Mastering Rates
Choose Excellence
Treelady has mastered Grammy® winning, Billboard topping, and Billboard Charting releases.
Treelady was one of the first Apple Approved Mastered for iTunes (MFiT, now Apple Digital) mastering houses.
Since 1999, our engineers have mastered thousands of projects.
Our mastering engineers are industry experts, with nearly two hundred audio articles in print and online.
Choose Treelady Mastering for professional results.
Audio Mastering Rates and Fees
This is the page where we provide Treelady Mastering fees. Our rates are often calculated by song.
The standard mastering fee includes master files suitable for Digital Distribution. Other formats are cost options.
How It Works
You will receive the invoice
Mastering is scheduled after the invoice is paid.
If your project requires formats other than basic digital distribution, we can create optimized versions. Not all formats are interchangeable (Apple Digital vs Standard Apple or CD master vs Vinyl). If you are unsure about formats please review our Mastering Formats Page.
Rates include up to 2 revision rounds past version 1. Additional edits are $120/hr. billed in quarter hour increments.
Stem Mastering (sometimes called separation mastering)
In general, we only ask for stems (sub mixes of individual elements, e.g. drums, guitars, vocals, backing vocals, bass, etc.) on rare occasions where that approach will resolve an issue in a manner that best suits the project’s needs. We believe in a separation of church and state (so to speak) between mixing and mastering. There are different listening skills required for mixing compared with mastering and each is a separate, specialized field. We go out of our way to ridicule mixing engineers who claim “and of course I can master your track in house.”
| STEM MASTERING | |
|---|---|
| CD/Digital Distribution | included |
| MP3 | included |
| up to 4 stems | $ 160 |
| up to 8 stems | $ 225 |
| up to 12 stems | $ 300 |
| up to 16 stems | $ 385 |
| over 16 stems | contact us |
That said, sometimes a client explains they are at the end of the creative sidewalk and ask us to master from provided stems. In these cases, we may agree to the project. Rates for such projects are below.
Audio Transfer and Audio Restoration Rates
Every project is different. We encourage you to contact us to discuss your particular situation. We use the finest analog to digital converters, cabling, workstations and do each transfer by hand.
Industry Mastering Rates
Mastering
$425 per hour - billed in quarter hour increments. Rush services and shipping available at additional charge. Add On Formats and Rates
Restoration
$400 per hour - billed in quarter hour increments. Rush services and shipping available at additional charge. Minimum hourly fees apply.
Independent Artist Mastering Costs
Artist choosing hourly billing should budget for the following
Mastering
$275 per hour - billed in quarter-hour increments. Rush services and shipping available at an additional charge. Add On Formats and Rates
Restoration
$250 per hour - billed in quarter-hour increments. Rush services and shipping available at an additional charge. Minimum hourly fees apply.
Abandoned Projects
All client feedback should be returned as soon as feasible. If we do not hear from you, we will assume you have accepted the versions you have. As such:
We will archive your project in long-term storage.
Any edits requested will be billed as a new project or at an hourly rate.
Retrieving archived projects is time-consuming and expensive.
Mastering turnaround will be affected by other in-process projects, which can delay your audio.
Should circumstances impact a client's ability to respond in a timely fashion, please inform your engineer as soon as possible.
Audio Retention
Treelady Mastering is not responsible for storing your audio data after finals have been delivered. We may, at our discretion, maintain project backups. However, we make no representation or claim regarding the availability of your files.