Starting Points

Now that we understand what networking is and that the goal is to create a network of professionals that value us and our work, let’s explore some starting points. First, you can’t create value for a network that doesn’t exist. So where can you start meeting people?

Strategies for Events

There is no substitute for making a face-to-face connection, so attending events in person is an essential aspect of networking success. When attending these events (especially GDC) try not to go in with the mindset that you will be leaving with a gig. This mindset tends to reek of desperation, and the classic “salesperson” attitude can be a major turn-off for potential clients. Instead focus on being as many places as you can, and enjoy absorbing the energy of the event. These events are meant to be fun. By being present and learning what you can, you will end up having meaningful conversations with tons of people. This is how you create and build friendships. Often these same people will end up being life-long friends, some of whom you may only see at these conferences.

A large part of the impact you have on people is how you act when you are having a conversation. A great read for this topic is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.¹ To summarize a very powerful book, the best way to make genuine connections is to be genuine. You should actually care about the people you are talking to and invest yourself in what they have to say. If you do this then you are 90 percent of the way toward making a professional connection. A common mistake people make is either overselling or underselling themselves. Oversellers may come off as cocky or overbearing, but undersellers can be just as self-destructive. Be confident in yourself, but leave plenty of room for others in the conversation. Making eye contact, using people’s names, and actually retaining the information your peers are divulging all go a long way toward making a real connection.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or shy, a great trick is to simply walk around and play games. Every conference has an expo floor where various games and game prototypes will be available to play. So strike up a conversation. These devs have worked their butts off to make something for the public, and they are usually more than willing to tell you all about it. It is by far the easiest way to start a new friendship. This demonstrates an important networking concept: real relationships are reciprocal. Don’t settle for talking about yourself and your achievements only – ask about their work and personal life. Asking questions and being genuinely interested in the answer shows that you are authentic, and that you are interested in them for more than just work opportunities. If you’re more of an introvert, it also takes the focus off of you and makes it easier to dig into the conversation and find common ground.

Another tip is to have a basic “elevator pitch” for people asking about your work. Sometimes people are genuinely interested in what you do and you want to be able to effectively communicate what makes your work special. Keep it simple and to the point and try to avoid clichés. Most of all be honest. If you are interested in music for VR games, but have little experience then say exactly that. “I’m a composer and I’m interested in doing VR work.” This frames it in a positive light without lying about your lack of experience. But it is also important to do your research beforehand so that you can effectively demonstrate your competence if a VR project does come your way.

One last tip for conferences is to avoid setting your sights on meeting only the well-known people in the industry. Don’t cherry pick your connections. It is equally if not more important to build a network of people with similar career experience to you. These are the people you will maintain friendships with. One day you will realize that you are all at different studios, in positions of authority, and you will be reliant on each other to produce quality audio work. That is the goal. The goal is not to find the most famous person at the conference and talk her ear off. That person likely already has her own network which she made years ago in much the same way.

Creating Your Value

Once you have built a small but promising network of friends, what are the next steps? How do you make yourself valuable to them as a friend and professional? The bottom line here is that you need to ask yourself what your network needs and how you can be the person who fulfills that need. This doesn’t mean constantly asking if they need extra music or sound design for a project they’re working on. In fact, most likely that is exactly what they want from their network. It is much more likely that they need something that is not in their skill set. If they are composer and you are an instrumentalist then recording some parts for them would be a great start. Or perhaps they are under the gun on a project and need some help organizing a huge list of voice auditions. You could offer to set up a spreadsheet for them or be the go-between for the auditioners. People remember when you are helpful to them, and it will show your competence and commitment.

Another tip is to avoid letting everything be about work. Ask yourself if you’re being a good friend or if you are just being a work acquaintance. Follow up with people you meet after conferences, even when you aren’t looking for work. Offer to meet up if you’re ever in the same city. Find some fun side projects to collaborate on. These are all great ways to show that you’re in it for the long haul.

At the crux of the issue of offering value is the fact that we all want our network to provide work opportunities for us. Knowing that, a hugely successful way to create value is to provide work opportunities for your network. If you are in a position where you have budget to hire musicians, or voice artists, or sound designers, or composers, then pay it forward and offer an audition to people in your network. This puts you in an amazing situation where you get to collaborate with your friends, and come away looking like a hero. They will likely remember you when they are in a similar position.

