Music Mastering Services

Professional Music Mastering To Make Your Songs Shine

Mastering is the final step in the music production process and its important for many technical reasons (explained below in the music mastering FAQs)

More importantly, on an artistic level mastering should:

• Draw the best out of the music you’ve poured your time, passion and creativity into.
• Bring together an album of songs as a whole in just the right way.

I offer music mastering for all genres and project types including singles, EPs and albums. I love helping independent artists release songs that sound like they came from a major label. 

The Music Mastering Process

The most important thing you need to know about my process is that your songs will be mastered by a professional audio engineer. They will have superior sound quality and be tailored to your mix.

Step 1. Get In Touch

I want to know more about you project whether it’s a single song or a whole album. I will work with you to make sure the mixes are ready and so I understand the sound you’re aiming for.

Step 2. Mastering

Once I’m comfortable that we’re on the same page, you’ll pay for your masters and I will master your song or songs. Generally the first master will be ready to release BUT if it needs to be some tweaks we’ll make those until you’re satisfied.

Step 3. Ready For Release

Once you’re happy with the masters and ready for them to be released I will deliver the final hi-res masters in .wav and .mp3 audio files for you to upload to streaming platforms or transfer to physical formats.

How Much Does Mastering Cost?

I have no subscription fees or monthly plans, you pay for your masters as you need them. I don’t use online mastering tools. Just a real mastering engineer providing online music mastering services that give each song the attention and care it deserves.

• $80 USD per single streaming master.
• $70 USD per song for projects with 3 – 7 songs.
• $60 USD per song for album mastering.

If you need CD or vinyl masters, these can be provided for an additional $15 per song as they require slightly different approaches than for streaming.

Music Mastering Samples

Getting The Best Masters

I’m not going to sugar coat it, high-quality mixes helps you to get the best sounding masters. Modern mastering tools are pretty amazing but there are only so much they can do.

Do you need professional audio mixing and mastering services?

Okay, How Can I Get You To Master My Songs?

Glad you asked. First thing to do is get in touch using the form below to start discussing your project. We’ll talk about your vision, reference tracks and any other relevant questions you might have. 

Sometimes mastering can be a bit intimidating if you don’t know what it is. Whether you’re working at home in GarageBand or you’ve been tracking in a professional recording studio, don’t be afraid to get in touch.

Music Mastering Services FAQ

What is Mastering?

Mastering plays a technical and artistic roll in the finishing of a song, EP or album. Mastering a track should:

• Balance the perceived volume of each track on an album or EP so that there is continuity between each track.
• Balance the tonality of each track e.g. make sure the vocals are of comparable loudness between each track, make sure the bass isn’t too loud in one track or too quiet in another.
• For singles the process is still the same but you’re making your sonic benchmark other similar commercial tracks and the medium that the single will be played on predominantly.
• Correct any issues with individual songs e.g. excessive sibilance in the vocals (harsh s and t sounds that stick out) missed in the mixing process, percussive elements which “pop out”, rogue frequencies which may have been missed because the mixing environment wasn’t neutral etc.
• Bring your finished project to a reasonably loud volume suitable to the genre whilst retaining musical dynamics i.e. not squashing the life out of your mixes but making it commercially comparable.

Find out more about the difference between mixing and mastering?

Do I need to get my music mastered?

The short answer is yes!

One of the most frequent artists mention when they get in touch about their project is how it doesn’t sound right when compared to other songs on Spotify, Apple Music etc. Mastering your music not only creates continuity between your tracks on an album or EP, it also helps to get your music in the ballpark sonically compared with other commercial releases.

You can read more in the blog post “What Is Audio Mastering & Is It Necessary?“

What Files Should I Send You?

I can work with mp3 files at a pinch but for best results high resolution .wav or .aiff files that are 24-bit 96kHz are best. 

Do You Do Attended Sessions?

So I can give you the highest possible quality masters at a competitive price I only provide online mastering services. You still get the personal touch of an attended session and I am always happy to meet via a video call. I am always happy to answer any questions you might have about your mastering project.

Why Can’t I Use An AI Mastering Service?

Sometimes it might make sense to use an AI assisted mastering service. Say for a demo or a bunch of cues that need to be turned around quickly that have been mixed really well.

If you’ve hired a recording studio, paid someone good money to mix the songs or spent hours crafting your mixes yourself – why wouldn’t you give your songs the investment they deserve and finish strong?

Mastering isn’t just about making the music loud. Mastering is a continuity, compliance and corrective process. Maybe if all your mixes were perfectly mixed with the bass all the same loudness, the top end balanced, the vocals sitting exactly the same in each song and the low-mids are perfectly mixed etc. AI mastering might work fine.

The bottom line is that whilst AI assisted mastering will probably make the mix sound louder and punchy it can also enhance a mix in unpredictable ways that are not desireable.

I do use AI in parts of my mastering process BUT I also know when it’s made the wrong choices and can correct them. 

No Unlimited Masters

Why I don’t offer unlimited mastering?

Your music is art, art isn’t a commodity. When the mastering process becomes a commodity, like data on your phone or your Netflix subscription, it goes from being an artisan process to an industrial process.

Unlimited mastering or automated mastering, takes away one of the most valuable aspects of working with a mastering engineer. A personal relationship.

I work with all my clients to not only get them the best master but to help and answer their questions and give them advice on many aspects of the music production and release process.