# Need help with rates for youtube clients



## bleupalmtree (Nov 29, 2022)

I want to charge clients a fair rate but without screwing myself over. 


I have a few people, clients, who needs help with creating music for their youtube intro (10-15 seconds) or would like a 30 second piece of music for their video vlog. One's a humble channel with around 25 thousand, another just has 2-3000 subscribers and another is a channel with under 1000 but it looks like it's growing fast with subscribers; then there's one youtuber with over 300 k subscribers. 


Like if one of my clients wants a buyout for a 10-15 second intro exclusively for their channel, a piece of music that will start off their video every time it begins. How much would I charge them? Or if one wants 30 seconds of non exclusive piece of music for their vlog, what's a fair price to charge? A minute loop of non exclusive music, how much would I charge? 



Also I have one youtuber (the one with over 300k subscribers)who likes two of my tracks I made. They're about 45 seconds long each(Christmas tracks). If she wanted to use it non-exclusively how much would I charge for each track?



How would I handle transaction if were cities, countries (US to Canada; Cali to New York) apart? Do I use PayPal, Venmo? What's the best way for clients to send me money? Charge half upfront then other half when finished, right? Do I do one free revision? And I'm really new to this but what's the best way to send them the track? With gmail?


I have the perfect business name so I plan to get that going up on Facebook. I already made an Instagram, twitter, tiktok, gmail with the name I came up with so Thank God the handle wasn't taken lol


If you can help me I would really appreciate it.




Thank You


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## proggermusic (Nov 29, 2022)

First of all, don't sell the righting/publishing rights to your music! Sell the clients a "perpetual license" for use with their YouTube channels. Keep the rights to your compositions and register them with your PRO!

Money-wise, I would recommend a reasonably standard rate, like $200-300 per minute of music, with a minimum of $100-150 per individual piece. (So: $100-150 for up to 30 seconds; up from there.) That's a "buddy rate" for an up-and-coming channel, and I would make sure they knew that: a really established client working with a really established composer should be able to afford considerably more than that.

Make sure they send you very specific references that are as close as possible to the vibe they're looking for, and manage expectations for how many revisions you're willing to do. Good luck!


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## Pier (Nov 29, 2022)

bleupalmtree said:


> How would I handle transaction if were cities, countries (US to Canada; Cali to New York) apart? Do I use PayPal, Venmo? What's the best way for clients to send me money? Charge half upfront then other half when finished, right? Do I do one free revision? And I'm really new to this but what's the best way to send them the track? With gmail?


I wouldn't use Paypal. The fees are high and there's always the slight chance they might think you're selling something illegal or against their TOS and just don't give you the money. Good luck getting your money if that happens. In my experience bank transfers are the usual form of payment for pro services.

Something else, if your client is a pro they will probably need an invoice for taxes. Some countries are very strict about what kind of invoices they accept so discuss this beforehand.

Charging upfront will depend on the client but if it's people you don't know or you've never worked with yeah I would ask for 50% upfront.

Regarding revisions it's difficult to say. Of course you don't want to do eternal revisions but OTOH one revision seems a bit strict. I've worked with clients on all sorts of projects (design, music, software, etc) and the strategy that has worked for me is having a clear vision of the expected results way before discussing the price or even doing any work at all. Show the client some references, talk with them to see what they like or don't like, etc. Otherwise you risk missing the shot completely. Also manage expectations. If the client expects something that sounds like a John Williams piece and doesn't have the budget, be very upfront and transparent about it.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Nov 30, 2022)

bleupalmtree said:


> Or if one wants 30 seconds of non exclusive piece of music for their vlog, what's a fair price to charge? A minute loop of non exclusive music, how much would I charge?


If it’s an existing non-exclusive track, I’d charge $30 USD and make sure it’s registered with your PRO. That’s what I charge (in this category), for any length track in my licensing portfolio. If you’re writing them a custom, exclusive track, I also agree that you shouldn’t sell the rights. However, if the client insists, then make sure it’s a substantial price. I’d probably charge at least $5k for a 30 second piece…..and for YouTube use only.