The Elevator Pitch

Imagine the typical film scenario where the main character wishes to land a promotion at their company and happens to find herself in an elevator face to face with the C.E.O. This is where the elevator pitch comes in. It’s an introduction that can be communicated within the brief timing of the elevator ride. Regardless if you find yourself in an actual elevator, a meetup, or an interview, it’s a great skill to master.

In the Sound Lab (companion site) we offer a step-by-step guide to creating an elevator pitch and additional resources for developing it.

Business Cards

Business cards are a simple way for people you meet to remember your name and what you do. They are not a good way for people to get to know you. Sometimes people think that handing out a business card is synonymous with making a meaningful connection. This is demonstrably not the case. Business cards are a way to efficiently exchange information after you have made a meaningful connection.

The best business card is one that 1) has all of your information in an easily readable format, and 2) is memorable. So with that, be creative. Some of the best moments we’ve had at conferences are being given hilarious cards. Just make sure that your card isn’t more memorable than you are!

Website

Having an up-to-date portfolio of your work is an essential aspect of demonstrating your value. Demo tapes and CDs have long since given rise to personal websites thanks to cheap and flexible services like Squarespace, Wordpress, and Wix. A personal/professional website is essentially a place to collect samples of your work, client lists, and anything else relevant to your professional life. Websites are great because with one click a potential client can see everything you’ve ever worked on. It’s also easy to tailor your website to any slice of the industry – AAA, indie, mobile, console, etc. simply by choosing what goes on your home page. With that said, there are some important concepts to understand before building your site.

In our view a website is a chance to show off your absolute best work to anyone who clicks onto your page. Don’t squander this opportunity. Websites need to be simple, uncluttered, and offer an as easy as humanly possible way to listen to your best work. That said, you don’t want to give visitors too much to look at or too much to click on. For this reason we recommend having a very simple and minimal home page with nothing but a handful of audio tracks or videos. Visitors should be able to click onto your site, see the one thing you want them to see (a reel or short video), and hear your work.

Apart from the home page, it’s helpful to put a list of clients and projects as a separate page. This is to keep from cluttering up your home page. If you want a page with awards, recognition, or client satisfaction quotes they can go on a separate page as well. Of course, you’ll also need a bio page and a contact form. Your bio should tell your story. It should be a picture of yourself and your work. People will want to know what inspires you and what your vision is for doing what you do.

Above all, your website has to define your “brand.” This means everything about your site needs to visually point to you and to how you want to be known. If your brand is that you are a dark and broody but visionary composer, then your visuals should look dark and broody. If your brand is a funny, fun-loving sound designer then maybe include some pictures in your bio that show off this side of your personality. A lighter color scheme might be more appropriate here. Keep things clean and visually appealing, but every single thing on the website should point to who you are and what you want your brand to be.

Demo Reel

We’ve discussed the importance of a well-crafted website. A reel is an important supplement to your website. Demo reels can be presented on your home page, but don’t necessarily need to be. More often reels are used after you’ve made contact with a potential client and they ask for your work. For this reason a demo reel should be crafted at the very beginning of your career, and you should update it as often as necessary. This way when someone asks to hear your stuff, you have something polished and ready to go.

Demo reels are short audio tracks or videos which show only your very best work. Some say reels should be a maximum of 60 seconds long, but this also depends on the situation. If you are sending a reel out unsolicited (see the section below on “Finding Work”) then 60 seconds is ideal. If a potential client asks to hear your work specifically then one to two minutes should be just fine. The bottom line is that a reel is a quick and polished overview of what you can do.

Before crafting your reel (or reels, yes it’s possible to have more than one) first ask yourself the following questions.

• Who am I as an artist?
• What are my strengths?
• What am I passionate about?

Second, ask yourself:

• Who is the recipient of my art?

The answers to these questions all play an important role in what projects go into your reel. With your reel you want people to see your strengths and what makes your music unique to you. You also, to some degree, want them to see the kind of projects that you are passionate about because that will likely be your focus for future work. It is also important to consider who will be watching this reel. If it is a developer that creates only horror games, then your reel needs to be full of spine-tingling music. For this reason it is common practice to have a few different reels in genres that you are interested in.

