5 Resources for setting your commissioning rates

How much do you charge for your music?

That question can make composers sweat bullets!

Maybe this is you...

• You dream of having a calendar full of commissions
• You long for performers and ensembles to take the initiative to contact you and ask you to write for them
• You want to be seen as a professional, for your music to be respected, programmed, sought-after, and paid for

When that moment happens, you need to be ready.

Because pretty soon, the conversation is going to move from what kind of piece they want and what they love about your music to the scariest of questions: "How much do you charge?"

The most important step you need to take? Figure out your rates now.

Here are a few resources you can consult:

New Music Box Commissioning Fees Calculator
Canadian League of Composers Commissioning Rates
New Music USA's Commissioning Music: A Basic Guide
Meet the Composer's Guide to Commissioning Music
Dominick DiOrio's Guide to Commissioning Music (especially helpful for choral works)
American Composers Forum Commissioning By Individuals Guide

Have a look through these tools and documents. As you read, notice: how do these rates make you feel? Excited? Nervous? Affirmed? Terrified? Do you feel ready to ask a commissioner to pay you these rates? Why nor why not? 

Drop me a line and let me know.