Having spent the last 18 years in Florida and a few in New York composing and producing original scores, I am still amazed at the differences in the business between Florida and the major advertising cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. I have read many an issue of SHOOT in my time, as well as other publications. The different articles and ads regarding original music all come from the major cities outside of Florida. They paint a very different image of life in the music advertising world, especially compared to Florida.
For example, an article appeared in SHOOT in October ’99 on the average cost of a :30 music score/spot. The 4A’s had commissioned a survey in ’98 which reported an average of $26,000 per spot. WHAT! Even the New York companies wished they were getting that! We are a long way from even $10,000-$15,000, which I think is more realistic in the major cities. Here in Florida, the average is $3,000-$5,000 per spot. Just a little difference, one would say!
Florida musicians run $180 per two-to three-hour session; vocal talent is $200 per 1.5-hour session, despite what you’re recording. In some areas they don’t get that. Then we have the Buy Out! Musicians and vocal talent in the major markets have the union scales and residuals most of the time. Most talent in Florida have to give up residuals, and are lucky if they get anything besides the session fees.
The world’s going Buy Out? In composing a score for agencies here in Florida, it’s recognized that you have to give exclusive usage rights—sometimes for years in the state and even the rest of the U.S. It’s tough! Work or give up rights? There’s a lot that has to come out of $3,000-$5,000.
The demo? "Ah yes, the demo!" Sometimes we get $500-$1,000 for a demo and have to come up with a few ideas. Most of the time it has to come out of the production money, if you want the work. We can’t bill clients for many of the job descriptions mentioned in SHOOT’s Music & Sound Design Special Report article on efforts to develop a standard bid form (2/18, p. 27). We just have to do it.
In some respects, we don’t have New York and Los Angeles music house headaches—like signing this affidavit and that legal document, or being sued for somebody else’s mistake. There’s a high cost of running your business in a major city. Nevertheless, we still have to have the facility and the composing/production skills to compete in the world. You have to sometimes use musicians, vocal talent and arrangers from one or two cities. I am lucky that Orlando is nearby and is growing. There are many great musicians and talent from many different worlds living and working there. Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville also have exceptional talent.
Marketing also has a very different beat. We don’t always have the budgets to spend on color ads, reps and marketing people. Creating reels that have name products—Apple, Nike and Toyota, you name the product—is not easy. Footage where thousands of dollars have been spent on the visual production really helps sell music. I am lucky. I have clients here in Florida and the rest of the U.S. who produce great film/spots. But many here in Florida don’t have anything to show off their scores—only a local video or a client that’s shot a 35mm film spot, if they’re lucky.
We also suffer from some Florida agencies that go north and west when they are producing with better budgets. It’s very disappointing, but it’s a fact of life. You would think that the major Florida and major market agencies would take serious advantage of Florida music suppliers and talent. Some do. Communications and technology have changed to the point where you can work and live where you wish. A Florida address or area code can be the kiss of death—or so it seems sometimes—especially when marketing to the major agencies. It really should not be that way! It’s the ability to compose and produce the best product, and provide the best service to the client, that should win the gig. I look forward to the day when it’s all the same in the "original music for advertising" world. Until then, it’s "US & THEM."
