Online mastering is $40 per track and is for those artists looking to submit their tracks to a record label, online distribution, DJ's looking to play their tunes out in a club, and those people wanting a more experienced set of ears to provide a second opinion and fix any issues. Unless you are having a physical CD replicated, this is the mastering option to choose.
CD mastering is $65 per track and is for those musicians preparing a CD for replication and/or duplication at a pressing plant. This service includes embedding ISRC codes, track spacing, and generation of a DDP (Disc Description Protocol) file. The additional cost of production mastering covers the time needed to prepare these CD-specific items. Both demo and production mastering involve the same actual audio processing, one is not better than the other in this regard. Please email me for a quote if you are interested in CD mastering.
I also offer mastering of DJ mixes for $60.00. This includes making sure all the track levels are consistent, and correcting any frequency imbalances. If you need a CD image file with track markers for each track in the mix, there is an additional fee depending on a few factors, so please contact me for more information.
All payments are payable through PayPal via the link below. Because my rates are already some of the lowest you will find, I do not offer discounts for bulk orders.
Payment is due when you submit your tracks to me, and Paypal accepts credit cards for those people without a PayPal account.
Please use the button below to select your mastering choice and make your PayPal payment. On the payment confirmation page you will see a field called "Add special instructions to the seller", please include your artist name and the track name in this field to help avoid any confusion. If you need mastering of more than 5 tracks, please contact me and I will send you an invoice.
I offer a full money back guarantee if you are not happy with the mastering work I perform. However I ask that you at least give me the chance to address any issues you have, before you request a refund. You can find examples of my mastering work and testimonials from past clients on the Demos page.
Please read and follow these guidelines when preparing your tracks to send to me:
- Most important! You MUST include your artist name and the track name in the wav file when you send it to me. I get too many wav files called "RenderedFinalmix2premaster.wav", or "Track1.wav". Usually something like "Your Name - Track Name.wav" works best, and it also helps me to find your track in my archives at a later date should you require any changes.
- Please, do not send the payment if the tracks are not ready. If you're having me work on an EP or album, wait until all the tracks are ready to be mastered before sending payment. Likewise, do not send the tracks if you are not verified with PayPal or the money is not currently available.
- I prefer 24bit/44.1kHz or 24bit/96kHz wav or aiff files to master, though I can work with other formats if that's all you have available.
- Please try and leave at least a measure of silence before and after the track if at all possible. If you need a fade out at the end of the song, let me know where the fade out should start.
- Leaving me approximately 3-6dB of headroom (or more) to work with gives me the most flexibility when working with your track. If the file is already rendered with less headroom and you can't go back to adjust it, it shouldn't be a problem however.
- If you used a compressor or limiter on the master channel of the DAW when rendering the song, please let me know, as I may ask for versions of the song with and without this. In general it's best to leave the limiting to the mastering stage, so I prefer files that have not already been compressed or limited.
- Turnaround is usually only 1-2 days, if it's going to be longer for any reason, I'll let you know before I take the job. I take great pride in having a very fast turnaround time, but I cannot
be responsible for your deadlines. Please leave enough time for mastering before committing to a turn in date with any labels or distributors. Expedited work is available for an extra $10 per track if you need it.
- Typically masters are returned as 16bit/44.1kHz wav files. I can deliver your song in any format you want however, so WAV, AIFF, AAC, FLAC or MP3 are all available.
- To send the files to me, I prefer artists use one of the following services (in order of preference):
If you prefer, I can also set up a private FTP site for you to upload the files to.
- Once I receive the track and have confirmed receipt of the PayPal payment, I'll listen to it and see if I hear any obvious issues that might be better addressed by the artist going back and adjusting the mixdown (when possible). If I don't hear any major problems, I'll start work on the mastering.
- When the track is mastered, I'll send you a link to download the mastered song, along with an invoice in case you need it for business purposes. This link will only be good for 3 days typically, if you need more time, please contact me and let me know.
If you'd like me to make any changes to the mastering once you've listened to the track, I'll do them for free within 7 days, after that I have to charge you a small fee to remaster. This does not apply if you change the file you sent me, i.e. you redo the mixdown on your own and not at my request. That requires starting over from scratch, and the full mastering rate will apply again.
Since the artist is not here with me during the mastering most of the time, it's not uncommon to go back and forth on a few revisions. It helps both of us greatly if you send me a quick summary of any obvious issues you personally think need to be addressed, as well as what sort of sound you're looking for when you contact me for mastering.
I'll be up front in telling you that I am not a fan of making things loud simply for the sake of making them loud. So when you first get the mastered track back, it will be at a volume that I think strikes the best balance between competing with other commercial releases, and preserving the integrity of the song. However if you absolutely have to have it louder, let me know and I'll do my best to achieve this as cleanly as possible.
If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
