How Should I Price?

I'm not actively in business these days.  I did some CD pre-mastering a long time ago.  These are a few basic things I learned back then.  Hopefully, this will get the discussion started and more qualified people will give you more current and relevant advice.  

For starters, check out studios and people that are doing the same services in you local area.  Find their web sites and see what they're charging.  This will give you a starting point.  

Once that starting point is found, decide on a strategy.  

Do you have some unique talent, service or equipment that lets you justify charging more than the average studio in your area?  

Do you want to charge less than the average in the hopes that you'll get more business?  

You should also spell out exactly what your client will get for his money.  Charging by the hour is probably your best best.  If you charge by the song be prepared to work some song that takes forever and you'll still get the same price as a song that only takes a half-hour.  If you charge by the hour, you should be able to give your client an estimate on how long it will take to do the work and how much he should expect to pay.  If something will take longer than the estimate, you should get approval before you do the work.  

Some negotiation as you get started is OK, I suppose.  Don't sell yourself short, though.  It's still your time and effort.  

Hopefully, others with more experience will have more to offer.  

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies, you guys! But darn- I definetly should have jumped on the clarification bandwagon. I won't actually be an in-house producer, rather an email-to-contact type guy, like, all internet clients.

I'll essentially be doing scoring for video game and film projects, hoping to bring something new to the table with cheap, high-quality production. Not sure if that's a niche, but if not, mine is that I cater especially to the low-to-no-budget developers and directors with the ability to negotiate a ton (I have no steady job at the moment, so any bit of income is fine for me, which is my reason for that).

So to put it simply, with the way the company is right now, I won't be using a by-the-hour payscale. Are there other ways to determine price?

I agree that your pricing should be a fixed price per project with a few tweaks optional since you are working where the client can't be there with you.  If you're a little slow because of inexperience, then you'll run into situations where you won't make as much but you will be getting experience and learning how long it will take you on average per track.  

Doing a per hour rate is good when you have the artist with you and experiencing how long it takes to do the job so that they don't think you are padding the hours in order to make more money.

I would go at a lower fixed price and see if you can get all of your available time booked.  When it is, then start raising the rate and find the spot where you start having open time available again.  You may find that you can stay at that point and work in rush jobs at a higher rate than normal.