Mastering a song + its instrumental - How do you charge?

[Guy Gabriel]

I was wondering how a pro ME charges when a client wants the full song mastered + the instrumental of the song?
Will the pro ME charge like he would charge for 1 song or would he charge as if there were 2 different songs?

thanks

[Waltz Mastering]

For an unattended project or per song rate, I charge what equals to about 33% of what the song rate is for instrumentals of the full version.

For most attended sessions it's usually an hourly rate or if a per song rate is worked out for attended sessions, it still comes out to about 33% of the song rate for the instrumental version.

[24-96 Mastering]

I always charge extra versions per time needed to do them. Reason being that time needed varies extremely and that with some productions, additional versions can be very plentiful and can become more work than the actual album was.

If the extra version is exactly the same as the mix (except for intended change), i.e. the same settings can be used, and the main version / session is fairly straigtforward, then it'll usually take 10-15 mins per version (including QC).

However, if the version is unintentionally different, if matching has to be done (which usually takes longer than working the original track), if it needs serious manual restoration work, if it needs additional vocal spill removal, if it - along with the main tracks - needs to undergo several revision steps (i.e. if the client is tricky or if there are many opinions in the mix... if you know what I mean), one single extra version may end up needing several hours of work. Such an extreme is pretty rare, of course, but parts of the above scenario are true in ca. every third case ime.

[lucey]

$100/track
$30/per any alternate versions
$50/track for remixes, after the fact

[Thor]

I'm with Robin,

if it's singback tracks (i.e. mix minus vocals), it gets the same processing as the main mix, barring any issues.

If it's a separate mix (i.e. instrumental featuring some solo instruments instead of vocals), it needs to be adjusted and processed as a separate mix.

In the first case it doesn't take much more time than simply playing through the mix to print it. In the second it's like adding another track to the time you bill.

Cheers,
Thor

[Table Of Tone]

Instumental versions are being asked for more and more these days!

I'll sometimes throw a couple of em in with the album deal, if they are the same mix, minus vox.

When the client starts hitting you with loads of em, you gotta start charging!