maestrowick Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Jobs in composition Obviously, we all here want to write music, get paid writing it, and have our music played consistently. So how do we do it? This thread will probably not be exhaustive but merely an overview. As time progress, you can ask me here publicly and I will answer if I know the answer (maybe we need a "Ask Maestrowick" section here? :w00t: ) College/University The most common thing is to teach college to maintain income. This usually happens after nine years of collegiate studies (bacc, masters and PhD/DMA.) Jobs will either be posted in theory, composition or a combination of both. Now these are faculty positions which are nine-month contracts. There are some staff positions that schools usually like to hire people with terminal degrees ESPECIALLY libraries (these jobs are nice also and pay well. It keeps you in a music environment and places you alongside classical musicians.) Film/TV/Theatre Probably the most lucrative but the hardest to enter. This is the good ol' boys system at its finest. Best way to enter? Find some friends who are majoring in film and do their music. Note: Steven Spielberg is not interested in your music. He has John Williams; he doesn't want you. Create a partnership with others to build your name. There are orchestrator positions but these are not usually posted. If one were to contact a film composer, he might hire you as an orchestrator at $10 per hour with no royalties or as a ghost-writer (that means no credit.) Welcome to Hollywood. Advertising This is also lucrative but doesn't come with much notariety. Contact some of your local ad agencies, they might be willing to give you a chance. You are cheaper than Billy Joel and don't expect to be paid like Justin Bieber. Take the money! Other Commercial Entities Despite slow sales, record companies aren't going anywhere. Write some hits, arrange some strings and choruses. It pays and it's FUN!!!!!!! That girl down the street who is always singing might be a star. She might sound great if someone with some musical training is guiding her. Why not produce her? That's what I did! :phones: Commissions in Composition Ok, this one is real tricky and finicky! :headwall:. Once again, when you go to school, make relationships and write a lot of music. By the time you have matured as a composer, people you have gone to school with will want music from you. Usually in college, you do them for free. YES FREE! :smithy: . A GREAT LIVE RECORDING IS PRICELESS! By the time you graduate, people will not look at you as a freebie but as a professional (that is a whole different topic.) Competitions are great also. I used to be be anti-competitions; however, I see the good in them. I will say don't write specifically for a contest. Use what you have and enter what fits. If you win, they are usually marketed pretty well so good PR always helps! Conclusion The underlying thing here is college (ESPECIALLY for classical composers) and even more so, RELATIONSHIPS. If you are a jerk or an introvert, people might be hesitant to promote and perform your music! Be nice to people. You'll never know who will be next great conductor! :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
composerorganist Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 To support the post, I started getting commissions and public performances when I took the Juilliard's Evening Division's composition course with a teacher who ensured we wrote drafts and final versions for perforrmers every one to three weeks. One day an organist said he liked my draft and asked if I would finish it for an April concert. I submitted a final one, he made some recommended cuts and changes, I obliged for most of them (he is an excellent musician) and viola my first commission. It was unpaid but I got a good recording and have a good friend who is fine a musician. After your first commission working with a performer and hearing your work played well, you'll want to find other performance opportunities. The first few came from my class as I met undergrad and grad student performers at Juilliard. Strangely, not everyone in my class took full advantage. I will say I paid performers whenever I could. If I could not, I was honest and let them decide if they ever want to do it on their own with me as a consultant. And don't burn bridges if you can ... I got the commission (unpaid) for an opera scene because my OLD comp teacher was on the board of this new performance organization. And befriend your professors and go to your colleagues concerts as well as reaching out once in awhile to new music. As maestro said you have to be a little affable. Now, note that I have not been paid yet, but as maestro points out, a live recording is a great form of compensation for solo, chamber and vocal works. For your first orchestral or musical dramatic work, a live recording is fantastic but due to the labor there is a point you need to be paid for something. That goes eventually for the smaller works. I advise joining ASCAP, BMI, SECAM. With these agencies you can sign up for a small fee as a publisher to get some royalty in addition to small compensation for performances of your works. Maestrowick forgot one area composers overlook for employment - church musician jobs. The scope can vary from something that requires only a few hours of practice in one week and pays about $8,000 a year for one service per week which you could play the piano to a full fledge Director of Music position requiring a good 25 hours to rehearse music and prepare a choir, another 15+ for paperwork, researching new music, organ/library maintenance. For these positions pay ranges widely depending on geography, in NYC you can make up to 80K a year but the normal range is 20K - 40K. Outside of NYC metro area the rates drop (well the exception are wealthy communities with a long history of involvement in music and arts, eg Scottsdale, AZ) . However, there is room to give lessons and do concerts during the down times when instead of 40 - 50 hour weeks you are doing 20 hour weeks. Great time to participate in composition retreats, perform or work on commissions. Even for singers this works as churches always need good choral leaders and vocal coaches - just build decent keyboard skills and basic, solid conducting skills. My point is you can find a wide array of positions to fit your professional goals and economic needs. You don't even have to go into this as a steady Sunday position, the skills gained are great for subbing at churcheswhen you want. For all of the above though college and grad school are one of the BEST arenas to develop the contacts - not all musicians studying at the conservatory are going to be classical musicians, many crossover to pop, folk-pop-classical fusions, electronics, film and media. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestrowick Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 ^^^well said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestrowick Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 As I reread this, I need to add something to this. CURRICULUM VITA (sometimes spelled Vitae) Make a vita and keep an accurate listing of EVERY piece you have written, arranged and had performed! It counts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolas Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 There are several other fields that one can make money off composition (or close by)... 1. Scoring music for computer games! It's not easy and it takes a great tech head. It also usually means that you love computer games and are a geek! ^_^ That said it's a blooming industry, probably more so that Hollywood itself (don't quote me on this though). 2. Arranging, orchestrating, copying, etc. While it might seem boring, it's a great way to learn things, to learn about harsh deadlines and to ultimately network. 3. Ghost writting! Whoever said it's bad is right! :D but in the end it is there and it makes sense! You don't get the credit, but you get to meet people! 4. Finally. Working for libraries. A dangerou field, but I know plenty of people who earn lots of money from such venues. It's more liberating to working with jerks who know very little about music, but it's not exactly breath taking either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froglegs Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 There are several other fields that one can make money off composition (or close by)...1. Scoring music for computer games! It's not easy and it takes a great tech head. It also usually means that you love computer games and are a geek! ^_^ That said it's a blooming industry, probably more so that Hollywood itself (don't quote me on this though). 2. Arranging, orchestrating, copying, etc. While it might seem boring, it's a great way to learn things, to learn about harsh deadlines and to ultimately network. 3. Ghost writting! Whoever said it's bad is right! :D but in the end it is there and it makes sense! You don't get the credit, but you get to meet people! 4. Finally. Working for libraries. A dangerou field, but I know plenty of people who earn lots of money from such venues. It's more liberating to working with jerks who know very little about music, but it's not exactly breath taking either... You write for computer games don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolas Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Yes, but not only that. From the media part of music I've scored a couple of documentaries, a couple of theatrical plays, some ads, a DVD and so on. And plenty of games. But I adore contemporary classical music and I've got a few commissions from around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.