“Never be satisfied.”

The idea is that if you’re satisfied, you’ll become complacent. So in order to keep improving you can never be satisfied with your output.

While I get the sentiment, it’s a depressing way to live your life, don’t you think?

So here’s what I propose as an alternative:

“Be satisfied, but look ahead.”

The work you create is a perfect reflection of where you’re at right now.

So by that measure, your work is perfect.

But…

You will improve as you continue to practise and grow.

You’ll look back at what you’re creating right now and laugh, because someday your skills will be vastly better than they are right now.

And that’s okay.

Celebrate your wins. Be happy with what you’re creating. Know that every single thing you do right now is all work towards your future self – but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate your present self.

You begin to hate it.

Okay, so “hate” might not be the right word, and by no means does this apply to everyone. But, for some it’s a real problem – and it’s not just music; it happens when any kind of art or hobby becomes a lifestyle.

I saw this time and again during my time teaching at a Conservatoire; students had spent their entire lives with music as their passion – their escape – and now found themselves studying it full-time but losing any and all motivation to practise.

Why?

Because for their entire lives music had been a distraction – something to do “on the side” as a relief from all of the academic work they’d do in other subjects.

The Problem With Music In Education

Music is never taught to be anyone’s “main thing” – it always seems to be taught as a nice little side project or hobby.

Even the arguments to keep music in general curriculums usually use the “it helps you do better in other subjects” argument – as though being good at music alone isn’t enough.

(And, as far as I know, the evidence that shows that people who study music also do better in other subjects doesn’t actually clarify whether the people who choose to study music are just smarter in the first place…)

Why is it that when someone’s good at mathematics they’re “smart” but when they’re good at music they’re “talented”?

It all comes back to this idea that music is only complementary.

It’s Okay To Not Love Music All The Time

Now back to the point of this blog post: after you have decided to pursue musically, there’s a chance you’ll start to feel as though you’re falling out of love with music.

That you’re just not as passionate or motivated as your peers.

Of course, it’s confounded by the fact that many of the loudest voices are the ones telling you that “unless you’re 100% in love with every aspect of it 100% of the time, then you’re just not cut out to make a living from it.”

Nonsense.

As with any relationship, your relationship with music will have its ups and downs. There’ll be things you love about it, and there’ll be things that drive you mad.

So when you find yourself feeling less passionate, don’t panic. Questioning yourself will only fuel your doubt, sending you in a downward spiral.

How To Fall Back In Love With Music

When I’d have students break down in tears because they felt they’d lost their passion, the advice I found that worked best was to get them to remind themselves why they fell in love with music in the first place.

Listen back to the first albums that got you into music, and relearn all the songs from them.

Go to a concert and forget about studying the music – just listen and let yourself go.

For film composers, go and watch your old favourite movies (and do it properly – lights down, bowl of popcorn, and phones away).

Remember: passion comes and goes, so prepare yourself mentally to be able to push through the hard times, and remember to take a step back every now and again to remind yourself  exactly why you fell in love in the first place.

They had this new invention that was going to change the world: the automobile.

But when they released the car into the wild, panic ensued.

For one, people weren’t ready to accept a vehicle that could be propelled without the assistance of a horse. And, more seriously, horses weren’t ready to accept vehicles propelled by what must have appeared to them as magic.

And so one of the strangest inventions of the early 20th century was thought up…

The Horsey Horseless.

Despite being hailed as one of the worst cars of all time by Time magazine, this invention was a stroke of genius.

It helped usher in the acceptance of automobiles by sticking a fake horse’s head on the front of a car; tricking the horses on the road into thinking it was a regular old horse and carriage, and helping the general population accept the “radical” new automobile by disguising it as something more familiar.

Genius.

(Oh, and in a stroke of absolute brilliance, the horse head doubled as a fuel tank!)

You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with film music…

Well, as film composers we have to be the inventors of the Horsey Horseless!

