then i think that's not the way about doing things ,
you should find the people you actually want to work with, or u actually like their work . and find out how much they charge , then plan your budget around that , I have hardly heard of SERIOUS labels or artists basing who they wanna work with solely on budget , if so called A list producer is too ex , they simply just do less songs with him or just do the main singles with him and do the rest with b list producer.
Keep in mind that some A list producers don't charge A list prices due to XXXX reasons , and alot of B list producers are on C list rates .
also depends on what genre and what kind of artist / project /quality u have in mind.
I have different rates for different projects and nowadays i find i'm actually quoting more and more based on a project basis , some of my bands and artists want international sounding work or are from other countries who fly me out , so i charge high rates for top work , some of them just want demos quickly and cheaply done , so i let my junior engineers record them while i supervise and mix . some music compositions i get paid 1k for a 3 min song , at the same time i get paid 3k for 30sec ad jingle if it's used for 1 country , and more if it's licensed for worldwide.
