assistant wage

[superburtm]

I'm a studio owner and I'm training some guys to help with the work load. What is a fair wage for a staff engineer for a small studio that is only fetching 35 to 40 an hour?

[Flymax]

It really depends on the market your in and how much experience the assistants have. Will they work for 15 an hour? Some young dude/dudette might be psyched for an entry level job in a studio.
You could get interns and pay for gas and lunch because they're psyched for the experience.

[Fletcher]

Our interns would probably blow you [and swallow] for $15/hr. We pay ours $6.75/hr. [Massactusetts minimum wage]... period. If they apply for the gig for 'college credit'... then we might give them like a $30/wk gas stipend... but that's it.

They are there to learn; and learn they will. When was the last time you heard of a school paying you to go to that school [I mean when you weren't the next John Elway or Shaquile O'Neal].

Minimum wage is only for our peace of mind... frankly, when they get to our joint they're not worth $6.75 an hour... it takes a good 6 months of training before they're even close to worth that. The only reason they get minimum from the get-go is that the amount of money we'd save to pay them less wouldn't be worth the 'Dept. of Labor' bullshit if one of the little bastards ratted us out if we happen to fire them.

As far as pay goes... it's commensurate with what the market will bear and supply and demand. It's easier to find an 'entry level recording' gopher than 'Crack' in the ghetto... hence they're damn near literally a dime a dozen. If they work their way into the organization where their service can't be replaced in a week... if they actually "know" something... well then we can talk about something that approximates a living way... until then... in the immortal words of David Bromberg... "you've gotta suffer if you wanna sing the blues".

As far as what is a "fair wage for an assistant engineer?"... that's supply and demand. How good is the kid? Can they bring any buisness through the door? Can you trust the kid with the keys? How much is it worth to you for this kid to take over some of your tasks thus [in theory] making your life easier... in other words... what's it worth to you from that $35-40/hr. to not be there?

[T_R_S]

Originally Posted by superburtm

I'm a studio owner and I'm training some guys to help with the work load. What is a fair wage for a staff engineer for a small studio that is only fetching 35 to 40 an hour?

Sorry I am not trying to hassle you but...
How can you afford to pay anyone AND buy gear @ $40.00/hr?
If you charge low rates people won't take you seriously.
If you take on clients that are bargan hunters they are ususally a high maintence customer anyway.
Just to give you some perspective...
I had to take a car to get serviced last year and it cost me $150.00 per hour.
When I go on a date dinner and parking cost me about $100.00 - $150.00.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by T_R_S

Sorry I am not trying to hassle you but...
How can you afford to pay anyone AND buy gear @ $40.00/hr?
If you charge low rates people won't take you seriously.
If you take on clients that are bargan hunters they are ususally a high maintence customer anyway.
Just to give you some perspective...
I had to take a car to get serviced last year and it cost me $150.00 per hour.
When I go on a date dinner and parking cost me about $100.00 - $150.00.

First off thanks for the replies everybody thumbsup TRS to answer your question. Well I'm not getting rich that's for sure but I am able to own a home in LA and support the habit. I'm hoping by bringing in some guys I'll actually be able to make more as I'm not able to take on all the work that comes to me because I'm only one guy. So I figure I will make more having the place booked 7 days a week as opposed to 5. And to be honest I don't want to have to work 5 days a week with every Tom Dick and Harry that comes through the door.

The reason I can charge so little is I have literally no overhead at my space. Crazy as it sounds I have a pretty sweet deal with my partner. He makes a small piece when I work and nothing when it's slow which BTW it hasn't been for the past year. And I own all my gear and my car so my overhead is fairly low. So if I'm making $150.00 or so aday not even being there I call that a victory.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

Our interns would probably blow you [and swallow] for $15/hr. We pay ours $6.75/hr. [Massactusetts minimum wage]... period. If they apply for the gig for 'college credit'... then we might give them like a $30/wk gas stipend... but that's it.

They are there to learn; and learn they will. When was the last time you heard of a school paying you to go to that school [I mean when you weren't the next John Elway or Shaquile O'Neal].

