Question 1

What does a Record Producer typically charge?

Accepted Answer

Most record producers charge a Basic Producer Royalty along with a flat rate or hourly rate fee. As part of signing artists on for lengthy periods of time, I charge a flat-rate price that fits my Artists' budgets instead of charging by the hour. This ensures everyone involved will know right from the start exactly how much it will cost to achieve the project goals so we can all focus on the task at hand, instead of on the clock. I also charge a small, basic producer royalty in respect to top-line, full price net sales of the master recordings sold, (i.e. standard producer points). This basic producer royalty kicks in once the artist has recouped, for themselves, half of the flat rate fee from sales of the master recording(s). Since we are not a Record Label, all Artists I sign retain 100% full rights to their music as the songwriter, publisher, and owner of the sound recordings. This allows the Artists I sign to get the exact record  production process that is implemented at the few remaining major record labels which can often cost many times more, if not hundreds of thousands. As professionals ourselves we believe in taking risks on behalf of Artists. We are able to invest in our Artists by forming a strong basis for collaboration with our Artists. After all, our Artists' success is our success, and vice versa!

Question 2

How do you operate as a Mix Engineer?

Accepted Answer

I like to get to know my artists as much as possible by attending concerts and listening to their music before working with them. Artists interested in hiring me on as their Mix Engineer can reach out to me via the Contact the Producer p(https://www.songtrackstudios.com/consultations)age. After listening to samples of your rough mixes, and perhaps attending a concert, I can set up a time to meet, either in person at my studio or via a virtual online meeting. Listening to your rough mixes and meeting with you (and your record producer if you have one), is a great opportunity for me to get to know your vision and be able to discuss turnaround times with you and any deadlines you may have. Once we’ve determined that we’ll be a good fit for each other, I’ll send you a project quote, a copy of my contract, and an invoice for half of the payment, to be paid upfront (note: we do not charge a royalty for mixing).

Please note that if you do not have your own dedicated mastering engineer, I will need to master the song(s) for you. If you decide to have the recordings mastered elsewhere, we will send the files directly to the mastering house to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly. In order to ensure the highest standard of quality of our studio recordings, we ask that our artists do not publish or distribute any unmastered recordings, without the prior written express consent of SongTrack Studios.

Question 3

If I don't have a dedicated mixing or mastering engineer does a Record Producer help provide one?

Accepted Answer

Guiding Artists' projects from beginning to end is part of my responsibility as a Record Producer. I often provide mixing and mastering services for artists that don't have dedicated Mixing and Mastering engineers. However, I highly recommend reaching out to a dedicated mastering house, and can help you do this if you desire. There are a few key reasons for choosing a dedicated mastering house for all your mastering needs. One of the biggest reasons is that they are dedicated solely to the art of mastering day in and day out; the best ones generally don’t offer producing, recording, or mixing services. But another equally valid reason is that a mastering house’s studio and gear is designed specifically for mastering, unlike a typical studio with a large format recording console. And if that wasn’t enough, we can’t overstate the value in letting a new set of ears listen in on your project; a fresh perspective is always beneficial at the last stage of any process. It should come as no surprise then that dedicated mastering engineers who offer attended mastering sessions are often quite pricey and hard to find. Therefore, we are proud to offer attended-mastering services for those who we sign on!

Please note that if you decide to have the recordings mixed and/or mastered elsewhere, we will send the files directly to the mixing facility or mastering house to ensure that the transaction is completed properly and will oversee the entire production process. In order to ensure the highest standard of quality of our studio recordings, we ask that our artists do not publish or distribute any unmastered recordings, without the prior written express consent of SongTrack Studios.

Question 4

Where is SongTrack Studios located?

Accepted Answer

SongTrack Studios is located just 15 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, Utah in a secluded location within a residential area of Taylorsville. We'd love to hear your music, and consider working with you. We will provide the complete address of the studio upon booking a consultation.

Question 5

Are there any instruments available for use at SongTrack Studios? Is there a rental fee or tuning
fee?

Accepted Answer

SongTrack Studios is proud to offer our Artists a Tama Starclassic drum-set, a Yamaha GA1 baby grand piano, an Arturia Keylab88 Mkii midi keyboard, and an Alesis Surge Midi Drumkit to use while they are onsite throughout the record production process. We keep our instruments maintained free of charge, as well as tuned regularly and before any critical session as a way to show our support to our Artists. We do this free of charge to encourage the creation of high-quality music, rather than risk the quality and success of projects by putting a price tag on assets that can make or break artists’ productions!

