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COMPOSERS- HOW DO YOU CHARGE?
Posts
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Sooz
View playlists
CloseIn my own commissioned work, I'd usually take half fee up front, half on completion.
If you're concerned about such a situation, I'd definitely set up a contract like Deltree says. It also helps to have a clear idea what you want and to communicate that to the creator; you don't necessarily need to know all the technical lingo, but being able to point to a specific thing and say "this is not what I want, please make it more thus-and-such," is immensely helpful.
Like if you're constantly going back and forth on something, it might be a sign that you're working with the wrong person and should give up, but you're basically paying the person for their expertise and time, rather than the end product, so at that point, it's best to just pay up and mark it as just a sunk cost.
If you're concerned about such a situation, I'd definitely set up a contract like Deltree says. It also helps to have a clear idea what you want and to communicate that to the creator; you don't necessarily need to know all the technical lingo, but being able to point to a specific thing and say "this is not what I want, please make it more thus-and-such," is immensely helpful.
Like if you're constantly going back and forth on something, it might be a sign that you're working with the wrong person and should give up, but you're basically paying the person for their expertise and time, rather than the end product, so at that point, it's best to just pay up and mark it as just a sunk cost.
Dyhalto
Here's a new angle.
What if I commission someone for music, and they wind up producing unacceptable material, or even something that's just not quite what I'm looking for? How do you discern the middle ground between me saying "It's no good. Do something better" and the composer saying "It is what it is. Pay up"?
This is definitely a risk, and there's really not much you can do about it. Personally, I wouldn't do something like this. I've always been dedicated to keeping the customer happy.
If you run into this problem, not paying is something that can get you into legal trouble (music is a very subjective thing, and you can't just not pay someone after they've provided a service, even if you aren't happy with that service). What I suggest is having a strict, concise contract in place with whomever you're doing business with that covers all of this before any money changes hands.
I believe it's fair for clients to request revisions (though there's a limit. I usually charge extra after the fifth revision if i notice we're walking in circles, or earlier if their "revision" is a complete overhaul because they can't decide on what they prefer).
I don't think it's fair to blame the artist for delivering something that you didn't want if you did not provide enough information to the artist for him or her to deliver something akin to your vision. I know that's probably not the case always, but at least in my own experiences with clients it has been. Whenever they're not satisfied with my product it's because they forgot to mention a key point, like what instruments they liked, or what scenario the music was for. Visual references also help out a LOT.
It's a two-player game after all. Artists aren't mind readers or magicians.
I don't think it's fair to blame the artist for delivering something that you didn't want if you did not provide enough information to the artist for him or her to deliver something akin to your vision. I know that's probably not the case always, but at least in my own experiences with clients it has been. Whenever they're not satisfied with my product it's because they forgot to mention a key point, like what instruments they liked, or what scenario the music was for. Visual references also help out a LOT.
It's a two-player game after all. Artists aren't mind readers or magicians.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Mirak
Visual references also help out a LOT.
Or audio references; the time I worked with a composer, I made sure to gather examples of the feel I was going for.
When I said percentage, I pretty much want to be a part of the team making the game. The percentages are already divided amongst them, assuming there is more than one person. Maybe this is a very unprofessional way to look at it, but I don't know, it wouldn't sit well with me if a scenario like this happened:
I got paid a set amount per minute. Soundtrack is 40 minutes long. I slaved over those 40 minutes and worked for months on it. Let's say I made like $400 from the ost. Then the team releases the game, makes a million, and gets super well reception with a lot of the praise for the music. They just made a millions and I made far less than my usual paycheck from work for months of hard work. I mean, I guess I could release the soundtrack for sale after?
I'm well aware that's EXTREMELY unlikely to ever happen, but it's something that wouldn't sit well with me. At the same time, it'd lead me to a lot of opportunities and increase my next per minute charge rate. This thread is breaking my brain, I had never considered this stuff lol.
I also feel like developers who need a composer and would charge per minute could result in some composers making songs a lot longer than they need to be. Some vgm works as 30 seconds. Now why would I want to make a 30 second song if it'd pay less?
I make music for my own games and make sure it all goes well with the art (which I also make lol) and the game design. If I was a pure game designer, I would want the artist and composer to have a great synergy with what I'm doing. I'd want them be pretty much be team members. I wouldn't want to buy 20 songs, I'd want to have a teammate who knew what they were doing and would try their best to make music that enhances the overall experience. I'm probably seeing things in la la land though. ):
Super insightful thread if I ever want to venture into freelance composing (or even pixel art).
I got paid a set amount per minute. Soundtrack is 40 minutes long. I slaved over those 40 minutes and worked for months on it. Let's say I made like $400 from the ost. Then the team releases the game, makes a million, and gets super well reception with a lot of the praise for the music. They just made a millions and I made far less than my usual paycheck from work for months of hard work. I mean, I guess I could release the soundtrack for sale after?
I'm well aware that's EXTREMELY unlikely to ever happen, but it's something that wouldn't sit well with me. At the same time, it'd lead me to a lot of opportunities and increase my next per minute charge rate. This thread is breaking my brain, I had never considered this stuff lol.
I also feel like developers who need a composer and would charge per minute could result in some composers making songs a lot longer than they need to be. Some vgm works as 30 seconds. Now why would I want to make a 30 second song if it'd pay less?
I make music for my own games and make sure it all goes well with the art (which I also make lol) and the game design. If I was a pure game designer, I would want the artist and composer to have a great synergy with what I'm doing. I'd want them be pretty much be team members. I wouldn't want to buy 20 songs, I'd want to have a teammate who knew what they were doing and would try their best to make music that enhances the overall experience. I'm probably seeing things in la la land though. ):
Super insightful thread if I ever want to venture into freelance composing (or even pixel art).
Caring for getting compensated and having a feeling of teamwork are not mutually exclusive you know. You can belong in a *team* and feel love for the project while also having the right to request proper compensation for it.
Which is why communication is important. If both parties agree on the way they will handle things then that's super special awesome.
Which is why communication is important. If both parties agree on the way they will handle things then that's super special awesome.
Toaster_Team
966
I've done quite a bit of research on this and I've come to the conclusion that 60$/minute is a good rule of thumb. Paying 100$/hour seems excessive to me but if you have the budget, why not.
