Billing a MAJOR album release...?

[jibble]

So I've lined up a client that is pretty big time in the music scene for their album art and packaging. How in the hell would i go about billing this? Obviously the budget in music is huge, so i can't just go hourly or do what i'm used to doing with usual clients, even if the usual client is huge. What if this thing sells a million+ albums, which is quite possible? Can you do a royalty thing? For every copy sold you get $.xx cents or something? How should I go about pitching the quote?

[Drorain]

So I've lined up a client that is pretty big time in the music scene for their album art and packaging. How in the hell would i go about billing this? Obviously the budget in music is huge, so i can't just go hourly or do what i'm used to doing with usual clients, even if the usual client is huge. What if this thing sells a million+ albums, which is quite possible? Can you do a royalty thing? For every copy sold you get $.xx cents or something? How should I go about pitching the quote?
for something so large, invest 25 bucks in the Graphic artist's guildbook and read up on this stuff, they cover it pretty closely from what I remember, including industry averages.

[cornfed]

There are several ways you can set it up. If its not on a major label and you suspect it will be picked up by one, then be sure to put something in there regarding you being compensated if they use your cover or any variation of it. Also, some labels go by different names and run as separate entities in other countries. If this project gets put on the label in Germany, say, then there will be alterations to your file in the form of rc logo placement, etc. You should be making those changes and should be compensated for the usage under that label name, as well. This isn't how it works all the time, but some of the time and you want to be covered. I'd get the pricing guide, as well. I wouldn't go by royalties unless you're being paid a base fee and then compensated after they sell X amount of cd's. But generally, the graphic designer is not included in royalty distributions. There are really a ton of things you should consider. You should find sample contracts and read "The Business of Music" which will cover a great deal of scenarios that you haven't thought of.