The short answer is yes – more than ever.
The media industry is growing rapidly and almost every piece of new content requires music so there is more work about than ever. But the need to truly understand the market, your customers and deliver unique distinctive music has never been more crucial. That’s where a film scoring Masters degree comes in, because it teaches you to develop a voice and a market focus that will propel your career.
Now, here's the longer answer...
I am assuming your motivation for taking a film scoring Masters is to start or upgrade a career as a film composer? You might be wondering if this career really exists and whether it is practical to expect to earn a living in the precarious world of writing music for films. I don’t blame you. I’ve been doing it for almost 40 years and honestly there’s more work about than ever.
Can I first challenge the notion of “film composer” and ask you to instead reframe that as composer for media, which in practice means doing the same job but working not just in traditional feature films, but also in television, games, advertising etc etc. The reality is that this is where the work and the money is.
The traditional idea of movies in the cinema is merging with streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV so focussing on “film” is no longer relevant.
So, how is the business?
It's booming. Broadcast media is growing incredibly fast and almost every single piece of broadcast content needs music and that music has to be written by people… maybe people like you.
“The global television broadcasting market experienced significant growth, reaching $287.81 billion in 2023 from $271.12 billion in 2022, showcasing an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%. The market is expected to continue its upward trajectory, projecting a value of $353.18 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 5.2%.”
(Source: Global Newswire)
What about games?
Even better, if that even seems possible.
The global video game market size was valued at USD 189.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 560.11 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 12.81% from 2022 to 2030.
Again, every one of those games needs music written by somebody.
What about AI? Isn’t it going to steal all our jobs?
No, not any time soon. It’s not that Generative AI isn’t writing viable music (which it definitely is), But there are two big problems.
Problem 1
The competition is not composed score but low-cost library music and that industry has already taken chunks out of the low budget games and TV market. Pond 5 have 1.7 million tracks and you can licence them today for a few dollars each. AI will go head-to-head with that market where it doesn’t matter if you are using a load of different slightly generic pieces of music and it doesn’t matter if the production can’t own the music itself so that same track might up on a toilet brush commercial two days later etc., etc.
Commissioned music involves creating a coherent score which responds both the creative demands of the director and the narrative ark of the programme, linking themes and a pallet of sounds that perfectly reflects the ethos of the production. That’s what you need to learn to do and that’s what a film scoring Masters will teach you.
Problem 2
Royalties? I thought they were a thing of the past now streaming is here.
Apparently not. For example, PRS is the UK’s royalty collection society and business seems to be going just fine...
(Source: Performing Right Society, 25th April 2023)
But can I earn a decent living?
I don’t know because I don’t know how good a composer you are or how enterprising and hard-working you are.
According to the 2023 Gamesound Con survey of the game audio industry, average salaries for composers in the games industry was $80,000 a year.
(Source: Gamesound Con Survey 2023)
In the UK, according to the Payscale website, the average salary for a composer is around £30,000 but “composer” covers a wide range including many outside the more lucrative areas like media and games.
So, what I have attempted to do so far is debunk the notion that film composers are starving artists forced to flip hamburgers to eat while attempting to write music. A media composer who looks more broadly at the whole media industry and learns to give the market what it wants can do very nicely thank you very much. And the industry is getting bigger and bigger.
So there’s plenty of work … BUT lots of competition
This is true, but the overwhelming majority of people pitching in, are getting it completely wrong and will never get anywhere. They are either not technically proficient, not writing good enough music, or they are writing music the market no longer wants to buy or they just sound like everyone else.
If you can learn to master the creative and technical skills required to do the job, learn to really understand directors and producers and what they want and finally, and most crucially, develop and musical personality and a sound of your own, then 99% of the competition will fall by the wayside.
A film scoring Masters should teach you those skills.
What should I look for in a film scoring Masters degree?
It needs to be focussed on the modern wider media industry not just traditional feature films.
It needs to encourage you to produce music that the market wants right now, teaching you to use synths, sound design, guitars, quirky ensembles of instruments and, yes orchestra as well but not just orchestral music.
It needs to be taught by current working professionals as the rate of change is too fast to expect someone who stepped away 10 years ago to have a clue about what’s going on.
It needs to give you the support and mentoring to find that sound of your own, that musical personality.
So yes, if the film scoring Masters you choose ticks all those boxes then... yes it’s worth it.
INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN MEDIA COMPOSITION?
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MASTERS Degrees
Register below and you'll receive an email about our online film or game scoring Masters degrees. Plus you can book a one-to-one chat with a course advisor. Alternatively you can email us or call us on +44 (0)1243 256 049.
Degrees accredited and awarded by
About the Author
Guy Michelmore
Course Director Guy Michelmore is an award winning film composer. He has scored over 8 animated films for Marvel and over 200 episodes of TV for networks all over the world. He also has a detailed knowledge of sampled orchestration and contemporary techniques in film scoring.
