Thank you for a brilliant expose on the state of music composition and fees today! I wrote and recorded over 300 scores and music cues for Discovery, History and others in the 90's and early 2000's. I kept the publishing and licensed the non-exclusive use in perpetuity for the program they were written for. They were done with the best samples available at the time, and they have continued to generate income of various amounts for over 20 years. That can't happen anymore because all the networks insist on holding the publishing and you retain your writer's share, so 50% of your future income is now in someone else's hands. Streaming is the pits for royalties, and since CD sales and downloads are rapidly disappearing it is getting more difficult to get anything on the back end of projects. Since I have hundreds of pieces in Cubase and Creator (now Logic), I have put together a mac with Leopard on it so I can export those Cubase VST and early Logic projects and redo them with Spitfire samples. I am going to try to get them to libraries, maybe they can still have some legs.
Yes, I heard that on the discovery channel in particular that composers are being paid flat fees rather than royalty, or something along those lines. I hope the flat fee is enormous.
This is probably the best video I've seen yet on the business side of music scoring. I'm in the U.S. so there are certainly differences, but the basic ideas are the same. I appreciate your candor and willingness to share so much information others seem reluctant to talk about. Fantastic, thank you.
Thankyou! Patron of the arts was not how I envisioned my life turning out, but any idea of making money through performing has now been placed in the "not realistic" bucket. Day job beats 1M subscriber youtubers from what I have seen recently. Sometimes it is just being in the correct place at the correct moment of time. For me it has been 40 years as a software developer with 10 years before that as an electronics hobbyist making pianos, radios, organs and modular stuff. Had I been more business orientated I could have gone in so many other directions. Being generous with what you have has turned out to be key. I volunteered for a computer user group that lead me to getting offered a job in the USA. I supported a kickstarter that lead me to meet Michelle Moog-Kousa. Supporting the Bob Moog Foundation lead me to meet Dina Pearlman of the ARP foundation. The hard thing to learn is that it is not your view of your skill that matters, but other peoples view of your skills. They may value skills that you do not think are important so be open to what others say if you can.
I've been a professional composer since 1987 and can assure you that every word of what Christian says is true. This is an excellent and concise summary. The only thing I would add is the ingredient of Luck. Keep working, do your best every time and if Lady Luck smiles on you then the breaks - and the financial rewards - will come. If they don't then at least you will know that you have always given it your very best shot. But do keep in mind at least a rough business plan and learn the difference between turnover and profit. You do not want to be reduced to selling gear to pay the rent. Keep your debts and outgoings low; hire big bits of kit (or personnel) as you need them. Nice one, Christian. :)
This was a super informative video...thanks so much for the transparency and thus, true education. After a 25-year career as a photographer, and now getting into sound design, I see lots of parallels: 1)the business side being taught almost zero, when it's the biggest contributor to career success, 2)don't avoid free work, but be conscious about the value, e.g., hold onto licensing rights, 3)simply that sharing business knowledge helps everyone! There always seems to be the idea amongst creative professionals that business knowledge is somehow precious, but sharing it actually preserves best practices and keeps the field thriving for all.
These are really inspiring videos for anyone, doing anything. How can one guy be so energetic... You are truly blessed. I was writing jingles for local car dealers, shops, ad agencies etc. back in the 80s-90s, reflecting on it, was happy to get paid anything for them. Then over time, we always want more cash and became more selective over which work we would take on.
Nobody ever talks HARD money. Actual amounts. Thank you! What do people who do this make and how do they get paid? Important information and yet held in such secretive ways.
Brilliant video Christian. The music business is very cloak and dagger when career and finance is involved so this is so refreshing and humble to see. If i ever get to where you are then i'd be exactly the same and give as much as i can back to the people climbing the ladder.
Many many thanks for your advice! As a GSMD graduate I def agree when you say that students haven't got a clue on how to deal with the business side of this lovely profession! cheers from Buenos aires!
thanks Daniel... this one is a bit waffly but I hate seeing people make the same mistakes I made! I think if people study how talent like HZ have crafted such amazing careers there's a lot to learn.