Here’s what I mean…

You already know how important it is to “find your voice” as a composer, and to be “innovative” with your music…

…but how do you do that when you also have to cater to an audience that just isn’t ready for that kind of innovation?

You build a Horsey Horseless.

In other words, you find a way to disguise your brilliantly innovative music as something the general population will accept.

That’s the real art of innovation in film music: helping the audience bridge the gap between what they’re familiar with, and the future of music.

And we have a responsibility as film composers to do just that. Film is one of the few art forms that seamlessly integrates music into something aimed towards a mass audience, so it’s one of the few opportunities a composer gets to help push a wide audience’s appreciation and understanding of music forwards.

Now, go forth and build your Horsey Horseless!

But first, let me know: what’s one film score that you think disguises innovative music as something a general audience can enjoy?

That sounds insane, I know. But here’s the thing…

The primary purpose when it comes to scoring a movie is to serve the picture and the audience.

How can you expect to do that if you spend your entire time thinking about music?

We don’t listen to movies. We experience them.

I stumbled across this quotation from David Perell that we can learn a lot from as composers:

“The paradox of reading: The books you read will profoundly change you even though you’ll forget the vast majority of what you read.”

David Perell

The same can be applied to movies. To rephrase Perell:

The movies we watch will profoundly change our film scoring even though we’ll forget the vast majority of what we watch.

What can we learn from this?

First, don’t listen to movies. Watch them. Experience them. Watch as many as you can and embrace the fact that each and every movie (or TV series) you’re watching will profoundly change how you approach scoring.

Yes, you should still analyse specific scenes, learning about filmmaking devices and concentrating on how music has been used, but don’t get stuck on individual cues. Go deep, but also go wide. Analyse as many as you can. Once you’ve spent some time on a scene, move onto another.

Accept that you won’t remember everything that you’re analysing, but that you will learn from it. You’ll absorb the information.

The more you analyse, the bigger the variety of experiences and techniques you’ll be adding into your toolkit.

Over to you: what’s one movie that you feel has profoundly changed how you approach film scoring?

But first, a quick background story…

When I started teaching about film music, students would approach me, frustrated:

“I KNOW I can compose, but I just don’t have the opportunities!!!”

So I’d ask them what they’d been doing to find opportunities.

And that’s where they’d stumble.

“Uhh…I mean…I’ve sent a few emails…and I’ve searched online for film networking events nearby…but there aren’t any!”

You see, sometimes it can feel like you’re doing loads to further your career…

…but when you actually stop and think about it, maybe you’re not.

We spend so much time working on the craft, that we forget about the business.

In a previous post, I told you about how working at a movie rental store opened opportunities for me.

Well, that’s the kind of “outside-of-the-box” thinking that can help you find projects – where are the movie-related places that you might find projects?

With that, here’s a step-by-step process:

First, don’t expect to find many local results when you search for “film networking events” online. Instead, ask yourself: where do filmmakers/people interested in film hang out in my town?

Then go there!

I mean physically go, and see what’s there.

Some ideas to get you started:

• Equipment rental stores
• Local independent cinemas
• “Geek”, “nerd”, or “tech” stores

Then, talk with the people there. Find out about them. Don’t be afraid of being honest. Tell them why you’re there, what you’re doing. Ask if they can recommend any other places you should check out.

You can even leave them a business card.

When I worked at Blockbusters I was lucky enough to be a composer in a movie-environment, but if I hadn’t been, I would have loved to have been able to recommend someone!

Remember: the people that work in these places are often filmmakers themselves or they’re involved in the local filmmaking scene in some way.

There’s only two steps there:

1. Find local spots that filmmakers hang out in
2. Go and introduce yourself and see what else is on!

Two small steps, but two giant leaps when it comes to getting involved in your local filmmaking scene.

I could keep writing all day with other ideas for you, but I know you already have a lot to read, so I’ll leave it there for now!

So go ahead and see what kinds of cool places you can find in your local area.

And after you do, let me know in the comments what you find!

