Lock Out; Who, What, When, How?

[RobMacki]

I thought I'd post this here rather than in the TDM forum. Although it seems like any topic can go there lately.

I'm trying to get a good business sense for myself.
I charge a flat hourly rate for studio time, tracking, mixing, audio post etc.

How do you guys deal with Lock Out?

When do you decide "this is lock out"?

What extra do you charge?

Who do you charge? ie Do you have prefered clients who you exempt?

Does it depend on how busy you are?

Thanks

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[AE]

Originally posted by RobMacki:
How do you guys deal with Lock Out?

When do you decide "this is lock out"?

What extra do you charge?

Who do you charge? ie Do you have prefered clients who you exempt?

Does it depend on how busy you are?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'll answer as a consumer, not a studio owner.

To book a lock-out should be an option for clients who want to: have the privilege of leaving work in progress; guarantee access to the studio for a certain duration of time; and save money. It's not up to you to decide; it's up to the client. Most studios offer day rates and weekly rates (I haven't worked on projects that would book by the month, but I guess it might be possible).

Typically, studios set day rates based on 10 -12 hours of studio time. Most will bill extra for personnel working over a certain amount. For example, you might pay $750/day for Studio X, but an additional hourly rate if you actually use staff more than 10 hours for any given day.

Weekly rate tend to be highly negotiable and depend upon how busy a facility is and who you know.

Lock-outs always end up being cheaper than paying by the hour. It has to be that way; customers are buying in bulk.

You have no obligation to offer lock-out options, but I know as a consumer that most other facilities will do this, so I'll bring my business elsewhere rather than pay you by the hour. As a studio owner, I guess you'd like lock-outs because you have guaranteed use and low overhead for scheduling.

[DesertDude]

I always booked 1/2 day or full day rates, using the hourly rate for extra's


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[where02190]

Our regulations regaring lockout is a flat fee based on 9 hours/day. This gives the artist up to 12 hours of working time and guarantees no other work will take place in that time. Weekly lockout rates are based on 6 days of that.

Hope this is helpful.