A lot of great things have been happening for me since I've been following you both! I really need you both to keep it up. This kind of information is solid gold to someone starting out and I can't thank you enough.
Would love to watch you on a new video about "Is it necessary to have solid bases in music theory, to know about scoring and writing for an orchestra, to dream of a composer life?", giving advices based on your experience ! 🙏✨
Extremely useful and informative. The young composers I speak to are amazing at music, but have no idea about the business. I'm going to point them all right to this video. Bravo, Christian.
The quality of your videos and your products - is motivation in a nutshell! Just remembering the fact that someone makes great content and epic products, putting so much energy in everything - even video editing - it is pure magic and it just makes everyone learn more and make better music! And thank you for "Originals Cinematic percussion"! This is exactly what I was searching for so long!
Thank you very much for this information Christian!! You are the most original advisor I've ever seen...Please keep doing this...there are many of us out there trying to make a living with music creation and sometimes we feel lost in this jungle.
seriously appreciate you taking the time to share your experience ! this is EXACTLY the same as a cinematographer's life making a living behind a camera. one's 'eye' is the 'sound' - it's what makes one film stand out (or Netflix originals these days) from another - but ACs, Grips, DITs, Drivers, Equip Rentals etc... must all be included in the budget, as well as rights... used to be called 'negatives' - and NOONE ever sold the negative (or the 2" Studer master tape) - unless made for hire (under contract with a studio/record label). i worked for HBO in the 90s and very quickly realised project based pricing was very good - and meant projects can be individually tweaked based on all the points you're making here - and can be negotiated based on back-end sales percentage, number of viewers, shown nationally/internationally etc... bottom line - as a DP on a film, tv show or youtube show, each is negotiable - nothing is free - everybody needs to be paid. trajectory is everything. ty ps remember when sampling first showed up - oh the mess that first caused.
This is excellent and rare advice, one of the trickiest things in business it to know what to charge. As a businessman myself I would also advise people to never allow an accountant to run your business for you. Listen to what they say, understand it, but *YOU* make the business decisions.
Dru Masters here - quite correct Christian, the less I'm paid, the worse I'm treated/respected. It's easier, of course, once you have a reputation and enough PRS rolling in to be able to negotiate or say no. And you can never guess which director is going to be the one who brings in the next great thing, but as you say, there's little chance that you'll go from a small indie movie to a big Hollywood feature, even if the director does fight for you (which they won't because they'll be offered a huge name and will be overruled by the producer or exec).
I have no intention at all writing any music to earn a living from it, as for me I could only write when I feel like it, what I feel like writing, with no one telling me what to do. That would make a hobby feel like work. But I am interested in everything involving orchestral music production, soundtracks in particular, so I learned a lot from this video. Thanks
Fantastic as always. I'm an ex-pat Brit living in the states and have done a couple of indie feature films (Earned bugger all), some commercials and lots and lots of industrial type stuff (Training video's etc) One thing I have noticed is the corporate training videos usually pay the most up front fee's (forget about performance or mechanical) They tend to use stock music library music, and i've basically found a niche in telling directors and producers that i'll write custom pieces of music for about the same as it would cost to sync the music from one of the online libraries, but they don't own the music, they are essentially getting a more custom version and I keep ownership and right to use again (Unless they purchase an exclusive option, where i can't reuse it, but I still own the rights). The kicker is that a lot of production companies don't know they pay for play, and that $100 "License" to use a track they found online could end up costing them hundreds more depending on scale of viewers (Not always the case but good to show them what can happen). The earning are peanuts in reality to the larger terrestrial earnings, but do enough of them, its a tidy side business bordering on full time endeavor. They key as you so importantly put it is have a fucking business plan. Fingers in pies and all that! Cheers.
Handyman vs visionary comparison was such a great explanation of two different ways of building career. Being a handyman myself it makes me think a lot... thanks for the video!
