The right score does half the storytelling. Whether you’re finishing an indie film, cutting a brand campaign, or building a game world, we’ll match you with a vetted composer-producer who writes original music to picture — from intimate solo themes to full orchestral cues — and delivers stems mixed to your spec. Tell us about your project below; matching is free.
What our scoring partners handle
- Film and short-film scores — original themes and cues composed to your locked cut, spotted scene by scene
- Advertising and brand-film music — 15s to 90s cues built around your edit’s rhythm, with cutdowns for every placement
- Documentary and corporate video — underscore that supports narration without fighting it
- Game and interactive music — loopable themes, stingers and layered stems designed for dynamic playback
- Trailer music — rises, hits and signature motifs (for sound effects and design, see our sound design services)
Stylistically, partners in the network work across the map — orchestral, electronic, funk, folk and hybrid scores — and several write vocal material in English, Mandarin Chinese and Malay if your project needs an original song rather than instrumental underscore.
How scoring works
- Brief and spotting — you share the cut (or script and mood references if picture isn’t locked), and the composer walks through it with you, agreeing where music starts, stops and what each cue must do.
- Themes first — you approve the main musical ideas as short sketches before full cues are produced, so revisions happen when they’re cheap.
- Cue production — the composer writes and produces to timecode, delivering work-in-progress mockups against picture for your notes.
- Final delivery — mixed masters plus stems (typically dialogue-safe splits like melody / harmony / rhythm) so your editor or re-recording mixer keeps full control. Surround deliverables are available — see 5.1 and 7.1 mixing.
Original score vs. library music
Stock music is cheap and instant, and for some corporate work it’s genuinely the right call. But it’s licensed to everyone — the track under your brand film may already sit under a competitor’s — and it never quite lands the cut points of your edit. An original score is written to your picture, owned or exclusively licensed by you, and gives your project a theme audiences associate with it alone. If your budget is genuinely stock-level, we’d rather tell you that than upsell you; describe the project honestly in the form and the match will be honest too.
Tell us about your project
Pick “Film scoring” in the form and include the format (film, ad, game, documentary), running time, how many minutes of music you expect, your deadline and two or three reference scores or tracks.
What to expect on price
Scores are usually priced per finished minute of music or as a project fee. The drivers are the amount of music, how it’s produced (in-the-box virtual instruments vs. recorded players), and the rights you need. A short brand film scored in-the-box is far more affordable than most clients expect; live strings, multiple revision rounds after picture changes, and broad buyout rights move the number up. One tip that saves money on every scoring job: lock your edit before cues are finalised — re-conforming music to a changed cut is billable work.
Film scoring FAQs
Do I own the music?
It depends on the deal — work-for-hire buyouts (you own everything) and exclusive licences (you get the uses you need for less money) are both common. Note that our partners compose and produce; they don’t handle publishing administration or sync placement of existing songs, so if you need a famous track cleared, that’s a music supervisor’s job, not a composer’s.
Can this be done remotely?
Yes — scoring is one of the most remote-friendly audio disciplines. Spotting sessions happen over video calls against a shared cut, mockups are reviewed asynchronously, and stems are delivered through cloud folders. If you want to attend sessions in person, say so in the form and we’ll match accordingly.
How much music does my project need?
Less than you’d guess. Most short films carry a handful of minutes of score; even music-heavy ads often need one strong 60-second cue adapted into cutdowns. The spotting session settles this — you don’t need the answer before you brief.
What does the composer need from me?
A cut of the picture (even rough), your references, and clarity on deadline and deliverables — stereo only, or 5.1/7.1 for festival and streaming specs. If dialogue and effects are still being worked on, your composer will coordinate with whoever handles sound design and audio post so the score sits properly in the final mix.
No spam, no obligation — we’ll only use your details to connect you with the right partner, and matching is free.