· 1 min read
What mastering actually costs
Real numbers from a real release, published because nobody else seems to.
moneypressing
Hollow Press
New artists ask us what a record costs and we have never found a straight answer published anywhere, so here is one, for HP012, an LP with a booklet in an edition of five hundred.
The invoice
- Mastering and cutting: £640
- Plating and pressing, 500 × 140g: £2,310
- Sleeves, screen-printed by hand: £890
- Booklet, 20pp, litho: £720
- Shipping from the plant: £180
That is £4,740, or £9.48 a copy before anyone has been paid for their time.
Why we publish it
Because the alternative is artists guessing, and artists guessing tend to guess low and then feel cheated when the split comes through. Every Hollow Press artist sees this spreadsheet before signing anything.