Charging people for putting their music in print
Hi, I'm new here. This is my first forum.
I have some friends who are singer/songwriters. However, they don't have their music in print form. So, I am doing that for them. I have never done that for anyone else, and I'm wondering how to find out what to charge them? I don't know where to turn to ask. So, I thought I'd ask here. Does anyone do that? Is there a standard charge? Do you go by the page, or by the hour, or the complexity of the song? What? Thanks for your help.
Comments
Ultimately you will have to judge just how much actual, effective time you will put in and decide how much that time and your skill are worth to you.
Then you have to negotiate that rate.
In reply to Ultimately you will have to by xavierjazz
Thank you for your input. I appreciate it!
Why not start by asking your friends?
I’m perfectly serious: these are the folks who need what you are doing for them and who would be the best to ask what they would pay for the service if you decided to start doing it professionally. Everyone “works for a living,” somehow, and we also routinely buy professional services. (When we are “clients,” we also preserve the sovereign right to be “demanding” clients!)
Do not expect your friends to be offended ... expect them to offer insights. Recognize that these same people will (perhaps) be “your first customers.” In any case, they will be something much more vital: “those who will speak well of you.”
Very carefully consider what your business relationship actually is: how much “back and forth” actually takes place between you and these songwriters, in order for you to finally deliver to them what they need? Is it simply a passive service, or is it somehow collaborative? What are the standards of acceptance? What warranties will you need to provide with regard to the finished deliverables?
Again – talk to them. Talk to the present, satisfied, consumers of your service. They should be pleased to help you with your new aspirations. Describe what you have in mind. Ask them what they think. Then, l-i-s-t-e-n.
In reply to Why not start by asking your by mrobinson
I very much appreciated your help. And, I did have a second "customer" that I talked with about doing some of her music. And, I listened to her. We came to an agreement on what we both thought was a fair price. Thank you for your insight and for taking the time to answer.
In reply to I very much appreciated your by marthasuegray
Hello marthasuegray, if you like you can add your name here: https://musescore.org/en/services
Buona musica ;-)
In reply to I very much appreciated your by marthasuegray
Indeed. As practitioners of a particular craft ... such as “turning something-or-other into printed music,” ... we can very easily(!) start regarding the technical process as we see it. (And, for that matter, regarding it as a “technical” process!)
At the end of the day, someone, who recognizes that they cannot (efficiently) achieve a particular outcome on their own, comes to us to negotiate ... an outcome.>
The specific nature of their bargain with us is that we shall guarantee that outcome, absorbing (under warranty ...) any costs that might be associated with our blunders. (Of which: “they know not, and care not!” “Hey, I paid you to ‘fix my air-conditioner,’ now didn’t I ...)”
On the one hand, presumably, no one who engages someone else to perform a professional service for them, consciously intends to screw(!) that service-provider. However, “the customer (of course ...) does not fundamentally understand the whys-and-wherefores of the service that s/he intends to purchase.” Thus, careful negotiations are paramount ... and you must direct them. In the end, the customer expects to pay a specific amount of money for a guaranteed ... outcome.
This “outcome” might cost more than you, at first-blush, might have anticipated. However, you will generally find that the client is more-than willing to pay it ... as long as(!) ... (1) “the outcome” ... (2) “is guaranteed.”
“The Customer™” is not “the subject-matter expert.” You are, and that is why The Customer is paying you for your expertise. Therefore, you must be sure that your negotiations leave The Customer completely confident that s/he will indeed obtain The Outcome that s/he requires, even though s/he is not ... and never will be ... “a subject-matter expert” such as yourself. And, that you will clear the deal with a respectable and well-earned profit (and a steadily-growing business reputation).