Once you decide what tracks you want to put in your reel, you will have a few other technical considerations to decide on. Do you want the reel to be video or audio only? In general, sound design reels should have the visuals with them, so they are usually videos. Music reels can really go either way. The general consensus is that if you have projects that you are proud of and look great, then it’s perfectly fine to cut up gameplay videos and splice them into a reel. If you are looking to redo the audio to a gameplay capture or cutscene, then you may be better of just sending the reel as an audio file unless it is absolutely spectacular work. Overdubbing work that is not your own can sometimes show immaturity and lack of experience, which is not what you want potential clients to walk away from your reel thinking. All that being said, it really depends on who is receiving your reel. Many indie developers would accept audio overdubs if it was in the right style. AAA audio directors would be much less likely to do so. Do your research and find out exactly what they are looking for before you send your reel.

Before sending your reel make sure that everything is as polished as possible. Use a professional service like Soundcloud, YouTube, or Vimeo rather than just sending a WAV file or MOV. There are even services like Reelcrafter which allow you to set up a professional portfolio in minutes and track its engagement. Regardless of what you use, make sure your name and information are clearly visible and be sure to link to your website. If your reel is in video format, make sure your name and the project title are written in clear type on the screen at all times.

One last demo reel note: Don’t let lack of experience hold you back from creating a demo reel or looking for work. At some point every sound designer and composer had zero credits. Be aggressive and create your own opportunities for work. Join game jams, create sounds for hypothetical games, go out and meet college students who are studying game design and ask to collaborate. Look for projects on indie game forums in the “Help Wanted” section and make a post to collaborate. There are plenty of ways to self-start, and everybody has to do it at some point. The bottom line is to get out there and do what you want to do. You cannot create a demo reel if you haven’t created anything.

It’s a small victory if a potential employer or client views your demo reel. You will want to be sure the material will hook them right away so they feel more inclined to keep listening. Head over to the Sound Lab for information on building a great demo reel.

Public Speaking Engagements

Public-speaking engagements are a great way to demonstrate your value. This is an example of inbound networking. Inbound networking simply means that potential clients or members of your network are coming to you rather than you going to them. An example of outbound networking would be going door to door in your neighborhood asking if anyone needs audio for their game projects. Both strategies have their merits. Usually outbound networking is necessary when building a foundation for your career. The downside is that outbound networking is high effort with minimal reward. It’s more of a numbers game than anything else, and it can get tiresome for you and the people that you are “selling” to. Inbound networking requires patience and persistence, but once you have established yourself it yields moderate to high rewards for minimal effort. In other words, it takes some effort to set up a system of inbound networking, but after that it is mostly an issue of maintenance, and your network will grow almost on its own.

Public-speaking engagements are an ideal form of inbound networking because they give you a forum to share your work with peers. When lecturing at a conference, for 40 or so minutes you are the star attraction. Often people will engage with you afterward, asking questions and offering their business cards. It’s essentially advertising for free. Another bonus is that almost anyone with a bit of experience can apply to speak at a conference. This isn’t to say that it’s easy by any means, but it is a fair shot if you have some interesting work to present. Public speaking is an opportunity to be creative and share what makes you and your work special.

An important point to remember about these conferences is that speaking engagements are usually very risk free. This may seem absurd considering that public speaking is always listed as a top fear in the general population. But the truth is that when you’ve adequately prepared, these engagements are usually confidence building and fun. Most conferences have a process that will provide feedback on your talk, and offer supportive ways to improve on it. GameSoundCon is one of the best conferences to attend for this reason. The attendees are all audio professionals as well, so they all have similar interests. If a subject is interesting enough for you to submit a talk, it will likely be interesting to the people in the audience. If you are still terrified of speaking you can start smaller at a local meetup. The Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) Northeast has been holding monthly panels/talks at NYU (in conjunction with NYC Game Audio) for almost two years, and plenty of local audio professionals have taken advantage of this forum to practice public speaking. Many of them have gone on to give these same talks at GSC and even GDC. Beyond that, we would recommend teaming up with some partners. Having a few friends on a panel can make the whole process much less stressful, and it usually offers an opportunity to form deeper connections with your fellow panelists.

