How to Hire Musicians for Your Movie

Filmmakers often spend months, if not years, preparing for production of their next film. Storyboards, development, casting, scouting locations — these are just some of the time consuming and stressful parts of preproduction, and yet one thing that can put all of this on hold is the budget. So when it comes to music, what choices do filmmakers have?

The Fee
Whether hiring a composer to write a score or licensing songs from a publisher, there is going to be an upfront fee. For composers, the filmmaker has the option to pay the composer a fee for writing the music and also setting aside an additional budget for the composer’s expenses (recording studio, musicians, etc). If the filmmaker does not set aside an additional budget, the composer may or may not use his or her fee for whatever he or she may need, if anything. This fee can literally be anything, from $50 to 7+ figures. There is no real average, it just depends on who you’re hiring and what it is you want. You may find a composer who will write for free, but if the film needs a live rock band or an expressive violin solo, that costs money.

When licensing a song, the filmmaker will pay to license both the song (“sync license”) and the recording (“master license”) — it’s important to understand the difference. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto №3 may be public domain, but your favorite recording of it belongs to someone. Likewise, you can license the “song” (not the recording) and have the composer record a cover of the song. It is also important to note that the person who owns the “song”, usually the writer/composer, may not own the master as well. Don’t worry, a music supervisor can take care of all of this for you! As with the composer’s fee, a licensing fee could range from $50 for some generic stock music or $1,500,000 for an Aretha Franklin song.

Royalties
Composers and songwriters will receive “performance” royalties whenever the film is played on TV, collected by a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC in America. Although theaters are technically public performances, writers do not collect performance royalties for films played in theaters in America — though, many international theaters do pay royalties. It’s also important to understand that this is not money coming out of the filmmaker’s pocket, the theater is paying a license to play the film and music. There is also a “mechanical royalty” paid for physical copies sold. Rates for both types of royalties change over time and are determined by many different factors — such as where the film is played, the overall film budget, and how long the license is good for (one year, 5 years, forever).

More on Licensing
The price to license music varies a lot based on the songwriter’s clout and conditions of the license. Stock music from a relatively unknown songwriter will cost much less money than an established songwriter with a growing number of fans. That being said, you can also get the songwriter’s fans excited about your film––which means more exposure for your movie. The conditions of the license include where the film will be shown, the medium in which the film is shown (online, theatrical, TV, etc.) and for how long, among some other factors. It can seem a little complicated, and in general is usually is more complicated than hiring a composer.

Conclusion
So which option is more affordable? In general, hiring a composer for an indie film is most likely going to be more affordable. The important thing is to ask yourself is, “what does my film deserve” and “what is appropriate for my film.” If you’re proud of your work, be proud of the soundtrack.