what should u pay for a indie score
- Thread starter dfuture
- Start date
It's an agreement between you and the composer. Just because it's an independent film doesn't mean much. Hans Zimmer could theoretically scor it for you.
You can go super cheap and use someone with little practical experience and poor equipment/software, or pay several thousand for top of the line and real stringed instruments.
Again, sorry, it's too broad to answer off just that. Need more info.
You can go super cheap and use someone with little practical experience and poor equipment/software, or pay several thousand for top of the line and real stringed instruments.
Again, sorry, it's too broad to answer off just that. Need more info.
General rule of thumb (and this is really general mind you) is 5% of the total budget.
Fact is you will find people who are starting out who are willing to work for very little. You will find 10 - 20k will get you a good composer who has experience and some composers who won't even consider the project for less than 50k. The "in demand" composers command enormous fees.
Added to all of this is what music score do you want? Obviously live players will cost more and if you want a live orchestra that's an entirely new world again. The lower the budget the more practical it is that you'll be getting a one man operation. (which depending on the person can be awesome).
It's an open market out their with no real rules so you work out what you can afford then find the best you can with that budget.
Hope this helps.
m
Fact is you will find people who are starting out who are willing to work for very little. You will find 10 - 20k will get you a good composer who has experience and some composers who won't even consider the project for less than 50k. The "in demand" composers command enormous fees.
Added to all of this is what music score do you want? Obviously live players will cost more and if you want a live orchestra that's an entirely new world again. The lower the budget the more practical it is that you'll be getting a one man operation. (which depending on the person can be awesome).
It's an open market out their with no real rules so you work out what you can afford then find the best you can with that budget.
Hope this helps.
m
The planet is fested with starving musicians. You can get it done for no cost if desire. You don't have to stick with one musician either. The musican(s) will get exposure at your expense and the right one will hype your movie to get maximum mileage out of it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
I'd agree with "well, how good do you want it to be?" and "how much of a gamble are you willing to take on a person without a proven track record". Anywhere from $0 to hundreds of thousands.
Yep, I'm sorry to give you another non-answer, but what everyone has been saying is true. You can get an original score for nothing, or you can pay out of your ass.
The trick is in finding who you like, that you can afford. I got lucky -- the composers I got for my first feature worked for WAY less than they are worth, and I got them at the right time. I got them while they were still willing to take on low-paying jobs, maybe because they were motivated by the artistic venture, or maybe because they were still sort of proving their worth. I don't know why, but the took it, and I lucked-out, because they're no longer taking low-paying movies. You might be able to find someone like that.
A lot of indie features go with indie rock groups. That's cool, but it's more of a soundtrack than a score. What about giving an indie rock group the opportunity to write an actual score? I bet you could find a lot of people who'd be willing to do it for nothing more than the fact that they'd have a lot of fun.
The trick is in finding who you like, that you can afford. I got lucky -- the composers I got for my first feature worked for WAY less than they are worth, and I got them at the right time. I got them while they were still willing to take on low-paying jobs, maybe because they were motivated by the artistic venture, or maybe because they were still sort of proving their worth. I don't know why, but the took it, and I lucked-out, because they're no longer taking low-paying movies. You might be able to find someone like that.
A lot of indie features go with indie rock groups. That's cool, but it's more of a soundtrack than a score. What about giving an indie rock group the opportunity to write an actual score? I bet you could find a lot of people who'd be willing to do it for nothing more than the fact that they'd have a lot of fun.
Reiterating what others have said, essentially you should pay as much as you can afford. The composer wants to make as much money as possible. You want to spend as little money as possible. There's a number inbetween that will make you both happy, and Michael's suggestion of a percentage of the budget is a good one (and usually how music budgets are calculated on big projects). Lots of composers will work for free if they're starting off, or particularly love your project, or looking to fill a gap in their portfolio, etc, etc. If you really have nothing to spend, dig around, you can find someone, but try to offer some money.
