Hi,

i just found this forum and wanted to introduce myself.
im Simon from Munich Germany and i studied music education and audio engineering.
for 3 years i work as a freelancer as a composer for music and SFX in games and film industry and besides i work in a school for audio.
doing both jobs together is ok to earn enough for a living. the game projects are getting more and growing - but how long does it take to be able to live only from composing.
so i just wonder whos out there who can live from making music?

Hi Simsung,

I'm not lucky enough to be in that position at the moment, being able to live only off commissions from composing, but I'd guess that it's really dependant on the type of jobs you're getting. Most composition jobs are a one off but can lead to more work in the future if you manage to impress your clients. Getting your music into a music sample library can be quite a good earner, as you will receive royalties for every time your tracks are downloaded or licensed for a project. I don't know if you've already explored this route?

Julzshred

I make my living by doing audio work but not just by writing music. I've had to diversify my services by:

- recording and producing local concerts
- teaching private lessons

as well as providing sound design and voice over production. It can be hard but it is possible!

Thanks,

Nate

sounds great - thanks for your replies.
yeah i already talked to a guy from a platform for royalty free music - where i get some percent when my songs will be bought.
i think this is a nice platform for all songs which were made and not sold - but will only work when you have really enough songs at that platform.
he said something like - you can make about 1000$ per month with about 30-50 songs uploaded.

@ Nate how many jobs do you do generaly in a year? i know its always different - but do you do the big ones - so about 5 or something or more small jobs but lots of it?

i think this is a nice platform for all songs which were made and not sold - but will only work when you have really enough songs at that platform.
he said something like - you can make about 1000$ per month with about 30-50 songs uploaded.

No offense to that guy but I'd doubt you can make that much with only 30-50 songs uploaded. I've done the library music thing before with about 30-ish songs uploaded and didn't make very much. Perhaps the style(s) I picked to upload didn't match the community's needs but I feel a much larger issue was that's a small number of cues. What I found was large music publishers had literally hundreds if not thousands of cues uploaded. So when a user would search for "epic orchestral" my song(s) may not appear until page 3 or 4 while tons of options from these large publishers/producers get first chance at being licensed. I've made some money, sure, but to really make $1,000 or so dollars per month, I think I'd need a crap load of more cues uploaded.

Nate how many jobs do you do generaly in a year? i know its always different - but do you do the big ones - so about 5 or something or more small jobs but lots of it?

It's a mash up really. I usually do about 3-4 really big jobs (at least to me) and then every thing else is smaller to medium sized jobs. Edit: As far as number of jobs, I just did a count and it was 35 video game projects which then I supplement with the other activities I listed in my previous post.

Thanks,

Nate

It's hard to make a living off of just composition unless you're a well established professional with lots of industry experience and a good portfolio to boot. Most composers in the game industry have expanded their skillset to include SFX, voicing, sound design, sound engineer, and recording. Some of them also dip into the programming side of the sound implementation.

yeah thats what i expereanced as well : no job without doing the SFX.
but actually its fun doing Sfx - thats quite a creative part as well.
but giving lessons ? omg ... thats what i did during all my students time - that was enough
i think for games - many needs voice overs - thats a big part, too.

but the reason i started the topic is - within 3 years in game industry i feel being quite a newby
ok the projects i can do are still rare and small - paid far from fair.
i just have to do them to get more references and more contacts - but in hope its getting better sometimes ...
give me some hope pls

Hello there fellow German guy,

I'm not at a point where I can live off the game jobs alone myself, but I have done some fair-paid international commissions. Don't sell yourself short. There are even young game dev teams out there who are willing to pay the right price for quality audio.

Apart from that, I also do music & sound design for animations and commercials from time to time, give private lessons, play gigs and lead a jazz choir.
If you're not completely turned off by the prospect of teaching, I'd totally recommend it. I constantly learn new things and consolidate my current skills while giving lessons.

In my current "big" project I have the opportunity of working as an audio director as well as a composer, i.e. I instruct our sound design guy, do the documentation, look for the best way of implementation and try to keep the overall sound of the game coherent. After all, there is some kind of musical quality to every sound.
In exchange, I get more revenue share percentage in addition to flat commission fees for the music, plus I can make sure my work is presented at its best. Which is a nice thing! I only got that opportunity by asking, so be sure to always speak your mind. (politely, of course)

Best of luck to you!

Cheers,
Moritz

funny talking to a german in english

nice to hear you are successfull!!.... also your reel... especially rough and tumble ... thats a great song!!
well i got another job besides the music with flexible working time and home office in a media school (but not as a teacher) - so thats not the problem.

maybe i´m too impatient.
are you going to gamescom?

funny talking to a german in english

Quite.

nice to hear you are successfull!!.... also your reel... especially rough and tumble ... thats a great song!!
well i got another job besides the music with flexible working time and home office in a media school (but not as a teacher) - so thats not the problem.
maybe i´m too impatient.[/quote]
Thanks! I had a quick listen through your stuff as well - pretty nifty!

are you going to gamescom?[/quote]
Not sure yet, but it is pretty tempting. If I do, let's meet up!

Cheers,
Moritz