[OT] How much do you charge for a TV commercial ?

[lukpcn]

The client wants me to do music for a 30 seconds commercial for a TV....
and i don\'t know any ranges of salary....

how do you guys charge for this kind of job?

The music will be powerfull... i think that it will be orchestral piece...

[JonP]

Hi there

I\'ve literally just finished an advert for Nigerian Breweries and received 3k (pound sterling) basic for the music which should at least double with repeats. Most of the stuff I\'ve worked on in Europe has varied widely in pay so it might partly be a question of sniffing out what they\'ve paid people for previous work.

[lukpcn]

it will be their first tv commercial....

we can (i think) base salary on European salaries minus 30% (because i live in Poland)...

but what are the european ranges of salary ?

and it\'s charged for a second or for a tune ?

[JonP]

Originally posted by lukpcn:
it will be their first tv commercial....

we can (i think) base salary on European salaries minus 30% (because i live in Poland)...

but what are the european ranges of salary ?

and it\'s charged for a second or for a tune ? <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Well, I\'ve received anything from just 300 (no repeats) for a little 5 sec cable filler to 6k for a building society commercial. It all depends on the company and you just have to be shrewd about what you think you can get out of them without pushing it to extremes.

If its a big enough firm who are spending, say, 70k+ on the promotion then at least 1k (30% reduction included). Bare in mind that if its on air for long enough then the repeats can often bring in at least the same amount as the initial payment. Just don\'t do it for peanuts - that leads to the darkside!.


You know, if its intended as the first of many to come then it might be worth using a good agent who\'s savvy to the typical charges and can negotiate a good deal (and help you obtain future work). It can sometimes feel like all pitch and not enough play otherwise.