why the hell I have to follow that style of music, I'll not enjoy the work that much as the styles of music i like.

Me too, but if I was a Spanish ME living in Florida I'd be all over the Latin market like a hungry animal . $$$

[wado1942]

Hey, I didn't grow up listening to rap but I got to know the style very well and learned to enjoy it. You have to remember that this is a job and you can't always do what you want. You can't show bias or else you'll lose confidence from your clients. That spells disaster. I like the same kind of music you do. I'm not a big country fan, but I'm having a lot of fun working on some country records right now. I'm happy to work on anything that comes my way because the more experience I have, the better it makes me as an engineer and as a business owner.

[WBM]

Originally Posted by wado1942

Hey, I didn't grow up listening to rap but I got to know the style very well and learned to enjoy it. You have to remember that this is a job and you can't always do what you want. You can't show bias or else you'll lose confidence from your clients. That spells disaster. I like the same kind of music you do. I'm not a big country fan, but I'm having a lot of fun working on some country records right now. I'm happy to work on anything that comes my way because the more experience I have, the better it makes me as an engineer and as a business owner.

That's what I do if you see my short client list and samples, most of them are spanish, but I would like to start working in others styles of music but for some reason that's the material I received to be mastered, so I have to deal with that and how you saying it's music and that's the only way to get more experience on this job, thanks God at least I got something.

[Dave Rose]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

I might be worth doing it in both, where people have the option to chose the language or 2 separate sights.

Definately do it in both. Correct me if I'm wrong, but after Chinese, Spanish and English are the most spoken languages in the world!

[aleatoric]

Originally Posted by WBM

and who knows me ?
people knows gear .

That would make a good signature!

[Darius van H]

@WBM:

The way to build a client base is through word of mouth

People are not going to recommend a pile o' gear to their friends, they're gonna recommend a human (you, hopefully)

Soooooo, fix your website to:

a) have some info about yourself

&

b) fix the dodgy English, 'cause as someone else alluded to, 50% of what we get payed for is to not make any mistakes, and your website is full of 'em.......doesn't bode well for potential clients.

And be grateful for ANY jobs you get!........regardless of style and your own personal musical tastes!

[aleatoric]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

@WBM:

The way to build a client base is through word of mouth

People are not going to recommend a pile 'o gear to their friends, they're gonna recommend a human (you, hopefully)

Soooooo, fix your website to:

a) have some info about yourself

&

b) fix the dodgy English, 'cause as someone else alluded to, 50% of what we get payed for is to not make any mistakes, and your website is full of 'em.......doesn't bode well for potential clients.

And be grateful for ANY jobs you get!........regardless of style and your own personal musical tastes!

I agree completely. This is all excellent advice that should be taken to heart.

[wado1942]

English is the #1 language in the world because it's the language all international businesses use. Chinese would probably be a distant second.

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by WBM

WB Stand for Wave Balance
and who knows me ?
people knows gear .

OK, are u testing us amigo?....did you change your studio name by any chance? ...yes? then can I ask why? ......And, if u have been operating for almost 20 years how come you don't have a much larger discography to show for?? Can u answer these questions??

[J.S.Vega III]

^ No he's not been doing mastering for long, just moved to the US 20 years ago as stated in the second and third sentences of the 1st post.

[ssl_ambition]

I'm not a ME but I can tell you this as a customer and producer.

Did you ever ask yourself why some people got plenty of work while others who are maybe better or more skilled than them got none?

It's about selling a brand and the brand is YOU! How can you build up a business without showing informations about yourself. ME, musicians, whatever,... there are many many very talented people out there but they all don't make it. And it's not because they're not good at what they do, but they don't think in a sense of doing business. I'm still building up my own production facility. Probably you need to go to locals spots where your potential customers are. Go to recording studios and talk to them. Go to as many places as possible. What did you do to get a big clientele so far? Rethink you're steps and work out a new realistic plan to get more clients.

I think there are already some great advices here in this thread. The one from J.S.Vega III is great. "Me too, but if I was a Spa nish ME living in Florida I'd be all over the Latin market like a hungry animal . $$$ "

Also the website. How can you say. I'm a ME and not a prof. Man, you're doing business here and you're website has to be absolutely correct and up to date. It's like someone who is selling an insurance saying I'm sorry about the fact that there are errors in your contract but we just sold you the insurance. We didn't wrote it ourselves. This is your first impression and an impression of how serious you are. Anyway. What I want to say is that you need to show professionalism. From first to last.

Forget about the thing with the racism. It's crap IMO and won't make you go far. I'm not saying forget the fact that there is racism but it won't prevent you from doing business. There are hundred thousands of people of all kind of ethnicity working in the music/film industry.

So do all what's possible to make your clientele grow.
The only failure is not to try!

Good luck!

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by J.S.Vega III

^ No he's not been doing mastering for long, just moved to the US 20 years ago as stated in the second and third sentences of the 1st post.

thanx i am aware of everything he has said in this thread....but would prefer he responds to my questions...

