Mixing and mastering prices vary enormously depending on who you hire, where they are based, and what your project involves. This post gives you a concrete breakdown so you can budget properly.

## The short answer

Professional mixing for an independent artist ranges from €150 to €800 per song in Europe, depending on the engineer's experience and the complexity of your project. Mastering runs from €50 to €250 per song for a professional job.

At Las Aguas Productions, mixing is €150 per song and mastering is €70 per song. Both prices include a defined number of revisions and clear deliverables.

## What affects the price of a mix?

**Stem count.** A 12-stem singer-songwriter track is less work than an 80-stem Latin pop production with dozens of percussion parts, stacks of background vocals, and layered synths. Most engineers price standard mixes based on a reasonable stem count and charge more above a threshold.

**Revision rounds.** How many times do you get to ask for changes? Budget engineers often include one revision; mid-market engineers typically include two. Watch out for pricing that looks low until you factor in revision costs.

**Genre complexity.** A live jazz recording with bleed between microphones and complex spatial positioning requires different skills than a clean electronic production. Genre-specific expertise has value.

**Online vs in-studio.** In-studio mixing with the artist present costs more because it takes more time. Online mixing is the standard for most independent projects and produces equally good results when the stem prep is right.

## What affects the price of mastering?

**Delivery formats.** A streaming-only master is simpler than a full set: streaming, vinyl-cut, broadcast, and instrumentals. Make sure you know what you are paying for.

**Album vs single pricing.** Most engineers offer a lower per-song rate for albums. If you are mastering more than five songs, ask about a project rate.

**Stem mastering vs stereo mastering.** Stem mastering (where the engineer receives 4 to 8 grouped stems rather than a stereo mix) costs more but gives more control. It is worth the extra cost if your mix is close but not quite there.

## Is cheap mixing worth it?

Sometimes. A bedroom engineer charging €50 a song may do a better job on a specific genre than an expensive studio that primarily works in a different style. The key variables are ears, monitoring environment, and genre experience, not just price.

What is not worth it: uploading your stems to an AI mixing service and presenting the output as professionally mixed. These tools improve year on year, but they do not replace an engineer with professional monitoring and the ability to respond to your notes.

## The bottom line

Budget €150 to €350 per song for a professional-quality mix and master from a mid-market independent engineer in Berlin or online. For a single from an independent artist, that is the realistic number. For album budgets, multiply by track count and negotiate a project rate.

If you want to book mixing and mastering with us, [see our pricing](/pricing) or [get in touch via the enquiry form](/forms/mixing-mastering).

How Much Does Mixing and Mastering Cost?

Label services is a term that has become more common as the independent music market has grown, but it is often used loosely. This post explains what it actually means, what it does not mean, and how to figure out whether you need it.

## What label services actually means

Label services is a service model, not an ownership model. A label services company provides some or all of the functions that a traditional record label would provide, such as marketing, distribution, PR, and social media, without taking ownership of your masters or a cut of your royalties.

You pay a fee. They do the work. You keep your rights.

This is distinct from a traditional label deal, where the label advances money for recording and marketing in exchange for owning your masters and collecting the majority of your royalties for the contract term.

## What label services typically includes

The exact scope depends on the company and what you negotiate. Common components include:

- Social media management and content planning
- Editorial playlist pitching on Spotify and other platforms
- Press and PR outreach to music journalists and blogs
- Release campaign planning and coordination
- Audience development: tracking your growth and adjusting strategy based on data
- Digital distribution setup and management
- Meta ads management

At Las Aguas Productions, the retainer starts from €380/month. The scope is scoped per artist rather than sold as a fixed package.

## What label services does not include

Label services companies do not:
- Book your live shows (that is a booking agent's job)
- Negotiate your publishing or licensing deals (that is a publisher or music lawyer's job)
- Manage your career overall (that is a manager's job)
- Take ownership of your recordings

If a company offering "label services" asks for a percentage of your royalties or ownership of your masters, they are not offering label services in the standard sense. Read the contract carefully.

