Hey guys, I just thought the subject was interesting, and I just wanted to throw in my little story as to how I got started.
I live in Maryland/ Washington DC.. By no means an entertainment mecca. My first paid music project was in 95'. It was an interactive CD Rom for a small multimedia company. I was 19, and had already been sequencing my own stuff. At the time, I was very interested in breaking into the video game industry. I got in contact with this particular multimedia company by reading an artical in the news paper about five up and coming interactive media companies in the DC/metropolitan area.
So, what I basically did was cold call all of them. One of them needed origional music. I sent them a demo.. they liked it. The producer sent me a video reel to see how well I could score to it. They loved it, and I was hired as a freelance composer for that project.
I learned a lot. It was my first time negotiating a bid per minute deal. I had no clue of what to charge. But was lucky to have some help from a friend who'd dealt with this type of work. My friend gave me a range that was standard at the time, and told me to "charge what you think your music is worth." I was expected to score various genres of music. I had no gear.. Just a korg x3, no mixer, no computer, no smpte.. nothing. it was just a matter of determination, and creativity that I was able to pull it off. I loved the challenge.
After that experience I.. uh.. delivered pizza for awhile. Basically worked small jobs. Worked as a salesman at a music store etc. I actually ended up going to Berklee a few years later on a partial scholarship. Well, one day at home on summer break, for some reason I was just sitting in my room, in the dark.. brooding. I'm like, wtf.. why am I just sitting here? The girlfriend just dumped me too. it was a dark, dark time. [:(] Btw.. At that time I was sending out demo cd's to vid game devs. Anyway, I was brainstorming a bit.. in the dark. It occurred to me that America's Most Wanted was located in DC. I'd known this for awhile but never acted on it. So, I cold called AMW. Asked to speak to someone in audio production. Got in touch, and essentially asked "do you take demo submissions"? He said yes. I sent in my demo tape (still using the Korg x3 at the time.. I used to work that thing to death). Didn't hear anything for a week and a half. Called back indignant, ready to chew him out, only to find out that he was sending me a contract, and it was in the mail. [:)]
From there, my current gig (as a library composer) just grew out of contacts. I had a good relationship with the audio producer from AMW. He was leaving the show, and he gave me some numbers to few music libraries that he was using. I called them up.. got connected with the right publisher, sent in a demo cd. The timing was perfect. So far things are great. Which leads me to something.. It's very important to be versatile. I'm sure everyone already knows this. But.. you know, I just have to say it. It definitely increases your chances of getting work. Don't just limit yourself to being a specialist in one form. And if you are, make sure you have something in your style that sets you apart. There are just so many hungry composers out there. Anyway.. that's more or less how I got my gigs.