Minimum wage is only for our peace of mind... frankly, when they get to our joint they're not worth $6.75 an hour... it takes a good 6 months of training before they're even close to worth that. The only reason they get minimum from the get-go is that the amount of money we'd save to pay them less wouldn't be worth the 'Dept. of Labor' bullshit if one of the little bastards ratted us out if we happen to fire them.

As far as pay goes... it's commensurate with what the market will bear and supply and demand. It's easier to find an 'entry level recording' gopher than 'Crack' in the ghetto... hence they're damn near literally a dime a dozen. If they work their way into the organization where their service can't be replaced in a week... if they actually "know" something... well then we can talk about something that approximates a living way... until then... in the immortal words of David Bromberg... "you've gotta suffer if you wanna sing the blues".

As far as what is a "fair wage for an assistant engineer?"... that's supply and demand. How good is the kid? Can they bring any buisness through the door? Can you trust the kid with the keys? How much is it worth to you for this kid to take over some of your tasks thus [in theory] making your life easier... in other words... what's it worth to you from that $35-40/hr. to not be there?

Thanks Fletcher, some good solid thoughts for me to digest. thumbsup God I was planning on paying the kid like 15 an hr. The problems I run into is that anybody that is not an idiot in LA will not work for under 15 an hr. Damn i wish I could train a monkey

[Jules]

Right now I am paying an 18 year old intern (attending recording school) $40 per day + meals & parking to work a few days a week.

but that is an 'intern' not an assistant..

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Jules

Right now I am paying an 18 year old intern (attending recording school) $40 per day + meals & parking to work a few days a week.

but that is an 'intern' not an assistant..

Right. The difference here is I want a guy to be able to run the show while I'm not there. Now he isn't demanding 15 an hr. He hasn't demanded a wage at this point while I'm training him. I'm jus wanting to know what the respectable wage is for an upcoming aspiring engineer working in a mainly demo studio.

[JHOOKS]

Originally Posted by superburtm

Right. The difference here is I want a guy to be able to run the show while I'm not there. Now he isn't demanding 15 an hr. He hasn't demanded a wage at this point while I'm training him. I'm jus wanting to know what the respectable wage is for an upcoming aspiring engineer working in a mainly demo studio.

let me tell you a story, I use to work at a studio, own by a big time celebrity in nyc(wont call out any names), with millions of dollars. Not only was he a piece of shiit but he treated his intern's and his assistant's like shiit. long story short. one of my boys use to work for him. he started as an intern then work his way up. a year later this kids was literally a one man studio running show! he assistant acts from alicia keys to nelly, down to lou reed and pattie labelle. all the while he was only getting paid 7 bucks an hour( literally running the ssl 9000 k series) for helping people make million and not to mention he was struggling to pay the rent(newyork rent is not cheap folks). well my friend eventually got tired of being slaved, and left the place. put it like this , when he left that studio they had no one with that kind of experience to replace him. and not to mention this kids vibe was super cool. he even got along with well, i'll leave that part out

so this is the point.... now i no your studio is only used to make demos and such, but try to hire someone with atleast with some experience and if they are good enough pay them 15 bucks an hour, not only are you going to make the persons life easier, but your going to make the person want to work for you and do there best job. as far as a paying someone min wage, come on lets be serious who gives a shit about working hard when your struggling just to get pay, im not saying make the person rich, but dont use anyone and slave them, like most diicksucking fuccks in the music industry. my buddhist deed for the day

man im a assitant video editor and i get paid 30 bucks an hour, and when i was getting lowball they still gave me 15 bucks an hour. go figure

