Commissions are not a significant income source for a lot of composers.
- 66% of composers stated that they do not find commissions to be a significant proportion of their income. Given that the respondents had an average of 2.65 commissions in 2013 with an average fee per commission of £1,392 it is easy to see why.
- Annual income for 2013 from commissions ranged from £1 to over £100,000 including the single highest paying commission at £60,000.
- The best-paid 1% of composers received over 25% of all commission income; once we excluded them from our sample, average commission income fell from £3,689 to £2,717.
- Over 40% of composers stated that they had earned no income at all from commissions for 2013.
- 49% of composers feel that there is less rehearsal/preparation time for new works.
- 74% of composers received an equal or higher number of commissions in 2013 than they did in 2012, but only 15% earned more income.
What does this mean?
The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, did a story on this survey, and this was their headline, followed by a couple of excerpts from the article:
The future of new music is at risk if we continue to undervalue composers
— Professional composers are being asked to create new pieces for ‘shockingly low’ fees, Sound and Music report finds
"If we believe that music is a living artform then it stands to reason that the creation of new music is vital to its current and future health. However, professional composers are being asked to create new music for very little money in conditions that are too often inadequate. As a sector we have some hard questions to ask ourselves about our priorities. Being commissioned to create a new work (and getting paid for it) is a vital part of life as a professional composer. At Sound and Music, the national agency for new music, we continue to receive anecdotal evidence about the worsening environment for the creation of new music."
"What the evidence implies is that the work of composers (and composing as a profession) is valued far less by the sector than that of performers, conductors and administrators. How can that be right when it is the music itself that communicates with audiences? With a new generation seeking out beautiful and unusual new sounds and experiences, audiences for new music have never been more enthusiastic."
- The above excerpts suggest that living composers, as a rule (although there are very famous exceptions), are undervalued. Do you agree?
- Is the future of new classical music "at risk?"
- Is the creation of new music vital to the "current and future health" of classical music?
- Why are 99% of composers paid so poorly?
- Within the 1% of top-earning composers surveyed (the 1% that garnered 25% of the total commissioning fund pool), how many of them do you think are able to support themselves entirely from composing?
- Why are most professional music administrators, orchestra musicians, and conductors paid so much more than almost all composers?
- Does any of this matter? Should composers just "suck it up" and be grateful for any remunerative crumbs that come their way?
- Should composers take a pragmatic, "it is what it is" attitude, accepting that they are unlikely to earn a sustainable living from composing alone, and therefore find other means of employment?
- Should composers engage in advocacy to create better working conditions? Are there any organizations that advocate for composers?
- If composers are undervalued, what are the reasons for this? Do composers bear any responsibility for finding themselves in this predicament?
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