If you would like to book a particular instrument for your session, please inform us when you come in for a consultation so we can make sure we have it available and tuned. If you'd like to have a hybrid set-up of your drum-set with ours, such as your snare and kick, with our toms and cymbals, we'd be more than happy to accommodate. While there isn’t a charge for the use of our instruments, or for the maintaining and tuning of said instruments, there is a general studio fee that covers the average cost to run, operate, and maintain the building and all of the equipment used on average throughout a project. This is simply to help keep us in business and ensure our gear is in top shape for you, as well as for all our future Artists!

Question 6

Does SongTrack Studios have a gear list?

Accepted Answer

Yes! SongTrack Studios is equipped with state-of-the-art microphones, accessories, preamps, converters, monitoring, and digital/analog processing. This is all with the mindset of helping our artists reach for the best. Please reach out to us and we’d love to send you our gear list upon request. Thank you.

Question 7

What are SongTrack Studios' Policies and Regulations?

Accepted Answer

As a Record Producer and owner of SongTrack Studios, I have one revolutionary goal: sign artists and produce their music in a way that is rarely seen outside of the few remaining major record labels found in the world today, which involves extensive Pre-Production. This is to keep that record production process alive to ensure the music industry remains a service-oriented industry! This is all so that Artists can get the most out of their Art and Utah Artists don’t need to move to be signed for the opportunity to produce successful hit records! Through the implementation of this process, it’s my dream to turn Utah into the next Nashville, LA, NY, etc. It’s an honor to work side by side with select Artists to produce Grammy worthy results to achieve this goal. In order to keep to our mission statement, we’ve provided a list of policies and regulations we deem most important.

• Smoking is not allowed on SongTrack Studio premises as well as, drugs, tabaco, and alcoholic beverages.

• In order to ensure the highest standard of quality of our studio recordings, Client agrees not to publish or distribute any unmastered recordings, without the prior written express consent of the Studio. The Studio will not provide Client with any partial and/or incomplete recordings except at specific defined points in the production process, as set forth in a prorated schedule that will be provided upon project initiation.

• It is the client's responsibility to ensure that they have the proper permissions to use any samples they bring into the studio.

• We have found that for the majority of our client's, they perform their best when there are as few distractions in the studio as possible. Distractions may include the following, but are not limited to: young children, friends, boy/girl-friends, pets, and family. It is our goal to have each artist we work with able to focus on their craft 110% while in the studio, so as to increase their chances for a productive and successful session. We ask that you please take this into consideration upon coming in for a session or consultation.

• All clients are expected to arrive to all scheduled session appointments on time in order to ensure the project gets completed on time as set forth in a schedule that will be provided by the Studio upon project initiation.

• As a company owned and operated by music professionals, the Studio feels that an artist’s ears are his/her/their most important instrument and should be carefully cared for. As such we highly recommend the proper usage of personal ear protection in accordance with OSHA recommendations, and the loudness of the music being played. Severe hearing degradation can occur if those standards are not followed. It is each client’s responsibility to not only wear the appropriate level of protection, but also to control the loudness of the music being played and supplied to their personal headphones. As a courtesy, the Studio will provide ear protection when requested, but cannot be held responsible for the proper wearing of the protection nor the level of protection required in any specific situation. We highly recommend custom in-ear monitors for loud studio and concert environments.

• The Studio and the record producer reserve the right to refuse or delay services if the client is not prepared, the client’s songs are not ready to record, the client does not agree to follow the tried-and-true recording processes that the Studio has established for the studio, or for any other reason.

• Underage artists and bands must be accompanied at all times by an adult sponsor that is 18 years or older that is authorized to sign contractual agreements, pay for services, and otherwise supervise.

If you have any questions or concerns about our studio regulations and policies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Thank you,
Jason Benzon
SongTrack Studios

Question 8

Can I review your portfolio?

Accepted Answer

We would love to show you our work. We generally show our work during our consultations. We have hundreds of different projects we could show and find it's helpful for our Artists to be able to discuss their vision with us in relation to our portfolio work and their commercial references.