How much am I worth?

Electricide · Post by **Electricide** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 10:04 am

Ok, I need some insight. A few years back, I was working for a company doing some work assisting programmers and engineers. The company created a media outlet that worked kind of like those flat-screen panels you see in elevators, with news blips and commercials. They decided they needed some music clips to go with their logo and transitional "headlines". I did it, without being paid extra.

So today a contact of mine still with that company calls me out of the blue to request more music, and they want to pay me. They need a quote for 4 piece package of 30 second clips, and a quote for individual 30 second clips.

This is the first time I'll be in a position to charge for music. How much do I quote them?

flatcat · Post by **flatcat** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 10:07 am

No idea, but congratulations! That's great.

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 10:12 am

you have to find out what the market your in is paying for similar work be it a flat fee, initial fee and royalties, or some other thing..call a place or person that does that work and get and estimate as if you where a company looking for a similar service..then go off that..

mingus2112 · Post by **mingus2112** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 10:14 am

Think about how much time it will take you, and then how much your time is worth. Without hearing your work, it's hard to judge. Don't sell yourself short though. Companies like this would LOVE to short change you, but on the other hand, they'll pay you what you want if need be. Figure out what you want out of it, and get it. You might even want to draw up a contract to "rent" the music from you for a period of time. It's really up to you.

SpockPicasso · Post by **SpockPicasso** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 10:18 am

This may not be relevant to your situation, but may provide some guidance. A few years ago, I was laid off from my office job, but came back to the company to do some work on a contract basis. An HR person gave me the following rule of thumb for calculating an hourly rate: figure out how much you make per hour as a full-time salaried employee, then multiply by 3 to compensate for the benefits (insurance, etc) you don't get by working hourly. This is, of course, based on doing the same type of work in both situations. Hope that's useful in some way.

-sp

Electricide · Post by **Electricide** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:05 pm

That's not a bad idea. However, right now I'm still working full time at a job with benefits--this is just a one-time deal, as far as I know. Until this becomes more time-consuming or a permanent arrangement (ie, a career!), I'm not sure I need to consider benefits.

I think right now I'm just trying to calculate an hour or day-rate, and go from there. Of course, with any estimates for this kind of work included in the equation.

Stupid math!

maz · Post by **maz** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:30 pm

find out what jingle guys get in your area... four 30-second music beds sounds like four 30-second jingles.

housepig · Post by **housepig** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:31 pm

Electricide wrote:That's not a bad idea. However, right now I'm still working full time at a job with benefits--this is just a one-time deal, as far as I know. Until this becomes more time-consuming or a permanent arrangement (ie, a career!), I'm not sure I need to consider benefits.

if you think you might ever do work for these people again, don't look at it like a one-off - if you set the price at $100 now when you are working and stable, it's going to be harder to charge them $300 when you are trying to do it for real and need the money.

dubold · Post by **dubold** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:34 pm

okay, so here's my unofficial opinion. As with all advice, it's worth what it cost. Don't hold me legally responsible or anything..

For me, the question would be "Do I want to do this work?" and if so, shoot for a price that is within their budget. The studio I work for would probably charge about $5,000 for a custom music project like that, but if I were doing it as a freelancer at my home studio, I'd ask for a lot less than that, just to have something else on a resume. i just did a bunch of video game sound design for a friend of mine, and didn't charge him a thing, just so i could get the work. In this case, I think your options are to license them your music and try to get paid depending on how it is aired, or do a buyout and just outright sell them the music. Again, the amount for a buyout could vary. You know better than I do how big this company is, and what their budget might be.

that's all the brilliant insight I have right now

-d

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:01 pm

HIGH_AT_NOON wrote:you have to find out what the market your in is paying for similar work be it a flat fee, initial fee and royalties, or some other thing..call a place or person that does that work and get and estimate as if you where a company looking for a similar service..then go off that..

I think this is the thing to do. Howya gonna know the market rate, otherwise?

In any case, congrats!

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