I got messaged by some potential clients but

Edit: Currently, my rates are 100€ per minute of music. I intend to keep them affordable until I complete my first soundtrack for a video game or other projects. I believe this pricing is fair for now, and I may consider increasing it to 200€ per minute or something similar in the future!

Happens all the time. Don't dwell on it too much. Some people are just tyre kickers. Definitely increase your rate though.

asherpope said:

Happens all the time. Don't dwell on it too much. Some people are just tyre kickers. Definitely increase your rate though.

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I don't know (about the rate) because I really need to work and I'm afraid of scaring clients ahah. Should 150€ be a more fair price? https://soundcloud.com/ophelien this is my music for reference

I would try not to charge per minute and just charge on a per project basis.

asherpope said:

I would try not to charge per minute and just charge on a per project basis.

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So what should I respond usually of they ask me my rate without knowing the budget first? Many amateurs prefer to know exactly how much they will spend. I wanna learn how to handle better those kind of situations

The age old question! It's a very tricky one. In my experience, the sooner the potential client asks about rates, the more likely they are to flake and/or not want to pay anywhere near what is being asked

Assuming a client is serious, and you truly want to work on the project, but are afraid of scaring them off, here are a couple of standard approaches you can take:

- Ask them what their budget is. This should be something that's addressed early in the discussions... not the first thing, but definitely before things go too far. Once you know how much they're willing to spend on music, you can decide if it's enough for you, and if it's not, either walk away or try to negotiate for more.

- Tell them your standard rate is X€ per minute of music (make it a respectable number, I usually use $500 per minute), but because the project sounds interesting to you, or because you like the client, etc... you're willing to do it for a discounted rate of Y€ per minute, but only for this project. This way, you establish your standard rate, but you make the client feel good by giving them a one-time discount.

Obviously, the above two approaches require some discussion with the client so you can learn more about the project and what the music requirements are. You should try to find out as much about the project as possible before giving out a price.

Also, before going into these discussions, you need to decide for yourself what's the absolute minimum you're willing to work for. If after all the discussions and negotiations, the client can't at least meet this price, you should probably walk away.

Ask them what their music budget is.

fawn said:

Still, nothing has happened!

First, a guy contacted me on Facebook asking about my rates for some tracks inspired by the World of Warcraft soundtrack.

Then, I received a message on my business email about a project, asking if I could create music with a Japanese-like vibe, and there was also a comment under a video on my YouTube channel.

I responded to all of them, but except for the first client who said he would contact me when he has the budget, the other two never replied.

It's a little frustrating, but also encouraging because all of this happened in the same month (February), and I'm not an experienced composer. I've only recently started trying to make a living from this, and it's promising to see that people are starting to notice me more and more.

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Have you tried looking up all local gamestudios and meeting people in person?
My personal freelance experience (not as a composer) is that in person meetings create the highest quality leads by far and nearly everything that comes your way through websites etc. is a waste of time where you answer questions, name your rates, and then never hear back from the people. You just need to have the proper website to look professional, not to funnel jobs your way. Just my personal experience, I bet some people here have gotten great jobs over their websites too.