A composer agreement sets three things: who owns the music, what the composer is paid up front, and who keeps the royalties later. Most film and TV scores are commissioned as a work made for hire or with a full assignment: the production owns the copyright and the recordings, usually through its own publishing company, and the composer keeps the writer's share of performance royalties, paid by their collecting society every time the production airs or streams. Independent and low-budget productions sometimes license the score instead, so the composer keeps the copyright and the production gets the uses it needs.

Read the royalty clauses as closely as the fee. For many composers, the writer's share from a long-running series earns more than the fee did.

Who owns the score

Under a licence, the agreement lists exactly what the production may do: the media, territories, term, and whether it can release a soundtrack album or use the music in trailers.

How the composer is paid

• Creative fee. The composer's fee for writing, with the production paying for musicians, studios and mixing separately.
• Package deal. One all-in fee that covers writing, musicians, studio, orchestration and mixing. What the composer does not spend on production is their fee, so check what the package must deliver.
• Royalties. Performance royalties through the composer's society (the writer's share), and, if the agreement says so, a share of soundtrack album income or of other licensing of the score.
• Buyouts. Some productions ask for a buyout: one payment instead of future royalties. Many collecting societies and composer guilds push back on these, and the writer's share is often protected by society rules, so compare the buyout with what the music could earn over years of streaming.

What to check before signing

The last line is easy to skip and expensive to forget. The writer's share only arrives if the cue sheet lists the composer's cues with the right durations and IPI numbers.

For productions: keep every agreement with the music

A production commissioning dozens of cues from several composers needs each agreement, split and credit on the music it covers, not in a folder of PDFs:

• Agreements go out from a template and are signed with an e-signature in the browser, on a phone or a computer.
• Each cue or song keeps its writers, roles, societies, IPI numbers and shares on its Collaborators tab.
• Rights and deals can be recorded per territory and term, and royalty statements published to every composer after each period, which they open in Aden.

See Aden for productions for how a film, series or stage production runs its music in Aden.

FAQ

How do film composer contracts work?

They set who owns the score, the fee and what it covers, and who receives royalties later. Most studio and series work is work for hire: the production owns the music and the composer keeps the writer's share of performance royalties.

What is a work for hire composer agreement?

An agreement where the music is legally created for the production, so the production owns the copyright from the start. The composer is paid a fee, gets credit, and usually keeps the writer's share of performance royalties through their collecting society.

Do film composers keep their royalties?

Usually they keep the writer's share of performance royalties even under work for hire, collected by their society from cue sheets. The publisher's share and income from the recordings go to the owner of the music unless the agreement gives the composer a share.

What is a package deal for a film score?

A single fee that pays for writing and producing the score, including musicians, studio, orchestration and mixing. The composer keeps what is left after production costs, so the fee depends on how the score is produced.

Who owns the music in a film or TV series?

Commissioned score is usually owned by the production through its publishing company. Licensed songs stay owned by their own publishers and labels, who grant the production a licence to use them.