Hi all, newbie here,
I'll post a bit about myself in the Ambient genre section, but I got recommended here to seek some help. Basically, I have a demo, compilation appearance, and now a full-length that will be out by the end of this month or next. This has been getting me somewhat recognized locally, and I've been asked to create some music for a 48-hour short film festival. I have never done this before and have absolutely no clue what to charge for this service, and I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this sort of thing. There are a few catches, though:
1) The genre won't be revealed to the film team until the 48-hour filming window opens up, and the film total will only be seven minutes. I'll need to create several tracks of a wide variety in an attempt to cover all grounds. Even if not all the tracks get used, I will still be putting effort into creating them, therefore I feel like I should take ALL songs into account when naming a price. Does this seem fair?
2) When I brought up the topic of price, the person requesting music from me said that it would "Be good exposure" and "Look great in my music portfolio." This is equivalent to a venue not wanting to pay a band and telling them the same lame thing. I've asked others about this and I've been encouraged to do this work for a fee - I can't be known as the guy who does stuff for free.
3) One person, though, told me I'm not established enough to work for a fee. But I have to start somewhere, and obviously someone thinks I'm decent enough to let me take a crack at it. See point #2: I can't set a bad precedent.
So what do you all think? Should I accept the "exposure," or figure out a price? If so, what would be fair? I know professionals charge a few hundred (at least) per minute of music, but that much would be unrealistic. But neither do I want to undervalue myself.
Cheers to anyone who can offer some good advice.
I'll post a bit about myself in the Ambient genre section, but I got recommended here to seek some help. Basically, I have a demo, compilation appearance, and now a full-length that will be out by the end of this month or next. This has been getting me somewhat recognized locally, and I've been asked to create some music for a 48-hour short film festival. I have never done this before and have absolutely no clue what to charge for this service, and I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this sort of thing. There are a few catches, though:
1) The genre won't be revealed to the film team until the 48-hour filming window opens up, and the film total will only be seven minutes. I'll need to create several tracks of a wide variety in an attempt to cover all grounds. Even if not all the tracks get used, I will still be putting effort into creating them, therefore I feel like I should take ALL songs into account when naming a price. Does this seem fair?
2) When I brought up the topic of price, the person requesting music from me said that it would "Be good exposure" and "Look great in my music portfolio." This is equivalent to a venue not wanting to pay a band and telling them the same lame thing. I've asked others about this and I've been encouraged to do this work for a fee - I can't be known as the guy who does stuff for free.
3) One person, though, told me I'm not established enough to work for a fee. But I have to start somewhere, and obviously someone thinks I'm decent enough to let me take a crack at it. See point #2: I can't set a bad precedent.
So what do you all think? Should I accept the "exposure," or figure out a price? If so, what would be fair? I know professionals charge a few hundred (at least) per minute of music, but that much would be unrealistic. But neither do I want to undervalue myself.
Cheers to anyone who can offer some good advice.