performance fee

HI everyone,

I keep hearing that orchestras will ask for performance fee before they performance a new piece. Is this true?   

On 11/14/2025 at 7:47 AM, Kvothe said:

HI everyone,

I keep hearing that orchestras will ask for performance fee before they performance a new piece. Is this true?   

 

I can't imagine why it wouldn't be true tbh

On 11/14/2025 at 10:47 PM, Kvothe said:

HI everyone,

I keep hearing that orchestras will ask for performance fee before they performance a new piece. Is this true?

Well... if musicians don't have to make a living or if they have some modern royalties to grant patronage to them then this may be false...

3 hours ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

I can't imagine why it wouldn't be true tbh

 

If a work is program, then shouldn't composer be paid? 

41 minutes ago, Kvothe said:

If a work is program, then shouldn't composer be paid? 

 

If you're just wanting an orchestra to perform your uncommissioned music, then they may charge a rate to print sheet music copies and otherwise prepare the piece. Especially for student pieces. Like, recording an orchestra for example typically costs 10s of thousands per hour.

In concert music, if they commission a piece, they would pay for that piece and then pay out performance royalties to the PRO on top of that.

Also in concert music, if they did not commission the piece, but choose to perform it in a concert, the composer is paid royalties through their PRO.

BUT I'm not aware of many orchestras outside of music college ones being in the business of playing concert pieces that that don't already come from classical repertoire, films or video games anyway.

In short: If it's for a concert and you're trying to get them to play your piece in it, they may want some amount of money to prepare the piece, but not a raw fee simply to "play" it. They have to pay to play it.

But it is a bit of a moot point. Most orchestras, at least that I'm aware of, won't even give an unknown composer consideration for concerts.

19 hours ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

If you're just wanting an orchestra to perform your uncommissioned music, then they may charge a rate to print sheet music copies and otherwise prepare the piece. Especially for student pieces. Like, recording an orchestra for example typically costs 10s of thousands per hour.

In concert music, if they commission a piece, they would pay for that piece and then pay out performance royalties to the PRO on top of that.

Also in concert music, if they did not commission the piece, but choose to perform it in a concert, the composer is paid royalties through their PRO.

BUT I'm not aware of many orchestras outside of music college ones being in the business of playing concert pieces that that don't already come from classical repertoire, films or video games anyway.

In short: If it's for a concert and you're trying to get them to play your piece in it, they may want some amount of money to prepare the piece, but not a raw fee simply to "play" it. They have to pay to play it.

But it is a bit of a moot point. Most orchestras, at least that I'm aware of, won't even give an unknown composer consideration for concerts.

 

Ah there's the rub: what is the best route then to be consider for new composers? 

4 minutes ago, Kvothe said:

Ah there's the rub: what is the best route then to be consider for new composers? 

 

Well, keep in mind I don't write concert orchestral works much and neither did the composers I worked with when they were recording orchestras. So I'm not an expert on concerts. 

But from what I DO know about concert composers:

Most of them come through academia. If you're a student, that's your best shot. Some churches might also have small orchestras.

Otherwise, volunteering or getting some other job with an orchestra and building up a network with orchestra directors and what not you may eventually get them to perform some of your shorter pieces (not much longer than 4 minutes) in a concert. If you really build up a good relationship with them, they might even start commissioning you, which a single commission could be a 5-figure amount of money. But that would probably take years of networking and essentially proving yourself.

The reason it's so difficult to get an orchestra to play new music in a concert, even if it is very good, is that orchestras have become very niche and they need repertoire on the bill that is basically guaranteed to put butts in seats; names that people recognize. If there are too many names people don't know, then they risk not selling many tickets. That's why so many concerts these days pull from games and films: It's the best source of "new" material that people will pay to see.

Honestly, you may just want to reach out to orchestras near you and straight-up ask them about playing your pieces and what sort of hoops you'd have to jump through (don't phrase it like that though).