Becoming a film composer can be a difficult task, but thanks to the internet, this task may be easier than ever before. However, even once you start receiving some work as a film composer, keep in mind that you are not likely to be making enough money to support yourself unless you are really good or really lucky. This article will tell you what you need to know to give you your best shot at becoming a film composer without moving to Hollywood.
The film composers at the top of Hollywood make some serious money and get to work on some great, high profile films, but getting to be one of these exulted few is an extreme long shot. This is not to say that you should give up your hopes of becoming a film composer. Luckily, there are more opportunities than ever for people to produce music for all types of visual projects. With the right approach to the internet, you can make yourself a visible composer for all of the small projects that are going on all over the world. The sphere of internet video and all types of media in general is expanding and this means that there will be people looking for music to be made.
The first thing you will need as a film composer is a nice website with examples of your music. If you don’t have this, forget about receiving any work online, people are going to want to see what you are capable of. It helps to have examples of your music in films or other projects, but if you only have the actual audio this is probably good enough. Your website should be personal, easy to navigate, and give people direct and obvious access to the examples of your work, as this is what they will care most about.
Once you have a nice website set up, the next step is to get people to find it. Having a good placement on the major search engines would be ideal, but this can be difficult to manage and would require another article all together. Instead, look for some directories that you can submit your name to that have good rankings in the search engines.
Another tip would be to join filmmakers forums and have a link to your website in your signature. This will not be a huge draw but you may make a few contacts in the film business from the forums and even maybe pick up some work. Besides forums, you can also try to get some examples of your work on YouTube by making music videos for your compositions.
Overall, the bottom line is that you will need to start out doing some work for free in order to build your name and resume as a film composer. After you have a nice reel of work put together, and some experience behind your name, you should start to see some money for your efforts. Becoming a film composer and making a living from it will be difficult no matter what, but in this internet age, making some money on the side from film composing is a reachable goal for anyone willing to put in the work.
Visit us and join our friendly music composers board and expand your skill set.