Music Composer

Working Schedule

Most Music Composers are self-employed, working as freelancers who take on one project after another, so their schedules depend on the job. Composers for film, television, and games often work long hours in the weeks before a deadline, when picture or game builds are nearly final, and may work evenings and weekends to deliver cues on time. Between projects, they spend time pitching for new work, building relationships, and writing for themselves. Concert composers often work on commissions with deadlines set by an orchestra, ensemble, or festival, and they may have more flexible hours, though a premiere date is always approaching. Most composers work from a home or professional studio, with trips to meetings, recording sessions at larger studios, and premiere performances. Some composers are employed as staff composers at game studios, production music libraries, or theme parks, or as teachers at schools and universities who compose on the side, and these jobs can provide steady pay and regular hours.

Typical Duties

• Reading scripts, watching early cuts, or playing early game builds to understand the story and the emotional needs of each scene or level
• Attending spotting sessions with directors or producers to decide where music should start and stop and what it should do
• Composing original themes, melodies, harmonies, and rhythms for the project's characters, places, and moments
• Creating mock-ups or demos using digital instruments so clients can hear ideas before live recording
• Revising music based on feedback, often several times, as scenes are re-edited or game designs change
• Writing or supervising the orchestration, which means deciding which instruments play which parts
• Syncing music precisely to picture, including hitting key moments such as a cut, a punch, or a reveal
• Recording and producing the music, either at home with virtual instruments or in studios with live performers
• Hiring and directing musicians, singers, orchestrators, copyists, recording engineers, and mixers
• Preparing sheet music, parts, and stems, which are separate recordings of groups of instruments, for performers and sound mixers
• Delivering final music in the correct format, along with cue sheets that document what music was used and when
• Managing deadlines, budgets, contracts, and licensing for the music they create

Additional Responsibilities

• Pitching ideas and demos to win new projects and attending networking events
• Negotiating contracts and rates, including fees, package deals, and how rights and royalties are handled
• Registering compositions with performing rights organizations so they can earn royalties when their music is performed or broadcast
• Collaborating with music supervisors, music editors, sound designers, and audio engineers
• Maintaining and upgrading studio equipment, computers, and sound libraries
• Studying scores, listening widely, and practicing instruments to keep skills sharp
• Giving talks, teaching lessons or workshops, or mentoring younger composers
• Promoting yourself through a website, demo reel, social media, and live performances

A Music Composer's morning often starts quietly, with coffee, a review of emails, and a look at the day's deadlines. They might open their project and listen back to what they wrote the day before with fresh ears, noticing what works and what needs to change. Then it is time to sit down with the scene. Maybe it is a chase in an animated film, a quiet moment in a drama, or a boss battle in a video game. The composer might hum a melody, try chords on piano, build a rhythm loop, or sketch a theme in notation, searching for an idea that feels exactly right.

Midday is often when the music takes shape. The composer layers instruments, adjusts the tempo to fit the picture, and tries different sounds, from soft strings to pounding drums to strange electronic textures. They may need to hit specific timings, so a swell peaks exactly when a door opens or a character looks up. Some days, they are on a video call with a director, playing demos and listening to notes such as make it warmer, make it less obvious, or this needs to feel more dangerous. A composer must translate those emotional words into notes and sounds. Other days are spent recording a live musician at home or working with an orchestrator to prepare parts for a recording session.

Afternoons and evenings might bring revisions, mixing, and delivery. A director may have recut a scene, which means the music suddenly needs to be longer, shorter, or entirely different, and the composer reworks the music quickly. They export stems and mixes, label files carefully, and send them off. In between, they might practice an instrument, study a score, attend a concert, or work on a personal piece. For many composers, inspiration comes at odd moments, so they keep a notebook or voice memo app close by.

“Every day is very, very different but for the most part I wake up around 8:30-9am. I eat breakfast and then I open my current project session (each music track is written in one session), check e-mails and do some research on YouTube and iTunes. Research, meaning watching new movie trailers and listening to new songs, film scores, etc. I don’t actually begin writing and mixing music till about 11am, but I have everything ready in case I get a request from a client.

