3.0 Advances

3.1 Successful Producers

A successful producer may command an advance of £50,000 or £75,000 per album. Depending upon his working methods and the type of artist he works with he may be able to complete say four album projects a year. He might, therefore, earn £300,000 per annum by way of advances (although this will be inclusive of any commission he has to pay and he will have certain professional expenses, e.g. legal and accountancy fees). Of course, in extreme cases a producer may be able to command far higher fees. A mid range producer (i.e. a producer with a reasonably strong historical track record who is still in vogue because he has had one or two successful records in the last year or two) may command say £30,000 to £40,000 per album and he may manage to complete say three album projects per year together with the odd track or two for other artists (so that he might gross perhaps £100,000 to £125,000 per annum). However, producers have to work hard for their money. They are under pressure to deliver the goods on time and within budget. Unfortunately, the creative process does not always work according to plan. They have to deal with temperamental artists and demanding A&R men and, quite likely, they will end up day and night in the studio. This partly explains why some producers have earned a great deal of money which has had to be used to finance expensive divorce settlements. Nevertheless, in most cases, once a producer is well established his ability to command hefty advances is likely only to last for a few years and there is a natural temptation to “make hay whilst the sun shines”. Producers come in and out of fashion and often a producer is perceived to be only as good as the last album he produced.

3.2 Less Successful Producers

A recognised producer who is not yet in the top league may command around a £1,000 or £2,000 per track. Sometimes, a producer will be prepared to accept less than this if, for whatever reason, a limited budget is available and if the producer is particularly enthusiastic about the artist concerned.

3.3 Mixers

A specialist mixer usually charges anything between £500 and £5000 per track (usually inclusive of studio fees). High profile remixers have been known to command much more. A successful mixer will be offered more work than he is able to handle even though he will often complete a particular mix within the space of one day (one day and a half per mix probably being the norm). If he is sufficiently in demand he may also be able to secure a royalty entitlement. This will usually be 0.5% but might sometimes be a full 1%. A mixer brought in to mix an album would not usually secure a royalty entitlement. It is normally the specialist mixer, i.e. the club/dance remixers who might insist upon a royalty entitlement. This might be offered for a 12″ dance version but some remixers will argue that their royalty entitlement should extend to any 7″ version. Sometimes they will push for a coproduction and/or copublishing credit. The record company will often insist that the original producer must accept a reduction in his royalty if the record company has to pay a royalty to a third party producer or mixer. If the original producer is in a reasonably strong negotiating position he should be able to resist this. As a compromise, he may accept that his royalty will be reduced if a third party is brought in to rework his material prior to its initial release but he may insist that any special mixes for particular marketing purposes should be entirely at the record company’s expense. If the producer does have to accept a reduction he would normally seek to limit this in some way. The reduction may be limited to say one half of whatever is paid to the third party (so that the record company and the producer split the cost between them). Alternatively, the producer may accept that the entirety of the third party royalty may be deducted from his royalty provided he receives at least one half of his otherwise applicable royalty rate.

3.4 Per Track Advances

A producer will usually quote on a per track basis. For example, he may ask for £5,000 per track. In the case of an album project he may be asked to produce thirteen or fourteen tracks and the compromise may be that he is paid his “full” per track rate but he is only paid ten times his per track rate, i.e. £50,000 for the entire album irrespective of the number of tracks.

3.5 Advance or Fee?

Generally, the company will insist that the whole of any fee payable to the producer is treated as a recoupable advance. Sometimes, if the record company pleads poverty or for some other reason is not prepared to pay the producer’s usual advance the company may be persuaded to treat the producer’s fee (or perhaps 50% of this) as nonrecoupable. This may be dressed up on the basis that the nonrecoupable element is attributable perhaps to the producer’s engineering services. Likewise, if the producer also plays instruments on the recordings he may be able to persuade the record company to treat part of the advance as a nonrecoupable fee in respect of his playing services.

3.6 Bonus Advances

The producer may be able to secure “bonus” advances triggered perhaps by particular sales targets. This would normally simply improve the producer’s cash flow in that (depending upon how the bonus is calculated) the bonus will often simply amount to an accelerated payment of royalties which may have accrued but are not yet due for payment.

3.7 Payment Schedule

Usually, one half of any agreed advance is payable on commencement of the producer’s services with the balance payable upon completion. Nevertheless, most record companies refuse to make any payment until there is a signed contract. It is sometimes possible to accelerate payment of the final one half of the advance so that perhaps 50% of this is payable upon completion of recording but prior to mixing with the final balance payable only upon delivery of the finished and fully mixed masters. The producer should always resist any suggestion that part of the advance be delayed pending commercial release.

3.8 Expenses

The producer will usually expect his expenses to be reimbursed. He will often be entitled to a per diem payment of some kind to cover subsistence costs.