Composing : Music Composer by Michael O'Neill

That's fantastic Michael...

Congratulations - it ain't easy.....

Thanks mate. I'm struggling at the moment, and your comments renew my faith..... Watch this space

Hi Michael, that's great news. If I'm perfectly honest, the projects that have come to me from here have all been unpaid shorts / good exposure, so I'd assumed this was the norm and as such this site wasn't for me so have not really looked into it any further. Would you be willing to share more about the 3 jobs you've got from here, for example were they paid commissions? Thanks in advance fella!

While these 3 jobs I got here were not paying ,one of them lead to a paying job.In my view the trick is to be selective in which unpaid jobs you take.I always weigh a variety of criteria in my decision making.I try to know if the film maker is someone who's vibrantly moving forward and really trying to climb the ladder,know if the material appeals to me and see if the person is someone who I feel will treat me well if they succeed..If I work on an unpaid project I always do it non excusively and that way I'm adding content to my own music library which really becomes important when you get very busy.It can cut your work load way down.

Thank you for sharing. Having done this for a while I feel exactly the same and have acted similarly, but it's good to know that the unpaid jobs can and do lead to paid work. Cheers and hope they all turn out splendid!

Unless the director gets used to using unpaid and doesn't place any value in music... however if you have a relationship with one, hopefully they respect you and will pay you when there is a budget ;) Just speaking from personal experience here...

Congrats Michael! Yes doesn't matter if you get paid or not, good to do it for the practice each year so you get better, and if it leads to paid then great.

Congrats Michael :) Any tips on landing your first composing job? :D

Laurent: If you do a good enough job for someone for free right now like in college while they're broke, and they like your work, there's a good chance they will use you again when they have the money to pay you. Or you could take the other approach of just getting your songs out there for free play/download on social media sites and making the best possible sounds/chord progressions you can to be one of the best out there, then wait to be hired for a paying gig. -Chris

Hey Christopher,In my opinion the idea of building relationships is what it's about.Gaining someone's trust has the possibility of growing into monetized situations.

Thanks guys, of course I'm not looking for money right away :) The main thing I am looking for is experience

Laurent - one thing I've learned is NEVER say anything about money until you get a gig. Let your work speak for you first, don't even start to dangle that "free" carrot or "experience" credit yet, you will shoot yourself in the foot, what if that project did have money to spend on you, but then realized they could get you for free...

I'll be sure to keep that in mind

Congratulations, Michael! I've been here two years and have yet to find any work. Do you have any advice for the rest of us? Did you do anything special to promote yourself or did the directors just happen to find you? Also, how did everything turn out? I'd love to watch your films!

Hi Ian,I checked out your work and I think you do some very good stuff.I've applied for many positions here and have gotten a few.I belive that there are so many people trying to do this that it makes it difficult.I also believe that eventually your work will find it's proper home.The most important part of this endeavor is forging relationships and nurturing them.I try to do that with the few that I have.

Thanks for the advice, Michael. :)