Morning Christian (its still morning here in Bermuda-coffee in hand)... I'm fairly certain that I'm the 'someone' who asked if you might do a 'business side' vlog. This is really excellent and just want to say that I so appreciate your candid honesty...Thank you so much!! .. Cheers For Beers ~Rich
Thanks Rich, I thought this one was just for you and me, but people seem to be liking it so many beers to you for the suggestion. We're also going to tailor some main channel Spitfire stuff to these very specific kinds of conversations so thanks again. CH
This is information I've been looking for, for ages, I did about 4/5 years of music production education and I didn't learn a single thing about business so I felt really lost when I finished, a great help thank you
This is unbelievably amazing information! Thank you for this! While I've been writing music pretty much my entire life, I decided to got he Writer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor route. Not really considering a career change, but thought I'd put my music out there to see if I can earn any money off of it, and this is really helpful in knowing what my rights are and in targeting the proper business path to travel down. Thank you for this!
Phoenix Rising - 1. Not one person from the airlines, petrochemical or aviation industries has come forward talking about chemicals in fuel. 2. My cousin works for Rolls Royce Turbines, my father designed aero engines, adding chemicals would radically change burn characteristics. 3. Contrails are high up and something over Scotland might get blown to Russia. 4. Look at footage of WWII American bombers, contrails from their piston engines. Contrails are water molecules frozen in the -30 to -50 degree C temperature of the jet stream. In short, shut the f*ck up you brain dead retard!
This is a brilliant video, thanks for this. Very honest and informative, we tend not to like talking about money, it's usually about art, inspiration, motivation, the artistic process. This was honest and very enlightening, thank you!
Thank tou! I've been watching your composer/cribs series, and this popped up. I appreciate your interview style and thank you for this info. Looking forward to watch more in this series.
Hi there. I'm a musician composer from Argentina, and i'm just starting out in this area (which has always been the job of my dreams, since i was little). I want to thank you for this video, it was really helpful and inspiring. Hope we get to meet some day. Cheers!
This is amazing, so many people will find this useful, no-one ever speaks about money, which I get, but there's not really any other way to learn what to charge people. For ages I didn't know if I was being a dick and asking too much or not valuing my product enough, so thank you very much!
good advice, "whats your budget" is always a good start. Other considerations who's in it? Is it a project I am passionate about? Is there a pay off in the end: future work - huge chance for royalties - a great project for your resume. I just finished a project that wasn't great at the pay end, but future looks good, plus I got to work with Sir Derek Jacobi. More projects with him, Sylvester McCoy (Dr Who) Colin Baker (Dr Who) Tony Todd (Candy Man) coming up, and they are all Hammeresk, so for me it was worth it. However, I was offered a composing job for minimal wage , nobody in it, and no potential for distribution. It would be shown a few choice film festivals and then die a dismal death to someone's back closest. Desperate as I was for money, (you are correct BTW, thanks to the internet music is worthless), I walked from this gig. Unless you are top 10 in Hollywood, producers and directors know they have us by the short and curlies as there is no work out there. You'll make more being a barista at Starbucks than as a composer. But being an artist isn't something you "do". Its who your ARE.
I am an IT contractor with nearly 20 years of experience, doing music as a hobby, and one day professionally. I would say, the same principles apply in IT... If you don't value yourself, nobody will ever do it.
Thanks! I make my living from IP, but it's almost totally opposite yours. We do market research. The fee is for the work, and the product (a report) has basically no residual value. I love making business plans. Back in MBA school my team represented our University in a business plan competition. The main thing I learned from that experience is no one will challenge your ability to sell. If your business plan involves selling, then people will believe it, but if it involves something else, you're out of luck.
So true, I used to spend 80% of my budget on studios and musicians. I also spent 25 years working 14-18hr days, 7 Days a week. Bugger that. The technology now allows you to be quicker and better.
This is great info. Most of the time composers seems terrified to talk about money, for some reason. It feels like it's the biggest taboo in the world. So, it's nice to see some actual numbers.