Teaching and Mentoring

This overlaps a bit with public-speaking engagements, but there are plenty of ways to employ teaching as an inbound method of networking. YouTube, Facebook, and blogs are perfect avenues to share your knowledge and experience with the world. This can be in the form of tutorials or practical articles – or really anything that you feel good committing your time to. The only caveat is that what you’re sharing should be something that people you would want to be in your network will value. The idea here is to provide worthwhile information to people so that they continue to follow you and your work. It places you in the role of the “expert” or “advisor.” The goal is not to show off all of your projects, which may or may not be helpful to your viewers. Give the viewers what they want, and your network will grow.

If you’re interested in going this route, organizations like GANG and the Audio Mentoring Project (the AMP) are absolutely the best. There you will have opportunities to either be a mentor, or to mentor others. GANG also has many leadership roles, and is in need of volunteers in local chapters as well. If your town doesn’t have a chapter, start one up!

Solicitation

When first starting out, odds are that you’ll have to experiment to some degree with solicitation. This just refers to some form of cold-calling. By definition this is an outbound form of networking. You are essentially sending an application that no one asked for ahead of time. So it is important to respect the recipient’s time and make things as simple and brief as possible. It used to be easier to get in touch with game studios via phone, but nowadays this is much less likely. Unless you have a personal connection to a larger studio, this usually means that most “cold-calling” will in effect be “cold-emailing” or “cold-social-media-ing.” Nevertheless, this is an essential aspect of some people’s networking schtick. There are however a few important points to consider when taking this approach.

Before sending out any solicitation it is crucial to observe exactly who you are reaching out to. And we mean that literally. Who is the human being that will be on the receiving end of your email? Not only that, but what company does this human being work for and what is the company looking for in a potential applicant? Most of what we discussed in the section on demo reels is directly applicable here. What kind of games do they make? Are they looking for the kind of work that you can produce? Are they a startup studio looking to take a chance? Or are they an AAA studio looking for top-tier work? These are real issues to consider before sending an email. Do your research or you will get nowhere with solicitation.

Another crucial point regarding cold-calling is the development cycle. Again, do your research here. Do they have an audio team already? Are they 90 percent finished with the game? If so, this may be a dead end. It may also come off as stepping on the toes of the current audio team. In short, the earlier they are in the development cycle the better your chances of getting in. Spend some time getting to know the development team and looking into their social media and blog history before reaching out.

Lastly, and this is a big one, be genuine and passionate. It may take more time to craft an email this way, but it is far more likely that a developer will respond if you show genuine interest in them and their projects. This is exactly the same concept as building your network. It is a numbers game, but it shouldn’t be just about numbers. You’re looking to make a meaningful and memorable connection here, and you have one short email in which to do it.

Two final tips regarding all solicitation: never open a dialogue by criticizing their current audio, and avoid talking about pricing right away. Pricing comes later during the contract phase, and criticizing audio is a slippery slope that can end in heated resentment. Make the interaction about your passion for their work and your commitment to providing valuable audio to their project. Remember that you are reaching out to them for work. Place the emphasis on what you can do for them, not what they can do for you.

Network Relationships

This method of landing gigs is simple – build a network and wait for it to create work opportunities. This can be a mix of inbound and outbound networking depending on how you’ve chosen to build your network. The opportunities themselves can arise in many ways – referrals, seemingly out-of-the-blue work requests, introductions to potential clients, etc. Due to the unpredictability of the sources of these opportunities the best approach is to follow the advice in the previous section “Networking and Creating Value” to cultivate a lucrative network. All that is needed afterward is patience and persistence.

Applications

Applications for advertised jobs are essentially the means by which all in-house roles will be filled, so it is a very important aspect of finding work. This is not really outbound or inbound networking because it is in effect the developer’s way of sourcing inbound talent. As a freelancer it is less likely that you will have to make too many applications. Some developers post adverts for contract work, but in these cases there are usually so many applicants that the odds can be stacked heavily against you.

