Do libraries ever hire composers and pay salaries?

[bplogic]

Hello all,

I’m still pretty fresh to the music library thing; I suppose I’ve been working at this for about 6 months now.

I’ve been wondering: my musical and technical skills are strong, but I don’t have a background in the business side. With these things in mind, it seems to me like I could be valuable to a company as an employee hired to produce music and/or sound FX, sound design, etc, while the executives manage the business.

From what I can tell and from what I’ve read here, most composers are working as self employed people. If I were well experienced in the business, this would seem pretty ideal. Since I’m not, gaining that business experience while drawing a salary seems like a good option. Sure, I might make less money than I could have made by working for myself, but then again I might not make any money at all until I become more savvy in the business.

So. Does anyone know of production houses that hire composers, producers, and/or engineers? Alternatively, are there any composers out there so busy that you’re turning down work?

Thanks,

Matt

[Mark_Petrie]

Salary type arrangements for composers are rare, but in terms of ‘libraries’ (I use that term loosely) they exist in three forms that I know of:

– small TV music companies, usually run by the credited composers of TV shows, who need to farm out the work. You have to split the writer’s share with your bosses. You might have to write at a brisk pace, like two completely finished tracks a day. The work might also involve ‘finishing’ the sketch that your boss creates. That type of work is more common in scripted TV, whereas in reality TV land you’re most likely churning out track after track on an assembly line.

– music companies that specialize in custom music for commercials, where you get a salary for showing up to work every day to quickly write two, maybe three 30 second spots. Salary + bonuses for winning spots.

– game companies, where composers are in house. There are some game music companies too.

I mention these companies because very often you’ll just be writing music for a catalog of tracks to go out to the client, so you might as well think of it as a library.

There is a risk that you can burn out doing this work day in and day out, so it’s not for everyone.

On the other hand, maybe you’re asking if libraries pay upfront to composers who still work at home. The answer is yes, and in my experience it’s:

– reality TV composers who need lots of music, and you split the writer’s share for $100 – $200 per track

– buy-out libraries, where you give up all licensing income for $600 – $2000 per track.

[guscave]

I read an article about a very successful library that has about 17 full time in house composers. Each one does about 7 songs a day. That’s about a song an hour (if you’re working 8 hours a day). I really like this library because they’ve gotten me tons of placements, but for me, producing that many tracks a day would be like factory work and it would kill my passion for writing music.

When I was doing this full time I could churn out about 3 tracks a day, and that was pushing it.

[Kiwi]

To add to Mark Petrie’s excellent post: There are also tv production companies out there with in house composers or affiliated music houses. I work freelance for one occasionally. The deal is a nice fee per track or per batch of tracks and full writer’s share. I’m sure the full time people are on salary and get the writer’s share too.

[MichaelL]

I read an article about a very successful library that has about 17 full time in house composers. Each one does about 7 songs a day.

I was part of an “in-house” group of core composers for a PMA library for several years. I did 10 to 15 tracks per month, not “7 a day.”

That sort of deal is rare these days.

[ComposerLDG]

I was part of an “in-house” group of core composers for a PMA library for several years. I did 10 to 15 tracks per month, not “7 a day.”

That sort of deal is rare these days.

Sounds like a pretty good deal, if you can get it!

[MichaelL]

Sounds like a pretty good deal, if you can get it!

They we’re a great group of people to work with, sadly no longer releasing new music. Just lucky to be in the right palce at the right time.

[MichaelL]

Note to self: type when awake. 😀

[Advice]

In addition to the other good answers here, one thing to remember is where composers and production music are right now on the supply & demand curve. There is a glut of available composers and music, way more than demand. The exception might be for demand in very high quality niche areas.

So while it’s not impossible to be paid as an in-house library writer, it’s got to be pretty darn tough to find a gig like that nowadays.

[Author]

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