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Looking for a video game music composer!

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I think the best way to figure out the rate is having a discussion with your potential composer, there's no -right- rate here.

Best of luck with your game! :)
 
Thank you for your answer, but if you find that my rates are too low, you can tell me what a good price would be and I can make an effort on my budget, it's not a problem, I don't know the price rates as good as professionnals like you and I am sorry if some of you were offended by that, but I absolutely don't want to scam anybody. I just don't like Henu's reflexion, I don't think it's like that, that you can solve problems, but anyway, I don't want to create drama, let's just have fun ;)
The issue is not the rates per se, it's the (latent?) assumption that you're here to take advantage of people (which I am not saying anyone here *is*, just that past threads wherein this *was* the case have been referenced). From what I see it looks like you're acting in good faith, so I don't want you to feel like you did something wrong by asking a question. We're all here to learn!
 
Well, I am absolutely not here to scam people, I don't know from what message I've sent you can think that, but, could you just tell me what you think I should do as for my rates? I don't want people to feel fooled by any mean. Cheers!
 
Well, I am absolutely not here to scam people, I don't know from what message I've sent you can think that, but, could you just tell me what you think I should do as for my rates? I don't want people to feel fooled by any mean. Cheers!

Don't worry about it, no one thought you were scamming people. :)
 
I am a Greek composer and have won an award for best documentary score in Greece for 2014. I have no experience with video games, but want to get into that world, and I'd be happy to provide the tracks you need. I don't have a demo reel up, but you can check my bandcamp for some idea of my production skills (it's mostly electronica/dance tracks, but you'll get an idea). I can provide you other types of tracks in private, of course. https://manosventouras.bandcamp.com/
 
Sorry, @LeSoma - it's just that there's recently been quite enough of discussion about game music rates and how it seems to be some sort of a rule of thumb that "anyone can do game music" and the price offered matches accordingly.

I know indie games are hard work and the budget is low. You may not generally know about the stardards of payment in game music, and besides that whatever they are, nobody surely expects an indie game company to have the budgets like that.

But to be honest, the minimum price should be that 150 € per song at starters, and with that price I'd strongly suggest only licencing the music from the composer for this purpose (a.k.a not owning the rights for the music, only owning the permission to use it in your game). By paying the originally intended amount of money you're not only most likely getting subpar music, but also degrading all the other people's work who compose music for games.
You could also make the composer "an offer they can't refuse" and offer a fair share of the future profits if those happen. In this case, that 150 € for starters feels more like a "gesture" and doesn't feel so insulting at all.

Then again, it seems that some people are happily begging to work for peanuts, so the fuck do I know.
 
@LeSoma I don’t get how you can not realize yourself that the money you offer is not even sufficient to support ones bare necessities of life ... Any working composer would at least take two days to write those tracks - at least, if the result should be something decent! Then, there are almost always multiple re-writes or changes involved in a project. Without knowing you, one would have to assume an average. I would at least calculate 3 (long) days of work for that kind of job, but in some cases it will take more ...

A composer will also pay for a studio. This could be anything from a small bedroom to a dedicated building with multiple rooms and recording facilities. But even in the case of a bedroom, there are computers, audio equipment, software and samples involved. The sum you offered would maybe cover one to two plugins. But you would need probably 300 of those “jobs“ to only cover for the average cost of a basic bedroom studio equipment - without having eaten, payed your rent or anything fancy like taking a small vacation ...

Now, with all of that knowledge, you should be able to get a feeling for what you are asking for ... ask yourself: would you want to work that kind of hours and use your expensive equipment for that price? In case, the Game becomes a commercial success, wouldn’t you feel sour for having been fed peanuts?

Well, as we all don’t know you, the most important question is, are you working for money or are you still a student and mainly mum and dad pay for your daily needs? If that is the case and you were aiming find somebody else who is also still a student, then it is fine to even look for someone doing it for free. But as soon as you are looking to sell a product, you should set up a provision contract with everyone involved working for free. Working for peanuts is almost the same ...
 