I write, edit, mix or arrange music from about 11AM till midnight. I do take exercise, lunch and dinner breaks. Most days I try to work for about 10-12 hours but that can always vary. This is for weekdays. On weekends I try to work about 5-7 hours; sometimes less if I don’t have a deadline. Again, this changes all the time depending on a number of factors. It’s important to mention that I have an incredibly flexible schedule, which I think is vital for creative people. Some days I simply cannot force myself to write any music, so I may take a few hours and go to the beach or the mountains. These breaks are incredibly important for musicians. Count this as an extremely advantageous aspect of this profession — I don’t think people working a 9 to 5 office job get the luxury of doing that.” Oscar Flores, Composer

Soft Skills

• Creativity and the ability to generate fresh musical ideas on a deadline
• Emotional intelligence and the ability to understand what a scene, character, or story needs
• Communication skills to discuss feelings, ideas, and feedback with non-musicians
• Collaboration with directors, producers, designers, performers, and engineers
• Flexibility, since a tiny change in picture or gameplay can mean rewriting an entire cue
• Resilience and a thick skin, since music is subjective and ideas are often rejected or revised
• Self-discipline and the ability to manage your own schedule, especially as a freelancer
• Persistence in pitching and building a career in a competitive field
• Time management and reliability, since missing a deadline can hurt a whole production
• Curiosity about different cultures, instruments, and styles of music
• Problem solving when a technical issue, a tight timeline, or a creative block gets in the way
• Professionalism and a positive attitude, because composers are hired again when they are easy and inspiring to work with

Technical Skills

• Music theory, harmony, counterpoint, and ear training
• Orchestration and arranging for different instruments and ensembles
• Proficiency in at least one instrument, usually piano or keyboard, plus familiarity with others
• Digital audio workstations such as Logic Pro, Cubase, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, or Ableton Live
• Music notation software such as Dorico, Sibelius, or MuseScore
• Virtual instruments and sample libraries from companies such as Spitfire Audio, Native Instruments, and Orchestral Tools
• Synthesis and sound design for electronic and hybrid scores
• Scoring to picture, including tempo maps, timecode, and hit points
• Recording, mixing, and basic audio engineering for demos and final cues
• Game audio tools and middleware such as Wwise and FMOD for interactive music

• Film Composer: Writes original scores for movies, from intimate independent films to blockbuster adventures
• Television and Streaming Composer: Creates themes and episode scores for series, often working quickly to deliver music week after week
• Video Game Composer: Writes music that responds to the player's actions, creating adaptive scores that change with the game
• Concert Composer: Writes new works for orchestras, chamber ensembles, choirs, bands, and soloists, often through commissions
• Theater and Musical Composer: Writes original music for plays, musicals, dance, and opera
• Documentary and Animation Composer: Creates scores that support nonfiction storytelling and animated worlds
• Trailer and Promo Composer: Writes bold, high-impact music used to promote films, shows, and games
• Library and Production Music Composer: Creates catalogs of original tracks for licensing in videos, podcasts, ads, and online media

• Film and television studios and independent production companies
• Streaming services
• Video game studios and interactive media companies
• Orchestras, chamber music groups, opera companies, and choirs
• Theaters, dance companies, and musical theater productions
• Production music libraries and music licensing companies
• Trailer houses and advertising and marketing companies
• Animation studios
• Podcast networks and digital media companies
• Theme parks and live entertainment companies
• Universities, conservatories, and community music schools
• Music publishers, performing rights organizations, and recording studios

“In terms of projects, I am a freelancer, so I don’t work exclusively for any single person or company. However, I will say that about 95% of my work is focused on motion picture advertising (i.e trailers and TV spots for Hollywood films). This is the work I do for Louder Productions. Other projects may include student, independent and feature films, video games, commercials, corporate videos and documentaries. Most composers are freelancers and work on a variety of projects. Some composers do have agents, publicists and other people helping them get certain films or TV shows. Having an agent is not necessary but once a composer is very well known and established, an agent becomes indispensable. Agents will pitch for jobs, including blockbuster and other big films, knowing the strengths of their clients. These pitches would be very difficult to make without the help of an agent. Film, TV, videogames, commercials require different amounts of music under varying deadlines, but in general terms, they are very similar in that they need custom music. Many composers work in all of these industries since applying the knowledge gained in one type of media is always applicable in the other ones. Again, this is speaking in general since music genres vary greatly!” Oscar Flores, Composer

