[Fmpro] cooperation vs competition

[Bob Safir]

Mark -

There is no question that the Film Music Jobwire has helped me and many,
many others on and off of the FMPRO list.  The real issue is this: why, with
so many more possible opportunities, from 500 or more cable stations - to
thousands of new independent films - to games, multimedia, and you-name-it,
are the opportunities not filtering through to the composer community?

Where are these producers/directors getting their scoring done?  Is it
really the guy's cousin who has a girlfriend with a boyfriend with a Casio
keyboard?  Is it the new kid on the block with some samples, loops, Acid,
and the willingness to do it for free?  Is it our own colleagues who really
put themselves out there and will undercut any bid at any expense?  Is it a
combination of these sources -- or something else entirely?

I do buy the argument that there are more composers, talented or not, than
ever before.  But, all things considered, it still seems out of balance to
me.  Why isn't there some way of increasing composers' means of making a
living, outside of luck, chance, and nepotism?

-Bob


>Message: 13
>Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:36:21 -0800
>From: Mark Northam <mnortham at gmdgroup.com>
>Subject: Re: [Fmpro] cooperation vs competition
>To: <fmpro at nxport.com>
>Message-ID: <C3D3A325.468E2%mnortham at gmdgroup.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"

>On 2/9/08 5:47 PM, "Bob Safir" <bsafir at socal.rr.com> wrote:

>  If there were, wouldn't the Film Music
> Jobwire constantly be full of numerous openings?  Wouldn't it be coming
out
> several times a day with tons of new job postings?  As it is, hundreds of
> composers (most of whom are probably in that "good" category) are
responding
> to the same posting.

Hi All -

We track this pretty closely, and with the exception of some very popular
jobs (like the $15,000 license fee for the 30 sec commercial spot last
year), the average response on a jobwire posting is between 50-100 on the
SubmitDIRECT ones that we can track the number of responses on.  Admittedly,
the best way to get jobs is via personal relationships, but our goal with
the JobWire and Film Music Network is to try and open up job opportunities
to those who may not already have the connections and relationships to hear
about them. 

Just this week we received an email from a film production company that has
posted several JobWires since we started SubmitDIRECT last year - this
company was both hiring composers for their indie films and purchasing music
to expand their in-house library of music they use in their films in
addition to custom composed music. The production company person said that
in the 12 months since he started posting with us, he's hired or licensed
music from over 20 Film Music Network composers.

Admittedly the JobWire isn't for everyone, but for those who choose to use
it, we're doing our best to locate and post the best jobs we can for
composers and songwriters.

Best,

Mark Northam


--------------------------------------------
Mark Northam, CEO  |  mark at gmocorp.com
Global Media Online, Inc.