How much should I charge

[Manuel101]

Hi, I have a youtube account with a growing audience of about 6,110 subscribers. I have many tutorials mostly in Spanish but i am beginning to make English tutorials as well. The thing is many people from latin america are contacting me so that i can record bass for their songs. They usually email me the songs i record the bass and i email it back to them.
The thing is I am having a hard time deciding how much to charge them. The reason for this is that their currency is very weak compared to the dollar and charging them $25 per hour is literally 45,359 pesos. Now I am incredibly compassionate and they know that i am also a devout christian so they usually write, "hi manny how much would you charge for x amount of songs... remember these are for the glory of God." this last line usually bothers the heck out of me, its as if they want me to almost do it for free because it is for god.
I want to know, what is the minimum amount you guys would be willing to charge somebody who is at an economic disadvantage?

[Manuel101]

Now I have previously recorded a song for free. But now I have people sending me upwards of 10 songs which is time consuming. Right now somebody wants me to record 20 songs for him and there is no way I will do that many for free.

[Richland123]

If you want $25 per hour or a set fee charge per song since some songs may require more or less work than others, maybe use a sliding scale based on repeat customers providing you with steady work and volume of songs.

I just had a discussion today that I get many people (who have paid jobs) who want my expertise and talents regarding business ventures and/or music and act like I am supposed to give my services and skills away for free or cheap.

[Manuel101]

Originally Posted by Richland123

If you want $25 per hour or a set fee charge per song since some songs may require more or less work than others, maybe use a sliding scale based on repeat customers providing you with steady work and volume of songs.

I just had a discussion today that I get many people (who have paid jobs) who want my expertise and talents regarding business ventures and/or music and act like I am supposed to give my services and skills away for free or cheap.

Right its not like we didn't spend years burning our eyelashes studying and perfecting our craft. I think the problem is that musicians in general have allow this mentality to spread. Its not like this with other professions, you wouldn't an architect or dentist working for free.

[NYCbassist]

IMO you need to factor in difficulty. This would automatically make it a case by case basis. I also think this should be slightly increasing as you become more and more in "Demand". It's very hard to put a price on creativity combined with talent. I recommend start high on your asking price then negotiate downward and "Draw the Line' at about 1 1/2 times what would be considered "worth your while" or "Break even". I hope that makes sense.

Gerry

[Technotitclan]

Think of it like this. In many other professions people charge by the hour. What they charge is based on what they do and (sometimes) how good they are. If you were to bill someone for one hour of your bass playing how much do you think it would be worth?

[bassinplace]

If you know for a fact they are poor, then I'd do it for cost with maybe a nominal bit of profit for your time. You'd have to figure cost by I guess, how much overhead you use to get the job done. Equipment, utilities, etc.

[allanhearn]

Think of it as any other business. Would you ask a plumber or doctor to do their trade for free? No, you are using your time and talent to make their music better. I would set a flat fee for the song or group of songs or a an hourly charge.
And remind them
You get what you pay for.
I've done songs over the internet and charged $25 to $50 per song and most people find that reasonable even if its a very low budget recording.

[Ukiah Bass]

For the "glory of God?" Lot of priests and ministers etc. aren't shy to ask you for 10% or more of your gross income. Charge what you need to generate a reasonable hourly rate and your angst will vaporize in an instant. Let God worry about passing out the glory.