Profund insights, thank you so much for explaining all of this. It can be quite confusing to navigate all of this as a freelancer.. Knowing when to say no and what's truly important to the Composer. Deeply appreciative..
Thanks for your insights on here, Christian. On the iTunes/streaming issue, who is managing that for you? My experience is the opposite of yours in regards to iTunes and streaming of soundtracks. I have a fraction of the content that you do and I've been seeing solid results for 5 years plus. Excellent word on owning all the back end possible. That's been the best guide given to me in my entire journey and has saved my business. NO MORE FREE WORK FOR DIRECTORS...I can't agree with you more here. It's accomplished nothing but heartache, and has only led to more free work...
Some brilliant insight, Christian. As always. Thanks! I hope you keep doing those videos as it is my favourite stuff to watch on youtube (this and spitfire journal videos).
Definitely one of the best vids yet. So much info that so many starting out are looking for, and few working composers are happy to speak openly about their rates. I think its a little different in the game industry, so if you can share any experiences there, I'm sure many would appreciate it...I'll definitely be re-directing inquiries I get to your channel!
![ละลาย (LALALYE) - DAOU PITTAYA ต้าห์อู๋ พิทยา [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wo6r9TgausI/mqdefault.jpg)
“If you do not value what you do, people aren’t going to value it on your behalf.” Preach, bother!
Thank you for a brilliant expose on the state of music composition and fees today! I wrote and recorded over 300 scores and music cues for Discovery, History and others in the 90's and early 2000's. I kept the publishing and licensed the non-exclusive use in perpetuity for the program they were written for. They were done with the best samples available at the time, and they have continued to generate income of various amounts for over 20 years. That can't happen anymore because all the networks insist on holding the publishing and you retain your writer's share, so 50% of your future income is now in someone else's hands. Streaming is the pits for royalties, and since CD sales and downloads are rapidly disappearing it is getting more difficult to get anything on the back end of projects. Since I have hundreds of pieces in Cubase and Creator (now Logic), I have put together a mac with Leopard on it so I can export those Cubase VST and early Logic projects and redo them with Spitfire samples. I am going to try to get them to libraries, maybe they can still have some legs.
Yes, I heard that on the discovery channel in particular that composers are being paid flat fees rather than royalty, or something along those lines. I hope the flat fee is enormous.
This is probably the best video I've seen yet on the business side of music scoring. I'm in the U.S. so there are certainly differences, but the basic ideas are the same. I appreciate your candor and willingness to share so much information others seem reluctant to talk about. Fantastic, thank you.
Your last line … killer! I actually laughed out loud.
I love your Channel.
Thankyou! Patron of the arts was not how I envisioned my life turning out, but any idea of making money through performing has now been placed in the "not realistic" bucket. Day job beats 1M subscriber youtubers from what I have seen recently. Sometimes it is just being in the correct place at the correct moment of time. For me it has been 40 years as a software developer with 10 years before that as an electronics hobbyist making pianos, radios, organs and modular stuff. Had I been more business orientated I could have gone in so many other directions. Being generous with what you have has turned out to be key. I volunteered for a computer user group that lead me to getting offered a job in the USA. I supported a kickstarter that lead me to meet Michelle Moog-Kousa. Supporting the Bob Moog Foundation lead me to meet Dina Pearlman of the ARP foundation. The hard thing to learn is that it is not your view of your skill that matters, but other peoples view of your skills. They may value skills that you do not think are important so be open to what others say if you can.
I've been a professional composer since 1987 and can assure you that every word of what Christian says is true. This is an excellent and concise summary. The only thing I would add is the ingredient of Luck. Keep working, do your best every time and if Lady Luck smiles on you then the breaks - and the financial rewards - will come. If they don't then at least you will know that you have always given it your very best shot. But do keep in mind at least a rough business plan and learn the difference between turnover and profit. You do not want to be reduced to selling gear to pay the rent. Keep your debts and outgoings low; hire big bits of kit (or personnel) as you need them. Nice one, Christian. :)
You've just answered about 50 questions I'd wondered about for donkeys years. Thank you! Loving this channel.
