# "We can't pay you, but..."



## clarkcontrol (Feb 15, 2010)

Thought you would all be interested in this:

http://mattepainting.org/vb/showthread.php?t=5905


Clark

PS:
A choice bit from the thread:

My question is why then are we chastised on the subject of fair compensation for our work? It's bad enough that we've allowed it to get to the point where producers have us underbidding each other to the point of going out of business, but it seems like the majority of e-mails and postings I read are from people who are asking for professional results, but think they can get it ridiculously cheap or free. 

I’ve seen postings (craigslist has the real dregs) where the person writes something like “sequence where the truck is driving away from the tornado, and it gets sucked up in the wind, then there’s some bullet-time, then it explodes in slow motion, blah-blah-blah. $120 flat free for the entire project.” At that point, it’s just insulting. Personally, I found that unless you charge a fair amount from your clients, they don’t take you seriously as an artist.


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## midphase (Feb 16, 2010)

It was a very well articulated post...the type I wish I could write.

Is it weird that I have some sense of satisfaction knowing that it's not just composers who are getting this treatment?

I guess misery does love company!

I don't know if this is related or not, but personally I put the fault squarely on schools. For the past two decades they have been cranking people out into the workforce with extremely loose admission policies and no concern for how this will oversaturate the job pool. Meanwhile tuition costs have unsurprisingly skyrocketed.


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## lux (Feb 16, 2010)

i also think fear makes a difference.

i have the impression musicians and composers tend to avoid collaborating and sharing work until they feel they have become so rich that nothing can hurt them anymore. Of course this is not going to happen ever. So, everything is in the hands of a few guys.


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (Feb 16, 2010)

I don't have a problem when people have a 0 budget project they want music for, for 0 money. As long as there's an understand they will never make a cent from it, and we can do damn well whatever we want with the music created from it.

However, the above situation really only applies to noob composers (first gig), friends/family, or something that has the potential of hitting hollywood and getting contacts. Even at that point, it's a judgment call. The worst part of being a composer imo.


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## kdm (Feb 16, 2010)

Quite true. The problem I see is the mentality of "cheaper at all costs" is seeping into higher and higher levels of the production world - not all, but far more than I had expected it to by now. 

Some of this is also sounding a word of warning that while we might not be working for low budget projects as a general rule, the day is fast approaching where we won't have many options left, regardless of skill or experience - today's "low" budget will be tomorrow's mid-range budget.


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