Seeking advice on freelances(audio)

[Kawaburd]

First of all, sorry is this is in the wrong forum. Not sure where else to put it and this seems the most relevant.

The short form is that I'm working on a small indie project codenamed "MineGame" (www.gryphonheartdesigns.com) and need help with the music so I'm not spending the next few months just learning the relevant skills to compose my own. While I'm not recruiting with this post, I do need advice. Offering on twitter, someone with a decent portfolio responded and offered to compose 5 tracks (SNES-style chiptune), each around 2 minutes long for a flat fee of $250.

What I'm asking here is this: Is that good deal? How much time and effort does this sort of thing take for someone whose already learned the trade, and what's the going rate for indie composers? I'm able to pay but not readily expecting this project to make much, if any money, but at the same time I don't want to cheat anyone with ridiculously low rates either. Plus this person IS freelance rather than actively seeking to be on a team, and having never completed anything or worked with others I'm really not sure what to expect. Am I better off looking for a partner in this or just buying his services, and are there any surprises I should be ready to handle?

[Ryuno074]

At 3/4/14 11:03 PM, Kawaburd wrote: First of all, sorry is this is in the wrong forum. Not sure where else to put it and this seems the most relevant.

The short form is that I'm working on a small indie project codenamed "MineGame" (www.gryphonheartdesigns.com) and need help with the music so I'm not spending the next few months just learning the relevant skills to compose my own. While I'm not recruiting with this post, I do need advice. Offering on twitter, someone with a decent portfolio responded and offered to compose 5 tracks (SNES-style chiptune), each around 2 minutes long for a flat fee of $250.

What I'm asking here is this: Is that good deal? How much time and effort does this sort of thing take for someone whose already learned the trade, and what's the going rate for indie composers? I'm able to pay but not readily expecting this project to make much, if any money, but at the same time I don't want to cheat anyone with ridiculously low rates either. Plus this person IS freelance rather than actively seeking to be on a team, and having never completed anything or worked with others I'm really not sure what to expect. Am I better off looking for a partner in this or just buying his services, and are there any surprises I should be ready to handle?

It all boils down to the quality you want and the price you can afford. If you can find a suitable partner who doesn't mind receiving only a share of future profits, that'd be the ideal situation; if not, freelancers are the way to go. When hiring an audio freelancer, it's not important that they have actively worked on a team before, but that they know exactly what is expected of them; loops should loop seamlessly, SFX should have a little "tail" so they won't cut off abruptly, file formats, stable dB levels, etc.

Regarding the rates, I'll tell you right off the bat, that is under what I'd personally charge. If you like what they do and can afford that, it seems like a good deal.

[AshtonMorris]

Yeah it really depends on the composer. You cant get a great well known composer for that amount currently. But you could have gotten me about 2 years ago for that rate because I was building contacts. And I was no less skilled then than I am now, just starting out in this field so to say.

If you are interested I charge about$75 per original track now days, and I am available ( [e-mail] )

If that is above your budget then here are a few forums where you can find (or post looking for) plenty of composers looking for work.

http://www.moddb.com/jobs

http://forums.epicgames.com/forums/378-Got-Skills-Looking-for-Talent

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=40.0

http://www.indiedb.com/forum/board/recruiting-resumes

http://forum.unity3d.com/forums/17-Collaboration

https://www.fgl.com/view_forum.php?forum_id=10

http://forums.indiegamer.com/forumdisplay.php?13-Music-amp-Sound-Portfolios

http://forums.gamesalad.com/categories/jobs

Some of these forums are platform/software/engine specific. But we composer's seem to post our info anywhere regardless (sorry mods of the internet ; - / )

Best of luck!
Ashton

At 3/4/14 11:03 PM, Kawaburd wrote: First of all, sorry is this is in the wrong forum. Not sure where else to put it and this seems the most relevant.

The short form is that I'm working on a small indie project codenamed "MineGame" (www.gryphonheartdesigns.com) and need help with the music so I'm not spending the next few months just learning the relevant skills to compose my own. While I'm not recruiting with this post, I do need advice. Offering on twitter, someone with a decent portfolio responded and offered to compose 5 tracks (SNES-style chiptune), each around 2 minutes long for a flat fee of $250.

What I'm asking here is this: Is that good deal? How much time and effort does this sort of thing take for someone whose already learned the trade, and what's the going rate for indie composers? I'm able to pay but not readily expecting this project to make much, if any money, but at the same time I don't want to cheat anyone with ridiculously low rates either. Plus this person IS freelance rather than actively seeking to be on a team, and having never completed anything or worked with others I'm really not sure what to expect. Am I better off looking for a partner in this or just buying his services, and are there any surprises I should be ready to handle?