I've produced 11 albums, 7 symphonies (working on 8th) 3 concerti and many short works all in the digital domain, using sound libraries. I consider my work as an end in itself, I am not mocking up for anything or anyone, and not necessarily seeking performances with live players (done that too). I've also written a lot of music for film, TV, animation, computer games and other projects. I "retired" from soundtrack work (mainly due to fortuitous financial circumstances) to focus on music for music's sake. Why?
I found soundtrack work to be lucrative, fun and sometimes challenging. Offering a service to others and helping them achieve their purpose definitely has its own rewards. But, for the most part, it's not art. Maybe sometimes, but for the vast amount of paid gigs I've done (and I've done some very well-known projects), music's purpose is to be part of a world, whereas music composition, for its own sake IS the world. The worst gigs are when you really know the film is a piece of crap and you need the money so you're basically polishing a turd. The best gigs are when you really like the project, see its artistic merits, and can contribute something meaningful.
I have found that it is more artistically and intellectually challenging to write music for its own sake. This is because when a composer does such, he/she is assembling ideas out of nothing, developing and expanding them out of nothing, and creating form that intrinsically evolves out of the material itself. Film music is governed by story, plot, pacing, dialogue and other extra-musical factors, so that, in some ways, it cannot really be free to be the language that it is--an abstract, musical expression that expresses its own universe. And, of course, the business aspect of commercial film, by its very nature, demands conformity to the marketplace, however that is conceived at any given time. We all know that even top film composers imitate--they imitate each other due to another film's commercial success, they imitate classical composers who never wrote for film. Occasionally we hear something quite unique, but not very often. To my own tastes, some of the best films I've seen use pre-existing classical music, such as "Wit".
Film music can, of course, be an art, but when there are millions of dollars and huge egos involved, it is not likely, too much financial pressure. Sometimes, I think, film composers caught up in the "biz", the paid gigs, the (sometimes) recognition-- either don't see, or don't care about the compromises film music demands. As Upton Sinclair said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" Since composers have many different types of personalities, some are drawn to film music more than others.
The first movement of my 8th symphony can be heard HERE
Jerry Gerber
www.jerrygerber.com