What does that actually cost? That question comes up almost first, usually before anyone's even said what kind of song or project they're working on. Fair enough, but without context, the answer isn't all that useful. A singer-songwriter track with guitar and vocals doesn't cost the same as a full band production with drums, bass, two guitars, and backing vocals. And whether you work remotely or in person makes a real difference for some parts of the process, and almost none for others.
What mixing and mastering actually cost with us
Let's start with real numbers, because vague price ranges don't help anyone. Mixing starts at €390 per song, mastering at €95. As a combined package, both together start at €515. These prices apply to studio recordings with a typical track count. Live recordings, meaning concert footage or sessions with multiple musicians playing at once, start at €460 for mixing, because here every microphone picks up not just its own instrument but the others in the room too, and volume differences between takes are normal. That takes different tools and more experience than a cleanly tracked studio album.
What's included: professional mixing with vocal editing, multiple revision rounds, and mastering optimized for the actual loudness standards on Spotify and similar platforms, not for maximum volume at any cost. Why that matters is something we go into in more detail in our article on why a good mix needs to sound consistent everywhere.
There's genuinely room to negotiate
A singer-songwriter track with a handful of instruments is significantly less work than a full band production, and that shows up in the price. Newcomers and smaller productions often get better terms than the standard pricing suggests. It's worth just asking instead of being put off by the first number you see.
Is remote recording worth it, or do you need to be in the studio?
Here's the more interesting question. The honest answer is: it depends what you're doing.
For mixing and mastering, it makes essentially no difference whether you're sitting in Lahr, Rome, New York, or anywhere else. The work happens entirely digitally either way. You send us your stems or your mix, we work on it, you get a private streaming link to listen and give feedback. For a lot of our clients it's actually more convenient, since no travel is needed.
Recording is a different story. If you're recording vocals, drums, or multiple musicians at the same time, an in-person studio is usually the better call. Room acoustics, proper microphones, and correct positioning in the room make an audible difference that a good mic at home can rarely replicate.
How most of our clients actually approach this in practice
The most common setup looks like this: recording in person at the studio, then mixing and mastering remotely afterward, with several feedback rounds over email or video call. That gives you the best sound quality during the recording, while keeping the flexibility to follow the mixing process from home.
Often it gets split up even further, instrument by instrument. Drums and grand piano almost always get recorded at the studio, since room sound and mic placement make the biggest difference there. Vocals happen either at our studio or remotely, depending on what decent equipment is available at home. Guitars are frequently recorded at home via a DI signal and processed further with us afterward, which saves an entire session and works surprisingly well. Some clients even record everything at home and just send us the raw files. That works, as long as the underlying recording is clean. If it isn't, even the best mixing can't fully rescue a bad recording.
In the end, the best first question isn't "what does this cost," it's "what exactly are you trying to make." The price tends to follow from that answer almost on its own, and it's usually cheaper than people expect. If you're not sure what makes sense for your project, just drop us a short message. That's exactly what our mixing and mastering services at punchline studio are built on, transparent pricing and an honest assessment before anything's locked in.