One of the most educational music business video I have ever seen!
Yes... I am delighted that Christian created this channel. It is very 'real' and quite unusual as such. I also like Junkie XL for similar reasons.
This is the best channel I've accidentally stumbled across recently
Really good of you to do this, particularly as it's quite personal in places.
hi
This was a super informative video...thanks so much for the transparency and thus, true education. After a 25-year career as a photographer, and now getting into sound design, I see lots of parallels: 1)the business side being taught almost zero, when it's the biggest contributor to career success, 2)don't avoid free work, but be conscious about the value, e.g., hold onto licensing rights, 3)simply that sharing business knowledge helps everyone! There always seems to be the idea amongst creative professionals that business knowledge is somehow precious, but sharing it actually preserves best practices and keeps the field thriving for all.
These are really inspiring videos for anyone, doing anything. How can one guy be so energetic... You are truly blessed. I was writing jingles for local car dealers, shops, ad agencies etc. back in the 80s-90s, reflecting on it, was happy to get paid anything for them. Then over time, we always want more cash and became more selective over which work we would take on.
Nobody ever talks HARD money. Actual amounts. Thank you! What do people who do this make and how do they get paid? Important information and yet held in such secretive ways.
this is the single most useful and interesting video I've ever encountered on TH-cam. Top stuff, Christian!
Brilliant video Christian. The music business is very cloak and dagger when career and finance is involved so this is so refreshing and humble to see. If i ever get to where you are then i'd be exactly the same and give as much as i can back to the people climbing the ladder.
"...And then, I do Richard Hammond's Blast Lab"
END
😂
Genius!
Christian, your candour is a beautiful and extremely illuminating thing. Thanks muchly.
Many many thanks for your advice! As a GSMD graduate I def agree when you say that students haven't got a clue on how to deal with the business side of this lovely profession! cheers from Buenos aires!
Absolutely loving these mate! Keep it up :)
thanks Daniel... this one is a bit waffly but I hate seeing people make the same mistakes I made! I think if people study how talent like HZ have crafted such amazing careers there's a lot to learn.
me too! Great videos
Daniel are you the guy Christian mentions? You've reached dizzying heights these last few years!
He was talking about Daniel Pemberton. A few tiers up. =)
A lot of great things have been happening for me since I've been following you both! I really need you both to keep it up. This kind of information is solid gold to someone starting out and I can't thank you enough.
"Don't shit on your own IMDB page" haha! Classic.
Would love to watch you on a new video about "Is it necessary to have solid bases in music theory, to know about scoring and writing for an orchestra, to dream of a composer life?", giving advices based on your experience ! 🙏✨
Extremely useful and informative. The young composers I speak to are amazing at music, but have no idea about the business. I'm going to point them all right to this video. Bravo, Christian.
The quality of your videos and your products - is motivation in a nutshell!
Just remembering the fact that someone makes great content and epic products, putting so much energy in everything - even video editing - it is pure magic and it just makes everyone learn more and make better music!
And thank you for "Originals Cinematic percussion"! This is exactly what I was searching for so long!
Thank you very much for this information Christian!! You are the most original advisor I've ever seen...Please keep doing this...there are many of us out there trying to make a living with music creation and sometimes we feel lost in this jungle.
seriously appreciate you taking the time to share your experience ! this is EXACTLY the same as a cinematographer's life making a living behind a camera. one's 'eye' is the 'sound' - it's what makes one film stand out (or Netflix originals these days) from another - but ACs, Grips, DITs, Drivers, Equip Rentals etc... must all be included in the budget, as well as rights... used to be called 'negatives' - and NOONE ever sold the negative (or the 2" Studer master tape) - unless made for hire (under contract with a studio/record label). i worked for HBO in the 90s and very quickly realised project based pricing was very good - and meant projects can be individually tweaked based on all the points you're making here - and can be negotiated based on back-end sales percentage, number of viewers, shown nationally/internationally etc... bottom line - as a DP on a film, tv show or youtube show, each is negotiable - nothing is free - everybody needs to be paid. trajectory is everything. ty ps remember when sampling first showed up - oh the mess that first caused.