Music Composers need to be creative on demand. A project may have a deadline in days, and the composer must find the right idea quickly, even when inspiration is low. Because music is deeply personal and also subjective, other people will have strong opinions about what you create. A director may ask for the opposite of what you wrote, or a producer may suddenly want a different style. Learning to accept notes, make revisions, and still keep the heart of your music takes maturity, patience, and a bit of humor.

The career path is often unpredictable. Many composers work as freelancers, which means income can rise and fall from year to year. Early in your career, you may take on small projects such as student films, indie games, or library tracks for little pay while you build your portfolio. Finding clients, negotiating contracts, and managing your own business are part of the job. It can take years to build the relationships and credits needed for larger projects, and many composers keep a second source of income, such as teaching, performing, or orchestrating, while they build their careers.

Composing can also be isolating and intense. Long hours in a studio, repeated listening to the same few measures, and tight deadlines can lead to fatigue, stress, and ear strain. Composers need to take care of their hearing, schedule breaks, and keep life balance in mind. At the same time, the reward is that your work can reach audiences who never know your name but feel your music. The pressure and the passion go hand in hand.

“A very important part of being a composer is spending many, many hours alone — in isolation. We have to be very focused on our music and, thus, require privacy at all times. This in turn is very detrimental to our social lives. This may be the biggest sacrifice one makes in this profession.” Oscar Flores, Composer

Long hours and a strong work ethic are a must: “Sometimes it feels like being on call at all times since clients will want revisions and changes done under very tight deadlines. These may come any day and at any time. More importantly, I never know when this will happen, so I always have to be prepared. It can be both very stressful but also very exciting. In terms of professional expectations, the people I work with do require the best quality music delivered on time. I think they also expect me to always be positive and not complain about whatever request they may have for a music track. This is not hard to do since it’s an amazing job, but it’s worth mentioning that there’s little tolerance for people with negative attitudes or unenthusiastic personalities. Remember, this profession is about simplifying other people’s lives, so being easygoing is perhaps the single most important attribute to possess.” Oscar Flores, Composer

• Growth of streaming services and the global demand for original scores in series, films, and documentaries
• Expansion of video games, mobile games, and virtual reality, with adaptive and interactive music that changes as players move through a world
• Increasingly powerful sample libraries and virtual instruments that let composers create orchestral sounds from a home studio
• Remote collaboration, with composers working with directors, musicians, and orchestras around the world over the internet
• Hybrid scores that blend orchestral instruments with synthesizers, electronic textures, and unusual found sounds
• Spatial audio and immersive formats such as Dolby Atmos influencing how scores are written and mixed
• Artificial intelligence tools that can generate music or assist with sketching ideas, raising new questions about creativity, ownership, and fair credit
• Growing demand for diverse voices, with composers bringing in instruments, rhythms, and traditions from many cultures
• Creator-driven media such as YouTube, podcasts, and indie games creating new opportunities for emerging composers
• New models for licensing and royalties as streaming and online platforms change how music earns money

Many Music Composers started making up their own tunes as soon as they could sit at a piano or pick up a guitar. They might have played an instrument from a young age, joined band, orchestra, or choir, and spent hours noodling around on a keyboard, inventing melodies, or writing songs for friends and family. Movie soundtracks and video game music often captured their imagination, and some were the kids who could hum entire scores from memory. They loved playing with sounds, whether by recording on a phone, experimenting with music apps, or layering tracks on a computer.

Others discovered their path through storytelling and technology. They enjoyed writing stories, making videos, or building games, and realized that music was the missing piece. Some came to composing through school plays, marching band, or church music, and others taught themselves with online tutorials, MIDI keyboards, and free software. What they shared was a deep curiosity about how music can make people feel and a drive to create something original.