Concert 'VanderCook Symphonic Band'
How much should I ask for my work?
1/Out of five questions I receive from young composers,
three will be:
How much should I ask for this work?
And they generally take it by the wrong end.
Thinking: I’ll be doing this and that, so I should ask this proportional amount.
2/ My advice would be: Think the other way around!
3/ It’s not what you do that matters, it’s what THEY can give you that counts.
4/ Try to get any possible info about what they have in mind.
5/ If you ask for MORE they will be condidering other options.
6/ If you ask for LESS then they might have hired a more famous composer, because they had the money to do so.
7/ And this is money you could have made.
8/ Therefore the game is to know what they have in mind, ask for this amount by saying:
“I would normally charge more, but for you I would ask that”
Good luck!