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## Emanuel Fróes (Dec 1, 2022)

bleupalmtree said:


> I want to charge clients a fair rate but without screwing myself over.
> 
> 
> I have a few people, clients, who needs help with creating music for their youtube intro (10-15 seconds) or would like a 30 second piece of music for their video vlog. One's a humble channel with around 25 thousand, another just has 2-3000 subscribers and another is a channel with under 1000 but it looks like it's growing fast with subscribers; then there's one youtuber with over 300 k subscribers.
> ...


You are good. a guy wanted me to mockup Final Phantasy soundtracks for free in his channel recently 

I know is hard and depends on how much is the demand, but if possible: If you have a portfolio that shows you can be reliable, consider 60$ hr your minimum, and start thinking from there. We are not cleaning bathrooms.


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## bleupalmtree (Dec 1, 2022)

Emanuel Fróes said:


> You are good. a guy wanted me to mockup Final Phantasy soundtracks for free in his channel recently
> 
> I know is hard and depends on how much is the demand, but if possible: If you have a portfolio that shows you can be reliable, consider 60$ hr your minimum, and start thinking from there. We are not cleaning bathrooms.


Funny you say that, I've cleaned bathrooms at Target for 4 years as a cart attendant and worked in my Dad's Janitorial business cleaning schools which taught me there's nothing to be ashamed about honest work.

But yeah, I hear you. Don't cheat myself working for pennies and be taken advantage of.


I really appreciate all of your answers. Thank you all!


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## bleupalmtree (Dec 29, 2022)

Pier said:


> Charging upfront will depend on the client but if it's people you don't know or you've never worked with yeah I would ask for 50% upfront.


For youtubers/twitchers who need music for their videos/stream

$300 -- 1 minute of music
$275 -- 45 second track
$250 -- 30 second track
$225 -- 15 second track
$200 --10 second track

I'd keep all rights of course.
__________________________________

??? -- existing non-exclusive track... maybe $45?

$5-7K -- custom, exclusive track



I'm not a pro and these are just rough estimates I came up with.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 29, 2022)

Looks like a good basic rate guideline. Personally, I have yet to be hired by someone for a YouTube video based on a "per minute" rate. For me, it has always been just licensing out a non-exclusive track. These days, many online producers just grab a RF sub somewhere for $5 a month.


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## bleupalmtree (Dec 29, 2022)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> Looks like a good basic rate guideline. Personally, I have yet to be hired by someone for a YouTube video based on a "per minute" rate. For me, it has always been just licensing out a non-exclusive track. These days, many online producers just grab a RF sub somewhere for $5 a month.


New to this but what's RF sub?

When it comes to selling existing non-exclusive track what has been your most popular dollar amount that people seem to grab onto: $29, 35, 45?


Also I checked out your site and WOW! User friendly, and the color scheme of site is beautiful. You have everything organized and easy for the buyers to know what they are searching for. I need me a site like that one day lol

Nice logo font and name.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 29, 2022)

Thanks a lot! It's always a work in progress. It's really a crap shoot with the prices, but it's typically the cheaper ones that get picked up. It's the bigger lincenses that are the real winners, as those are typically broadcast and have the decent backend royalties.

RF means Royalty Free (pay for music one time and use it for a certain period of time). For basic Youtube videos, etc, you get access to a RF catalogue for a low monthly fee. Artlist.io and Audiio.com are an example of this. With Audiio you get lifetime access for $250 or something stupid. I can longer be bothered writing music for companies like that, it's really pathetic. I had a ton of stuff on Pond5 and did pretty good until they lowered the bar and increased their cut. I recommend getting into more reputable libraries, both exclusive and non-exclusive.


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## JayZ (Jan 3, 2023)

bleupalmtree said:


> For youtubers/twitchers who need music for their videos/stream
> 
> $300 -- 1 minute of music
> $275 -- 45 second track
> ...


Would you apply this model, specifically for the custom exclusive track to video games as well?


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## GtrString (Jan 3, 2023)

I would do it for free, for keeping all rights. Meaning, release the music, and have them use it on their channel. They would need to accept the claim from the distributor, but then you would get paid for every view of the vids with the music. They would still keep the video rights, of course. Win-win. After some time, losing those few hundred upfront bucks wouldn’t matter zip.


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## bleupalmtree (Yesterday at 5:54 PM)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> I recommend getting into more reputable libraries, both exclusive and non-exclusive Massive Music?


Do you know anything about MassiveMusic?


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