The application process is much less mysterious than other means of finding work because the requirements are all laid out for you to see. You will have a clear idea of what the client is looking for, what skills you must have in order to be a successful applicant, and what your responsibilities will look like if you are accepted. This means that you have a very reliable metric to direct your practical experience. If the job specifications you’re looking at are all about Wwise and Unreal, then go start a personal project using Wwise and Unreal. If the specifications are emphasizing field-recording experience then get your gear and start recording some sound libraries. Studying each specification will give you a goal to work toward, and one that you can objectively evaluate.

The key to a successful application is honesty. It is all too common to hear audio directors discussing the slew of unqualified applications they receive for senior-level positions. If you don’t have the experience required, then don’t apply for the position. Most adverts are crystal clear on what they are looking for in a candidate, so respect the employer’s time and yours. It’s perfectly acceptable to pass on an application if you aren’t qualified. It gives you the opportunity to work on building your skills.

Even if you do have all the skills required, it is important to put your best foot forward. Audio roles are extremely competitive, so make sure your cover letter is concise and polished. There should be no typos or spelling errors, and it should clearly state your skills and why you are the perfect candidate for the role you are applying for. If you are applying for a sound design role do not discuss how much you love composing music. This is a red flag that you are not interested in the responsibilities of the role. Again, the demo reel advice comes in handy here: Tailor your supporting documentation to the role that you’re applying for. With a bit of luck and persistence you will land an interview.

Repeat Clients

“Repeat clients” is technically not its own category because it doesn’t tell us any information about how the opportunity to work with said clients arose in the first place. However, the fact is that developers want to work with people that they know and trust. So if you have landed a project – any project – you have a leg up on the competition. For this reason focusing on repeat clients is by and far the best way to build a sustainable career, which is why it gets its own category. In fact, many composers and sound designers make a very comfortable living off of repeat clients – and you can too! Let’s dig into a few ways to take advantage of repeated business.

Repeat clients are the result of an interesting mix of outbound and inbound networking. For the most part it is inbound because often clients will seek you out to work on their latest projects. However, it is outbound as well because it requires some effort on your part to foster a positive, mutually beneficial relationship. In short, clients need to feel that you were easy to work with, reliable, and that you delivered a quality final product.

Being easy to work with can mean many things depending on the situation, so it can be the trickiest of the three elements of positive client relationships. This mostly boils down to communication skills and attitude. In your interactions with your client make sure that your communications are clear and simple so that you eliminate the possibility of misinterpretation. This will save you and your client time. Additionally, you will need to intuit what exactly your client wants from you so that you can deliver it. In this case we aren’t referring to what assets the client wants. We are referring to what kind of relationship your client wants. Some developers are looking for an audio designer who can deliver quality assets from a specified list autonomously and within a specified deadline. Others are looking for more of a collaborator, capable of creative decision making and even giving feedback on the project as a whole. It is your job to determine what your client wants out of this partnership, and to do your best to fill that role. On top of that, an energetic and positive attitude can seal the deal for future business.

Reliability is equally important when nurturing client relationships. Developers are often under tight deadlines, so they need to feel that you will deliver the services you were hired for on time and exactly as specified. Do your best to manage your and your client’s expectations. It is always better to be realistic about timeframes and schedules than it is to over-promise, even if it feels awkward at first. If a client asks you when you can finish producing a number of assets, don’t beat around the bush and don’t give them false expectations. Setting realistic expectations might be uncomfortable, but it is far more uncomfortable in the long run to have to ask for an extension. Such a situation will leave your client thinking that you are not reliable and therefore not worthy of repeat business.

Where reliability is concerned, it can be helpful to maintain consistent contact with clients to update them on your progress. This brings up an important issue – asking questions. Many people think that asking questions will show them to be unprofessional or unreliable. This is very clearly not the case. In her book Dare to Lead,³ Brené Brown shows that asking questions actually increases supervisors’ trust in their workers. Thus, it also increases the perception of reliability. It is impossible to do your job to the best of your ability if you don’t understand elements of it. The bottom line is if you need clarification, ask. Give yourself the tools you need to successfully deliver and your clients will be amazed at your reliability.

