The 3rd fastest growing job in the USA is…

[Chuck Mott]

That’s pretty impressive with just 200-300 tracks minus alts. Can I ask roughly how much of that 40k comes form the original tracks and how much from the alts?

[Tbone]

It depends hugely on:

Who represents your tracks
How good your tracks are
The genres you write in
Luck

There are people out there with 100 tracks, making $150k a year. There are people with 1000 tracks, making the same amount.

So YMMV… big time

[Art Munson]

@Chuck Mott. Most of the money comes from TV placements and a good number are DnBs. The other alts are 15s, 30s, 60s, etc and I’ve noticed more and more of those selling on RF sites.

@Tbone. +1 to that!

[Edouardo]

I suppose the spread (number of libraries where a same track can be found) is also a factor, right?

[Tbone]

Yes Edouardo, I reckon that does impact it.

Without getting into a non-ex or ex argument, from my experience and those of others I know: library composers make more money from exclusive libraries and they can make more with fewer tracks. Of course, it depends which library.

[Kenny]

Thanks for sharing the numbers Art!
Glad to hear that my plan is very realistic.
I do realize that this depends on number/quality of tracks, and which library I work with. Anyway I was just looking for some general input here, and I do belive the composers making 150k with 100 tracks are playing in a different league than I am.

[Art Munson]

I do belive the composers making 150k with 100 tracks are playing in a different league than I am.

Same here.

[Tbone]

I do belive the composers making 150k with 100 tracks are playing in a different league than I am.

Might be so, but remember with the internet you’ve got nothing to lose sending your material to the ‘big’ libraries. You might be surprised, or perhaps it’s as simple as you fill a certain niche they’re desperate for at that time.

All the best.

[Vlad]

@Art: Of the 200-300 tracks, what is the ratio of instrumental to vocal tracks? (I know Robin and you are a team).

And which cues do you have more success with in TV placements, instrumental or vocals?

If these questions are too specific/intrusive, please ignore….

Thanks Art!

[Art Munson]

They are all instrumentals.

[Vlad]

Thanks Art!

[More Advice]

I see the thread is still cruising along here….If any of you really want to make 6 figures as a composer…do not get caught up in the “How many tracks do I need to write”…philosophy.

Let me offer my opinion (to the younger guys). If you want to make 6 figures, first, you have to be very talented, better than most (I’m not at all saying I am that guy). You have to get some “work for hire” contracts that will pay you 10K to 25K a pop…or even 140K! That was my best deal ever and it took me 6 months, and many other people (Singers, engineers etc) getting compensated from that budget, to fulfill the contract. Let’s not forget that I pay rent for a studio in a big, expensive, cold as hell, northern hemisphere city.
…and my daughters will cost 10 billion to put through school over the next 10 years or so…Fun times ahead!

I really think there may be a few really talented composers smiling on a sunny beach every day earning 100K exclusively from the library business, but this is far from the norm. You have to be able to nail down some private contracts where you are the hired pro to steer the ship on a big job that YOU are hired to do. You have to write, arrange, record singers, mix, master, …you have to do it fast, in high quality, and of course, on time!

You have to go after those lucrative jingle projects from multi-nationals like McDonald’s, IBM, Toyota, Apple, Microsoft. You have to write hit songs. You have to get some of themes from hit TV shows under your belt and some big placements into big movies. You have to have some good business contacts, and brush elbows with them at those sexy parties, and call them, e-mail them (have fun with that!)….It does help living in London, NYC, Chicago, LA to accomplish this.

Good Luck guys…and if you want to stay warm, migrate to LA and have fun competing with thousands of others who want and are seeking all of the above!

or…just move to Costa Rica and upload every day for 35K a year…Just know it will take you 4 years just to get to 35K because you have to write 400 great tracks first.

All right…now …let’s listen to all the disagreements…..

[Mark_Petrie]

You have to get some “work for hire” contracts that will pay you 10K to 25K a pop…or even 140K!

I’d argue that relying on the upfront money from work for hire deals, where you give up licensing, is a hard way to get to an income of $100k a year and requires constantly churning out a lot of music. Licensing is a side of the business that might be out of reach for composers at the beginning of their career (the competition is fierce), but just to give you an idea: successful composers in the trailer side of things make the bulk of their income from licensing, not royalties. I know of one composer that made over $200k from the licensing of one great epic track. Not to mention megastars like TSFH!

There’s a huge range of success in this business – I just met with a library who told me their top earning composer makes over 2 million a year in royalties.

You have to go after those lucrative jingle projects from multi-nationals like McDonald’s, IBM, Toyota, Apple, Microsoft. You have to write hit songs. You have to get some of themes from hit TV shows under your belt and some big placements into big movies.

That sounds more like how to get a 7 or 8 figure income!

As Tbone said – and I wanted to repeat it again because it’s really what everything boils down to:

It depends hugely on:

Who represents your tracks
How good your tracks are
The genres you write in
Luck

Perhaps somewhere in there is: determination / tenacity / self-motivation (writing when you don’t have to)

[MichaelL]

You have to go after those lucrative jingle projects

What you’re describing is a world that I never wanted to be a part of.
It’s completely separate and distinct from composing for film, or libraries. I don’t have the temperament to deal with “mad men.”

A lot of people don’t want what you’re describing…they want to compose for film, games, libraries or write songs. A guy whose passion is composing epic trailer cues would not be happy being a jingle writer. It’s not interchangeable. People don’t function that way.

@Mark…+1
Art and I both know of a young writer who has made close to a million from one cue.

[More Advice]

Michael, do not single out one sentence You have to go after those lucrative jingle projects as “what I am describing.” I said a lot up above and it was not at all solely about jingles…far from what I was saying, in fact….

A lot of people don’t want what you’re describing…they want to compose for film, games, libraries or write songs. A guy whose passion is composing epic trailer cues would not be happy being a jingle writer. It’s not interchangeable. People don’t function that way.

I too have composed for films, libraries, games, and have written songs…I also don’t think a trailer music specialist would be the slightest bit bothered with getting paid well to post score spots. They would welcome the opportunity every time! and have fun doing it! So I have to disagree with you.

[Author]

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