We were a small, local store, and so our regular customers almost felt like family.

When they’d visit the store, they’d not only leave with some excellent, personalised movie recommendations, but also having had a genuinely personable conversation.

They knew things about us, and us about them.

And that’s the crucial part of this story…

One day a regular customer came into the store with her boyfriend.

They sheepishly approached the counter…

“Um…err…you…you do music, right?”

(Being a composer working in a movie store sure had its perks!)

“Well…I don’t know if you’d be interested, but…I have this movie that I’ve been working on for a few years…”

That movie turned out to be one of the most visually stunning movies I’ve ever seen.

And I got to work on it! (And snagged a couple of awards in the process).

So, how did that happen?!

I’d spent time developing relationships with people. Without any agenda or hidden motive.

I just wanted to make friends.

And because I’d made myself likeable and approachable, when those friends needed anything music-related, I was the first person they thought of.

Why does this work so well?

By focusing on the relationship, and not the outcome, I’d made myself valuable.

So before they were anywhere near the stage where they were thinking about hiring a composer, they already had one lined up!

Relationships are your most important asset, as this study into the hiring practices in the London & LA film industry proves.

The question is:

How do you build those relationships with filmmakers?

Well, there’s a lot more to it than “finding them online and sending them your showreel”!

To find people to work with today, you have to go further than that.

Here are some tips to get you started.

And now I’d like to hear from you:

Have you spent any time this month reaching out to filmmakers?

Yes? No? Kinda?

Let me know in the comments.

What does that mean?

Imagine you were trying to begin a new friendship online. Which of these email outreach options do you think is a better way to build a friendship:

a) “Hi, I’m a composer! Here’s my showreel. Would love to hear from you!”

or

b) “Hey Kate! I stumbled across your movie online and loved it! The way you developed the “Harry” character was amazing. How long have you been making films for?”

I hope the answer is obvious (it’s b).

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll be bored of this quotation by now, but here we go again:

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

Dale Carnegie, How To Win Friends And Influence People

Friendships aren’t built on trying to get people to listen to your music. They’re built on you taking a genuine interest in people.

Rule #1: stop sending people stuff (unless they’ve asked for it)

Now, what about reaching out to people in person?

People get themselves tied up in knots when they think about trying to introduce themselves to someone in person.

So I’m going to reveal to you now the biggest networking secret.

This revolutionary tactic that can transform how you meet people.

The mind blowing formula that all the professional networkers are doing.

The one thing that will take you from networking amateur to high-society mingler.

ARE YOU READY?!

It’s a two-step formula.

Brace yourself, here it comes (I really hope you’re prepared to have your mind blown)…

Step 1: walk up to somebody

Step 2: say “hi, how’s it going?”

That’s it.

(Sorry)

But seriously, one of the things that holds so many people back is the “search for the answer” – constantly trying to find the one thing that will find them more projects / make them a better networker / improve their mix / give them the extra “edge”

When in reality, all you have to do is take action.

And simply saying “hi, how are you doing?” is literally the number #1 way to start a conversation with someone.

Rule #2: stop waiting for the “one thing” (there’s no “secret”)

Sure, there are other tactics to hold better conversations too, but you’ll push your career leagues ahead if you can remember:

1. Be genuinely interested in people
2. Take action, and just say “hi”

Knowing how much maple syrup comes from Canada, I wanted to learn how it’s made. (I can’t help it, everything fascinates me!)

Don’t worry, I’m not going to write out the entire process! But there’s one important film scoring lesson we can learn from how maple syrup is made…

To get syrup, you start with sap.

A lot of sap.

It takes about 40 litres of sap to get just 1 litre of syrup.

But what does this have to do with film scoring?

Well, many composers are obsessed with “more”

How can I extend this piece?

How can I add more layers?

How can this be developed?

Now, don’t get me wrong, learning how to augment, develop, layer, expand, etc. is a vital skill to learn.

But often times we actually need to reduce.