The final element of a good client relationship is delivering a quality final product. This is actually the easy part. It is a culmination of understanding the client’s needs and putting in all of the creative and technical skills we have discussed in Parts I, II, and III. Be passionate, confident, and committed to great audio and you will always deliver a worthy product.

Professional or Popular Recognition

Professional and popular recognition is the only category that is entirely inbound. This is the ideal place to be in terms of career development because at this point you will find work based on your reputation alone. Unfortunately it can be difficult to get here, sometimes taking years of work and a fair bit of luck to achieve. As a game audio creator much of your outward success comes from the success of your projects, and that isn’t always something within your control.

Some potential places to find work at this stage are things like referrals, industry awards and recognition, soundtrack popularity, and agents. These offer some very powerful opportunities because they come from peers or clients who already value your work. You have an edge on other audio professionals, as you do when dealing with repeat clients. Some example scenarios are a developer reaching out to you because they enjoyed a previous game soundtrack you’ve composed, or a friend referring you to an audio director for a role on her sound team because you have a reputation as a master voice editor. The thing to remember about these types of situation is that they are self-fueling. By doing quality work and making a name for yourself you will receive more opportunities, which in turn allows you to do more work and so on and so forth.

The topic of working with an agent is a very popular one, especially among composers. Sound designers often work on teams, and there are plenty of in-house positions so finding an agent who specializes in representing sound designers is less than common. By contrast there is usually only one composer needed per game, and there are more composers than sound designers in the industry. For this reason agencies are really only relevant to those looking to write music for games specifically. Getting an agent can be tough work. Referrals are possible of course, but they only guarantee you a meeting with an agent. They do not guarantee that you will be represented. You essentially have to already have a prolific career before an agent will even be interested in you. The prevailing advice for those in the industry seeking an agent is this: if an agent hasn’t contacted you, then you are not ready for representation.

The role of an agent is to find potential clients and represent you in contract negotiations. Agents get a percentage of what you make for a project, so it is in their best interest to get the best deal possible. This can be hugely helpful on larger contracts, which can be convoluted and confusing. Agents also play a role in bringing in pitches for new work (see the section below “The Design Test”). We’ll discuss the process of pitching for a project later, but pitches are essentially an audition for large game projects.

There are some helpful things to remember as you build your career that can make representation more likely in the future. For one thing just meeting an agent, even at an early stage of your career, makes it more likely that they will represent you later on. Agents are very well connected, so they make it a point to meet with many composers. But making a good impression on them early in your career can help plant the seed of a relationship. Later on, when you’ve accrued some larger projects you can check back in and see if their agency is looking for more talent. Additionally, if you’re having a hard time finding representation and are looking to make yourself more known to the professional world, it might be a good idea to start out exploring options in public relations before you start soliciting agents. PR professionals are great at finding your strengths and telling your story to the world. This can make a big difference in how valuable an agency perceives you to be.

Finding Work Summary

Remember that the above categories are broad. It would be impossible to detail an exhaustive list of every circumstance leading to work. But if you balance your efforts in each of these categories and have patience, you will find that opportunities for work will start cropping up. Start with solicitation and a heavy emphasis on your network, but keep in mind the goal of creating a slew of inbound clients. It is worth mentioning again the Pyramid of Sustainability from Chapter 10. You can improve your technical skills and your networking skills, but there is always an element of luck that is out of your control. If you are persistent and prioritize overall sustainability, your career path will be surprising and rewarding.

The Design Test

Notice that up to this point we have used the term “work opportunities” rather than “work.” This is intentional. Digging up the opportunity for work is half the battle. The other half is actually landing the gig. There are a number of things that go into being hired for a position or project. We already mentioned the application process, and this is usually the case for in-house positions. For freelance work, whether it is for a sound design role, music composition role, voiceover work, or anything else it usually includes some kind of design test or pitch. This is an audition, and it is your chance to show the developer what you can do. Ideally, a pitch will be a short sample of music or sound design to video that is memorable and uniquely fits the style and mood of the game in question. To that end, the very first piece of advice we have to offer is to follow directions. Even the boring ones! If an audio director is asking you to pitch along with ten other highly qualified composers, and you are asked to compose music to a short gameplay clip, you can bet that you will be shooting yourself in the foot if you instead deliver a WAV file of a new track you produced. In fact, you may not even have your pitch heard at all. Observe all of the requested technical specifications as well as the creative directions, and deliver on time if not early. Audio directors and developers will commonly send a reference for the style of music or sound design that they want. If this is the case then make sure you are clear on exactly what they are looking for and follow it to the “T.” Ask questions if it helps, but don’t deliver a hybrid orchestral track if they want orchestra only. These types of oversight can lose you the project and waste time.