I think this is a very honest appraisal Christian. Very good. I too, love Farrow & Ball paints and can highly recommend them.
Possibly the most helpful video I've seen as a young composer. Thanks so much, Christian!
Christian you are amazing. Thank you for everything you share and teach us! I like the rawness in your talking, it's refreshing and real!
This is excellent and rare advice, one of the trickiest things in business it to know what to charge. As a businessman myself I would also advise people to never allow an accountant to run your business for you. Listen to what they say, understand it, but *YOU* make the business decisions.
Dru Masters here - quite correct Christian, the less I'm paid, the worse I'm treated/respected. It's easier, of course, once you have a reputation and enough PRS rolling in to be able to negotiate or say no. And you can never guess which director is going to be the one who brings in the next great thing, but as you say, there's little chance that you'll go from a small indie movie to a big Hollywood feature, even if the director does fight for you (which they won't because they'll be offered a huge name and will be overruled by the producer or exec).
Always great to see when I have helped a friend and mightily busy composer procrastinate for 17 minutes. See you back in London tomorrow Dru!
Christian Henson Music 17 minutes plus all the other ones that caught my eye in the sidebar. Damn you Henson!
Great insight, Dru (loved your Creative Cribs episode btw!) So how does one go from small indie movies to Hollywood features?
Aneek Thapar I'll tell you when I get one!
I have no intention at all writing any music to earn a living from it, as for me I could only write when I feel like it, what I feel like writing, with no one telling me what to do. That would make a hobby feel like work. But I am interested in everything involving orchestral music production, soundtracks in particular, so I learned a lot from this video. Thanks
Great video. Still learning but this is crucial: don't charge to get the gig, charge to build a company, even if you are a one man show.
Loving this channel...came via the Rick Beato interview. Great stuff :D)
Fantastic as always. I'm an ex-pat Brit living in the states and have done a couple of indie feature films (Earned bugger all), some commercials and lots and lots of industrial type stuff (Training video's etc) One thing I have noticed is the corporate training videos usually pay the most up front fee's (forget about performance or mechanical) They tend to use stock music library music, and i've basically found a niche in telling directors and producers that i'll write custom pieces of music for about the same as it would cost to sync the music from one of the online libraries, but they don't own the music, they are essentially getting a more custom version and I keep ownership and right to use again (Unless they purchase an exclusive option, where i can't reuse it, but I still own the rights). The kicker is that a lot of production companies don't know they pay for play, and that $100 "License" to use a track they found online could end up costing them hundreds more depending on scale of viewers (Not always the case but good to show them what can happen). The earning are peanuts in reality to the larger terrestrial earnings, but do enough of them, its a tidy side business bordering on full time endeavor. They key as you so importantly put it is have a fucking business plan. Fingers in pies and all that! Cheers.
Handyman vs visionary comparison was such a great explanation of two different ways of building career. Being a handyman myself it makes me think a lot... thanks for the video!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of the business. I wish you a fantastic 2022!
Morning Christian (its still morning here in Bermuda-coffee in hand)... I'm fairly certain that I'm the 'someone' who asked if you might do a 'business side' vlog. This is really excellent and just want to say that I so appreciate your candid honesty...Thank you so much!! .. Cheers For Beers ~Rich
Thanks Rich, I thought this one was just for you and me, but people seem to be liking it so many beers to you for the suggestion. We're also going to tailor some main channel Spitfire stuff to these very specific kinds of conversations so thanks again. CH
Gosh...over 4,500 views on this now Christian...am I eligable for royalties on this? ;) ... BeersAbounding ~Rich
Really useful stuff Christian. I could listen to you waffle on about this all day! Thank you!
