Single-track mastering from an independent engineer in Los Angeles generally runs between $50 and $200 a song in 2026, with big-name rooms above that and automated services below it. My rate in Burbank is $100 per track, revisions included. What that money buys is not louder audio. It is a second set of ears in a calibrated room, a loudness decision made per destination instead of one number for everything, and files delivered in the formats and metadata that keep a release from bouncing back from distribution.
What does a mastering engineer actually do?
Four things, in roughly this order. First, a fresh listen in a room the engineer trusts, which catches problems the mix engineer stopped hearing weeks ago: a resonance around 300 Hz, a de-esser that gave up in the bridge, a low end that only worked on one pair of monitors. Second, correction and tone, usually small moves, a decibel here, a shelf there, because a master is the wrong place for surgery. Third, level, which is a set of decisions rather than a limiter preset. Fourth, delivery: dithered WAVs at the right rates, ISRC codes embedded, sequence and spacing set for an EP, a DDP image if anything physical is coming, and alternate masters where the destinations need them.
On an EP or album there is a fifth job people forget: making seven songs mixed over three months sound like one record. Sequencing, gaps, and level relationships between tracks take longer than the EQ.
Why is streaming loudness different from broadcast?
Because the destinations process your file differently, and one master rarely serves all of them well.
Streaming services normalize playback. Spotify plays back at approximately -14 LUFS by default, so a master crushed to -7 gets turned down about 7 dB and arrives with less punch than a more dynamic master of the same mix. Apple runs its Apple Digital Masters program with true-peak headroom at -1 dBTP so lossy encoding does not clip. Broadcast is stricter: EBU R128 anchors programme loudness at -23 LUFS, and US television runs near -24 LKFS.
So the honest questions at the start of a mastering job are where the record is going and whether it needs more than one master. A single release headed only to streaming needs one careful file. A song that is also going to a sync catalog or a broadcaster needs the alternates prepared while the session is open, which costs minutes now and days later.
What moves the price up or down?
Volume and complexity. A single at $100 and a 10-track album do not price per-track the same way, because sequencing and consistency work grows with the record; most engineers quote albums as a package. Stem mastering, where the engineer receives four to eight grouped stems instead of a stereo file, costs more because it is closer to mixing. Vinyl pre-masters add side-length math and a different low-end and de-essing approach. Rush turnaround costs more everywhere. Revisions are the quiet variable: some rooms include two rounds, some charge from the first change, and it is worth asking before you book rather than after.
The cheap end has a real place. Automated mastering produces a competent level and tone for demos and fast content. What it cannot do is tell you the mix has a problem, and that phone call is regularly the most valuable part of a mastering job.
Attended or unattended in Burbank?
Unattended is the standard for mastering, and remote delivery works because the work product is a file, not a performance. Notes travel fine by email when they are specific, and revision rounds are usually same-day or next-day.
Attended makes sense in two cases. A record with a complicated story, where explaining the intent in person for twenty minutes beats a page of notes. And a learning session, where an artist wants to hear what the process does. The room is at 2226 N Catalina St, Unit A, in Burbank, ten minutes from the Warner and Disney lots, with street parking outside. Sessions in the room and remote sessions cost the same.
What should you send?
One stereo WAV per song at the session's native sample rate, 24-bit, peaks somewhere below -3 dBFS, and no limiter on the mix bus. If the limited version carries a vibe you want kept, send both files and say so. Add one reference track and one sentence about it, the track order if it is an EP, the ISRC codes if you have them, and the release date. The release date matters because it decides the delivery order: distribution needs the files earlier than you think, and a vinyl deadline runs on a different calendar than a streaming one.
Booking is simple: send the mix and the release date through the [contact page](contact.html), and you will get a delivery date and any red flags back the same day. Mastering in Burbank or remote, $100 per track, revisions included. The records this room has shipped are on the [credits page](work.html).