[donsolo]

C'mon Joe, isn't that a bit nitpicky?

That being said, in this town, there's a ton of spanish rock going on and the little spanish I know helps build rapport with them. Networking is almost more important than a website IMHO. The Internetz won't send people your way, only give them more information if they're already looking for you (you could be a mastering engineer, a local studio or you personally)

You build the relationship and back it up with a website, maybe you put the cart before the horse?

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by donsolo

C'mon Joe, isn't that a bit nitpicky?

aight...i kno it appears that way...but i just had to ask...i think he knows what i am talking about...i would be surprised if he hasn't already read my comments....

i have a feeling that this is either a prank by an engineer of hi stature or someone who's been workin in this country as audio engineer but with an illegal status....i hope i am dead wrong..it's time he chimes in and faces this dog...

[WBM]

Originally Posted by It'sJoeAgain

aight...i kno it appears that way...but i just had to ask...i think he knows what i am talking about...i would be surprised if he hasn't already read my comments....

i have a feeling that this is either a prank by an engineer of hi stature or someone who's been workin in this country as audio engineer but with an illegal status....i hope i am dead wrong..it's time he chimes in and faces this dog...

I'm sorry that I don't reply to the thread before, but i was busy being a father. Happy Father's day to all of you.

Thanks so much to all the info guy's, I will do the changes to my website following all the details that all of you told me in this forum that's why I posted this thread.

How I'm saying I don't know that much about this business, once again I started to do mastering not that long.

Before I was a Live Sound Engineer, doing tours worldwide with Maryland Sound, Rat sound, See factor and many others so that 'll answered all your nasty comments about my immigrant status in the US Mr JOE.

This is my first Mastering studio, before I used to do Mixing on a little system I had at home but not website and people recommended my work mouth to mouth, after that I had a mayor accident where I saw the other side of life but thanks to God I'm here again try to do my mission, my service.

I ask thing because I'm new on this Mr Joe by the way since you live in NYC , you must know The Old Audioforce, See Factor, Pro mix, Right track, Quad studios, all those places they ask for green card so you know.

I will recommended you to change your energy, been mean will heart yourself more.

ONCE AGAIN I"M SORRY FOR MY TYPO AND THANKS.

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by WBM

Before I was a Live Sound Engineer, doing tours worldwide with Maryland Sound, Rat sound, See factor and many others so that 'll answered all your nasty comments about my immigrant status in the US Mr JOE.

This is my first Mastering studio, before I used to do Mixing on a little system I had at home......

Even if I am to understand half your English, you still need to explain to us what you said in '07.

From your old site:

STUDIO




WB Mastering is a state of the Art facility servicing from the USA to the rest of the World thru Network (Spanish, Portuguese and Italian)

The Studio was opened on 1990 in NJ, where we used to do Pre Production, Live Recording, Audio Editing, Mixing and Mastering in 2004 we moved to Hollywood, Florida now our services are Mastering, Digital Audio Editing, Audio File Conversion and DVD-A.

look man...i don't understand how you can say that u just started mastering and two years ago u said you started mastering back in 1990...was there someone messing around on ur site saying bull crap for you?? i am extremely confused

[mrlouie]

Originally Posted by WBM

I like to know what's the secret on this business, How I will be able to leave with just mastering single tracks?
First I'm not an American, and I feel like people don't want to deal with an spanish ME in the US even if I been here for 20 years, I'm frustrating.
I been doing mastering not for a long time, but I put a lot of effort to it and the few clients I have, they returned real happy but with singles tracks.
How the hell you can click with a record label, even the spanish artist going with the US ME?
At this point I don't know, to sell all my gear or go back to my old country to do this ME job, where I don't even belong anymore.
I know society in this country is racist as hell.
People in the US born with a high grade of hearing more than anyone in the world?
Has anyone in this forum went thru the same things?
Sorry for my typo
Home Page

Well to start why dont you ask your clients how come they dont bring you albums to work on ??? Next time you are working with one ask them "hey so when do i get to do an album for you". You are just starting out, you need to build your discography give them a stupid low rate for an album. Lets say you charge $1,000 for an album tell them you do it for $500. Do some albums for a low rate to build credits then go to a normal rate.

You said "I been doing mastering not for a long time" well thats why you aren't getting working not because of being spanish. You need to learn how to network with producers and engineers they will bring you the albums not the record labels.

When i first started i only got a song here and there, then an ep maybe then an album, all indie off the street stuff, then slowly a single for a smaller label, then an album, then eventually bigger projects.

It takes time and alot of hard work to build a career.

And on the effort part, when you are not mastering a project, do you put in 8 hours a day trying to get a project to work on ???

"I like to know what's the secret on this business" for me it was simple, i busted my ass every single day from day one when i started in a recording studio as runner to the present.

Just because you buy gear and have a website doesn't mean people are gonna bring you albums to work on. You speak spanish and live in florida, go out into the local music scene promote yourself & the studio.

louie