Prices for music tracks
by Ray Depew · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/24/2005 (4:00 pm) · 6 replies
At Horsetooth Technologies, we want to incorporate a music track into our project. Since it's a ski resort tour, we want some good thumping Warren Miller Ski Movie music for the slopes and some Nitty Gritty Dirt Band-like acoustic-electric mix for walking around the village. I figure one repeating loop of each theme would be good.
We found a musician who we want to engage, retain, hire, contract, or whatever you call it, and we're ready to talk dollars with them.
The reason I'm here is to ask, "How many dollars?"
If you are a musician who has been paid to write a music track for a game or a multimedia app, what did you charge, and what do you think would be a reasonable fee?
Do you charge per piece, per minute recorded, per kB, per man-hour, or in some other way?
We found a musician who we want to engage, retain, hire, contract, or whatever you call it, and we're ready to talk dollars with them.
The reason I'm here is to ask, "How many dollars?"
If you are a musician who has been paid to write a music track for a game or a multimedia app, what did you charge, and what do you think would be a reasonable fee?
Do you charge per piece, per minute recorded, per kB, per man-hour, or in some other way?
#3
All depends on how famouse the artist is.
Mostly you buy royalty free music , so you can use it again and again.
If you want a music track that you only can use , that is a special case
and will cost alot more money and a famous artist mostly dont sell at all.
The best way is to check all sfx sites then you get a clue how much
they charge for royalty free music .
02/28/2005 (10:23 pm)
Its many factors involved here there is no simple answer.All depends on how famouse the artist is.
Mostly you buy royalty free music , so you can use it again and again.
If you want a music track that you only can use , that is a special case
and will cost alot more money and a famous artist mostly dont sell at all.
The best way is to check all sfx sites then you get a clue how much
they charge for royalty free music .
#4
02/28/2005 (10:48 pm)
Check out magnatune.com. They have straight forward licensing, very reasonable rates and you can do this all online.
#5
I'll be honest here. You can find composers for much cheaper, but quality ones are few and far between and will soon be approaching the $1k level. Most of those cheaper composers will remain at that price level, with good reason.
Here's an excellent thread on artists' fees. Many of the points apply to music as well: www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=26304
Game music is lagging behind game art in terms of quality (especially in the indie scene) and people are accepting very low quality music in their games to save a buck. Or they're going with well-produced library music, though I have yet to see licensed music that has fit a game appropriately. A well done soundtrack can really deepen the player's experience, even in a simple puzzle game.
02/28/2005 (11:51 pm)
Professional game music averages about $1000 per minute of music, a reasonable fee when you consider the costs of operating a decent studio and compensating the talent fairly. You can find composers to compose for less, but generally you'll get what you pay for. Paying that much will let you keep the rights to the music. If you want to pay less, let the composer keep the rights. Other deals can be worked out to keep initial costs down for you as well, like royalties, though you'll really have to have something special in order to attract a quality composer with royalties alone. I'll be honest here. You can find composers for much cheaper, but quality ones are few and far between and will soon be approaching the $1k level. Most of those cheaper composers will remain at that price level, with good reason.
Here's an excellent thread on artists' fees. Many of the points apply to music as well: www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=26304
Game music is lagging behind game art in terms of quality (especially in the indie scene) and people are accepting very low quality music in their games to save a buck. Or they're going with well-produced library music, though I have yet to see licensed music that has fit a game appropriately. A well done soundtrack can really deepen the player's experience, even in a simple puzzle game.
Torque 3D Owner Ray Depew