How to determine your rate for playing on a session.  By Orville Johnson

So you’re playing your gig at the neighborhood pub and a songwriter comes up and asks if you would play a guitar part on her new CD. The next question (after you say yes, of course) is what will you charge for your work. Let’s explore the options.

If you live in a music center like Nashville, LA, or New York and happen to belong to the union, you can just check with your rep to see what scale rates are. In other parts of the country, things are a bit more mutable in nature. Three ways to consider your rate structure are by the song, by the hour, or by the project. The going rate where I live (Seattle) to come in and play one part on one song ranges from $100 to $200. You can expect that by the time you set up, get sounds, run through the tune a few times, and then play a few takes, you’ll have spent a couple of hours at the studio.

If you happen to be a multi-instrumentalist, you may be asked to bring several instruments to the session and play on several songs. The artist may not know exactly what she wants you to play and would like to try a few things and listen. In this case, an hourly rate might make sense. You don’t really know how many songs you will play on nor how long it might take, so you should be compensated for your time. Hourly rates also help focus the minds and speed up the decisions of the artist and producer!

If you are to play on the whole project you might consider a flat fee. Make sure there are clear (written down!) limits on the time so that it can’t drag on too long.

What about playing for free? If you haven’t done studio work before and think this session might help you make contacts in the local music community and give you some experience, it could be worth your while. For myself, if it’s an artist whose work I really like and I know the budget is thin, I have played either for free or barter (“I’ll play on your session if you play on mine.”). My only ironclad rule about money and music is that I never let money keep me from doing something I like.