What to charge for custom licensing and commissioned work - a guide..

From what I’ve read here, most of us use AudioJungle mainly as a form of promotion with a nice side income or as a hobby. I don’t think many of us make enough money off this to live off of. Maybe the top 10 sellers might live comfortable and then the next ten can use it as a means of part-time employment but that’s it. As for me it might cover the energy bill or part of my groceries but that’s it.

I have heard stories about people getting better paying commissions out of this and did want to find out whether freelance commissions really do come out of doing this so if you are one of those lucky authors that got contacted please do share to give us a glimmer of hope!

I’m assuming that’s why Gareth (Thanks so much for uploading this… you’re the man!) uploaded this so people know what to charge when it does happen… right?

TortoiseTree said
I’m assuming that’s why Gareth (Thanks so much for uploading this… you’re the man!) uploaded this so people know what to charge when it does happen… right?

That is the subject of this thread

I have heard stories about people getting better paying commissions out of this and did want to find out whether freelance commissions really do come out of doing this so if you are one of those lucky authors that got contacted please do share to give us a glimmer of hope!

There is hope my friend, but I don’t know how often it happens and to whom. I was contacted for a 20K job earlier this year – and they found me only because of AudioJungle. VERY big company though, and they wanted something completely custom and exclusive. It was the largest so far for me – so it happens, but how often and to who else I don’t know….but am sure it does.

First of all, thanks for the information, Gareth!

TortoiseTree said
From what I’ve read here, most of us use AudioJungle mainly as a form of promotion with a nice side income or as a hobby. I don’t think many of us make enough money off this to live off of. Maybe the top 10 sellers might live comfortable and then the next ten can use it as a means of part-time employment but that’s it. As for me it might cover the energy bill or part of my groceries but that’s it. I have heard stories about people getting better paying commissions out of this and did want to find out whether freelance commissions really do come out of doing this so if you are one of those lucky authors that got contacted please do share to give us a glimmer of hope!

You’re correct in my case – it’s a nice extra part-time job for me. I wouldn’t be able to live off AJ income alone, but I could live somewhat comfortably (if I were single) off what I’ll make in stock sales overall this year. As it is it’s a great way to build up my studio and put a nice chunk in savings every month. But I’m not leaving my day job any time soon

I get some freelance contacts – no 20K jobs yet , but you never know what could come up. I did have a recent opportunity with my existing tracks that was a nice chunk of change and happened as a direct result of posting to marketplaces such as AJ.

As for the 100,000-250,000 jobs – to me they are not a reality. I don’t have the time, expertise or motivation to put in the legwork and build connections for that sort of work, nor can I normally work on a deadline. I personally am OK with the model we have here (multiple micro sales instead of a few big gigs) because a.) I am extremely time limited and b.) 90-95% of the time I do have is spent just in the creation and production of music, which is the most satisfying part.

Tim, Gareth, Jhunger,

Thanks so much for responding and sharing. I think every author here looks up to you guys to eventually have careers like you guys! As for us smaller authors we’re going to keep uploading and raising the quality of our portfolios so eventually we too can get private commissions!!

The survey’s findings are based on data provided by leading industry agents, composers…
I believe “leading” implies Hans Zimmer, Clint Mansell, X-Ray Dog and such. So, these rates are not relevant to AJ authors, except maybe a few.
I spoke to a Spanish composer that creates Epic Cinematic music, really awesome BTW , and his rates start from €100 per 1 minute of musical composition. That seems more reasonable to me than those astronomical rates in the survey. Unless you are a leading figure in the industry, of course.

Art-of-Sound said
The survey’s findings are based on data provided by leading industry agents, composers…
I believe “leading” implies Hans Zimmer, Clint Mansell, X-Ray Dog and such. So, these rates are not relevant to AJ authors, except maybe a few.
I spoke to a Spanish composer that creates Epic Cinematic music, really awesome BTW , and his rates start from €100 per 1 minute of musical composition. That seems more reasonable to me than those astronomical rates in the survey. Unless you are a leading figure in the industry, of course.

Oh boy….

