Quality, Time and Money

I love working in my studio producing music--taking a song from conception to completion. I also enjoy it when my songs make their way onto other people's recordings. I equally love to produce my own projects every couple of years. Gary Sadler and I are getting real close to completing a project that we have been working on for some time. People often call on me to produce their projects for them. When in the negotiation stage of a project, I try to communicate to the client a very simple concept. It is applicable in a host of other industries and helps to illustrate three aspects of the production process.

I use a triangle to show the distinctions between quality, time and money. Most clients have a limited budget to put toward the end result they desire. Some have a very short turnaround time for which they need it done. Everyone, of course, wants quality. My theory is you can have only two sides of that triangle, not all three. You can have quality with little money and the turnaround time will suffer. You can get it cheap and fast but the quality will suffer. And the point I end up making to most clients: you can have quality in a quick manner, but its gonna cost you!

Quality is always a premium in any economy. Excellent work is my best calling card. This quote says it all in a nutshell:

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence. ~Author Unknown