An important factor to remember here is that pitches are extremely competitive. You should approach a pitch for a project with excitement and enthusiasm, but also with a sense of boundaries. Try allotting a timeframe to work on your pitch. Choose something realistic, but don’t go over. You should be able to make a short, high-quality sample, and then move on to other tasks. Don’t let the excitement of a pitch hold you back from delivering on current projects.

It can be helpful to look at the pitching process as if it were test-driving a car. In fact, it’s an example of the developer or audio director test-driving you. Part of what they may be interested in seeing is how you will work under their direction, so employ all of the techniques we mentioned earlier in the “Repeat Clients” section. Be easy to work with, be reliable, and above all deliver the best final product that you can. Some pitches even allow for revisions, so make it clear when you deliver that you are genuinely interested in hearing what they think of your work. This is a win–win because it shows your professionalism and commitment to quality, and even if you lose the pitch you will have some solid ideas on how to improve.

One final point to observe when pitching is to maintain a positive attitude. Pitches are full of tough competition, and even the best of us lose far more pitches than we win. The upside to this is that the excitement and fun of the pitching process can be a phenomenal motivator. Even if you lose the pitch you will probably walk away with a great demo piece. So many of our pitch samples that did not win us a project have gone on to be part of lectures or conference talks, or even to serve as demo material that did get us the opportunity to work on a different game. The bottom line is to take as many pitches as you can, but set appropriate boundaries (especially concerning the amount of time you put in) and expectations. Then move on when you’ve finished. If you are chosen for the project, then congratulations! But if not, there are other fish in the sea, as they say. Check out the Sound Lab (companion site) for some more information regarding design tests.

What Determines Your Price?

The price you set for a project can be broken down into a few categories. These categories add up to the price that you will offer on your final bid. We’ll look at each category below.

Creative Fees

At last we have come to the creative fee. This will make up the lion’s share of your pricing and is a hotly debated topic. Of course, there are ranges you can find online for what you should be charging per minute of music. But in reality these ranges are far wider than they are purported to be. This is because the game industry is changing. Mobile and indie developers are making games with budgets under $10,000. Some games are even developed for less, and this is by no means an indication of the quality of the final product. You can’t expect a developer to pay you $2,500 per minute of music if the budget of the entire game is $2,500. So how do you set your creativity price? To break this topic down, we must start with some basic numbers.

Anchor Value

Anchor value pricing is a method of setting your price outlined by a 2018 GameSoundCon article.⁶ In essence, this method allows you to set your price based on the value of your overall services. The article asserts that the first number that a client sees will be the value that they attribute to you and you work. This is crucial to your career development. When clients value your work higher, they are willing to pay more, and will respect your technical and creative input more. They will also be more appreciative of your collaboration in general. It affects just about every aspect of your interactions with them in a positive way. You’ll find that once you start putting a higher number as your anchor value, you will also feel more confident in yourself and your work as well.

So how should you set the anchor value? The truth is that there is no real answer to this. Basing this number on number of years of experience is common, but also somewhat arbitrary. Years of experience don’t necessarily lead to quality. For that matter, quality itself is somewhat arbitrary. You would be surprised how variable the term “quality audio” can be when you ask a game developer to evaluate work. For one client “quality audio” means fantasy-driven sound effects and epic music. For another, a plucky cartoonish aesthetic is what they mean by “quality.” Quality really boils down to individual taste, and that is impossible to quantify.

Our favorite method for setting an anchor value is simple. Imagine yourself in a situation where your dream project comes along and the developer asks you for a bid (per hour, or per asset, or for the whole project, it doesn’t really matter). Now pick a number in your head that you are fully comfortable and confident in as your price point. Now double it. This may seem greedy, but as creative, passionate people we tend to undervalue ourselves. This is especially true when faced with projects that excite and inspire us. This method forces us to push outside our comfort zones and prioritize our career and personal development. For the skeptics out there, sit tight because the process isn’t over. The anchor value is not necessarily the price that you will be paid. But it is an important part of your creative fee.