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by JHOOKS

let me tell you a story, I use to work at a studio, own by a big time celebrity in nyc(wont call out any names), with millions of dollars. Not only was he a piece of shiit but he treated his intern's and his assistant's like shiit. long story short. one of my boys use to work for him. he started as an intern then work his way up. a year later this kids was literally a one man studio running show! he assistant acts from alicia keys to nelly, down to lou reed and pattie labelle. all the while he was only getting paid 7 bucks an hour( literally running the ssl 9000 k series) for helping people make million and not to mention he was struggling to pay the rent(newyork rent is not cheap folks). well my friend eventually got tired of being slaved, and left the place. put it like this , when he left that studio they had no one with that kind of experience to replace him. and not to mention this kids vibe was super cool. he even got along with well, i'll leave that part out

so this is the point.... now i no your studio is only used to make demos and such, but try to hire someone with atleast with some experience and if they are good enough pay them 15 bucks an hour, not only are you going to make the persons life easier, but your going to make the person want to work for you and do there best job. as far as a paying someone min wage, come on lets be serious who gives a shit about working hard when your struggling just to get pay, im not saying make the person rich, but dont use anyone and slave them, like most diicksucking fuccks in the music industry. my buddhist deed for the day

man im a assitant video editor and i get paid 30 bucks an hour, and when i was getting lowball they still gave me 15 bucks an hour. go figure

thumbsup I hear ya. I ws that kid at one time. I don't want to be the prick. But I don't want to go broke either. I want to be fair so It encourages him to work well.

[JHOOKS]

Originally Posted by superburtm

thumbsup I hear ya. I ws that kid at one time. I don't want to be the prick. But I don't want to go broke either. I want to be fair so It encourages him to work well.

i was also that kid at one point lol(hey that should be a thread with in its self!lol it would be title "my days as a goofer biitch"), i was the goofer bbitch extranoire!lol, but yea man you should really look at your budget and see what u really can afford. if you only can afford an intern, then go with the intern( but dont expect miracles, unless he's the smartest kids ever), dont pay an asst intern money, you no what i mean. be fair! it would only pay off for you in the long run.

[Jules]

Have two pay rates..

Your clients

thier OWN clients

Pay them more for thier clients..

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Jules

Have two pay rates..

Your clients

thier OWN clients

Pay them more for thier clients..

Great Idea I had thought about that too. So it motivates them to bring in work which in turn makes me money. I like it thumbsup

[JHOOKS]

Originally Posted by Jules

Have two pay rates..

Your clients

thier OWN clients

Pay them more for thier clients..

thats sound like it can be a good idea. if it works it could be a win win situation! good one jules

[Jules]

Also allow a sliding scale in their favor.

Say session for 250 - they get 100 but if they can get session to pay 300 - they get 150

So studio on same money but engineers on more... I aint no bizness brane but I like the vibe of that somehow.. and use it.

Here's the pay off

Major label

Studio 350
engineer 200 (+ points if producing...)

Lovely!

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by superburtm

Great Idea I had thought about that too. So it motivates them to bring in work which in turn makes me money. I like it thumbsup

Yeah but if they are his clients why wouldn't he just workout a deal with his clients himself?


He would just book the studio at a cutrate(no assistant needed).



Personally i say $23 or $22.50(that way it ends up at least $20 per/hr after taxes).


I mean this is a profession and you have to try to live of it.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Jules

Also allow a sliding scale in their favor.

Say session for 250 - they get 100 but if they can get session to pay 300 - they get 150

So studio on same money but engineers on more... I aint no bizness brane but I like the vibe of that somehow.. and use it.

Here's the pay off

Major label

Studio 350
engineer 200 (+ points if producing...)

Lovely!

I'm going to implement that thumbsup God I love this place!

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Yeah but if they are his clients why wouldn't he just workout a deal with his clients himself?


He would just book the studio at a cutrate(no assistant needed).

.

I think this is the same idea. Basically if he is bringing in his own clients I give him a discounted rate on the room to work in allowing him to make more money also encouraging him to bring work to the table.

