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Hi all! Wanted to ask a semi-hypothetical question. I would love to get to do the cues for a whole season of a reality show. I know it’s a pile of work. Wondering if anyone does this or has done it. Just wondering how many unique cues would be needed for an entire season of a reality series? Track lengths? Turn around time? I know alot of the music for these shows are pooled from libraries (and I’ve had a bunch of placements), but I do see some series with “single” composers. Thanks for the help!
When I worked for companies that wrote all the music for a reality show, 1 season was around 40 – 60 tracks of a variety of moods, all stemmed out, at least a minute in length. There was also some writing to picture for important scenes – some of those cues could be as long as 5 minutes.
I don’t think all 40 – 60 would necessarily get used, but the producers wanted a pool of music for the editors to pick and choose from. Some tracks would get used again and again, others never made it on the show.
When I’ve worked directly for shows it’s averaged around 30 cues from me for a season but I’ve always been part of a team with at least 2 or 3 other composers. Most cues are around 1 minute to a minute and a half in length, sometimes longer. Turnaround depends on the type of cues that are needed and how picky the producer is. It’s nearly always quick though, often with plenty of revisions. Definitely not a lot of time for introspection or second guessing.
My experience is similar to Mark and Kiwi. I delivered around 40 cues in a variety of moods and stems. For special segments, I wrote to picture, usually about 2- 3 minutes.I also brought in one other person, who contributed about half the cues. Turnaround time is short.
Some cues get used some don’t. Even with our 40 cues. the editors still used dozens of cues from libraries like, DeWolfe and 615.
A average MTV style show has 100 cues per episode and 6 to 12 episodes per season. So if you are asking about having all the cues in a season you would have to provide 500 to 1500. As others have said all cues will not be used.
But even at these numbers there would still be outside music used.To your latter questions:
In my experience, again, it all depends. The shows I’ve worked on often need a lot of light tension cues which is nice since they can usually be finished in 3 – 6 hours with just a few elements. But every show I’ve worked on also needs at least an equal amount of more fully fleshed out cues with more elements and often a feel of authenticity as far as instrumentation and mimicking a full band in a believable way. Styles are all over the place. I’ve done everything from sci-fi soundscapes to bluegrass and zydeco swamp blues. Lots of pop/ rock and often a lot of Southern styles. Sometimes there has been a surprising combination of styles for one show. Usually I’ll get a heads up of a couple of weeks followed by orders for music that need to be filled in a week to 10 days. The order could consist of 5 – 15 cues. Everything is dictated by the needs of the shows.
Pretty much what Kiwi just said. Hey, are we working on the same shows?!?!? 😀
Ha! I wouldn’t be surprised! But then again, there’s a bazillion of them…
FYI, I’ve had placements on shows where one composer is listed and no libraries are credited.
Great Thread. For those of you working directly with the shows. Are you licensing the cues exclusively or non-exclusive? Also are the deals setup in perpetuity or for a certain amount of time?
I recently read where some production companies have requested portion of the copyrights too. Have you dealt with that?
Thanks,
If you’re composing for a specific show, and writing to picture, is there a dollar value you can attach to a cue/minute..? I’ve been asked to write for specific scenes to fill-in where library music won’t work – any input would be greatly appreciated!
For me it’s always work for hire through a music house/ production company so it’s exclusively theirs forever. Upfront payment is a flat amount per batch and I get the writer’s share. The network is the publisher. This is all pretty much standard. Occasionally, when there’s a special need, I’ll license a track directly from my personal library. That’s nice because there’s a sync fee plus I get writer’s and publisher’s and it’s also non-exclusive. I never push my tracks though. Only when I’m asked and it’s usually something that falls outside of the prevalent style of the show that’s needed very quickly.
@SCP
Other than a handful of ads, I’ve never written to picture for tv so I have no experience there.
@guscave – I license non-exclusive. But these are cable shows with lower budgets, so they’re not in a position to demand exclusive.
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