How much should he pay me?

[danielbm85]

Essentially, a singer songwriter is in the process of making a 12 track album, 5 of the tracks are completed and he wants me to come up with parts and paly in the studio for the other 7. He has suggested that payment would come with gigs that i would play with him and im thinking no go for that plan, he isnt an established artist so it seems that asking for a percentage of sales would be a good approach because it doesnt demand a large amount of upfront cash but also protects me in case he does find some amount of success with this recording, i have another band that is gigging and im very dedicated to so this is definitely an on the side kind of deal.

 

What would your guys suggestions be for this, im meeting with him today after sending a message to him previously that indicated "is there compensation for this" and he replied in the vein of "this is for the love of music" kind of deal and that gigs would pay, hes a genuine nice guy but as someone who is new to doing studio work for OTHER groups im a bit unsure of what approach to take.

[JBJ]

i'd take a set amount per part writen by you and x a mount per take per track it takes to record and a % of future sales and live performance income.

 

sounds a little unfair but the reason why noel gallagher has about 5 times as much money as the rest of his band is cos he writes most of the stuff.

 

if you're writing songs and hooks for him then you should be properly compensated.

 

if he insists on you taking a cut from gigs then tell him to write the songs himself and {censored} off.

[danielbm85]

The amount of writing i would be doing is minimal, basically all 12 tracks are ALL recorded EXCEPT for the drum parts on 7, he hasnt written drum parts so id be writing drum parts for already recorded tracks, essentially my worry would be writing beats that are critical to the feel and definition of the song then having things go great and being left uncompensated, what kind of percentage of cd sales would you suggest requesting?

[JBJ]

he wants you to layd own drums after everythign else is down?

this guy sounds like a flake.

 

at the very least you should get a small % of any sales of it as a performance royalty plus get paid for said performance of it.

 

depending on how pivotal a part it is or wether you come up with a great hook you could claim a writing credit but those are few and far between with regards to drums.

 

if you're going to be playing with him at these shows i'd ask for a cut from that AND one from cd sales.

 

to be honest it sounds like the guy is trying to cheap out on you.

[danielbm85]

it did seem flaky or unprepared to me as well, the songs are all laid out to a click track, i HIGHLY appreciate this kind of help JBJ as im not familiar with common business procedures in a situation such as this, i wouldnt be searching for songwriting credit.

 

He indicated that i will get an equal percentage of gig revenue as all other musicians (including him) and im curious what kind of percent you would suggest if i were to request profit from sales of cds, im thinking 5%

[BlueStrat]

 

Originally posted by danielbm85 it did seem flaky or unprepared to me as well, the songs are all laid out to a click track, i HIGHLY appreciate this kind of help JBJ as im not familiar with common business procedures in a situation such as this, i wouldnt be searching for songwriting credit. He indicated that i will get an equal percentage of gig revenue as all other musicians (including him) and im curious what kind of percent you would suggest if i were to request profit from sales of cds, im thinking 5%

 

 

If all you're doing is tracking, I charge 100 bucks a tune minimum to record and 25/hour if I have to rehearse. If you do anything but work for hire, payable upon completion of the work, you'll likely never see a dime.

 

Gig money should be over and above what he pays you to record.

[Beachbum]

Tough call. Perhaps listen to his music and see if it moves you. If he has some stuff you love and would enjoy being artisitically involved with then consider it. If you think it's run-of-the-mill perhaps decline.

 

In any event - welcome to the forum.

[danielbm85]

thanks for the welcome,

I suppose im not deeply enthralled by the music he plays, though i think im going to do it merely for these reasons...

 

1) I have little studio experience and would like to start developing some more

2) I would have music samples of myself playing a different style than jazz

3) The recording engineer is very experienced and has a lot of connections, I hope to develop enough of a relationship and leave enough of an impression where if future bands needed a session drummer he would refer me, or want me for his own projects

 

Being that im 20 I'm not sure how much leverage i have bargaining wise, i feel my playing speaks for itself, but im hoping a brief stepping stone like this could lead to more. If i say no, ill have some extra free time, if i say yes, then i might be able to further myself. The style of music is in the vein of something like wilco meets the beatles so if i play well i think there are a lot of oppurtunities for this genre. At the same time though i feel a little abused by the idea of offering services that ive spent 10 years developing at no cost in addition to investing personal practice time to the project.... welp i guess this is something i really just gotta decide on, thanks for the help everyone, any comments welcome.

[daddymack]

I have to agree with JBJ that having the drums laid on last makes no sense at all, click track or not, since now yo uwill have t owork to the dynamics of the other instruments and the click, rather than the other way around. I would insist on a per track payment with a minimum guarantee or a participation percentage for performance from all sales (good luck ever collecting on that). Otherwise show him where he can buy a drum machine.

 

If you get in there, play the drums only with the bass and rhythm guitar tracks, not the vocals, not the solos, so that you are not 'dragged off' by the dynamic changes.

 

Honestly, the guy does not sound like he has a clue what he is doing. Is he recording all this at home? Is he producing for himself?

[germanicus2112]

I dont see the problem with adding the drums last. Drummers often may not prefer it but honestly to me thats probably because they arent confident in their capacity playing to a click. As long as the music is done well to the click, a drummer worth his salt should be able to lock to a click. I've had drummers track to my tunes as one of the final instruments recorded, simply out of necessity of arrangement. Its not that unheard of to lay down drums in this manner. Also, it sounds like you are looking to establish yourself and develop connections. I wouldnt get too caught up in the "ive worked hard and need to get paid" and then not pursue the opportunity to bridge connections because the money isnt perfect. Connections are everything.

 

Additionally....

 

 

Originally posted by daddymack If you get in there, play the drums only with the bass and rhythm guitar tracks, not the vocals, not the solos, so that you are not 'dragged off' by the dynamic changes.

 

 

is probably going to result in it sounding like the drums DONT match up with the rest of the song. IMO you need to listen to the totality of the song and where all the inflections lay, otherwise they will assuredly clash (innapropriate crash hits, fills, etc.).

[JBJ]

sorry germanicus but puttign the drums last just makes no sense at all to me.

 

apart from keeping time, the drums are there to give the song it's groove and you can;t do that when the rest of the parts are already laid down beforehand.