How Much Do You Charge?

When I quote a figure for, say, a commissioned piece of music, this is what I consider:

1. How long it will take to complete the work
2. Whether we’ve worked together
3. What the music will be used for
4. The use of my studio, equipment and consumables

1. How long it will take me to complete the work

this includes:

• research time
• time spent composing – which includes:
  • creating sound design palettes
  • experimenting
  • writing
  • mixing
  • re-drafting
  • final delivery compressing and formatting
  • working flexibly to meet short deadlines

2. Whether or not we’ve worked together before

which includes:

• if we haven’t – more time for in-person meetings, phone calls and back and forth discussion about practicalities and technicalities, back and forth redrafting or starting from scratch, increased number of studio visits
• if we have – less time needed for all the above because we’ve developed a short hand for working more quickly and efficiently together

3. What the music will be used for

which includes considerations for (amongst others):

• Broadcast or non-broadcast – I may factor in the potential for ‘back-end’ royalties from national or international broadcasting which would make up for a reduced fee up-front.
• Territories – Just one country? The universe?
• Duration of use – a week? a year? forever?
• Expected audience figures – 100s? 1000s? everyone in the world?
• Exclusive or non-exclusive licenses- if your licenses are exclusive that means I can’t re-license the music for that particular use again for the agreed term of the license. I make a guess at what I could have earned if the license was non-exclusive and factor that into the quote.

4. The use of my studio, equipment, recordings, sub-contactors and consumables

which includes: electricity, the hardware and software required to compose and produce the music, studio rental, session recordings and all the other consumables involved in managing a project.

I don’t have a standard ‘daily rate’ per se. As you can see from all of these considerations, no one project will be the same as the next. If I’m pressed for a rate, it might seem relatively high to take into account the ‘most-labour-and-equipment-intense scenario’. However, if you ask for a ball-park quote, these are the main factors I consider to give you the figure best suited to what you actually need within any budget that you have.

Get in touch to talk more about your project and we can craft a no-obligation quote that fits with your budget.