## How to know if you need it

Label services makes sense if:

1. You have good music that is ready to release
2. You do not have the time, skill, or desire to handle marketing, social media, and release coordination yourself
3. You are willing to invest in your career consistently rather than one-off

It does not make sense if:

1. You are still at the demo stage and your recordings are not release-ready
2. You have not built any audience yet and need to start by playing shows and building organic connections first
3. You are not sure what results you want

The most common mistake is paying for marketing before the music is good enough to convert listeners into fans. Get the music right first. Then invest in getting it heard.

## The alternative

Full DIY is a viable path. Many independent artists manage everything themselves and build significant careers. The tradeoff is time. Marketing, social media, PR, and release coordination are full disciplines. Artists who handle all of them are spending time on business administration that is not going into their music.

The question is not whether to outsource or DIY. The question is which parts of the operation you should hand off, and at what stage of your career.

For more detail, [see our comparison of label services vs traditional record deals](/label-services-vs-record-label).

What Is Label Services and Do You Need It?

Spotify editorial playlists are curated by Spotify's in-house editorial team and placed on the platform's homepage for specific genres and moods. A placement can add thousands to tens of thousands of streams to a release. Here is how the pitching process works and what actually influences whether you get placed.

## How Spotify editorial pitching works

Spotify offers a pitching tool inside Spotify for Artists. You can submit one unreleased song per release cycle, up to 7 days before the release date. After submission, your pitch goes to the relevant Spotify editorial team for the genre or mood you have selected.

The process is:

1. Log into Spotify for Artists
2. Go to your upcoming release
3. Fill out the pitch form: genre, mood, instrumentation, language
4. Submit at least 7 days before release (earlier is better)

That is the mechanics. The harder part is understanding what influences the decision.

## What Spotify's editorial team looks at

Spotify does not publish its editorial criteria, but from public information and the experience of artists and labels who have been placed, the following factors are known to be relevant:

**The music quality.** Editorial curators listen to the track. A well-produced, professionally mixed and mastered track has a better shot than a rough demo.

**Your Spotify profile completeness.** A complete profile (bio, photo, artist pick) signals that you are a serious act. Incomplete profiles are a red flag.

**Momentum.** If your previous releases have generated algorithmic playlist placements (Release Radar, Discover Weekly), those signals are visible to the editorial team and indicate that your music resonates with listeners.

**Genre and mood tagging accuracy.** Incorrect tagging sends your pitch to the wrong team. Be specific and honest about your genre.

**Your release date.** Pitching 7 days before release is the minimum. Pitching 3 to 4 weeks before gives the editorial team more time.

## What does not help

- Having a lot of followers on Instagram or other platforms (Spotify cares about Spotify data)
- Paying for streams or followers (this gets your account flagged)
- Pitching the same song multiple times
- Pitching after the release date (the window is pre-release only)

## Independent curators vs editorial

If you do not get an editorial placement (which is the norm for independent artists on early releases), independent curator playlists are the realistic alternative. Services like SubmitHub, Groover, and Soundplate connect you to independent curators who accept pitches.

Independent curator placements do not generate the same volume of streams as editorial placements, but they build a pattern of playlist appearances that algorithmic tools like Discover Weekly and Release Radar respond to over time.

## The honest picture

Getting an editorial playlist placement on a first or second release is possible but uncommon. The editorial team handles thousands of pitches for each release cycle and has limited playlist slots. Most placements go to artists who have already demonstrated Spotify traction.

The strategy that works over time: release consistently, pitch every release, build algorithmic placement patterns through strong saves-to-streams ratios, and pitch independent curators in between releases to maintain momentum.

If you want help with release strategy and playlist pitching, [see our digital strategy services](/digital-strategy-label-services).

Blog

How Much Does Mixing and Mastering Cost?

What Is Label Services and Do You Need It?

How to Get Your Music on Spotify Editorial Playlists