I know a bunch of composers who were asked to participate in this survey, and they are most certainly not leading. I think the term was written with the emphasis on leading industry AGENTS , not leading industry agents+composers+orchestrators, etc….. Most of the big composers I doubt would bother to disclose their actual fees, or would leave it to their agents (there are only 3-4 major agencies representing composers anyway).

Do you think Hans Zimmer is doing guerrilla feature films, student films? No, I don’t think so.

Look further down the list and you’ll see the cost per hour per player of the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra is $18 (this is accurate – because I have checked recently). They are good players, but they are certainly not ‘leading’.

I posted this list because the actual fees for the lower-medium budget stuff – and indie work IS useful for AJ authors, so it sounds like you haven’t actually bothered to read the article in full.

What’s funny is that you think these rates are astronomical. Only the high budget stuff seems astronomical. If you think doing a low-budget indie feature for $5,000 is astronomical, well… good luck for your career! Certainly not in America or US. It’s just about reasonable, but certainly not astronomical. $5,000 for highly technical/skilled work that will probably take 6 weeks to 2 months to finish, is really not a great reflection of what it actually takes to complete around 60 minutes of music, especially if that music is orchestral.

Especially in video games, these fees for medium/top level projects are actually UNDER -estimated in my opinion. Many package fee deals for videogames at the top end go for more than $100,000. I know this, because that’s a deal I recently negotiated with a client for a game to be released next year. Equally, mobile games can go for around $100 per minute. Every project is different, and I think this survey shows that.

As for your friend, he is entitled to charge whatever he wants, that’s both a beauty and a curse of the industry. I think I write decent cinematic music too, and I would never charge 100 Euros a minute for it, not for custom composition. This does not mean I think I’m a better composer than your friend, the number I charge is what I think my skill/experience is worth, and there are plenty of people willing to pay for it.

I should point out that I am definitely NOT a leading composer in the industry.

Anyway, if everyone was JUST trying to save money for their music budgets, they’d all be buying royalty-free music. When you’re charging to do a film score (for example), you’re not just charging for the music, but your ability to tell a story, your YEARS of education (or experience, or both), your gear/equipment and the cost of hiring players/mixers/engineers and that is why the top composers get paid so much.

I guarantee that if your friend aspires to make music of the same quality of Hans Zimmer’s music, that he will not be able to charge 100 Euros a minute. One of the main reasons Hans’ music sounds so good is because he has a phenomenal engineer – Alan Meyerson – who costs more than $5,000 a day. Good luck with that rate!!! Or maybe your friend is as good as Hans Zimmer, and the world doesn’t know it yet?

And maybe your friend doesn’t aspire to make music like that, and that’s OK, but many authors do, and this survey represents a kind of roadmap for them.

There is a perception that music budgets are shrinking and maybe they are overall, but if you find the right director and someone who believes in your work, they will find a way to make it happen for you. A lot of it has as much to do with your ability to communicate and work with other people then actual music ability.

As TortoiseTree points out, most authors here use Audiojungle to supplement their work in the industry or to get started, so…the point of putting this salary survey up was to show AJ users:

1) Where to start.

2) Where you can go, with a lot of hard work, dedication, and luck.

and 3) as jhunger rightly points out, some authors may not WANT or have time to do this, and that’s totally fine. But I can say with some certainty that many authors here have aspirations to work in the film/game industry. If so, they are not – in the long term – going to have great success writing 2 minute ‘epic’ cinematic cues for the rest of their lives, hoping they get placed in a major film. It’s just not gonna happen, at least not in the next 10-20 years (and maybe with some exceptions). Maybe for reality TV shows or other projects (documentaries) that make extensive use of library music, but not narrative projects. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but… I don’t think so.

So…. actually it’s all relevant. Whether you agree with the figures or not is a different matter, but the figures themselves are a pretty accurate representation certainly of the US/UK industry, which is where many authors are working (but not all). Additionally – at the very worst – they are a good starting point when you’re trying to work out what to charge for custom work.

Finally, I get a question from an AJ author (and non AJ authors) on what to charge for music at least once a week, usually more, so…. I think it’s something people want to know or at least get a different point of view.

Okay. Thank you for the thorough explanation and great post.

Thank you Gareth! very useful reference!