[Harp-L] What do you charge for recording?

["Brian Stear" <brianstear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Iâve been asked to play on a couple of tunes. Iâve worked/recorded for this person before. The first time, I did it for free ( 1 song ) as a favor for a friend, but got some paying gigs out of the deal.
Just curious, do you guys charge by song, or hour? I thought $50 a song and credit on the CD if itâs not too much work. I spend appox. 1-1/2-3 hours a song, working up what I think works. I know itâs whatever the market/artist will bear, but it seems a bit cheap. If I was Winslow, Jason, or Howard I know it would be different!
On a similar note, how often do you go in to record for someone, theyâve told you ahead of time what theyâre looking for, and you get there, and itâs not what they want/looking for ( durn artists! )? I find that happens more often then not. I always come prepared with at least 2 other variations, or even prepared to wing it. Do they donât know about the harmonica, or just not familiar enough, or maybe donât even have to access to that good of players?
   Iâve also noticed that a lot of people I work for nowdays donât really understand musical dynamics. Iâve been fortunate to work with some good recording engineers who help these people ( and me ) as far as where to place the harmonica in the song, and to what extent during the recording process. Nothing like someone pointing to you from the control booth telling you when to play/not play........

Brian