Advice I could give? If you DO get a composer for free, take them out to dinner afterwards, or buy them a case/bottle of their beverage of choice. Goodwill is worth a LOT and they just did a TON of work for you. If they're doing it for free, odds are they're working a dayjob too, which means a couple months of 15 hour+ days. It's exhausting, physically and emotionally draining (unless they're absolutely phoning it in, in which case you probably wouldn't want to work with them again anyway). Show them you understand and appreciate it, and they'll definitely want to work with you again.
Advice I could give? If you DO get a composer for free, take them out to dinner afterwards, or buy them a case/bottle of their beverage of choice. Goodwill is worth a LOT and they just did a TON of work for you. If they're doing it for free, odds are they're working a dayjob too, which means a couple months of 15 hour+ days. It's exhausting, physically and emotionally draining (unless they're absolutely phoning it in, in which case you probably wouldn't want to work with them again anyway). Show them you understand and appreciate it, and they'll definitely want to work with you again.
For what it's worth, there are lots of resources for free music for your indie commercial film available online. It's not exactly a score, but with some editing you can generally weave a patchwork together to fit your movie. Most of it is dreck, but with patience you can find the decent stuff that will actually work for your film.
https://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
Also, remember that not all of that stuff is available for commercial usage. It's important to make sure before you use it in something you intend to make money on.
And if you do happen to make a little bit of money on your movie, don't forget to consider compensating them after the fact.
https://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
Also, remember that not all of that stuff is available for commercial usage. It's important to make sure before you use it in something you intend to make money on.
And if you do happen to make a little bit of money on your movie, don't forget to consider compensating them after the fact.
Not sure about where you live but where I live there are a few people willing to work for very low pay, to have a movie or even commercial, or skit, added to their resume.
Best answer!
Generally, you get what you pay for, but there are plenty of musicians with extensive demos out there that you really shouldn't have to worry about "a gamble." The reason you should pick the composer is because they already have a sound that is appropriate for the project. I also think that every filmmaker should be listening to soundtracks, regularly. This goes a long way to knowing what you want.
I have a dark, cinematic style, yet I can't tell you how many times someone hired me to score something, only to have me redo the piece as a "happy, uppity" jingle. It's tough dealing with people who have no idea what they want.....and are cheap, too.
Though he paid, I used to have a producer who loved to party, after getting his tracks. Some of the crazier nights in my life.
I actually don't agree with the 5% of the budget rule being touted here. Spend what you gotta spend. Get the best deal you can get. But don't sacrifice quality.
Very nice! Also (current peeve of mine), if the composer is doing it for credit and portfolio, make sure you give him a dvd as SOON as the final edit is locked. I've had to HOUND directors for copies of films I worked on, which is annoying and frustrating on many levels.
Though oddly enough, that seems to be a problem more with the local guys. All the long-distance jobs I've done, paying or not, have been great about getting stuff to me.
I released a CD of my film's music soundtrack ahead of the film's release. It can be a nifty PR trick if your music is great and you can get them made at a low cost. Everyone who bought a "pre-official-release" DVD got a CD.
I did enough promotion so that one can buy or download the CD at quite a few sites on the net.
This is just an example: http://www.amazon.com/Lexie-Cannes-Composure/dp/B000CAH4ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318558770&sr=8-1
**** I'm not trying to sell anyone a CD!****
Anyway, having a CD in hand helped recruit cast and crew members as I needed them. It also helped to have the title of the film everywhere on the net long before it came out.
Good luck.
I did enough promotion so that one can buy or download the CD at quite a few sites on the net.
This is just an example: http://www.amazon.com/Lexie-Cannes-Composure/dp/B000CAH4ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318558770&sr=8-1
**** I'm not trying to sell anyone a CD!****
Anyway, having a CD in hand helped recruit cast and crew members as I needed them. It also helped to have the title of the film everywhere on the net long before it came out.
Good luck.
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