This is information I've been looking for, for ages, I did about 4/5 years of music production education and I didn't learn a single thing about business so I felt really lost when I finished, a great help thank you
This is unbelievably amazing information! Thank you for this! While I've been writing music pretty much my entire life, I decided to got he Writer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor route. Not really considering a career change, but thought I'd put my music out there to see if I can earn any money off of it, and this is really helpful in knowing what my rights are and in targeting the proper business path to travel down. Thank you for this!
"If you do not value what you do, people aren't going to value it on your behalf..." AMEN!!!
I didn't know you did the theme song for Top Gear.Amazing!
This has been such a useful video already. Thank you for the advise; I will get my note book out and keep these tips for years to come!
This was all very handy as I'm putting together a budget for aupcoming TV pilot. Thanks Christian.. insightful as always.
Don't know which is clearer; the info or the sky.
Yeah they weren't spraying us that day.
Phoenix Rising - 1. Not one person from the airlines, petrochemical or aviation industries has come forward talking about chemicals in fuel. 2. My cousin works for Rolls Royce Turbines, my father designed aero engines, adding chemicals would radically change burn characteristics. 3. Contrails are high up and something over Scotland might get blown to Russia. 4. Look at footage of WWII American bombers, contrails from their piston engines. Contrails are water molecules frozen in the -30 to -50 degree C temperature of the jet stream. In short, shut the f*ck up you brain dead retard!
@@phoenixrising1576 put your tinfoil hat back on please
Best thing I have seen about this topic. Kudos! I wish all types of musicians see this not just composers.
This is a brilliant video, thanks for this. Very honest and informative, we tend not to like talking about money, it's usually about art, inspiration, motivation, the artistic process. This was honest and very enlightening, thank you!
This is simply THE BEST TH-cam channel! Thank you!!
Fabulous, fabulous advice!! As a mature music graduate with previous experience in the music industry moving into scoring, I am most grateful.
Super video, Christian. Loved the ending too, very funny!
Fascinating. Very very interesting.
FYI - I bought your soundtrack album to 'Triangle'! So you got at least one sale there :)
Excellent advice Christian, your right about the business plan!
Informative and entertaining as always! Keep up the great work! Greetings from Oslo, Norway
Brilliant! So much valuable information. Glad to have found your personal channel!
Inspirational discussion. Many thanks to you for opening up.
Thank tou! I've been watching your composer/cribs series, and this popped up. I appreciate your interview style and thank you for this info. Looking forward to watch more in this series.
He says”you have to value your work!” Absolutely he nailed it. People pour sht over you if you dont respect your value!
This is brilliant. Navigating these waters can be tricky so I really appreciate the rare insight. Thank you.
thanks so much for making this. well presented, clear and concise.
Excellent. Funny Smart and very informative. Thanks Chris. Your vids are cool.
"Don't shit on your own IMDB page" is my next tattoo.
Hahaha.
Great information and great channel. Thank you!
Very informative, thank you! (And I've just pre-ordered SA's new Abbey Road One Orchestral Foundations - looking forward very much to trying it out!).
This is fantastic. Nice work and thanks, Christian.
This was bloody brilliant. Thank you Christian!
This is awesome. Thank you brother. Also- as a yank, I was happy to learn that there are blue skies in the UK. lol
Hi there. I'm a musician composer from Argentina, and i'm just starting out in this area (which has always been the job of my dreams, since i was little). I want to thank you for this video, it was really helpful and inspiring. Hope we get to meet some day. Cheers!
Can’t believe I’m only now stumbling on this!! This is invaluable insight. Thank you so much!
So useful. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts!
This channel will become huge.
So insightful, brutally honest and engaging to watch. Thanks so much!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom, brother!
I wish someone told me this ten years ago, awesome! Cheers.
