2023 Pricing and Policies
HOURS, WORK DURATION, START TIMES:
Mon-Fri 8AM-9PM
Saturday - 9AM-5PM
Working Duration Per Day: Approximately 8 working hours per day.
Available Start Times:
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
6:00 PM (n/a on Saturdays)
PRICING:
Weekday Studio Time: $55/hr
Saturday Studio Time: $70/hr
Mixing (Light): $175-$220/song
Mixing (Standard): $300/song
Mixing (Dense): $350/song
Producer Rate: $400/single, $350 2+ songs
Mason’s Session Player Rate: $20/instrument (n/a if Mason is the Producer)
STEMS: $40/song
Cabin Overnight Stay: 1 night - $120
Cabin Overnight Stay: 2+ nights - $75/night
BOOKING:
+ $100 per day downpayment is required to secure studio time. Dates will not be held until downpayment is received.
+ The downpayment is credited towards studio time for the day(s) booked.
+ Cancellations must be made one week prior to scheduled session in order to receive a refund of the downpayment.
+ When booking a session, clients must choose from a start time (see above) and select a date.
ACCEPTED FORMS OF PAYMENT:
+ Venmo, PayPal (friends and family payment only), Cashapp, USD
+ IMPORTANT - If paying via PayPal, please ensure that you select “friends and family payment” to avoid Sound Machine incurring a fee. If you pay as a “goods and services” payment, you will be billed for the fee as PayPal retains the fee even if a refund is initiated.
PAYMENT PROCEEDURES:
+ The Producer Rate Invoice is due in full before pre-production begins.
+ The Mixing Invoice is due before the first round of mixes are delivered.
+ Studio Time Invoices are due upon receipt.
+ Deliverables (i.e. songs, files, tracks) will not be released to client unless the balance is paid.
+ Invoices are due upon receipt. A $75 fee will be added to the total if the payment is not received within one week of the invoice going out.
HOURLY BILLING
+ The clock starts at the session start time. For example, if the session is booked for 1:00 PM, the clock starts at 1:00 PM even if the client is late.
+ Beginning in 2023, clients must choose a start time at the time they book a session.
+ The clock stops during meal breaks.
SESSION PLAYERS AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES:
+ All Sound Machine Studio session players have either PayPal or Venmo. If you will be hiring a session player, please sign up for a PayPal or Venmo account to make payments easy. Or bring cash to the session.
+ Session players should be paid on the day they record for the project and before they leave the studio.
FILE DELIVERY
+ Client will receive a link to a dedicated Dropbox folder in which all files will be stored for the duration of the project.
+ Clients are expected to download the files to their personal computer/phone/iPad. Once the project is a wrap the files will be removed from Dropbox.
+ A $10 fee will be billed to client if a re-upload is necessary after project has wrapped.
ARCHIVING
+ Clients are highly encouraged to bring a storage device such as a hard drive or flash drive to every session in order to backup the Pro Tools sessions (and associated audio files).
+ Sound Machine Studio and/or Mason Shirley will not be held liable for data loss for any reason.
OVERNIGHT STAY
+ Cabin max capacity is 5.
+ No smoking inside.
+ No illegal drugs.
+ No pets (must keep facility free of allergens). Outdoor pets are also prohibited at this time.
MISC. GUIDELINES
+ Clients are welcome to bring videographers, photographers, etc. to the session.
+ Clients are welcome to drink alcoholic beverages during the session.
+ Smoking outside is okay, just discard cigarette butts in the dispenser.
+ We will refuse to work on a song if the lyrics are degrading to humanity, morally deprived, promote the occult, promote violence, or contain excessive explicit language.
RELEASE GUIDELINES
+ Clients are kindly asked to release only the masters to the public.
+ Clients are encouraged to avoid manipulating the masters when syncing audio recorded at Sound Machine Studio to a visual medium such as a music video, lyric video, etc. This would include adjusting the volume, eq’ing the track, etc.
+ Clients are kindly asked to properly credit all personnel involved in making a project. This includes liner notes on physical CD’s, tapes, and vinyl records as well as production notes on digital distribution (where possible).
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
+ All recordings/mixes/demos made at Sound Machine Studio are owned by the Client.
+ Unless otherwise agreed to, all work done by Mason Shirley is “work for hire”.