r/musician

UPDATE AT BOTTOM IF ANYONE CARES—it’s a happy ending 🩷

Hey all. I’m just wondering if I’m in the wrong here or if I’m being dodged and avoided.

Edit: just changing pronouns to be gender neutral.

Blanket statement before I begin: I have chronic people pleasing tendencies and some anxiety issues that are pretty annoying and I’m working with a therapist to unlearn the need to apologize profusely when it is undue.

I’m (19F) asking for help today because I am feeling a bit stuck. I worked with a friend of a friend to produce a song and I’m kicking myself for paying in full after the recording session because the sound engineer had stretched out his timeline by a month.

Their regular rate would have made it $850 but they was really nice and took off the mixing fee because their rates changed since we first started talking about recording and I’m a college student so he wants to make recording something I can keep doing. I don’t know if this means their timeline is acceptable, and if I’m being unreasonable by all means set me straight.

I recorded July 19th. They said we got everything I needed to record and they would finish mixing it in the next few days. Great. After I didn’t hear from them for a week I reached out super friendly and just wanted to see how it was going. They were super friendly back and said they got a little busy. They said it would be done in the next few days. No worries, I completely understand. It’s summer, we’re busy.

Flash forward another week. Not a word, no communication. They say “Hi, just got busy, will get it to you tomorrow or the next day.” I keep waiting and end up not hearing anything for another week.

I reach out again, this time saying “hey I’m hoping to have this in a week, what does your timeline look like?” And they say they’ll get it to me tomorrow or the next day. This time I wait until the day after that tomorrow and reach out again after I don’t hear anything for 24 hours. My grandmother drafted the text for me because she said I’ve been too nice about it.

This time they say they’re sick, which I hate that I’m having a hard time believing, but he’s brushed me off so many times that I’m not sure.

So what do you guys think? Is this a regular timeline? I totally get being busy, and I know how being a creative is, sometimes it’s difficult when you don’t have the motivation to do things. But at the same time I paid $700 and have one sample mix from the day we recorded. I have nothing else. No proof of any edits being made or anything. Is this normal? This is my first single, so maybe I’m just completely delusional thinking that I deserve more than I do. If someone could let me know, that would be great, and if you have any advice that would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE
Unfortunately, not a huge update, but I did not hear from them by last night like they said I would on Tuesday. So this morning I gave them a call asking if there’s something going on, if I need to come in and re-record, and they didn’t answer so I left a voicemail.

I really appreciate all of your guys’ advice, my mom advised me that it’s best to try calling one more time and having a nice conversation, so if they doesn’t call back by this evening I will send a more don’t text. The text I drafted my mom said didn’t even sound like me and was too aggressive, but I’m kind of scared to post on here just in case that’s any kind of legal issue. if I hear from them today, I’ll let you know, and if I don’t, I will let you know what happens after I send that more serious text. Thank you again all so much for your help, I love when musicians all come together. Get it? That’s a really bad Beatles joke ;)

UPDATE TWO
Okay so I was pretty upset about the whole situation after you all weighed in and I had drafted and was about to send a strongly worded text, nothing aggressive but definitely not friendly, but then my mom and I had a talk right before hand and she advised me not to send it.

Unfortunately (or extremely fortunately) my mom is the kind that is literally always right. Agitating, yes, but often for the best. She told me instead to call them in the morning and leave a voicemail. I did and basically just said like “hey, is there something else going on here? If I need to come in and re-record I’m happy to” and by the afternoon they texted me and said they were getting on it.

Then they sent me a REALLY cool sample, for which I only had a few edits. I’m listening to the final mix as I write this. They really did a fantastic job, and even fixed a small structural edit I had.

Honestly, it’s hard, because the sound engineer was really great and helpful and attentive after the voicemail, and they mentioned that they’ve been moving, so there is part of me that feels bad for hounding them. I know a lot of you in the comments are probably gonna say I’m disregarding what you said, but like I said, this is a long-term issue that I’m working with a mental health professional to fix. I’m just so relieved to finally have this song. And the sound engineer is a really nice person, I’m just not sure if the summer got away from them or what… I think if I were to work with them again—because we really clicked in the studio—I would only pay for half up front and would have a small contract with a timeline to sign.

In terms of the single itself, I’m honestly thrilled with how it turned out, and I’m thrilled with myself for a) making it and b) growing a pair and getting it done. Thank you, musicians of Reddit, for your advice and support. I’m really thankful you were all so kind to me and I hope someday some of you might get to hear it. You probably won’t know it’s me but I still think that’s cool. Stay posted on TikTok for 80s-inspired soft rock ballads.

I feel like I’m one step closer to being a rockstar and I’m really proud of myself. I was tough, but stayed kind. And the end result was even more beautiful than I even expected. Thanks guys. Storyteller out.