[Fmpro] Turning Down Work

Mon Aug 7 18:19:40 GMT 2006

Pete,

You're right in that it is "Cheaper."  With library music, we design it more
like a reusable product to be profited from many times.  With custom
scoring, we design it to be unique to one product and therefore more
expensive.

Chris

Merritt Music Productions
9701 Clearwater Drive
Knoxville, TN 37923
merrittmusic.com
865-357-5473

-----Original Message-----
From: fmpro-bounces+chris=merrittmusic.com at nxport.com
[mailto:fmpro-bounces+chris=merrittmusic.com at nxport.com] On Behalf Of Pete
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 1:15 PM
To: fmpro at nxport.com
Subject: Re: [Fmpro] Turning Down Work

Les, I write library music. Chris writes library
music. I'm sure there are many library pieces that
blow some non-library music out of the water.

But, I don't know if anyone would argue that Library
music isn't a cheaper alternative. For the overall
project, there is no substitute for a talented
composer (like Chris) sitting with the picture and
writing a unified custom score.

I have no idea what learning from Mr. Northam and Mr.
Holden have to do with this topic. For some reason you
want to re-interpret everything I write in a negative
light and then attack my character.

P e t e
S u r d o v a l

--- Les Hurdle <leshurdle101 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> How rude Pete.
> 
> I see on average 6-8 movies per month...........
> many of the scores are 
> same old crap.
> Same goes for TV.
> 
> There are some Library Composers I know who can
> write rings around even 
> the Hollywood A list, but they choose to write
> Library.
> So let's not start dinging product........ to do so
> strengthens the 
> division between the perceived 'value' of music by
> PRO's  e.g Song $1, 
> 'score $0.20 per min., Jingle $0.03
> 
> My concern over the business practices mentioned is
> the fact writers 
> work for companies, Scripps is a great example,
> where the writer 
> assists in the removal of all composer rights, the
> writer then joins 
> the regular work force and complains about loss of
> rights, $$'s etc.
> 
> Have the words of Mr Northam and Mr Holden fallen on
> deaf ears this 
> past few years?>
> 
> Les
> 
> On Aug 6, 2006, at 8:22 PM, Pete wrote:
> >  If the house
> > (show) is in a bad neighborhood (History Channel),
> > they might just use the old kitchen cabinets with
> some
> > fresh paint (library music). They know you would
> put
> > in a fantastic new kitchen (score), but the profit
> > margin is low with this house, so they'll stick
> with
> > the old cabinets. Of course if you want to put in
> a
> > hot new kitchen for the same price as refinishing
> the
> > old cabinets, they'd be all to happy to give you
> the
> > job.
> >
> > Hopefully, when it comes time to put a new kitchen
> in
> > a billion dollar mansion (hit show), they'll
> remember
> > your work and pay you what you deserve.
> >
> > Best,
> > P e t e
> > S u r d o v a l
> >
> > --- Merritt Music Productions
> <chris at merrittmusic.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> Glad to hear the expo went well!  Thought you
> guys
> >> might like this.  I
> >> turned down a $5k job last week.  Here's why:
> >>
> >> Last year I did a History Channel show for this
> >> production company.  It's a
> >> company I really wanted to work with so I did it
> for
> >> less than normal -
> >> $3,500.  I was thinking it would be the start of
> a
> >> long relationship and
> >> all, you know the drill.
> >>
> >> Anyway, the music turned out great.  I'm not
> saying
> >> this to brag, I mean to
> >> prove a point here.  I have a top of the line
> setup
> >> with all the major
> >> samples and such, but I also played real cello,
> >> violin, flutes, guitars,
> >> drums and so on.  It was a real work of art in
> some
> >> places; they were
> >> amazed, and loved it.  I told them my price was
> that
> >> low ONLY for this first
> >> project.
> >>
> >> After some time of not getting any more work from
> >> them, I realized: they
> >> don't really care about the quality.  Now that
> >> they've had a show composed
> >> for $3,500, which is not the cheapest they've
> had,
> >> they don't want to pay
> >> any more.  No matter what.
> >>
> >> But it gets better:
> >>
> >> They called me last week and said the usual: 
> they
> >> LOVED my work and really
> >> wanted me to do some more for them.  Great!  We
> >> talked about the show and
> >> the musical needs and I determined that I would
> >> still cut them a break.  I
> >> have a minimum of $5k.  That means that I
> normally
> >> don't do any type of
> >> project unless it pays at least $5k.  So I told
> them
> >> I would do it for $6k.
> >> A steal in my opinion for any real composer.
> >>
> >> He emailed me back saying that they only had $5k
> in
> >> the budget (b.s.) and
> >> that it must be the SAME contract as our earlier
> >> project together.  I asked
> >> for him to send me the contract from the last
> >> project because I was out of
> >> state.
> >>
> >> Turns out the earlier one was a pure
> Work-for-hire,
> >> granting the writer's
> >> share back to me.  These are the types of deals
> you
> >> have to look out for
> >> nowadays.  This production company is making
> THEIR
> >> OWN music library from
> >> composers who have scored their shows!  He told
> me
> >> this directly.  So when
> >> you score for them, they are REUSING your music
> as
> >> much as they want without
> >> paying!
> >>
> >> I told them I would still do it, though.  $5k for
> >> non-exclusive licensing
> >> and NOT work for hire, or $10k for pure work for
> >> hire.
> >>
> >> They haven't called back......
> >>
> >> Moral - Composers should make EVERY deal be
> >> non-exclusive licensing ONLY
> >> (huge projects could be different)
> >>
> >> NEVER do a work for hire!
> >>
> >> Hope everyone is well.  I'll keep ya'll posted!
> >>
> >> Chris
> >>
> >> Merritt Music Productions
> >> 9701 Clearwater Drive
> >> Knoxville, TN 37923
> >> merrittmusic.com
> >> 865-357-5473
> >>
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