So I received an email yesterday from a kid that already has something going and want to get a few tracks done for his next projects. He set his expectation clearly from the get go and wanted a mix and master in a week for one track and he would follow with the rest of his project if he's into it.

At first I was expecting the usual Stems folder and a few adjustment to be done but what I received is a multitrack folder with no vox comping and a reference and rough mix that don't have any correlation.

I had a quick chat with him and told him about the reality of what I got and the possible outcome being less then optimal. I also explained how his reference has little to no link to his song but he insisted on some specific aspect that he want the song to be sounding like.

I was honest with him and told him that I'm far from the best vocal producer out there and that I still have miles to walk to get to the point of those pop vocal producers that we hear in the charts especially given the material that was given to me. I'm 100% sure that someone else could have done it but I didn't feel safe with what I had in hand and the time frame.

He didn't get offended but he told me he did it with others in the past and showed me some songs that he swear were worst then what he sent me before the mixing happened and I honestly have a hard time believing him.

I'm usually always down for some challenges but this one seems out of hand or at least I don't feel confident I can reach a result that he will feel satisfied with so I told him I might not be the guy to do the job if he is expecting a release ready final result out of what he sent me.

In a way, it sucks because I just rejected a possible recurrent client and a couple grands but on the other hand I think I played it safe given the material given to me. I hate fights with artist and I prefer to be clear upfront then going into an infinite back and forth for something that in my opinion is not even close to be ready for mixing.

To give a big picture of the project, it was a reggaeton artist that wanted is song to sound like a Ozuna song but all he did in his song was ''rapping'' except the hook. All his instruments also sounded like a Lo-fi instrumental parts. Overall, his rough song sounded like a Daddy Yankee song from 1998 ( ie -Daddy Yankee-Todo hombre llorando por ti) and was expecting me to make it sound like Ozuna - Favorita.

It didn't happen often in my life but yesterday was one of those days.

How do you guys deal with unreasonable client demand?

Do you take it all and deal with it as it come or are you picking what make sense to you and you feel you can bring to a quality result ?

 

Last edited: Jul 20, 2023

I think you have to build and protect your reputation, the last thing you want is that people kind of like his track but it doesn't sound quite right and he blames the inconsistencies on the production rather than the source material. And you know he's going to blame you, maybe even publicly. Walk away.

 

Thats the biggest Problem of today's Music World, people record fast, cheap and without knowledge and want someone else to make it Sound good and like this or that Artist (I mentionied it in another Thread here that this is one of the Points that nowadays there are no to few real Studio Acapellas anymore). In the Golden Era of Music sure there where some Milli Vanillis, but there where so many Artist wanting to sound unique which produced a wide variety of style in diffrent Grenes and made that Era to what it is. (But at this Time most of the Artist didn't record Stuff and send to someone, they went to a Studio and the Producer was involved in the whole Process which i think is the best Way to get what you want as an Artist). As @Crinklebumps said before turn it down if you feel uncomfortable with the Client and safe your reputation.

 

Yeah, I agree with both of you. I don't feel like my reputation is on the line but I think it's hypocrite and dirty business to tell a client that you will meet his demand when in reality you know for a fact that this is mission impossible for the budget and time frame.

I mean, it's one thing to be a M.E. but it's another to be a producer and If I need to retouch, layer, recomp and even retake some parts, I'm not mixing anymore. I'm producing a record from a sketch.

So yeah, I'm with you both. I politely told the client to go back to the work bench and hit me up later with something more inline with his target.

 

It's way better to reject a job you can't do sufficiently (for whatever reason, be it time, genre, quality) and protect your reputation, than taking the money and damage it.

 

Honestly, I couldn't care less about my reputation. I know who I am and popular opinion doesn't affect me as much as others as far as I can tell.

What I do care is ethic and integrity and that is not an opportunist behaviour but a way to care for others and respecting myself in doing so.

The whole part where it becomes difficult is not hurting someones ego.

On my side, you need to go very personal ( as in attacking the people I love, for example ) to be able to trigger me but usually, an artist is a very weak individual and his ego is an integral part of of his self esteem and confidence in himself.

I believe that rejecting him might have gave him some bullets to ''damage my reputation'' more then I would have doing 8 revision, dealing with his temper tantrums (most probably) and being completely off target as far as time is concern. I mean, he would have probably felt entitled and have some ''good reason'' to make me work at the third of my rate because he spent his money. Hopefully I'm wrong and he's just a bubblehead that didn't realize what he was asking.

In the end, I believe I made the right choice. I'm just a couple grands shorter in cash haha.

 

it would be nice to preview the task before accepting, i dont know if thats an option, or if any platform provide that.

Most of the services are catered towards the users/clients and it kinda feels like they just ignore or care less about the other. @Crinklebumps and @No Avenger are right, reputation is the first priority.

Edit: Is this task from a freelancing platform like fiverr ?

 

Last edited: Jul 20, 2023

I guess you made the right choice. I personally advertise publicly on my website that mix pricing depends on evaluation of the source tracks. If I find it unreasonable or outside what I can provide, I ask an unreasonable amount of money and that will send them away. If they stick to it, well, it's never happened yet.

 

No, it's networking based as usual. The song was previewed and I couldn't care less about my reputation which is why I rejected it. They hit me up because of what they know about my work. Not the other way around so I have nothing to do or protect in regards of my reputation. That's their opinion. Not mine. I deal the same way with everyone. I know my limitations and their expectation weren't on par with a realistic time frame that was put on the project. I'm also not interested in producing any artist unless we start from scratch. So all those red flags were enough for me to pass on it.

But what would you do if someone sent you a mixtape song saying they wanted it to sound like a chart toping song ? That was the question of this thread.

 

That's a good trick honestly. Especially when you are getting new clients constantly. I source work mostly from a small niche market so I don't really have any manoeuvrability in that aspect.

 

What a pile of crap.

 

How ironic.

 

Still traumatised by some of the work I had taken over the years, despite knowing in advance that I'd probably regret it.

The others I managed to refuse and never regretted. Hardly even remember.

 

not doing it

 

I have one trick. Price myself out of work. Every time. If I fail, it'll end up being a better gig because the client is keenly aware of their overpayment.

 

Haha, damn that's what we call setting the market price .

I love the idea !!

 

I understand this point of view, but I also think if the money is right for the amount of work; strongly consider it. The person hiring you to do the mix isn't going to ruin your reputation because their song sucks. A bad song from an artist or band is not a career-ending mistake; and they can blame whoever they want to after the fact. In all likelihood, no-one is going to hear it anyway. It's not exactly a hundred million dollar loss, like a bad film is for an actor. No-one will even know who did the mix.
It's why ghost producers even exist.

 

Last edited: Jul 21, 2023

Was it Cardi B that said?...

If it smells like tuna
Just cut and run
As fast as yo feet can carry

Well, maybe in retrospect it was really me.

 

That's not what I meant. A dissatisfied customer (due to his expectations) can very well damage your reputation, hopefully not ruin it.