Questions to Ask Before Placing Your Bid

Get to know the developer.

• How big is the team? What are the roles?
• Are team members full time or contract?
• How long has the team been in place?
• What are the details of the studio’s past projects?
• Will you be working in-house or remotely?

Get to know the game.

• Is there a publisher?
• What is the development cycle length, timeline, and ship date?
• What are the intended release platform(s)?
• What is the story and overall gameplay length?
• What are the characters, levels, and core mechanics?
• What games or other media were an influence for this game?

Understand their audio scope.

• Will you be responsible for music, SFX, VO, or implementation?
• What is the music and SFX style?
• Will you be working with middleware and engines?
• Will there be added animations, cutscenes, trailers, or marketing assets?
• What is the audio budget, and who owns the rights to the final product?
• Do they have budget for live instruments?
• What is the Foley and field recording budget?

These are all important questions to ask your client. The answers they give you will provide an overview of the project before you submit your bid. Knowing the scope and responsibilities of the project should suggest how much time you’ll be spending on it. For example, knowing whether or not you are responsible for implementation makes a huge impact on how to price your work. Sound effects can be effectively priced per asset, or even estimated as a lump sum if you are given all the details of a project. But implementation is often unpredictable and can be more time consuming than you expect. It will depend on the workflow of the developer, which is not under your control. For this reason we’ve found the most useful form of pricing for sound design and implementation (or implementation alone) to be an hourly rate. Note that anchor pricing works exactly the same for all types of pricing. Go with the option that is most comfortable for you, and makes the most sense for each project.

Rates Sheet

An important step in this process is to have a basic rates sheet. This is just a pdf document that first contains your anchor value (which will be your buyout price), then below it one or two licensing options. Keep it simple and don’t offer so many options as to make it confusing. Remember that this is a starting point for your negotiations.

Make sure the sheet is polished with no spelling errors or typos. The goal of the sheet is to show off your anchor value in a visually appealing format. The secondary goal is to keep you from wasting time guessing what to charge. Yes, your rate sheet will slowly change as you increase your anchor value over your career. But from project to project it will largely be the same. If someone asks “What are your rates?” you can casually say “Here’s my rates sheet” and send it over without a second thought. If the person asking is an indie developer or a developer you really would like to work with, then follow this up with, “These are my usual studio rates. How do they fit into your budget?”

Creative Payment Options

An important aspect of this method of pricing is the concept of leverage. When you set a high anchor value you are amassing leverage, even if a client can’t pay your rates. This allows you to make strides in your career regardless of your project budgets because you can use this leverage to negotiate other forms of payment. There are in fact many ways to be compensated as a game audio professional, and they are all useful tools for building momentum in your career. We’ve listed a few payment options below.

Final Thoughts on Pricing

There are clearly dozens of factors that go into the minutiae of a bid. But when it comes to finding your creative fee and setting your anchor value we would encourage you to keep things as simple as possible. Don’t overthink or try to guess at a developer’s budget before you set an anchor value. Trust your rate sheet and be consistent regardless of the project budget. The point of the anchor value is to show potential clients what you’re worth, not what you want them to pay you.

The unfortunate truth is that by throwing out an anchor value, some developers will scoff at it and end negotiations. This is not such a pleasant experience, but it serves an important purpose – to weed out low-paying clients that do not value audio as integral to the development process. The bottom line is that if you respect audio, you will pay a fair price for it. In our experience this method teaches clients to value audio more, not less. This is good for you and for the industry as a whole.

Finally, we offer a simple word of caution. Do not let your value as a business person influence your self-worth. Remember the Pyramid of Sustainability (Chapter 10) – your personal health and happiness is the foundation of your career. Personal success is under your control while financial success is often influenced by other factors. Keep this in mind and you will find the business side of game audio as rewarding as the technical side.

In the Sound Lab (companion site) you’ll find an example of a final bid. Check it out before moving on to the next section.