I agree one has to be pretty naive to think that $150 gets you three songs. No let me rephrase, because $150 actually will get you three songs: one has to be pretty naive to think that paying $150 for three songs is a decent fee and a fair thing to do. The word “naive” is also only applicable in the best case scenario, where I’m trying hard to believe in the good side of humanity.
 
f***ing greek mythology! That's awesome. If you can show a clip or some screenshots it might inspire the musicians. :grin:
As to price, the songs are 30 seconds each if I read correctly. That's extremely short, more like a stock music bumper length than a song. For me, I'd do that for $150 - $200 no problem. It's 1.5 minutes of music. But it's a side thing for me.
 
@LeSoma I don’t get how you can not realize yourself that the money you offer is not even sufficient to support ones bare necessities of life ... Any working composer would at least take two days to write those tracks - at least, if the result should be something decent! Then, there are almost always multiple re-writes or changes involved in a project. Without knowing you, one would have to assume an average. I would at least calculate 3 (long) days of work for that kind of job, but in some cases it will take more ...

A composer will also pay for a studio. This could be anything from a small bedroom to a dedicated building with multiple rooms and recording facilities. But even in the case of a bedroom, there are computers, audio equipment, software and samples involved. The sum you offered would maybe cover one to two plugins. But you would need probably 300 of those “jobs“ to only cover for the average cost of a basic bedroom studio equipment - without having eaten, payed your rent or anything fancy like taking a small vacation ...

Now, with all of that knowledge, you should be able to get a feeling for what you are asking for ... ask yourself: would you want to work that kind of hours and use your expensive equipment for that price? In case, the Game becomes a commercial success, wouldn’t you feel sour for having been fed peanuts?

Well, as we all don’t know you, the most important question is, are you working for money or are you still a student and mainly mum and dad pay for your daily needs? If that is the case and you were aiming find somebody else who is also still a student, then it is fine to even look for someone doing it for free. But as soon as you are looking to sell a product, you should set up a provision contract with everyone involved working for free. Working for peanuts is almost the same ...

Maybe a professional composer wouldn't be trolling internet forums as their career plan. ;) There are certainly odd gigs that pop up that way, but I would think someone serious about the business would be cultivating more stable venues and connections.

There are people who can bang out passable video game music in a day or less... at least 1.5 minutes of it. Maybe that's all this developer wants. Even at the minimal $150, as a daily rate that's $54k salary, which is what many people live on in some areas. Tidbit gigs like this are probably more appropriate for side giggers though.
 
Always a tricky debate.

I'm just an hobbyist who composes music after my day job for pleasure. 150 eur and having some music in the real world somewhere sounds nice.
Usually, I compose anyway and the music stays on my drive and that's it. So I would not lose anything and would get 150 eur and the (holly grail) exposure :grin: . Great isn't it?

On the other hand, I know those rates are way too low. And I don't want to be playing that game of lowering the fees and screwing this up for pros just because I don't need the money to eat (cfr day job).
I don't want to be that guy. I wish I could be pro myself, so...

On the other other hand, I know that a pro would be way better at doing this than me. So if you want to pay 150, you get someone like me. If you want a pro, you pay x4. You get what you pay for, right? Your call. So why not apply then?

You also have things like Pond5 where you could get your music for even cheaper...
So yeah... It's kind of f**ked up.

I understand everyone's position. Arguments on both sides.

I'm staying off this (not that I would get it anyway ;) ). Unless you wanna pay me 1000 eur of course. Then I'll send you my cv ;)
 
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Sure, and there are probably people who can paint my two-store house in a day or less. And for a fraction of a regular price too! Would I hire them, is another question.

What if it was a backyard guest studio, and you had an experienced handyman offering to paint it for $200, and then two unemployed "professional house painters" started badgering you for considering paying less than $2000 since that's industry standard. :laugh:
 
What if it was a backyard guest studio, and you had an experienced handyman offering to paint it for $200, and then two unemployed "professional house painters" started badgering you for considering paying less than $2000 since that's industry standard. :laugh:
Hahaha cool one. I guess this is one of those discussions where there really is no wrong or right...
 
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