Sell Custom Score & Cue Commissions From Your Bio

Composers sell custom score and cue commissions by publishing a priced listing on their bio link instead of scoping "can you write me a piece?" requests for free. The client describes the brief and pays upfront, then the composer delivers a finished cue, stems, or a short score inside a set turnaround window.

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and applies a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays (FanBell pricing).

A student filmmaker, indie game developer, or podcast host messages: "I love your music — could you write something for my project?" That request is a real commission, but scoping it, agreeing on a fee, and delivering a file through DMs usually means unpaid back-and-forth before a single note gets written. A priced Creator Service listing replaces that negotiation with a fixed brief, a price, and a delivery window.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the 2025 median pay for music directors and composers as $73,710 per year, or $35.44 per hour, in the Quick Facts table of its Occupational Outlook Handbook profile (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Music Directors and Composers, page last modified August 27, 2026). The same BLS Quick Facts table records 51,100 music director and composer jobs in 2025 and a job outlook of 1 percent for 2025–35 — an employment change of 600 jobs, which BLS labels "slower than average" (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Music Directors and Composers).

What counts as a custom score commission?

A custom score commission is a from-scratch writing job: a composer creates original music to a client's brief — a short film cue, a game loop, or a small ensemble piece — for a set price and a set turnaround. A commission is not feedback on an existing track, and not a license for a pre-made cue.

The commission-versus-feedback distinction decides the scope of the listing. A beatmaker giving notes on a fan's existing track is a narrower offer with a different price; paid track feedback for beatmakers covers that format. A composer commission starts from a brief (mood, instrumentation, length, reference tracks) and ends with a delivered audio file, so a commission listing should name the input the client supplies and the output the client receives rather than promising to "write you something." Writers who take custom requests face the same scoping problem in a different medium; how fanfiction writers price and scope custom fic commissions works through the equivalent brief-to-deliverable structure for prose.

How much should a composer charge for a commission?

There is no single published rate card for a custom score, so composers price against survey medians and then adjust for experience, instrumentation, and turnaround. The most-cited U.S. benchmark is a median commission fee of $1,500, or $150 per finished minute, reported by New Music USA's Composer Commission Pay Survey.

The Composer Commission Pay Survey by David E. Farrell and Loretta K. Notareschi, published by New Music USA on February 3, 2021, found a median commission fee of $1,500 — $150 per finished minute — across 871 commissions reported by more than 200 composers (New Music USA).

New Music USA's Composer Commission Pay Survey also found that 37% of the 871 reported commissions were done for no fee at all, which is the single strongest argument for putting a price on a commission listing before the work starts.

"Many professional composers, at all levels of experience, take a mix of paid and unpaid commissions." — David E. Farrell & Loretta K. Notareschi, Composer Commission Pay Survey, published by New Music USA, February 3, 2021

Game and interactive scoring runs on a per-minute convention. The GameSoundCon 2025 Game Audio Industry Survey reports that 81% of AAA freelance game composers and 55% of indie freelance game composers charge by the finished minute of music (GameSoundCon). The same GameSoundCon 2025 survey puts the median freelance rate at $407 per finished minute for indie games and $1,700 per finished minute for AAA games. GameSoundCon's own framing of the gap between those two medians is that "composition rates vary widely by game size/scope".

Two sourced pricing rules follow from the New Music USA and GameSoundCon surveys. A composer building a tiered menu can anchor the largest package to the New Music USA median of $1,500 per commission and price shorter cues down from there, because that figure is the median of 871 commissions actually paid rather than an asking price. A composer writing for indie games can set a first listing at or above the GameSoundCon 2025 indie median of $407 per finished minute, which puts a 60-second loop near $407 rather than at a hobby rate.

The table below is a decision aid for choosing which commission format to list first. The dollar figures in the table are FanBell-authored starter packages, not survey results.

*The four price ranges in the table above are illustrative starter packages written by FanBell — not survey data, and not a guarantee of what any client will pay. For sourced market figures, use the New Music USA median of $1,500 per commission and the GameSoundCon 2025 indie median of $407 per finished minute.

Why isn't a paid question enough to commission a score?

A Paid Private Question cannot carry a score commission, because a paid question is answered with text in a private thread and the client never receives an audio file. A Creator Service is the FanBell format built for a file deliverable, so composers sell commissions as a Creator Service and keep paid questions for text-only advice.

FanBell documents the paid-question reply format as "Replies are text, written in a private thread" in the FAQ on its Paid Private Questions page, which rules out delivering a cue through that offer.

FanBell documents that a Creator Service is delivered as "a written note plus up to 5 files (video, audio, images, PDF, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint), and/or a private link" for anything larger, and that the fan can attach their own files — a track, a reference, a screenshot — when they order.

A paid question still works for a narrower ask that resolves in words alone, such as "would a minor-key or major-key theme fit this trailer better?" The moment the answer requires a file — a demo, a stem, a finished cue — the request belongs in a Creator Service listing instead.

What should a composer commission listing include?

A commission listing should settle six things before a client submits a brief: the input the client supplies, the deliverable, the revision limit, the turnaround, the usage rights, and the explicit exclusions. Each of those six lines exists to stop a fixed-price commission from expanding into unpaid work after the payment has already cleared.

