The issue of whether you should work for free is one that will come up often if you are trying to become a film composer. Most people willing to let someone less experienced score their film will not be offering money for the job, but this does not mean that they are not offering value. Analyze the problem as such; are you getting value in return for your services?

Value is not necessarily money. Money is a placeholder that we use in society to exchange and store value in a practical manner, nothing more. So just because you are not getting money for a composing job (or any other job), does not mean that you are not getting value.

The value to a film composer can come in the form of simply getting experience. If you have no experience you have to start somewhere. Better to start in a low pressure project that can allow for some mistakes and let you learn without everything being on the line. Every time that you complete a project you learn something important, and there is value to this in the long run.

A related aspect of value comes from adding to your demo reel and resume. When it comes time to get bigger projects people will want to see the work that you have done, and this means having clips of the music you have created, both as audio files and video examples from the films themselves. If you have a website (which you should), you will also need clips as examples of your film scoring work to get new clients.

Along with the added material for a demo reel, the relationships you foster by working for free on a film should pay off in the long run. The students you are working with might be larger players in the film or media industries of the future, and if they like your work, they will remember you. The more connections you have in the industry, the more work you will be getting down the line.

The final main benefit and source of value in a non-paid job is the exposure your name as a film composer can get on the festival circuit. If you are providing the score for a film that will be submitted to festivals, you could receive some good press. It can also be the source of awards which add to your exposure and look nice on a resume. Even if a film is not submitted to festivals, if it has some distribution method or gets exposure on the internet it can be great for your early career.

All of this being said, there will be many cases when the value you receive from an unpaid film composing job does not make up for the time and effort spent. Although all of the things listed here can make an unpaid job seem like a great opportunity, if these non-money sources of value are not working out, you will not want to waste your time. If the filmmakers involved are not very talented, you might not want to be associated with them. A terrible film will not do well in festivals or get you any good exposure.

Some filmmakers may not even be submitting their work to a festival, or trying to get it seen by very many people at all. You will have to think hard about whether all the non-paid benefits of any job will compensate you enough.

The bottom line is that when starting out as a film composer, it comes down to evaluating whether or not you are getting value in return for your work. Don’t count on making a lot of money (or any) at first. Just concentrate on doing a few unpaid jobs that seem to be worth it, but also realize that you can’t work for free forever. Once you have some experience you will need to look beyond student projects to get some value in the form of actual money, but no one said being a film composer was easy.