Prices

When you record with Analog Heart you will get more. But you won’t pay more. Our rates are pretty much in line with the standard $500 a day you’ll pay for any basic studio.

The difference is, our rates are not by the day, or the hour – you pay one all-inclusive price for a completed SONG. You don’t have to watch the clock, or make compromises to save time. Everything will be done right, and without stress. And instead of a grizzly old bored studio guy who doesn’t give a shit about you or your music, you get Stuart Stuart to help you make the music you REALLY have in your head. The prices below include…

Pre-Production: Producer Stuart Stuart will spend time listening to ALL of your songs, and give you advice on which ones to record. He will have ideas on song arrangement, and tweaks for each part. That is everything from the kick drum pattern, to the lyrics. It’s up to you to decide which of those ideas make sense with your musical vision. Stuart is never pushy about these ideas because ultimately it is your music. But he will give you a mega brain dump after listening to your rough versions. Often, this is where the success of the recording is decided. Find out more about this here.

Marketing Strategy Overview: Before recording a note, Stuart will be talking to you at length about where you see your music in the wider world. Do you see it as Triple J-orientated, or more commercial? Do you expect to promote it with touring, or through social media? Which label guys and managers are likely to be interested? What are those people signing right now, and how do you fit with that? Is there more opportunity in the world of film and TV for your music? A whole bunch of questions you may have never even considered. Stuart is up to date with all of this, and will give you an insight into where the opportunities lie.

Accommodation: If you’re coming from outside of Brisbane, you are welcome to stay with us during the recording. We can cater for anything up to 5 people in semi-decent luxury. Have a look.

Recording: You will have the time you need to get your performance RIGHT. Sometimes that requires one take, and sometimes it requires 26. But it HAS to be right. That’s why we prefer a more chilled vibe, where there isn’t the time pressure of paying by the hour. Stuart allows plenty of time, so you always have the option of giving it ‘one more go’.

Additional Guitar / Keyboard Parts: When working with solo artists, Stuart will play anything that the artist can’t play. He is a 20 year veteran of guitar and keys, and an expert drum programmer, should that be needed. For bands, Stuart will often add extra strings, piano, percussion or whatever is required. It’s totally up to you whether you want those extra layers, but it’s always worth having a listen.

Mixing: These days, mixing is a continual process that is happening during the recording. At every stage, you will be able to hear how things are shaping up. Stuart’s approach is to get things sounding right and in place at every stage. By the end of your time with us, Stuart will have a mix happening. But then it’s up to you to take it home, play it in your car, play it to friends, and make sure you’re happy. We expect you’ll have a few tiny tweaks when you’ve lived with it for a week or two.

Mastering: Most musicians have heard the term ‘mastering’, but don’t know what it is. Well, for a start, you’ll normally pay $150-$200 to master each song. We include this service in the price. Put simply, it is the process of making your song play nice and loud, and more technically, getting the overall EQ and compression right, so that it sounds good on all systems.

Instrumental Versions: We include ‘no vocal’ versions of your songs as standard. If you get as far as having your songs used in movies or TV, you will definitely be asked for these. For a small additional fee, we can also prepare “stems” for you. These can be used for remixing, or live backing tracks.

Data Archive of Your Project: If you ever want to revisit the songs, you can. We’ve had artists come back to us 5 or even 10 years later, wanting to re-record vocals with a new singer, or add another verse, or create a ‘clean version’ for radio. These kinds of options will always be available for you.

Ongoing Support: Not only are the majority of our studio guests repeat clients (most of our artists never record anywhere else again), we think of almost all of them as friends. That means if you need some semi-management advice, Stuart will help you with it. He has met with labels on behalf of artists, looked over contracts and more. Once you’ve been to Analog Heart, you will have a friend on the inside of the business.

All prices include GST and all of the above

2 Songs: $4400 (allow 5 days, generally Mon-Fri)
3 songs: $6600 (allow 7-8 days, generally Mon-Fri and Mon-Wed)
4 songs: $8500 (allow 9-10 days, generally two blocks of Mon-Fri)
5 songs / EP: $9900 (allow 11-12 days, generally two blocks of Mon-Sat)
Single song price is $2800. We prefer to work on a minimum of two songs, but get in contact and let’s work it out!
*A non-refundable 20% deposit is required to secure the booking*

What Is Not Included (but we can help you sort out)…

Specialty Session Players – brass, strings, didgeridoo and so-forth. Basically anything outside of guitar / bass / keyboards. We have access to some great session players if there is anything particular you want and we can negotiate a great rate for you.
Equipment Hire – If you want to hire anything special (drum kit, guitar amp etc) to use on the recording, we can tell you where to get it.

DISCLAIMER: Full delivery of the product will not be made until final payment has been received. Deposits are not refunded unless Analog Heart Records requests the cancellation. Whilst all efforts will be made to ensure client satisfaction, music is ultimately an artistic, subjective medium that cannot be quantified. No guarantees are made, or implied, other than the final product will be to industry standard and represent the best interpretation of the material by the producer. Requests for changes to the music will be honored if reasonable and made in a timely manner. For the avoidance of doubt, “timely manner” means “within 14 days of the recording of the production component in question.” Requests made outside of these stipulations may incur further costs. The onus of the artistic direction of the material rests with the artist, and while the producer may advise, the producer is not liable for anything that may arise from the release/promotion of the material. Refunds are unavailable unless the producer is physically unable to provide the studio time committed to. High client satisfaction is our goal and evidenced by our high level of repeat customers.