• Input: Reference tracks, mood and tone notes, length, and any required instrumentation.
• Deliverable: A single stereo file, stems, a written score or lead sheet, or a combination.
• Revision limit: State whether the price includes one revision pass or none.
• Turnaround: Name a delivery window you can reliably hold. FanBell states that on each Creator Service you "set a price and delivery time, and decide how many revisions (if any) are included".
• Usage rights: What the client may do with the finished piece, stated in the listing rather than left implied.
• Exclusions: What is out of scope — a full album, mixing or mastering of the client's own vocals, or unlimited revisions.

For example: "One 30–60 second instrumental cue matched to a reference track and a one-line brief. Includes one revision pass; does not include stem separation or a full score."

Who owns the music after a commission is paid for?

Ownership after a paid commission depends on the written agreement, because U.S. copyright law does not automatically transfer a commissioned score to whoever paid for it. The U.S. Copyright Office limits work-made-for-hire treatment of commissioned works to nine statutory categories, and only when both parties sign a written instrument saying so (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30).

"A work specially ordered or commissioned for use … as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work … if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire." — U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire

Circular 30's wording matters for composers specifically. A cue written for a film, a trailer, or a game cinematic can fall inside the second of the nine categories — "a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work" — but only with a signed written agreement, while a standalone concert piece appears in none of the nine categories (U.S. Copyright Office).

The U.S. Copyright Office sets four criteria a commissioned work must satisfy to be a work made for hire — one of the nine categories, a written agreement, express work-made-for-hire language, and signatures from all parties — and states plainly that "if a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire" (U.S. Copyright Office).

Two sourced ownership rules follow from Circular 30. Because the U.S. Copyright Office states that "ordinarily, the author is the person or persons who actually created the work" and treats works made for hire as an exception to that rule, a composer who signs nothing remains the author of a commissioned cue by default (U.S. Copyright Office). Because all four of the Copyright Office's work-made-for-hire criteria must be met, a composer selling a film or game cue should state the rights term in the listing itself — a single line such as "includes a license for use in this project only" or "includes full transfer of rights on final payment" — rather than leaving ownership to be argued after delivery.

What else can a composer sell besides commissions?

A composer page can carry several offers at once, because different requests need different formats: a quick text opinion, a recorded greeting, a tip, funding toward a release, or a brand inquiry. Running them as separate listings keeps the commission listing narrowly scoped instead of absorbing every incoming request into one unclear price.

• Paid Private Question: A quick, text-only opinion — which key fits a scene, or whether a reference direction works — without a commission.
• Personalized Shoutout: A short recorded message or musical greeting for a fan's occasion, separate from a scored commission.
• Tips: A way for a listener who already enjoys your catalog to support you without commissioning anything.
• Wishlist / Project Support: Funding toward a defined project such as an album, a sample library, or studio gear, shown with a progress bar.
• Brand Collaboration Inquiries: A separate intake for a studio, game publisher, or brand that wants to discuss a paid sync or collaboration.

Freelance work is a normal channel for this kind of income. The GameSoundCon 2025 Game Audio Industry Survey found that 25% of game audio professionals freelance as their only source of income, a further 8.7% freelance alongside a day job unrelated to audio, and another 11.3% freelance while holding a salaried game audio job. Paid questions, shoutouts, tips, project support, and brand inquiries are each enabled from the same FanBell creator dashboard as a commission listing, each with its own price and turnaround (how FanBell works).

How do you get a commission offer live?

Getting a commission offer live takes three decisions: which commission formats you accept, what each listing includes, and what turnaround you can reliably hold. Write the brief requirements, deliverable, revision limit, turnaround, and rights terms before publishing, because every one of those is easier to set than to renegotiate mid-commission.

FanBell's published requirement for taking paid orders is a connected Stripe account: the pricing page states that "a connected Stripe account is required for paid widgets" and names no degree, guild membership, or credit list. FanBell's homepage FAQ answers the question "Do I need a minimum number of followers?" with "No. There's no follower minimum and nothing to apply for — the only requirement is that someone wants to interact with you," so a composer can publish a commission listing at any audience size.

Create your free FanBell page and turn the next "can you write me something?" message into a clearly scoped paid commission.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a music degree or guild membership to sell score commissions?

No degree, certification, or guild membership is named as a prerequisite in FanBell setup; the stated requirement is that "a connected Stripe account is required for paid widgets". Describe your training and credits accurately in the listing so clients know exactly what they are commissioning.

Should a commission be a Paid Private Question or a Creator Service?

Use a Paid Private Question only for a text-only opinion that needs no audio file, because FanBell states that paid-question "replies are text, written in a private thread". Use a Creator Service for the commission itself, because a Creator Service delivers a written note plus up to 5 files or a private link.

How long can I take to deliver a commissioned piece?

You choose the delivery window: FanBell states that on each Creator Service you "set a price and delivery time, and decide how many revisions (if any) are included". Set a turnaround you can reliably meet for the scope listed — a 30-second cue and a full ensemble piece do not belong in the same delivery window.

Who owns the copyright to a commissioned piece?

Ownership is not automatic: the U.S. Copyright Office restricts work-made-for-hire treatment of commissioned works to nine statutory categories and requires a written instrument signed by both parties (U.S. Copyright Office). State in the listing whether the client receives full rights, a limited-use license, or something narrower.

What does FanBell charge?

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and applies a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays. Card-processing fees are deducted separately: Stripe's published pricing lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards in the United States (Stripe pricing).