To get to that final, sweet syrup, we sometimes have to start with a lot of ideas.

A lot of material.

And only then do we start to boil it down, bubbling the sap down until we’re left with the perfect result.

Our aim isn’t to create more, it’s to refine.

But you can’t chisel a statue without starting with a BIG ROCK, so before you start refining, you need to make sure you have plenty to work with.

So there you have it, composing lessons from maple syrup!

Well, along with the usual suspects (“I don’t know where to find projects” / “I don’t know how to reach out to people”) I was surprised to find a few myths that composers are telling themselves.

Things that are holding you back, but are only in your head.

So let’s address them…

Number #1 : Never Feeling Ready

I’ll let you in on a secret:

No one ever feels ready.

I’ve interviewed dozens of professional composers, and almost every single one of them says how unprepared they feel for each and every project they take on.

It’s called “imposter syndrome” – and it’s holding you back.

Take comfort in the fact that even the people you admire and aspire to be like still don’t feel ready for their next projects.

You are ready. As ready as you’ll ever be.

Number #2 : Not Having The Gear

What equipment do you need to score a movie?

Here’s the entire list:

• something to record with
• something to edit that recording with

That’s all.

Having the latest and greatest sample libraries and the most powerful computer might help with your workflow, but it definitely won’t help you find film scoring jobs.

I don’t know a single composer who ever landed a project based on their equipment.

But I do know composers that have scored films with next to no equipment whatsoever.

Even famous composers.

You already have all the equipment you need. You just have to use it.

Number #3 : Not Enough Time

If your water heater broke down tomorrow, how much time do you think you’d need to arrange a plumber, to deal with the logistics of letting them in/out, researching and purchasing any parts you might need, clearing space for them to work, etc.?

According to a study by Laura Vanderkam, one woman spent seven hours dealing with that exact problem.

You probably don’t think you have seven hours spare each week, but if you had to make something a priority, I’m sure you’d find that time.

Finding projects is one of the most time-consuming but also the most important parts of film scoring. Without projects, you aren’t a film composer.

So you can make time. You just have to prioritise.

Number #4 : Not Having The Right Connections

Connections are made, not given. 

So you might not have the right connections…

…YET!

But you can, and you will.

Very few composers are born with connections. They all develop connections over time.

Start building those connections today.

Number #5 : Going Alone

Most composers are afraid to ask for help. Afraid that if anyone does give them advice, it won’t be real advice (after all, why would anyone reveal their “secrets” to the competition?)

But the fact is that figuring this stuff out on your own is hard.

You have to figure out where to find people and projects.

You have to figure out what to say when you reach out.

You have to guess your way through pitches until you finally (hopefully) figure out what works.

All of that is time wasted.

Time that could be spent composing – because your outreach is targeted and efficient.

No time lost.

I talk in more detail about these issues and how to overcome them in Finding Film Scoring Jobs, my course that teaches you how to find and land film scoring projects, step-by-step.

I thought I knew quite a lot about websites, having built a few in the past.

Oh how wrong I was.

Since I wanted to do things properly, I read and watched all the advice I could find on building websites (I’m talking weeks worth of 24/7 content!)

I realised I’d been building websites badly my entire life!

But since I learned all of this stuff, I realised I could apply this to composer websites too!

The Perfect Layout

So here are the seven things to include on the main page of your composer website:

1. A header image of you (with your “call to action”)
2. Trust indicators (logos/references)
3. Your showreel
4. Your contact information & “call to action” (again)
5. A (very brief) bio
6. Your portfolio (best pieces + a link to your main portfolio)
7. News or blog page (but only if you intend to keep it up to date)

And here’s a wireframe of how that might look:

So take a look at your site and see if it includes everything there, and that it’s easy to navigate.

If you want to learn why you should build your website in this way, and what each of those sections should include, checkout my online program: Finding Film Scoring Jobs.

Finding Film Scoring Jobs contains lots of small but effective tactics like this, to help you optimise your outreach when it comes to finding projects.