How important is location in this day and age?

[rgames]

I disagree in that statement so much that I won't argue more against it.

Good. Because that conversation has been had dozens of times on this forum. It always ends this way: nobody agrees what "quality" means because for any definition there are dozens of examples that do not meet it and yet have been successful in generating revenue.

Therefore there's no point in telling someone to focus on creating "quality" music in order to be successful.

People almost universally agree on Networking, Quantity and Luck. So, if you're looking for actionable advice that doesn't devolve into personal preference, focus there.

 

[KEM]

Very, I moved to LA in October and I’ve made a ton of connections here and am now closer than ever to being where I want to be with my career, being here allows me to actually meet all these people in person and build face to face connections with them and that is invaluable, and it’s something that wouldn’t have been possible if I wasn’t here. The old saying of “if you want to work in Hollywood you have to be in Hollywood” certainly rings true still to this day, and sure, guys like Hans and Lorne can move back to London, or Ludwig to Sweden, and still have their massive careers but that’s because they’re well established and in high demand, if you’re just starting out and trying to work your way in you absolutely have to be here, this is where the industry is, this is where all the people are, so this is where you need to be

 

[Saxer]

You can sit anywhere to work and share all the stuff via net. No problem.
But you have to know the people you work with in person.

 

[Vik]

But you have to know the people you work with in person.

Yes, in most cases that helps a lot – and/but many of us have experienced that moving to a new location helps massively. For some people this helps, for others it doesn't.

People almost universally agree on Networking, Quantity and Luck.

After this thread popped up I have googled a bit – and while there are lots of sites which offer advice re. how to succeed business wise, I can't see that Networking, Quantity and Luck is seen as an near-universal agreement – but never mind.

Maybe you're just humble, but you call yourself a mediocre composer at best and that you have a lot of work – and while I certainly won't claim that my taste can't be used as a reference for what's mediocre music and what isn't, it's quite obvious that lots of what has been made by so called media composers hasn't been put a lot of effort into. And don't forget that if enough people actually would go for quantity, luck and networking based on making mediocre music, it would more difficult to make a living out of making 'mediocre' music.

...like Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Mac Quayle, Gustavo Santaolalla, Neal Acree, Michael McCann just to name a few that inspired me...

Thanks for bringing up Santaolalla and inspiration into this – that's more interesting than focusing on how one can succeed and get away with music that maybe not even the composer is really happy with!

 

[Epic Wonder]

it seems to me like its all about who you know rather than actually how good you are, there's thousands of composers out there that can do it better than a lot of the people actually getting work just becuase they are at the right place at the right time or have connections. What a bs world

That is how the world works.

 

[zigacesen]

That is how the world works.

What a bs world

while you’re correct, i still don’t like it haha

 

[Epic Wonder]

while you’re correct, i still don’t like it haha

Change the world.

 

[ptram]

There's a lot of bs happening on this planet

And, since the times of Gilgamesh or the Iliad, we artists have been making money thanks to all that bs!

 

[ptram]

Slovenian

That is, a few hours by train from Munich, and about one hour flight to Berlin. Two of the main German and European filmmaking hubs.

I understand you may want to make the OST of the next Marvel film and get a star at the Sunset, but what about starting with something more humble, but that can win one prize after another in the many film festivals?

Paolo

 

[Geoff Grace]

it seems to me like its all about who you know rather than actually how good you are, there's thousands of composers out there that can do it better than a lot of the people actually getting work just becuase they are at the right place at the right time or have connections. What a bs world

Some of this is right and some of it is wrong.

Speaking again from my lengthy experience of working in this industry, I agree that it can help to be in the right place at the right time and know the right people. I’ll also add that it can help to have the right gear and be easy to work with.

Nonetheless, being good is a minimum requirement. If you aren’t at least good, you’ll never get any work. Even at the local level, you have to be at least competent. And the better you are, especially as a player, the more you’ll be in demand. I’ve worked with a lot of session players in LA, New York, and London; and they were all in the good-to-fantastic range of ability.

Here’s another important factor: if you are good, and you put yourself out there, then you’re more likely to get the work that will put you in the right place at the right time to meet the right people who will get you the right work. Lastly, the more you work, the better you’ll get; and the better you get, the more likely you’ll find the high-end work—as long as you put your work in a position where it can be heard by people who can make a difference.

