Case study
From the same few clients to new conversations every week.
Nicholas Setter was relying on the same few clients and pricing low to win the work. He got his projects and contacts out of his head, set a $400 minimum per song, and started reaching out every week instead of waiting to be found.
The numbers
- $400
- his new minimum per song. Before, his rates ran anywhere from $250 to $350
- $400 to $1,200
- his tiered rate card per song, from his minimum up to label work
- ~30 a week
- people he was reaching out to by the end, up from one or two messages a day
- 3 → 10
- his business confidence out of 10, before and after
The same clients, the same rates
Nicholas mixes in Los Angeles and comes from writing, producing and composing. When he started coaching, most of his work came from the same circle of friends and artists. He got one or two inquiries a month and booked about one project.
To win the work he priced low. His rates ran from $250 to $350 a song, and sometimes he offered a discount before anyone asked for one. By his own account, the lower price kept him on lower-level projects.
“I was organized, but didn’t have true systems and I was keeping way too many things in my head. I was stuck with the same clients and needed new ideas on how to grow my business into a sustainable one as well as creating sustainable rates.”
Everything out of his head
The first job was writing it all down: every mix project, everyone involved in each one, and then every contact he had. The list was far longer than he expected.
From there they built one place to run the business from. Nicholas set up an onboarding guide, agreements for indie artists and for labels, and payment links for each rate tier.
“That’s like so many more people. It’s crazy like how big your network actually is, even if I haven’t talked to them in years.”
A rate he didn’t have to invent
Talking about money had always been the hard part. Nicholas’s words early on: “I think talking about rates is always uncomfortable for me, like the money aspect.”
So they built a tier chart with separate rates for indie artists and for labels, a $400 minimum per song, and discounts only for volume. Then they practiced quoting out loud until the numbers came without panic.
“…figuring out a tiered rate system has helped keep conversations going with clients and feels more fair for both parties.”
From bothering people to helping them
Nicholas used to feel that reaching out was bothering people, so he barely did it. In the first weeks he sent one or two messages a day.
Once the contact list existed, outreach turned into a checklist, and then almost a game. He reached out to about 30 people in a week, then another 30, listening to what each person was working on before he wrote. He was surprised by how many wrote back.
“I used to feel that I was bothering people when I was reaching out so I wasn’t doing it nearly as much as I should have been. Now I see how I’m actually there to help them.”
In Nicholas’s words
You may think that you’re organized, but there are levels and you might be surprised how much more efficient you can be. You also might find aspects of your business that you have been completely neglecting. We all feel like we’re working hard, but it’s possible that you’re spinning your wheels on the wrong things and working smarter with direction is the solution.
What almost stopped him? Feeling like I needed to be further along in my career for it to work.
Who should take it? Engineers who want to be more efficient with their time & level up.
Nicholas Setter Mixing Engineer, Los AngelesMore client stories
Josh Goode From waiting on referrals to finding his own clients. Read the story 
Josh Bowman From avoiding the business side to reaching out to A&Rs and labels. Read the story 
Edsel Holden From negotiating against himself to his first $300 master. Read the story These are real clients’ results, in their own words. Figures are self-reported by each client. Results vary with each engineer’s work, market and follow-through; nothing here is a promise of income.