Dear Agony Aunt,

I don’t think you have given any attention yet to aspirational composers. What steps would you advise need to be taken to establish oneself as a composer (particularly for film and TV), and what advice would you give to someone starting out today? Also AI is the threat on every creative’s mind, so what can be done to protect one’s work? Would Be Notable, Summer Hill

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Dear Would Be Notable,

To get you some expert advice, I have punted these questions to a friend who couldn’t be more relevant to your inquiry. Guy Gross is a very well-established Australian composer who also runs Church Street Studios in Camperdown. You can read about Guy’s brilliant career here. Here in a nutshell is what Guy said: “I was very lucky as I was born into a film family. My parents were film producers who made children's animation. I grew up in a time where the local grocer had all their kids working behind the till, so I always thought it was normal for kids to go into their family business. I went to the Conservatorium High School, so I got a really great musical training from the age of 12. And even luckier, I didn’t practise the piano enough, but showed talent for composing. So, I was given a wonderful traditional composition teacher. Then it was a case of jumping through open doors. My advice is saying “yes” to as many opportunities as come up - low budget, no budget. And to make sure you surround yourself with filmmakers. They will become your friends, and clients. Festivals, short courses, film nights, short film competitions; anything that will surround you with like-minded creative story tellers. In thinking about the most important skills and knowledge areas for a budding composer to develop today I would say that in this changing world, the most important thing we have is human connection. So being able to listen to your client, the film maker, and really understanding their needs and the need of the film is super important. Then translating that brief into music that the client loves and feels encapsulates the particular scene, that’s the huge challenge. Actual musicianship is important if you want to understand how music works and why it makes us feel certain things. Even though there’s no real “right and wrong”, you still need to be in control of what you’re creating so it’s done with intention and purpose. Then clients will seek out your skills because you’re able to interpret their needs. In relation to the business side of composing, the Australian Guild of Screen Composers is a great resource. They have a survey of fees and there's so much on the web now. Watch clips of composers discussing their careers. Absorb yourself in the world of film composers. It’s not a vocation for the hobbyist. You need to be deeply passionate about it. Regarding actual contracts, your early work might not have great contractual conditions, but learn and grow as your experience does. You can begin demanding better pay and conditions as your confidence and skills grow. In thinking where we are at now, I have to acknowledge that AI is a terrifying threat. We're really at the edge of a huge leap. My advice is to figure out how to use it to create your vision. Keep your idea in mind and use all the tools at your disposal to create it. But inevitably there's going to be less work for original music creation, certainly commercial music. Not unlike loss of session work for musicians when synths, samplers and drum machines came about. Sure, humans are still needed, but just less. People who used to commission original music from composers may simply type a prompt and receive what they want in seconds. Just like for typesetters for example, there was a time that printing a page of writing was a huge ordeal. Today, it's not even given a second thought as we type and press print. The thing you want to develop (that the AI can’t) is the ability to make your client feel listened to, and to know what’s best for a program, and to convince them you’re on the same page, and have the ability to engage the audience and ultimately to demonstrate you have good taste that someone will pay for. The jury is still out on how this will all play out. But there's no denying that AI music creation is treading closer to copyright infringement. The best example I can think of is having an artist whose influences are all the galleries and books they've ever ingested. Their creative output will be based on that ingestion. Well.... it's the same with AI. It just has a MUCH bigger diet of all the digitised art, music and writing out there. AI is only as good as its influences. But they're much wider than our own experience. I just wouldn't want to sit and chat to an AI about my creative needs and desire to communicate.”