Commissioning a New Piece of Music

How to commission a new piece of music from a composer/arranger.

This page is intended as a guide for anyone wishing to commission a new piece of music from a composer or arranger. It is intended a general guide (and not solely a guide for commissioning work from me) and in my experience this is the process that commissioning a new composition or arrangement normally follows.

Since commissioning a new work is something that most groups, bands or individuals only do very occasionally, there is quite often some confusion about what to expect when first approaching a composer or arranger.

There are normally two basic questions which need to be answered by the composer/arranger first.

1. Can you finish the new piece before our deadline - e.g. specific concert, recording etc?
2. How much will the new piece cost?

The answers to both of these questions are the same:

1. It depends how long the piece is to be. Obviously the longer the work then the more expensive it will be.
2. It also depends whether the piece it is to be an arrangement or an original composition. In general an original composition will take longer to finish than an arrangement simply because with an arrangement the music already exists.
3. It depends whether the arrangement is still in copyright or not. If the arrangement is in copyright (generally speaking copyright lasts until 71 years after the death of the composer) then the copyright holder will normally ask for a fee to be paid for allowing an arrangement to be made, but it's also possible that the copyright holder will not grant permission to make an arrangement. If there is a copyright fee involved for an arrangement (usually around £30) this would make the cost of the arrangement a little more expensive.
4. It depends how busy the composer/arranger is at the time!

Put in simple terms. When you first approach a composer/arranger you'll want to know the answers to questions 1 and 2. Then, you'll discuss the issues involved with answers A and B, after which the composer/arranger will take this all into account, discuss C and D with you, then agree a deadline and a price - Simple!