Doing music for commission

Tiphareth

New member
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.
 
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?

you can charge in at least one of three ways

1) flat fee regardless of work done, so make it large enough to cover your time expended
2) hourly rate starting from when you first write something until the last track is exported
- you will need to keep accurate records of the time spent on the project and may not get what you expect if you take too long
3) a nominal fee plus guaranteed synchronisation fees

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.

agreed but be realistic about what you can get and ensure that you get your synchronisation rights locked in for all time
- every time the resulting film is shown you receive a payment at the current (as in contemporaneous) rate

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.

my first synchronisation was for a political commercial that was not a political commercial
- it advertised the guys hotel (bar) in the lead up to the election and due to Australia's political advertising laws could be shown all the way through past election day
- most political ads for broadcast have to cease two days prior to voting day
- my fee was a nominal fee with residual payments for each time the ad was broadcast; made less than a grand all up but it was only 30" in a small regional community

I later orchestrated a musical that had way too many songs (40 all told) for a much larger base fee (several thousand (i.e. more than $10k) and the rights to stage the show after 10 years if it had not been picked up for commercial runs in that time. Have still to exercise that particular option.... it needs serious pruning and I do not have the time to edit it into a better, concise, snappier show

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'd be sticking to my guns and charging at least a grand all up plus residuals and synchronisation rights

some others may have some other insights
 
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You definitely WON'T get paid unless you ask for it. I would recommend charging them for your work. It's 100% normal for media companies to pay for the music featured in their productions. It isn't an obscure concept. Very common.

Best of luck!

:)
 
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