On 9-Dec-10, at 9-Dec-10 9:24 PM, John Howell wrote:
At 7:57 PM -0500 12/9/10, Christopher Smith wrote:
But what was your point about comparing my arranging rate with
union (yes) musicians' salaries? I would use that as a point for
comparison, yes. I earned $1500 for that gig, and the part that
paid $1000 took a heck of a lot more than twice as long as the
part that paid $500.
Only that musicians get paid by the hour, but arrangers don't--
perhaps an unimportant distinction. We get paid for what we can
produce, and nobody but ourselves cares how long or short it
takes. When I'm writing I don't time it, I just work 'till I'm
finished. But of course it isn't my primary source of income.
Has the union ever actually set rates for arranging? I've never
been aware of it, but of course any union scale would only be a
MINIMUM figure, and no good arrangers whose work is in demand would
settle for that.
Here in Quebec we had an arranging rate with the CBC (the national
broadcaster) until things went all wrong. It was 25 cents per filled
measure of score. If a measure on one staff had a whole note, or a
flourish of sixteenths with accidentals, articulations and slurs, it
paid 25 cents. If it had a rest, it paid nothing. This was last seen
about 15 years ago. It did not include part preparation, for which
the base rate was $5 per page at the time.
Now we have a rate set for ADISQ (the provincial recording industry).
It is admittedly a bad deal, but it sets a fixed rate per song under
5 minutes of roughly $300, with about $60 per minute over that. A
musician's fixed rate is about $270 per song recorded, by comparison.
It seems to be aimed at rhythm section master lead sheets, not at
orchestral or horn arrangements.
The New York union office sets arranging and orchestration rates
based on various schemes, like per page of score (regardless of
density) with different rates for different numbers of staves, with
added amounts for chord symbols, lyrics, and multiple voices on the
same staff (like piano, chorus and harp parts.) Transcription from
MIDI is per hour, with the rate varying depending on what kind of gig
it is. This hourly rate includes computer part preparation, which is
no longer charged at a per-page rate, like hand copying was. None of
the hourly rates are lower than the lowest per hour rehearsal rate
for performing sidemen, which is why I cited sideman salaries.
I have never earned as much as the lowest New York rate for any of my
large arrangements. I imagine that there are similar rules in place
in Los Angeles, and possibly Nashville.
Christopher
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