Andrew,
Actually, you are the only one who knows what your time is worth. Why not estimate how many hours you will spend composing the commissioned work and multiply by your hourly rate?
There must be some cut off point at which you know you will not do the work. Don't charge less per hour for composing than you would for engraving. If the group really wants you to write them a piece, and no other composer will fill the bill, then they will pay what you ask. If you work for cheap or for free, then that's all you can ever expect do.
As some other listers have indicated in the past, $50 to $60 per hour seems about right.
Herman
Obviously I responded too soon to the advice the list was giving me, as all the replies were not yet in.
I find it absolutely impossible to count hours spent composing, especially since, as has been pointed out somewhere, so much of the composing process looks like goofing off. Mike Matthews sent me privately the fee schedule of the Canadian League of Composers, supposedly a very low-ball set of rates, according to wh. a 20-minute quartet would go for $8500 Canadian, say ca. $5000 US.
At any rate, I've returned the serve to the Japanese, asking them what they expect to have to pay. We'll see what happens next.
-- Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press
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