Wedding Work - How much is too much for complementary "Extra Service"

[SolDios]

Hey guys, Just hoping for an opinion on something.

One of my wedding clients is asking for various mixes to be made of songs (X song from 0.23 till 1.10 then y from 0.56 to 1:07 etc etc)

I was fine to do the first one (About 8 songs total) , however they have come back and decided that they would like changes done to the first one, plus another one made. After agency fee's, I only receive about $450 for the 5.5 hours I'm there (This gig was booked when I first started with the agency and was on a lower pay bracket).

Considering it takes about an hour'ish to download all the songs, make the edits nice, make sure all the levels are okay,  I think I should be able to charge for anything really over an hour (Total time spent) to do.

Personally, I really hate doing it because it eats up my time after my day job too.

Should I charge? What do you think is an appropriate rate for this kind of work? (Usual wedding rate is $100 an hour for my current bracket).

[Mitch]

If they're typical wedding tracks, just put them in a playlist and mix them live? Then if they change their mind on the order, no time wasted. If they're requesting common songs that get played at weddings all the time, you should probably already have them, and that's on you. If they're requesting obscure stuff that will take time to download and add to your collection and you'll never use it again, make that clear to them and say you can spend up to x time (whatever time you're prepared to spend for free catering to their needs), then after that charge for your time. Nothing comes free.

 

As for recording premixes, that isn't in the job description, and should be made clear. Just mix it together on the night.

[LabRat]

sounds like they're wanting something similar to that grease mega mix... i've not been in that situation before but i think it could be weird in the way that some people out there have killed the industry in the sense that they're not charging for certain services, therefore, there becomes an expectation that these things are now free. example: some of my mix downs / masters i do for people, i'm forced to provide revisions for free because the market has now dictated that. before i could charge a small fee for each revisions but people are always out to undercut, even if it means doing some things free.

having said that, in your situation i'm not sure what you could do. i think charging is a fair thing to do but not at 100 per hour. i know it's shit because it takes time but people aren't willing to accept that because there are other people who aren't charging. 

i have to dj my cousins 40th and she wants all the old classics. i have NOTHING! i need to spend the next 4-5 weeks getting as much shit as i can in-between all the other shit i have going on. i'm not making a dime off this but if i was, you can't charge the time it takes to find music because it's become an expectation that you already have it. i'm in a different situation because it's family and i got roped into it a little so i gotta bare it now but i've learnt over the years not to take on what you can't handle. if it becomes too much to fit in with life then don't be afraid to say no. it's not worth the stress 

[DJDVD]

I've had this before. A megamix for the first dance. It comes around pretty rarely. It can be a pain but if you have access to a DAW like Cubase,Ableton etc it makes it pretty easy. Can be major pain though when they keep wanting to change to fit their choreography. I have the same issue not sure when to draw the line. If it takes up more than an hour or two I reckon you should charge some time.