This is amazing, so many people will find this useful, no-one ever speaks about money, which I get, but there's not really any other way to learn what to charge people. For ages I didn't know if I was being a dick and asking too much or not valuing my product enough, so thank you very much!
good advice, "whats your budget" is always a good start. Other considerations who's in it? Is it a project I am passionate about? Is there a pay off in the end: future work - huge chance for royalties - a great project for your resume. I just finished a project that wasn't great at the pay end, but future looks good, plus I got to work with Sir Derek Jacobi. More projects with him, Sylvester McCoy (Dr Who) Colin Baker (Dr Who) Tony Todd (Candy Man) coming up, and they are all Hammeresk, so for me it was worth it. However, I was offered a composing job for minimal wage , nobody in it, and no potential for distribution. It would be shown a few choice film festivals and then die a dismal death to someone's back closest. Desperate as I was for money, (you are correct BTW, thanks to the internet music is worthless), I walked from this gig. Unless you are top 10 in Hollywood, producers and directors know they have us by the short and curlies as there is no work out there. You'll make more being a barista at Starbucks than as a composer. But being an artist isn't something you "do". Its who your ARE.
I am an IT contractor with nearly 20 years of experience, doing music as a hobby, and one day professionally.
I would say, the same principles apply in IT... If you don't value yourself, nobody will ever do it.
This is literally like saying "One day I will win the lottery."
Love these too, you're a passionate person and this is inspiring even at 55 years old!!
Thanks! I make my living from IP, but it's almost totally opposite yours. We do market research. The fee is for the work, and the product (a report) has basically no residual value. I love making business plans. Back in MBA school my team represented our University in a business plan competition. The main thing I learned from that experience is no one will challenge your ability to sell. If your business plan involves selling, then people will believe it, but if it involves something else, you're out of luck.
So true, I used to spend 80% of my budget on studios and musicians. I also spent 25 years working 14-18hr days, 7 Days a week. Bugger that. The technology now allows you to be quicker and better.
Really enjoying your videos Christian!
This is great. Honest and a lot of great information. Thanks.
Excellent advice thanks Christian!.
Great Video Christian! That is what starters really need to know!
Loving the videos Christian! Some great advice here for my personal career prospects in composing. Thank you!
This is great info. Most of the time composers seems terrified to talk about money, for some reason. It feels like it's the biggest taboo in the world.
So, it's nice to see some actual numbers.
I loved this. So informative and candid. I couldn't agree more as there are plenty of parallels in the world of pop!
Thanks very much for sharing this.
Profund insights, thank you so much for explaining all of this. It can be quite confusing to navigate all of this as a freelancer.. Knowing when to say no and what's truly important to the Composer. Deeply appreciative..
Absolutely fantastic video. Insightful and engaging. Thank you.
this is so great message. thank you for sharing!
Thank you for making this!
Fantastic, loved it all.
Thanks Christian, a really open and interesting discussion and I laughed out loud at the ending!
Thanks for your insights on here, Christian.
On the iTunes/streaming issue, who is managing that for you? My experience is the opposite of yours in regards to iTunes and streaming of soundtracks. I have a fraction of the content that you do and I've been seeing solid results for 5 years plus.
Excellent word on owning all the back end possible. That's been the best guide given to me in my entire journey and has saved my business.
NO MORE FREE WORK FOR DIRECTORS...I can't agree with you more here. It's accomplished nothing but heartache, and has only led to more free work...
Hi Tony, no one managing that for me at all, any insights always welcome! CH
Thank you Christian, one more subscriber from Montreal !
Some brilliant insight, Christian. As always. Thanks! I hope you keep doing those videos as it is my favourite stuff to watch on youtube (this and spitfire journal videos).
Great video. More, please!
So informative. Thanks for taking the time to do this. And you are really good in front of the camera!
Definitely one of the best vids yet. So much info that so many starting out are looking for, and few working composers are happy to speak openly about their rates. I think its a little different in the game industry, so if you can share any experiences there, I'm sure many would appreciate it...I'll definitely be re-directing inquiries I get to your channel!