Mastering pop music

Mastering pop music requires a mastering engineer who is well versed in many styles of music. Pop music draws from a range of styles of music and often meshes them together to present the music in a very accessible way with mass appeal.

Example rates : 1 T £30.00 | 4T EP £112.00 | Album £230.00 (10-12 tracks) no tax added.

Allow me to exceed your expectations.

As a mastering engineer who specializes (no mixing services) I have set up the room and equipment specifically for the job of mastering. Together we can take your pop music to its full sonic potential.

I am fully conversant in normalization requirements for Spotify, iTunes and YouTube streaming and also adept at producing loud masters if required for your personal or label sales platforms such as Bandcamp. This can be discussed when we start working. I have good pop references in my head and as such can produce world class pop music mastering results at a very affordable rate without sonic compromises.

I have 13 years experience dedicated as a mastering engineer and 10 years prior experience as a fully employed sound engineer. This goes beyond the experience level of many other mastering engineers, even those charging more than myself. You can check my biog and engineering career history on this page. I have been in a fortunate position to have recorded many world reknowned musicians.

Barry Gardner engineering biog

The studio is fully equipped with PMC IB1S large format monitors, flat to 25Hz in a very well acoustically treated room. The monitors are superbly detailed allowing me to hear every sonic element of your mix. I have both a high end analogue rack and up to date ear selected software suite. I use the Crane Song Quantum Solaris DAC which is arguably the best DAC in the world. The studio is equipped to the high standards you would expect any serious mastering studio would be.

When mastering pop music I can hear all the details of your mixes and make adjustments to enhance and improve your sound. I can accurately hear all sonic details such as tonal and instrumental balances, vocals, stereo image, bass content and transients and I can also make remedial actions using the 3 driver PMC mastering grade monitors. Combined with top quality tools and the many years of professional experience this ensures your pop music release reaches its full potential. I am happy to apply my extensive knowledge on my own or am open to your input at the start of the project if you wish to guide the process in a specific direction.

I apppreciate Pop music can be K-pop, dance, synth, R&B, hip hop, rock, vocal, disco or funk inspired and has wide ranging instrumentation from acoustic, over driven guitars, synthetic and electronic sources. Comfortable with any genre, mastering pop music with myself Barry Gardner ensures that it will translate well across all playback systems.

I will apply full quality control to your mastered pop music tracks and ensure they are taken to their highest sonic potential along with ensuring the masters are defect free. (no clicks, glitches, sibilance in vocals etc.) Standard delivery is 16 bit .wav files, please ask at the project start if you need an alternative file format.

If requested I can offer free inclusive mix appraisal before mastering pop music commences, please just ask in your email. So if you are interested in taking your pop music to its full potential please do not hesitate to get in contact.

I have a FAQ page here which answers many common questions prospective clients may have:

Mastering frequently asked questions

Payment and contact

Payment can be made on this page :

Mastering rates

Current price examples are as follows, no taxes to add for any country :

1 Track £30.00
4 Tracks £112.00
10-12 Track album £230.00

I just require your 24 bit depth mixes without clipping or limiting on the master bus to be sent to me using https://wetransfer.com/ (my email is safeandsound123 at googlemail.com (“at” being @ with no gaps) Or telephone 0044 (0) 7810 271371 (UK)

A running order is helpful and ISRC codes, if required.

Your music is in safe and experienced hands.