Unfortunately today, music for films, TV shows and commercials has become commoditized terribly, to the point where clients don’t expect to pay for its real value, and don’t realize its worth in terms of the creative process.
Those of us working in the production music industry must know how a client-artist relationship works. Experience in advertising and marketing combined with experience on the production side are critically important to knowing how budgets and negotiations can affect both client and artist, as well as how these issues will affect the final product.
Here are some tips for maintaining the creative value of people who create original music:
Be Willing to Say No
It’s a hard lesson to learn in life and in business, and perhaps the most important one. Saying no to a gig is difficult, because it’s money, even if it’s crappy money. The most important thing is to stay true to your own values. Sometimes it just isn’t possible to fit another job in, and keep up the level of creativity and quality on.
Be willing to negotiate – but also know when to walk away.
Be Aware of Your Value
Know your worth and don’t sell yourself short. Be willing to negotiate with clients in order to build relationships, but don’t offer your professional services for less or no pay just to get noticed.
If you position yourself as ‘well I’ve got to give this away for free, or else ’ll never get attention,’ suddenly you’re The Free Guy, who is creating brilliant work without proper compensation. Then you’ve added to the myth that music doesn’t cost anything. The craft isn’t always appreciated.
Be Part of the Relationship
Recognize that some opportunities are about more than compensation, a difficult but valuable distinction for a business manager to make. For example, if a potential client needs to enlist your services to make a pitch for a project, you might decide to offer the work for free, a good faith gesture that strengthens the client bond and all but assures future paid work if the client lands the project.
Be willing to step up and help. And understand the value of the relationship, as opposed to just the value of the product.
Be Your Best
Know your strengths and play to them, but remember the importance of not getting spread too thin in what can be a very demanding industry. Don’t be everything to everyone. Specialize. Find your niche and then go full steam ahead to be the best in your chosen field.
Sally House is executive producer with The Hit House in Los Angeles. Recent work from The Hit House has been used in national and global television campaigns for clients such as Netflix, Target, Lexus, Jell-O, Porsche, and The Ritz Carlton, and in motion picture campaigns for films including “Godzilla,” “Frozen,” “Monuments Men,” “Million Dollar Arm,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Despicable Me 2,” “Anchorman 2,” “Iron Man 3,” “Turbo” and “Bully.”
