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What do you do? - Part two [message #89700] Wed, 12 September 2007 11:05 Go to next message
Gantt Kushner is currently offline  Gantt Kushner   
Messages: 545
Registered: June 2006
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland, ...
Senior Member

So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under the
influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng tea
(pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.

I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get back
to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I actually
had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every minute.
He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
a really good day gig!

Gantt


Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89704 is a reply to message #89700] Wed, 12 September 2007 11:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
LaMontt  is currently offline  LaMontt   
Messages: 424
Registered: January 2007
Senior Member

Join the club.


"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
the
>influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng tea
>(pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>
>I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
>responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
back
>to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I actually
>had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every minute.
> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
>a really good day gig!
>
>Gantt
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89721 is a reply to message #89700] Wed, 12 September 2007 14:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Neil is currently offline  Neil
Messages: 1645
Registered: April 2006
Senior Member
"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote:

>I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try
>to do the responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and
>girls... Let's get back to work!". But how do I write the
>bill? Charge for the talk time?


Yes, but itemize it...

Recording Time, billed at the Studio Rate = 4 hrs. @ $75/hr.
TTL = $300
Talk/Chat, billed at Therapy Rate = 1.5 hrs @ $125/hr.
TTL = $187.50

TOTAL DUE FOR TODAY'S SESSION: $487.50


:)
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89723 is a reply to message #89700] Wed, 12 September 2007 14:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Carl Amburn is currently offline  Carl Amburn   UNITED STATES
Messages: 214
Registered: July 2005
Senior Member
Yeah man - charge them. If they know the slightest bit at all that there is
an hourly charge involved, then as long as you aren't the culprit for any
delays or downtime, they need to pay up. You shouldn't feel bad about that
at all.

-Carl

"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:46e82a6f$1@linux...
>
> So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
the
> influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng tea
> (pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>
> I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
> responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
back
> to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I
actually
> had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every
minute.
> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
> a really good day gig!
>
> Gantt
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89724 is a reply to message #89723] Wed, 12 September 2007 14:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
EK Sound is currently offline  EK Sound   CANADA
Messages: 939
Registered: June 2005
Senior Member
I sat in the control room by myself one day for 6 hours... didn't do a
thing. The "artists" spent that whole time out in the lounge area
arguing about percentages of royalties for various songs, then went
home. I billed the entire 6 hours out at full rate.

David.

Carl Amburn wrote:
> Yeah man - charge them. If they know the slightest bit at all that there is
> an hourly charge involved, then as long as you aren't the culprit for any
> delays or downtime, they need to pay up. You shouldn't feel bad about that
> at all.
>
> -Carl
>
> "Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:46e82a6f$1@linux...
>
>>So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
>
> the
>
>>influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng tea
>>(pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>>
>>I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
>>responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
>
> back
>
>>to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I
>
> actually
>
>>had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every
>
> minute.
>
>> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
>>a really good day gig!
>>
>>Gantt
>
>
>
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89737 is a reply to message #89721] Wed, 12 September 2007 21:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
emarenot is currently offline  emarenot   UNITED STATES
Messages: 345
Registered: June 2005
Senior Member
LOL
Nice.
MR
"Neil" <IUOI@OIU.com> wrote in message news:46e85a3b$1@linux...
>
> "Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> >I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try
> >to do the responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and
> >girls... Let's get back to work!". But how do I write the
> >bill? Charge for the talk time?
>
>
> Yes, but itemize it...
>
> Recording Time, billed at the Studio Rate = 4 hrs. @ $75/hr.
> TTL = $300
> Talk/Chat, billed at Therapy Rate = 1.5 hrs @ $125/hr.
> TTL = $187.50
>
> TOTAL DUE FOR TODAY'S SESSION: $487.50
>
>
> :)
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89741 is a reply to message #89724] Wed, 12 September 2007 20:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
John Macy is currently offline  John Macy
Messages: 242
Registered: April 2006
Senior Member
Day rates,,,,


