Cue-based Billing

Alternatives to the Package Fee

In high-budget feature film production, composers are often paid a package fee. This is a large, all-inclusive sum from which the composer must pay for all costs associated with delivering the score, including orchestration, recording sessions, mixing, and sometimes even their own assistant’s salary. The composer’s final profit is what’s left over after all expenses are paid.

However, in other areas of media production, such as television, video games, and corporate projects, a more granular billing method is often used. Cue-based billing or per-minute billing offers a more flexible and scalable approach.

Common Models

This billing structure can take several forms:

• Per-Cue Fee: The composer and producer agree on a set fee for each individual music cue delivered. This might be a flat rate per cue or a tiered system where more complex or longer cues cost more. This model is less common for original scores but can be used in certain contexts.
• Per-Minute Fee: This is a more frequent approach. The composer is paid a set rate for each finished minute of music that is approved and included in the final production. For example, a contract might stipulate a rate of $1,500 per minute. If the final film uses 40 minutes of score, the composer’s creative fee would be $60,000.

Contexts for Use

Cue-based or per-minute billing is advantageous in productions where the total amount of music required is not known upfront or may fluctuate during post-production. It provides transparency and predictability for producers, as costs scale directly with the amount of content created. This model is very common in episodic television, where the musical needs can vary greatly from one episode to the next. It is also the standard model for licensing music from production music libraries, where clients pay a fee based on the length and type of usage for a pre-existing track.