For writers of music for film, tv and other media

Pete Thomas in his studio.

Photo: Simon Warren

HAPPY CLIENT - HAPPY COMPOSER

This section deals with what to do once you’ve got some work. It can be a fine balance between being too accomodating (hence possibly being taked advantage of) and insisting on your rights at the expense of appearing to be too greedy. Most clients know that as a freelance composer you may well be desparate for the work - in spite of the fact that your highly paid and charismatic publicist (yourself) apperars to be representing the most talented and sought after composer in the world!

Identify The Client

1 - Producers

Often your first point of contact will be with a producer. You may meet many kinds of producers - executive, associate, line, assistant, assistant associate etc. These are mostly concerned with money and organisation - getting the money, working out efficient budgets and making sure everyone on the creative side can do their job within those budgets. The important thing to realise is that roles are often blurred and are often delegated so any of these may have some involvement in hiring you, negotiating with you and even discussing the creative aspect, although this should more properly be in the hands of the director (or if it’s a commercial, the creative team of copywriter and art director ).

2 - Directors

The director is probably the person who gives you the brief, and of course you should stick very closely to this. To avoid any future confusion, make sure you are either given the brief in writing, or you summarise it yourself in writing, then send a friendly email including this summary. With the best will in the world, people often forget what they said or change their minds - if this happens having the brief in writing can often stop an argument developing.

3 - Editors

Another person who can be extremely valuable to you is the editor. You probably won’t meet the editor until the end (and it is a good idea to volunteer to go to the music dubbing session even if you aren’t contracted to do so). Many editors know more about music than directors. They spend all day every day cutting music in and out of pictures. Inexperienced directors end up relying on the editor to know what works, and even experienced directors and producers appreciate the editor’s experience and may ask them advice at the very early stages about music and composers so be nice to the editor

Decide on Your Approach

There are two types of client, they either seem to be very professional and able to give a meaningful and unambiguous brief or else they seem to be complete half wits. Your first job is to work out which one they are so you know how to deal with them. Usually you will be having one or two initial meetings, and even if a meeting is not required it’s worth making the effort to arrange one - it will help you get to know which type you are dealing with.

It’s usually easy to be sociable with the first type, but It takes a particular skill to be able to deal with the second type. Most people hope they can climb up the ladder of success quickly enough that they are soon in a position to ignore them. The problem is that they crop up when you least expect them - you can find yourself working with a perfectly reasonable director, only to find an incompetent executive producer suddenly crawls out of the woodwork.

The main difference between the two is that you can usually put forward your own ideas, and have a good healthy debate (even disagreements) with the first type, but with the second type you usually come off best if you agree with everything they say, get on with the job, head down, and hope your next client will be better.

Bribery & Corruption

I don’t think it’s a good idea to offer "backhanders" in return for commissions, however there is nothing wrong in showing your gratitude.

• Take your client out for a meal (only if you really can afford it - they will probably have expensive tastes.)
• Don’t shirk when it’s your turn to buy the drinks
• Send a thank you letter after the job is finished. It can be little things like this (as much as your music!) that will make your name crop up in the future when they are thinking about composers
• Send a Christmas card and gift (e.g. a bottle of wine, champagne, chocolates).

Don’t Get Ripped Off

The legal side of things can be a minefield. In the UK you will often be "coerced" into working under the "standard" PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) agreement. This is a very one sided agreement, and guess whose side it is on. Wherever possible I try to persuade the producer to use something that is a bit fairer, not only for the composer, but actually for both sides, e.g. the Musicians Union or (if it is a commercial) the PCAM agreement. If you really have to use the PACT agreement (and a composer just starting out will not want to rock the boat - especially at such an early stage of the process), then you may be able to get some of the worst clauses removed. I will talk about this agreement in more detail in a future article, but the clauses to particularly watch out for are 3.1, 3.5, 4.3, 4.4, 5(g), 6.2, 7.1 and 9.2. You will probably not be able to afford a specialist lawyer to check the contract, but in the UK if you join the Musicians Union you will qualify for free legal advice.

You may also be coerced into signing a publishing agreement. Try to avoid this. Traditionally a publisher is someone who actively exploits your music on your behalf. A production company that wants your publishing is just trying to get more money (i.e. some of the performance royalties that you get every time the music is broadcast). They are not likely to do anything to promote your music.

Only you can decide how tough to be when negotiating. You will gradually acquire a sense of diplomacy and be able to tread the fine line between being too pushy and too subservient.

Pete Thomas 2008