I can't afford to pay 20 an hour yet. The guy I'm training is no dumbass but he is not a seasoned engineer either. I think $10 and hour under the table is fair to start. And move it up to 12 then 15. And if he brings in his own clients I give a room rate that will allow him to make atleast 15 and hour right off the bat.Keep in mind this is not a big dollar operation just yet. However it has potential to be. I'm located in a very busy popular rehearsal facility in LA. There is name recognition and a built in crowd of bands to record. I happened to be buddies with the owner and I was looking for a home for my gear and bam! I had done the traditional recording studio thing a couple time over the past 11 years and ended up losing money every time. This place is actually making me money!

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by superburtm

I'm a studio owner and I'm training some guys to help with the work load.

This is "training an assistant" ... which is different from hiring "an entry level engineer".

What is a fair wage for a staff engineer for a small studio that is only fetching 35 to 40 an hour?

$15-25/hr. is quite reasonable... depending on the market and whether or not they're bringing any work through the door.

The name of the thread was "assistant wage" which said to me 'what to pay an assistant'... 'entry level engineer' is a whole different story.

[Jose Mrochek]

Pay him as MUCH as you can afford man. People need to feel well compensated to do a good job. Unless they are assisting Bob Clearmountain or something where that happens to be the pay off. If you feel you can teach them valuable info they have to understand that´s part of their salary.

I´m sure Fletcher is a guy who knows alot, but I don´t like that attitude in a boss. You need to remember we are not sending rockets to space, this is just the music industry.

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

The name of the thread was "assistant wage" which said to me 'what to pay an assistant'... 'entry level engineer' is a whole different story.

Cool you cleared that up.

Anyway, there are some people who slave around interns/assistants and thats not nice, whoever that may be.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

This is "training an assistant" ... which is different from hiring "an entry level engineer".



$15-25/hr. is quite reasonable... depending on the market and whether or not they're bringing any work through the door.

The name of the thread was "assistant wage" which said to me 'what to pay an assistant'... 'entry level engineer' is a whole different story.

Pardon my dumb ass but

What is the difference between entry level engineer and assistant?

EDIT: nevermind I answered my own question

Aw crap you beat me to the pucnch

[Fletcher]

An assistant hits patches, does documentation, coils cables, and assists on the session... an entry level engineer sits in the chair and earns while you're home sleeping.

As a studio owner I used to know said on a regular basis... 'if them reels ain't turnin' then I ain't earnin'" [back in the analog days when assistants needed to know how to align tape machines and 'stripe code' and lay tones and all that groovy antique shit they no longer feel they need to know].

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally Posted by superburtm

Pardon my dumb ass but

What is the difference between entry level engineer and assistant?

I think entry level engineer means someone who can run the show from day 1 but doesn´t have any important credits to his name.

assistant is someone where you have to teach him the basics and will ask many many ¨stupid¨ questions.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

An assistant hits patches, does documentation, coils cables, and assists on the session... an entry level engineer sits in the chair and earns while you're home sleeping.

As a studio owner I used to know said on a regular basis... 'if them reels ain't turnin' then I ain't earnin'" [back in the analog days when assistants needed to know how to align tape machines and 'stripe code' and lay tones and all that groovy antique shit they no longer feel they need to know].

Ok I got ya. Well then I guess what I'm doing is training an assistant to be an entry level engineer so I can make money while I play poker.

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

an entry level engineer sits in the chair and earns while you're home sleeping.

.

wouldn´t that be ¨engineer¨ ? why entry level ?

[Fletcher]

It would be 'entry level' because there is a big difference between your first gig "in the chair" to having sat in the chair for a few years. Until you have a couple/three hundred sessions under your belt [in the chair, not next to the patchbay] you're still a complete puppy... which would be "entry level" in my world... YMMV.

[x.cerveau]

I work as an assistant at a studio in Central Pennsylvannia, I live almost 40 miles away from the place, but I love the vibe, and I get High School credits to go there. If I'm really in need of gas money, I can get it, but I don't expect it. If I do a bunch of engineering on a session (running the board, patching, etc) I usually get 10.00/hr, which I don't complain about. It's really the experience that is paying me i guess, i know that sounds corny, but its true.

Keith.

[MadGuitrst]

Keith, that's not corny......in all it sounds like a great deal all around