Free samples!!??

DP40oz · 6th February 2009

At least every other day i get asked if I could give a free sample mix to show what I can do. I know you high end guys don't deal with this but for us smaller studio guys is this standard practice? Are people actually doing this? Is the 10 samples on my website not enough! What other industry could you go and ask somebody to do hours of free work just to see if maybe you'll decide to work with them. Try asking your accountant to do your taxes for free this year so maybe next year you'll pay him. My prices are extremely reasonable, especially for the product my clients recieve. To me this is really almost an offensive thing to ask. Maybe im wrong, maybe this is standard practice?

jval · 6th February 2009

it's just musicians being cheap, like always. don't do it.
word gets around that you'll do stuff for free, and you won't get as much respect after a while.
refer them to your website if they want samples.

bentwookieesound · 6th February 2009

I would take it on a case-by-case basis. If you're worried about giving away work, check out the Voxengo beeper: Voxengo - Beeper

The trouble is that there's so much competition out there, if you don't comply in some way the band will usually go to someone else, even if the product isn't as good as what you can provide. There's usually a few questions to ask yourself... is it a worthwhile project? Will it help you receive more work in the future? Do you have the time to put into it? If I'm not backed up with work, and I feel the band is worth the time, I'll definitely consider it. It's the slippery slope of being at the mercy of bands.

6th February 2009	#1
DP40oz Gear addict Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 410 Thread Starter	Free samples!!?? At least every other day i get asked if I could give a free sample mix to show what I can do. I know you high end guys don't deal with this but for us smaller studio guys is this standard practice? Are people actually doing this? Is the 10 samples on my website not enough! What other industry could you go and ask somebody to do hours of free work just to see if maybe you'll decide to work with them. Try asking your accountant to do your taxes for free this year so maybe next year you'll pay him. My prices are extremely reasonable, especially for the product my clients recieve. To me this is really almost an offensive thing to ask. Maybe im wrong, maybe this is standard practice?

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6th February 2009	#2
jval Gear addict Joined: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 488	it's just musicians being cheap, like always. don't do it. word gets around that you'll do stuff for free, and you won't get as much respect after a while. refer them to your website if they want samples.

6th February 2009	#3
bentwookieesound Gear nut Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 98	I would take it on a case-by-case basis. If you're worried about giving away work, check out the Voxengo beeper: Voxengo - Beeper The trouble is that there's so much competition out there, if you don't comply in some way the band will usually go to someone else, even if the product isn't as good as what you can provide. There's usually a few questions to ask yourself... is it a worthwhile project? Will it help you receive more work in the future? Do you have the time to put into it? If I'm not backed up with work, and I feel the band is worth the time, I'll definitely consider it. It's the slippery slope of being at the mercy of bands.