Ron’s Blog

Ron, I heard from the band yesterday and again this morning. They are absolutely thrilled with how good the album sounds.  They are very happy and have given the green light for you to go ahead and send the master disk.  Thanks so much for your hard work!  I will definitely recommend you again for audio mastering… Dave Z. Salt Lake City. UT

Hi Ron, Thanks much, it was really great working with you and thanks so much for your good wishes!  Maybe we’ll get to work together again soon in the future…Sarine B. San Francisco. CA

Ron. Your work was amazing! Thank you so much for your contribution to this CD.  We have been and will continue to recommend you to others as the only choice for CD mastering… Chris H. La Mirada. CA

Jimmy Levine’s “Share My Love” CD on Thump / Universal Music has reached # 4  on the R&B charts in Europe and is getting airplay on 44 radio stations here in the US. Reggae artist, Obre4’s CD “CONSCIOUSness” is the # 1 seller on Digstation.com. Both artists music were mastered at Sound Affair and were released just this last December and January.

A serious problem in the recording community has been brought to my attention. It is not my intention for my blog to be negative in nature, however maybe I can help others avoid being the victim of a scam.

I have received phone calls from two individuals recently regarding an Internet mastering scam. Both of these artists had sent their music to be mastered to two different studios that advertise “discount” or “low budget” CD mastering services. As per request, the payments were made in advance and were sent in along with the CDs to be mastered. It is not unusual for deposits to be requested for services, so I am not suggesting that this was a red flag. Unfortunately both of these artists never heard from the “mastering studios” again. They both e-mailed numerous times and heard nothing back.

Both guys contacted me in a bit of a panic and I was able to help one of them to get a completed master to the replicator on time. They gave me the names and I decided to snoop around and do some online investigating. It didn’t me take long to find them. Upon review they didn’t have much substance or information on their websites. Both had maybe one or two pages on the site dedicated to mastering, but they were boasting everything under the sun as far as being the “experts of mastering.” Looking further, I could not find any contact names, telephone or fax numbers. Both websites only had a post office box and an email address. Both victims had been emailing these studios but never received a reply. I too tried several times, but never received anything.

The only solution I had for them, was to contact the United States Postal Service and submit a case for mail fraud. Every now and then I keep an eye our for these fake mastering studios, however they have seemed to have changed their advertising method as I don’t see them any more. I hope we all see the last of this phony scam. We all know there are music business and Internet scams everywhere. Don’t become a victim of Internet fraud. Do your homework and find a mastering facility that has a long track record. Telephone the mastering studio and speak to the engineer. Ask questions. Develop a relationship with them. A good facility will be happy to speak to you and discuss the best process for mastering your project.

This is your music and you have put a lot of hard work, time and money into it. This is the most important and the final stage of your music. Don’t skimp on this final step.

Welcome to my blog . This will be a way for you to get to know me better. I hope that you will enjoy the articles posted here. Many of you have the same questions or concerns regarding recording, mixing and music mastering. It will be my pleasure to share my 30 plus years of knowledge and experience with you. I will also be featuring articles from other writers regarding these topics.

Thank you for visiting,
Ron Leeper
Sound Affair Mastering