Writing songs and music for movies can be a good living. If you manage to do it without ever seeing the words “work for hire” in your contract, it can be a great living. The “work for hire” clause is the single biggest rip-off in the music business. It means that you not only give up any right to further payment, but also that you're not legally the author of the work. That's right. If you sign a “work for hire” contract, the company that employs you is officially the writer and you don't exist. This is just one of the many differences between writing for movies and writing for recording artists.

Scoring

Music written especially for a movie is called the “score.” Though scores are mostly comprised of background music to accentuate the moods of different scenes, sometimes the theme song (which usually plays under the credits) is part of the score. Every now and then a score, or the theme from a score, will become a hit, as happened for John Williams when his theme for Star Wars hit the charts.

Theaters in the United States don't pay performance royalties, so scoring work pays fairly well up front to compensate. An established film composer working for a major studio may earn in excess of half a million dollars per film. A new writer working for an independent studio might make 5 percent of that, but it beats a kick in the head. Most scoring jobs for major studios pay at least $100,000.

Extra cash can be made if you can orchestrate, conduct the musicians, and produce the recording, so a degree and/or practical experience in these areas still comes in handy. As a scorer, you only get mechanicals on the soundtrack record if you negotiate for them. There are lots of other deal points and tricks to watch for. If you go into scoring, find an attorney who specializes in this kind of deal.

How to Win Without Scoring

When it comes to writing a song for a particular movie, you'll usually get an up-front fee of anywhere from zilch (for those starting out) to over $50,000 (for big-name writers). Although you don't get performance royalties from U.S. theaters, you will get them from European theaters and TV use. Also, you can usually negotiate for about the same sheet music royalty you'd get from a publisher. Some studios, for obvious reasons, prefer to do a spec deal in which they pay a small fee for a demo of the song, then decide if they like it before paying more. In most cases, the main fee you are paid is a “buyout”; the movie studio owns the copyright.