EK Sound <askme@nospam.com> wrote:
>I sat in the control room by myself one day for 6 hours... didn't do a
>thing. The "artists" spent that whole time out in the lounge area
>arguing about percentages of royalties for various songs, then went
>home. I billed the entire 6 hours out at full rate.
>
>David.
>
>Carl Amburn wrote:
>> Yeah man - charge them. If they know the slightest bit at all that there
is
>> an hourly charge involved, then as long as you aren't the culprit for
any
>> delays or downtime, they need to pay up. You shouldn't feel bad about
that
>> at all.
>>
>> -Carl
>>
>> "Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:46e82a6f$1@linux...
>>
>>>So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
>>
>> the
>>
>>>influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng
tea
>>>(pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>>>
>>>I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
>>>responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
>>
>> back
>>
>>>to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I
>>
>> actually
>>
>>>had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every
>>
>> minute.
>>
>>> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
>>>a really good day gig!
>>>
>>>Gantt
>>
>>
>>
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89744 is a reply to message #89737] Wed, 12 September 2007 21:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Neil is currently offline  Neil
Messages: 1645
Registered: April 2006
Senior Member
Seriously, though, when I used to do this on a daily basis &
you'd work any number of hours, take a break, work some more,
grab some lunch, work some more, someone takes a smoke break,
then everyone files out to get a drink, pee, whatever, then you
come back & chat for 30 minutes, yada, yada... I always used to
wrap things up with a quick verbal recap:
"OK, we started at 11am, it's now ten after Midnight, so we
wrapped right at 12:00am; we grabbed lunch as we were setting
up, so that didn't slow us down any. We had a dinner break in
there for about an hour, bullshitted a little bit after that,
then we had that issue where the guitar didn't record right
that turned out to be a problem with that channel on the
console... that cost us a take, so we'll deduct some time
there... let's call it 11 & 1/2 hours altogether; how's that
sound?"

Recap just like that - that way they know that you're aware of
what's going on at all times, but that you're also willing to
allow for actual breaks, any down time that's not their fault,
as well as some "slack time", but perhaps not EVERY single
moment of chat time or loss of time where the singer has to
take a 20-minute "important" cell phone call from his
girlfriend while everyone sits & waits for him to do his thing,
etc, etc.

Make 'em sign the recept too, at the end of each session - log
start times & end times, as well as "official" breaks like
lunch/dinner, and THEN write the summary like this: "Total
Time: 12 1/2 hours. Billed Time: 11 1/2 hours" That way they
have a record of your generosity/willingness to be
reasonable/whatever you want to call it. YOU also have the same
record, if there's ever any dispute.

Stuff like that leaves nothing but a good impression on the
client.

Rule of Thumb: always round DOWN to the nearest half-hour, even
if the whole session went nearly nonstop... it costs you next
to nothing to do so, but pays dividends in the long run.

Neil


"Mike R." <emarenot@yahoo.com> wrote:
>LOL
>Nice.
>MR
>"Neil" <IUOI@OIU.com> wrote in message news:46e85a3b$1@linux...
>>
>> "Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> >I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try
>> >to do the responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and
>> >girls... Let's get back to work!". But how do I write the
>> >bill? Charge for the talk time?
>>
>>
>> Yes, but itemize it...
>>
>> Recording Time, billed at the Studio Rate = 4 hrs. @ $75/hr.
>> TTL = $300
>> Talk/Chat, billed at Therapy Rate = 1.5 hrs @ $125/hr.
>> TTL = $187.50
>>
>> TOTAL DUE FOR TODAY'S SESSION: $487.50
>>
>>
>> :)
>
>
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89786 is a reply to message #89700] Thu, 13 September 2007 10:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tonehouse is currently offline  tonehouse   UNITED STATES
Messages: 184
Registered: July 2006
Senior Member
Give them 30 minutes "set up time" period.Bill the rest.The same goes for
tardiness.Give them a half hour for traffic,then bill the rest.
"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:46e82a6f$1@linux...
>
> So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
the
> influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng tea
> (pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>
> I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
> responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
back
> to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I
actually
> had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every
minute.
> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
> a really good day gig!
>
> Gantt
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89797 is a reply to message #89724] Thu, 13 September 2007 17:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Gantt Kushner is currently offline  Gantt Kushner   
Messages: 545
Registered: June 2006
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland, ...
Senior Member

Ah, but that's different. I charge full rate when they're out in the yard
smokin' dope!

