1. Cancelling sessions on the day you’re due to record:
This really pisses studios off because your cancelation prevented them from booking a paying customer. Be considerate. Call the studio at least a day before if something comes up, and you know you won’t be able to make the session. Some studios make artists pay an non-refundable down payment to book a time slot because of this, but it still doesn’t equal up to the cost of a full session. Don’t get a reputation for being a flake. They might flag you as a customer that’s not dependable.
2. Treating the studio session like a house party:
When you’re in a studio session, you should be getting down to business. Time is money. The only people that should be there, are people that are contributing to the recording. Too many artists bring a large, annoying entourage to the studio, partying and bullshitin’ when they should be focused on being productive. These extra people usually don’t appreciate the value of the session and ask the engineer a lot a annoying questions like, “what that button do?” Don’t be a show off. Leave the crew at the crib and invite them to the release party.
3. Not backing up your music:
Studio engineers are not responsible for archiving your music. If they do that’s a bonus, and you should be grateful. But it’s not their job. You should bring a hardrive, save your studio sessions on it, and keep it in a safe place. Artists are always calling studios looking for some shit they recorded 3 years ago, then get mad when the studio doesn’t have it. Studio’s go out of business, hardrives crash, stuff gets caught on fire, people break in and steal shit…You get the picture? Anything can happen if your music is kept in one place. Always get a backup and you’ll never have to worry about your valuable music being lost.
4. Bad audio files:
This is usually a problem when the producer who made your beat, gives you session files that are all screwed up. These files may not be in sync with each other, be recored too low in volume, or recorded too high. Either of these prevents your studio engineer from doing the best job he’s capable of. Taking the time to fix those problems eats up more studio time. This ends up costing you more money.
5. Being annoying during the mixdown session:
Some studio engineers don’t even want artists in the room when they’re mixing down music. Mixing can be a tedious process and usually takes a considerable amount of time to get right. Some artists can be bothersome when they are in the room during this process. It’s hard to tell what the mixdown will sound like until it is completely finished. So give the engineer a break and let him perform his craft, then critique when he’s done.
6. Not respecting the studio equipment:
People come into the studio and sometimes put their pizza and beer on top of valuable studio equipment. Suff gets spilled and expensive electronics are ruined for good. This is a good way to fuck up a relationship with an engineer and you can end up paying lots of money to replace what you broke.
7. Not having the money at the end of the studio recording:
Nothing pisses off a studio engineer more than staying up all night recording your music, only to have you tell him that you don’t have the money right now. This is a straight asshole move because the artist knows this before he does the session. This can get your music mysteriously erased or leaked. Don’t be a cheat. If you don’t have the money to pay, don’t waste anyone’s time.
If you engineers and producers can think of anymore, please add them in the comments below.