The short answer is yes – more than ever.
The media industry is growing rapidly and almost every piece of new content requires music so there is more work about than ever. But the need to truly understand the market, your customers and deliver unique distinctive music has never been more crucial. That’s where a film scoring Masters degree comes in, because it teaches you to develop a voice and a market focus that will propel your career.
Now, here's the longer answer...
I am assuming your motivation for taking a film scoring Masters is to start or upgrade a career as a film composer? You might be wondering if this career really exists and whether it is practical to expect to earn a living in the precarious world of writing music for films. I don’t blame you. I’ve been doing it for almost 40 years and honestly there’s more work about than ever.
Can I first challenge the notion of “film composer” and ask you to instead reframe that as composer for media, which in practice means doing the same job but working not just in traditional feature films, but also in television, games, advertising etc etc. The reality is that this is where the work and the money is.
The traditional idea of movies in the cinema is merging with streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV so focussing on “film” is no longer relevant.
So, how is the business?
It's booming. Broadcast media is growing incredibly fast and almost every single piece of broadcast content needs music and that music has to be written by people… maybe people like you.
“The global television broadcasting market experienced significant growth, reaching $287.81 billion in 2023 from $271.12 billion in 2022, showcasing an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%. The market is expected to continue its upward trajectory, projecting a value of $353.18 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 5.2%.”
(Source: Global Newswire)
What about games?
Even better if that even seems possible.
The global video game market size was valued at USD 189.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 560.11 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 12.81% from 2022 to 2030.
Again, every one of those games needs music written by somebody.
What about AI? Isn’t it going to steal all our jobs?
No, not any time soon. It’s not that Generative AI isn’t writing viable music (which it definitely is), but there are two big problems.
Problem 1
The competition is not composed score but low-cost library music and that industry has already taken chunks out of the low budget games and TV market. Pond 5 have 1.7 million tracks and you can licence them today for a few dollars each. AI will go head-to-head with that market where it doesn’t matter if you are using a load of different slightly generic pieces of music and it doesn’t matter if the production can’t own the music itself so that same track might up on a toilet brush commercial two days later etc., etc.
Commissioned music involves creating a coherent score which responds both the creative demands of the director and the narrative ark of the programme, linking themes and a pallet of sounds that perfectly reflects the ethos of the production. That’s what you need to learn to do and that’s what a film scoring Masters will teach you.
Problem 2
Royalties? I thought they were a thing of the past now streaming is here.
Apparently not. For example, PRS is the UK’s royalty collection society and business seems to be going just fine.
(Source: Performing Right Society, 25th April 2023)
But can I earn a decent living?
I don’t know because I don’t know how good a composer you are or how enterprising and hard-working you are.
According to the 2023 Gamesound Con survey of the game audio industry, average salaries for composers in the games industry was $80,000 a year.
(Source: Gamesound Con Survey 2023)
In the UK, according to the Payscale website, the average salary for a composer is around £30,000 but “composer” covers a wide range including many outside the more lucrative areas like media and games.
So, what I have attempted to do so far is debunk the notion that film composers are starving artists forced to flip hamburgers to eat while attempting to write music. A media composer who looks more broadly at the whole media industry and learns to give the market what it wants can do very nicely thank you very much. And the industry is getting bigger and bigger.
So there’s plenty of work … BUT lots of competition
This is true, but the overwhelming majority of people pitching in, are getting it completely wrong and will never get anywhere. They are either not technically proficient, not writing good enough music, or they are writing music the market no longer wants to buy or they just sound like everyone else.
If you can learn to master the creative and technical skills required to do the job, learn to really understand directors and producers and what they want and finally, and most crucially, develop and musical personality and a sound of your own, then 99% of the competition will fall by the wayside.
A film scoring Masters should teach you those skills.
What should I look for in a film scoring Masters degree?
It needs to be focussed on the modern wider media industry not just traditional feature films.
It needs to encourage you to produce music that the market wants right now, teaching you to use synths, sound design, guitars, quirky ensembles of instruments and, yes orchestra as well but not just orchestral music.
It needs to be taught by current working professionals as the rate of change is too fast to expect someone who stepped away 10 years ago to have a clue about what’s going on.
It needs to give you the support and mentoring to find that sound of your own, that musical personality.
So yes, if the film scoring Masters you choose ticks all those boxes then... yes it’s worth it.
INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN MEDIA COMPOSITION?
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MASTERS Degrees
Register below and you'll receive an email about our online Masters Degrees in media composition. Plus you can book a one-to-one chat with a course advisor. Alternatively you can email us or call us on +44 (0)1243 256 049.
Degrees accredited by
About the Author
Guy Michelmore
Course Director Guy Michelmore is an award winning film composer. He has scored over 8 animated films for Marvel and over 200 episodes of TV for networks all over the world. He also has a detailed knowledge of sampled orchestration and contemporary techniques in film scoring.