Gantt

EK Sound <askme@nospam.com> wrote:
>I sat in the control room by myself one day for 6 hours... didn't do a
>thing. The "artists" spent that whole time out in the lounge area
>arguing about percentages of royalties for various songs, then went
>home. I billed the entire 6 hours out at full rate.
>
>David.
>
>Carl Amburn wrote:
>> Yeah man - charge them. If they know the slightest bit at all that there
is
>> an hourly charge involved, then as long as you aren't the culprit for
any
>> delays or downtime, they need to pay up. You shouldn't feel bad about
that
>> at all.
>>
>> -Carl
>>
>> "Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:46e82a6f$1@linux...
>>
>>>So many clients become friends and they start conversations that, under
>>
>> the
>>
>>>influence of a little bit of Starbux Cafe Verrona or green or ginseng
tea
>>>(pick yer poison), become 30 minute escapades.
>>>
>>>I try not to be the one to start these conversations and I try to do the
>>>responsible thing after a while and say "OK boys and girls... Let's get
>>
>> back
>>
>>>to work!". But how do I write the bill? Charge for the talk time? I
>>
>> actually
>>
>>>had a client who loved to yap and he insisted that I charge for every
>>
>> minute.
>>
>>> He said it was part of the fun of recording for him. Of course, he has
>>>a really good day gig!
>>>
>>>Gantt
>>
>>
>>


Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89803 is a reply to message #89797] Thu, 13 September 2007 20:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DJ is currently offline  DJ   FRANCE
Messages: 1124
Registered: July 2005
Senior Member
"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:46e9d24f$1@linux...
>
> Ah, but that's different. I charge full rate when they're out in the yard
> smokin' dope!
>
> Gantt
>

Me too.........plus, after that they are usually so worthless in the studio
that we end up doing so many overdubs that the session goes on for a couple
more hours longer than it would have otherwise before we wrap for the night,
so if I know I've got potheads coming, I like to bill by the hour, not the
day. Too big a PITA to throw them out when they want to stay on the clock
past a reasonable 8 hour closin' time and give me some bullshit line that
"we paid for the entire day and the day ain't over till midnight". If it's
hourly, they eventually figure out that their screwing around is costing
them money that they could be spending for bud and I get to go to be early
and make more money to boot.

;o)
Re: What do you do? - Part two [message #89823 is a reply to message #89803] Fri, 14 September 2007 09:38 Go to previous message
Gantt Kushner is currently offline  Gantt Kushner   
Messages: 545
Registered: June 2006
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland, ...
Senior Member

Yeah... Other peoples drug use is definitely an income booster. Back when
_I_ was the one using those illicit substances, however...

Gantt

"DJ" <animix _ at _ animas _ dot _ net> wrote:
>Me too.........plus, after that they are usually so worthless in the studio

>that we end up doing so many overdubs that the session goes on for a couple

>more hours longer than it would have otherwise before we wrap for the night,

>so if I know I've got potheads coming, I like to bill by the hour, not the

>day. Too big a PITA to throw them out when they want to stay on the clock

>past a reasonable 8 hour closin' time and give me some bullshit line that

>"we paid for the entire day and the day ain't over till midnight". If it's

>hourly, they eventually figure out that their screwing around is costing

>them money that they could be spending for bud and I get to go to be early

>and make more money to boot.
>
>;o)
>
>


Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
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