What to charge per song in the studio?

[sincity]

I did some recording in a studio recently, and the engineer liked my playing. He said "If you are interested, there is work available with other artists. Just let me know how much you charge per song?"

What do you think is a fair number to charge per song?

I was thinking if everthing goes well, and the engineer knows what he is doing, it should take about 2 hours of my time, maybe three, if you count travel time (I live 45 minutes away from the studio).

I was thinking $125.00 per song or $40.00 per hour +/-.

I would love some feedback from anyone who has done freelance work in the studio.

Thanks in advance.

Sincity

[Ian Perge]

I've done some freelance/sideman work, and hourly is certainly the way to go. Suppose a band wanted to record live, and is clearly not up to the task - you've locked yourself into a per-song rate no matter how long it takes to get the track down. On the other hand, hourly works in your favor in that situation, and if you have your stuff together and can punch them out quickly, you may not make as much short-term but will certainly make a "name" for yourself. A small "setup" fee for new strings/setup time for the best tone possible is something to consider as well as not to eat that cost.