Best,

Geoff

 

[thesteelydane]

I'm a nobody, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I think it's fairly obvious. If you want to score Hollywood movies, at least move to Hollywood. For anything "less", it's a sliding scale, and you're probably ok where you are. And there are other things that are important too in life, you know... your quality of life isn't determined only by how successful you are in your field - and at any rate you'll probably spend more than half of your life being unsuccessful, do you really want to spend that much time of your only shot at life in a place you don't like? I'm from Denmark, and could probably be more successful there, but I like the freedom I feel in Vietnam, so that's where I live. And the sounds I've made here (including some I made in my bedroom in the middle of Hanoi) can be heard in a few Hollywood movies, so anything's possible.

 

[Geoff Grace]

I'm a nobody

I disagree. For starters, everyone is somebody; but also, you’ve had some measure of success, so there’s that as well.

Best,

Geoff

 

[Epic Wonder]

I'm a nobody, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I think it's fairly obvious. If you want to score Hollywood movies, at least move to Hollywood.

Golden advice!

 

[proggermusic]

while you’re correct, i still don’t like it haha

I can certainly understand your frustration, especially early into a career. We would all love to think that only the very best at what they do are the most successful, the cream rises to the top, regardless of social context or logistical circumstance.

But I think there are some very legitimate reasons for, and benefits to, professional work having an element of social trust. For one thing, it can lead to brilliant work: Spielberg trusted John Williams to write scores for his films, and that led to some extremely adventurous, advanced, and powerful music, with levels of sophistication that would scare away most clients. In a creative enterprise, mutual trust is immensely important.

Find some fellow music/film people you genuinely like and get along with. Make friends, be genuine about it, and then get better and better at what you do, be good for a long time. As your friends get promoted, you'll get promoted. It's an old-school industry in some ways!

 

[zigacesen]

That is, a few hours by train from Munich, and about one hour flight to Berlin. Two of the main German and European filmmaking hubs.

I understand you may want to make the OST of the next Marvel film and get a star at the Sunset, but what about starting with something more humble, but that can win one prize after another in the many film festivals?

Paolo

It was never about the money or extreme success but more about making a living working on projects you actually like without having to resort to a day job or scoring just plain bad movies/tv/commercials. i know it’s usually not possible to only do that and sometimes you have to work on projects that you really aren’t interested in but the majority of media composers have to resort to pretty much only “soulless” work just to get by (i pity the guy having to score the 100th episode of some stupid TLC show or some terrible hallmark movie). It’s too bad that good interesting projects come in very limited numbers and are for most composers inaccessible regardless of the composers ability. Thats not to say it’s impossible, just very improbable.

Not to mention the quality of modern media rapidly declining so it will only get worse probably

 

[Jeremy Spencer]

i pity the guy having to score the 100th episode of some stupid TLC show or some terrible hallmark movie

I would LOVE to be in that scenario, and should be so lucky. Not to sound like a jerk, but with your outlook on this, you aren't going to get very far as a composer looking to make a living in the industry. Limiting yourself to one area, and choosing only projects that meet your definition of fulfillment, is only going to pigeon-hole you and rapidly limit your possibilities; and ultimately, limit the essential contacts that could lead to bigger and better gigs. Unless, of course, you have a stellar resume behind you....and a website that showcases Hollywood-level compositions that are right up there with A-list composers. At that point, the world is your oyster.

 

[zigacesen]

I would LOVE to be in that scenario, and should be so lucky. Not to sound like a jerk, but with your outlook on this, you aren't going to get very far as a composer looking to make a living in the industry. Limiting yourself to one area, and choosing only projects that meet your definition of fulfillment, is only going to pigeon-hole you and rapidly limit your possibilities; and ultimately, limit the essential contacts that could lead to bigger and better gigs.

Yeah i mean to each their own, for me it’s the opposite of why i got into music as a little kid

 

[Louie]

@vancomposer has some really interesting threads about a native European eventually moving to LA for media composition. This one has a lot of member success stories that they were very generous with sharing, and great insights.

https://vi-control.net/community/th...ing-in-la-in-2022.121708/page-10#post-5134409

edit: the original thread is not @vancomposer, but @jononotbono--number of posts with Members's stories.

 

[MartinH.]

the industry of media composition is like thousands of turtles having to get to the sea, except imagine a 100m deep ravine on the beach. And even for the few that somehow manage to get to the sea, the reward is just normal life, nothing special. Very bleak imo, only fueled by irrational "love" of music.

It seems like we're like guys trapped on an island fighting for the one girl that's on the island and that girl is a 3/10. Or in this case its 3/10 films lol

I'm not saying you're wrong, but if this is how you see it, are you sure that's the right job for you? It doesn't sound like it to me. It's way too hard to "make it" to bother trying when you don't think "making it" is some kind of dream come true. I wouldn't want to have that job.

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

This give up attitude and the negativity towards anything that doesn't confirm you in what you're thinking already means you're bound to get absolutely nowhere.