What to charge for commerciial composition?

[protilius]

I've recently been aproached with varius gigs that could be quite lucritive from the sounds of what's being offered.

In one hand, somebody asked me to do about ten minutes of music for a pilot a gym is prepairing for advertising purposes.

In another hand, I have an advertising agency that may have a freelanced position available to compose varius 30 second jingles for commercial use on TV and Radio.

 

What would be some fairly reasonable base fee's I could charge for my services? Do I charge for the amount of material I produce for them? Or do I charge for the amount of time that it takes to track and engineer the material?

 

I understand that advertising usualy has a pritty fat budget, so I dont want to cut my own throat by not asking for enough. But then again, experianced composers such as myself are a dime a dozen in Los Angeles, so I dont want to ask for to much either. What would a reasonable fee be for such services and how would I gage that fee?

 

God... I think I realy need an entertainment lawyor or at the very least an agent. It would make a lot more sence than self representation.

[BryanMichael]

 

Originally posted by protilius I've recently been aproached with varius gigs that could be quite lucritive from the sounds of what's being offered. In one hand, somebody asked me to do about ten minutes of music for a pilot a gym is prepairing for advertising purposes. In another hand, I have an advertising agency that may have a freelanced position available to compose varius 30 second jingles for commercial use on TV and Radio. What would be some fairly reasonable base fee's I could charge for my services? Do I charge for the amount of material I produce for them? Or do I charge for the amount of time that it takes to track and engineer the material? I understand that advertising usualy has a pritty fat budget, so I dont want to cut my own throat by not asking for enough. But then again, experianced composers such as myself are a dime a dozen in Los Angeles, so I dont want to ask for to much either. What would a reasonable fee be for such services and how would I gage that fee? God... I think I realy need an entertainment lawyor or at the very least an agent. It would make a lot more sence than self representation.

 

 

Dude-

This is not intended to be a slam, but you really should get a spell checker before a lawyer ...you have a lot of spelling errors in your post! I mention this because if you intend on writing jingles (lyrics too I assume) you should be more careful about what you put in front of a client.

Having said that, my rate has been 30.00 per hour for composition, recording,audio editing, etc...

Just offer a bid on the stuff at a set rate. Figure X number of hours @ your rate. I also offer "project rates" where I can make an all inclusive bid.

 

Good Luck-

Bry

[megatronz]

Unfortunately, I agree with the last poster. If you must correspond with other professionals, do them the courtesy of having your material spellchecked. If you cannot read or write, get someone else to do it. I realize the education system is poor, but that's no excuse. It's lazy. The more articulate you are, the more professionals will take your opinion seriously, I promise. I work in that world all day. Good luck with your potential jobs. Hopefully they renumerate you sufficiently.

[Ministry of FOG]

In my experience I would charge a set fee for your services. Take into account how many hours it will take to compose and record the work. In the case of the gym that is looking for a 10 minute song, I would ask what is really needed. Can it be a simple song looped for the duration or do they want original composition for the entire time? Figure out what your time is worth to you. In the case of myself and my studio, I charge $30.00 an hour and cost average there. If it takes me two hours to write the piece and another 6 to record the tracks, that is eight hours of time I spent on the piece coming to a total of $240.00. I usually charge some extra just for the heck of it and in this case would be $350.00. That's for a 30 second jingle for a commercial. For longer songs or other requirements, I charge extra, sometimes up to the $2000.00 range.

[protilius]

Thanks for the feedback, yes I am aware of the fact that I can't spell, and no, I don't present anything to potential clients prior to running it through Microsoft Word's spell checker.

 

I am despite the point educated "by four years post high school," but take no offense to my fellow musicians and engineers poking fun at my poor spelling and gramer.

Recording Schools spend more time focusing on the gear and how to use it than English 101, but thats fine by my being I know what I'm doing behind the boards because of it, and I'll always have microsoft office to bail me out of those grameracal mistakes in the meantime.

Once again, Thanks for the feedback, I'll be sure to take your words of experiance into advisement as I continue my escapade into the wonderful world of the Californian music industry.