As a producer, one of the main roles is establishing the budget for an album. So when it came to setting a budget for my new album it was a piece of cake. Knowing how to anticipate costs up front is needing to know how to anticipate TIME. Since every project is different, I thought I would share my cost ratio. This way, it can work with whatever budget you have. Keep in mind that this is a general outline for an independently released album.
Time=100%
1) The Producer:10%
I would NEVER, I repeat, NEVER go into any recording situation without an objective set of ears. This person typically is referred to as the Producer. 10% of your total cost should be budgeted to the producer. Sometimes the producer role is often lumped in with the engineer role too. Of course, this is a way a lot of people need to go, however, for me I needed someone who can help me in the pre-production stage, choosing studio locations, hiring musicians, song development and so on. See Related Post: What is Pre-Production.
2) Professional Musicians: 10%
Because I’m a solo artist, I need to hire professional musicians to play parts on my album. Typically, these musicians would be a drummer, bass player, guitarist and a piano or keyboard player. Depending on the style of music, you also may hire a lap steel player, or fiddle player to help complete your sound. Obviously, if your a band you may not need to hire people in.
3) The Recording Studio: 40%
This is where you spend a lot of your money. But the actual studio breakdown can differ if you are a solo artist vs. a band. But this is a good way to look at this 40%:
Spend 10% on Drums and bass, 10% on guitar and keys parts, 20% on Vocals and use time in between vocal takes to do various overdubbs or fixes. If you hire musicians in, you should be able to bring some of those percentages down especially if you already have existing parts for them to play. In practical terms if your recording for 7 seven days: 2 Days for Drums/Bass, 2 Days for Guitars/Keys, and 3 Days for Vocals. Days=10 hours of time.
4) The Mix: 30%
You should spend a pretty equal amount of money for your recording as you do for your mix. I’ve seen a lost of great projects get the shaft at the mixing stage because an artist runs out of money in the recording studio phase.The Mix is where you make your record sound like, well, a record. You don’t want to rush it. Also, it’s also a good idea to have another engineer in mind to mix. Sometimes even the best recording engineers are too close to the project mentally and make sub-par mixes as a result.
5) Mastering: 10%
This stage usually isn’t as expensive as the mix, but is an important stage nonetheless. Mastering is where you can bring your mixes to a commercial level of playability. Additionally you can add depth and warmth, or just about anything else that affects the end result of the record.
See Related Post: New Album Update
