What Should Composers Charge?
This is a big question many composers have, especially when they are first starting out.
There are a couple questions you need to ask first.
1) What is a living wage in your city? You need to know how much you should make per hour to cover your living expenses AND put money in savings. You can find out what a living wage is in your city by going to this website.
2) How long does it take you to compose 1 minute of music for various size pieces.
I have a chart that breaks down how long it takes me to compose, mockup orchestral instruments or program electronic instruments, mix, and master 1 minute of music written for:
Solo Instrument
2-5 Instruments
6-10 Instruments
11-15 Instruments
Small Orchestra/20-30 Instruments
Medium Orchestra/50 Instruments
Cinematic Orchestra - A combination of a massive orchestra plus electronic and ambient instruments. Scores for Marvel movies are a prime example of this.
Occasionally you will have projects that require you to buy materials and/or new pieces of software, or you may come across a production that has a large enough budget for you to hire musicians.
The last part of this formula is determined, to an extent, on if this is your hobby or if this is your career. If this is your career, your business, then you need to make sure you are making a profit so you can continue to invest in and grow your business. If you don't factor in profit to this equation then you will only be breaking even and will not be able to invest in the growth of your business.
This is the formula for career composers:
(Materials x 2) + ((Your wage x 2) x number of hours it takes to compose 1 min of music for the given ensemble) + profit = commission rate
Multiplying your wage times 2 is because your business also needs to be paid so you can cover the costs of running your business such as utilities, cost of a website, marketing, office supplies, software, gear, education, studio space, and any other business expenses you may have.
If this is more of a hobby for you and you are happy to break even you can scale back your wage and decide whether or not you want to make a profit. A word of caution however, there is a growing trend of composers being expected to work "for credit" or just because they love it and unfortunately there are enough composers who are writing music for free that it is becoming difficult for professional composers to find clients who are willing to pay what a composer's time and effort are really worth. If this is your hobby know that it is a specialized skill that you absolutely should be paid for.
I have been told by several mentors and many successful freelancers will tell you that creators set the standard for how they are to be paid. If enough creators don't value their work enough to charge what it is worth clients see low prices and then gawk at those charging what our creations are really worth.
You may be surprised at the number you get from that formula and feel like nobody will pay for that. But remember that we set the standard of what commissions are worth not just for ourselves, but for others in our spheres. I believe that one of the best way we can support each other as music creators is to stand together and charge what we are truly worth.