Market price of Games Music

[Bernard Ong]

Dear all,

Does anyone knows how much to charge for a 3 minutes music loop for a game?

I am requested to submit my quotation but i have no idea how much to charge for it.

Kindly advise. thanks.

 

[Agent47]

Is it a big AAA title or a small independent?

How wide is the distribution - worldwide? Local?

How much time/money is it going to cost you do create this? Are you hiring session musicians or doing it all on synths?

What have you agreed with the company - a percentage, total buyout or combination of the two?

What usage have you agreed with the company - just this game or unrestricted?

 

[Bernard Ong]

Is it a big AAA title or a small independent?

How wide is the distribution - worldwide? Local?

How much time/money is it going to cost you do create this? Are you hiring session musicians or doing it all on synths?

What have you agreed with the company - a percentage, total buyout or combination of the two?

What usage have you agreed with the company - just this game or unrestricted?

Hi agent47,

Its a small independent firm who is also new in the games industry.

Distribution is Worldwide.

It will take me about 3 days (excluding any editing after they listen to it) apart from my daytime work to do it. I will be using synths to generate the music.

Nothing has been agreed with the company. They are asking me for a quotation. They also like to know where to start off with.

Nothing is briefed about the music being used purely on this game or unrestricted.

It seems you know quite a bit on this industry. Please enlighten me.

 

[Bernard Ong]

Assuming its a total buyout and music is used purely on this game only, how much is the market price?

 

[DavidK]

The time it took doesnt matter or apply: Elton John writes songs in ten minutes!

There is no answer here, you get whatever they are willing to pay. On the off chance it becomes a final fantasy, you are going to be out some bucks. At the same time, you will have a resume.

I will take a GUESS:

I would ask for $500 if I was a novice, $1000 if I was a pro. By "pro" I mean an established writer with a resume. I might ask for a royalty of 1 cent per sale: I played on a CD that sold 11 million copies, if I had 1 cent per CD I wouldnt be using an M-audio interface

Good luck.

 

[Bernard Ong]

That sounds like a reasonable rate to start with.