Re: [Finale] [slightly off-topic] What prices/rates do you apply?

[David H. Bailey]

My advice is to ask for a sample page (your choice, so you can get one with lots of notes and lots of words) and see how long it takes you to set it up with Finale. Then figure out how much you need to charge per hour (I charge $40/hour, I think Linda Worsley won't turn her computer on for less than $50/hour, others probably vary) and multiply that by the length of time it took you to enter that single page into Finale. That is your per-page charge for the score, then figure that you will have to spend a lot of time getting each part right after extraction, so you will probably need to spend at least an hour per part for that length score, I would guess, so add an extra hour's worth for each part (36) and then add in some extra time for page layout for the completed score and my guess is that you are looking at somewhere around 1100 - 1500 hours of work (depending on the legibility of the manuscript). A HUGE amount that they will probably choke on!

NO DISCOUNTS! This sort of a project is much larger than you imagine at the start, so if anything you should figure in a SURCHARGE to cover time you haven't imagined you would need.

Then you need to double that amount for your profit. Charge them a 50% deposit (your basic rate that you need to live on) with 25% more paid when you are half-way through the score and the remaining 25% paid when you present them with the completed score. The parts you deliver AFTER they have paid in full.

That's my suggestion, but as I have never been blessed with a project that huge it is only how I imagine I would handle it.

But no matter what you do, don't offer them a discount -- that implies they are doing you a favor, when in fact you are simply doing them a service. Their carpenters don't give them a discount, the electricians don't give them a discount, their chiropractors don't give them discounts, the caterers don't, etc., etc., so you shouldn't either. It is a business proposition, fair and square.

And if they don't accept your bid, don't sweat it. Better NOT to commit yourself to a huge project where you will in effect be losing money if you cut your rates than to not be available when projects which WILL pay your full rates become available.



Vincent Cordel wrote:

Hi everyone,

sorry for the off-topic but I just got a phone call for a big score to complete.

It's basically an orchestral score for an opera having 36 staves and 1000 pages, written by hand fairly small. I'll have to give the score and maybe the extracted parts.

Could you please tell me the rates you usually use for such a work ?
I always worked with companies where I was paid for a designed task.

This time, I have a little more power and I can setup my price :-)
But I have no idea how much to ask.

I guess I should be paid on a page basis rather than on a measure/staff basis.
Also should I apply a discount because this is a big score ?
How should I be paid ? 50% at the beginning and 50% at the completion or should I be paid every 50 pages for example ?
Furthermore, do you have any idea how much time it would take me to complete it ?

Any advice is welcome because I'm not used to do that !

Thanks in advance


Vincent C.
pour ATANATA Records


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David H. Bailey
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