Tagirijus Blog

I have wondered if the music I compose and produce is different when I compose it for clients instead of producing it for myself. Furthermore, I am also interested in whether and to what extent my workflow differs in this regard. In this post, I would like to explore these questions and also find out what the reasons might be.

Differentiation

First, I would like to clarify what I understand by client music and own music. Of course, all productions that I compose and produce as part of assignments count as client music.

However, there is also what is known as production music, or licensed music. This music ends up on licensing platforms, such as my own, so that interested parties can listen to it or even use and possibly license it for their own projects. Unlike assignments by clients, there are actually no specific requirements for production music. The only requirements that could exist are to adhere to the common demand if you want to generate successful purchases. Nevertheless, I (mostly) produce pieces that are not tied to demand. These are music pieces that have emerged from my own interesting ideas, experiments, equipment tests, or simply a whim. I would then rather classify such pieces as "my music."

In summary, it can be said: My music is the one that comes from inner motivation, and client music is the one that arises from external requests.

Differentiation

My catalog has the ability to filter works in detail. Any criteria can be used for the filter and also for generating analyses. Furthermore, I also keep track of who was involved in each work (in compliance with data protection). Such as who the client for a work was. This would already be a way to separate client music from my own music. Since I register myself as a client for production music, these pieces also automatically fall under my own music.

I filter accordingly, with the following criteria: the work must...

• ... be music.
• ... be an independent musical piece (and not a version of another piece).
• ... be already finished and not one that I am currently working on.

Just by using these filters, 849 works are found in my database. If I now divide them into works with me as the client and works with other clients, there are 568 of my own music works and 281 client music works. So here is the first interesting fact: 67%, which is two thirds, of my previous works are my own music, while 33%, which is one third, are client music.

The characteristics

Now I would like to specify which aspects I want to compare. In doing so, I want to analyze the framework conditions, but of course also the music itself.

Framework

On the one hand, there is the creation process that I want to illuminate. I am interested in the following points:

• Workflow
• Time required
• Working atmosphere

So, I am interested in the question of whether the workflow differs when working. I am interested in the start to end process of creating a piece of music. I am also interested in how the time requirement for creating the music compares. Do I need more time for my own music compared to client music, or am I faster? As for the working atmosphere, what I mean is: Do I perhaps prefer making my own music over client music?

Music features

What about the (preferably measurable) properties of music? Here I would like to focus on the following points:

• Duration
• Genre
• Tempo
• Key
• Instrumentation
• Tags
• Personal rating

These points are hopefully largely self-explanatory. Regarding "personal rating" I would like to mention that I rate my own pieces on a scale of 1 to 7. It is a very intuitive and spontaneous personal rating.

In addition, I would like to add another differentiation at this point: the time of creation. During the analysis, I consistently suspected that this could also have an influence on the results. Accordingly, I searched for the first and last works for both my own music and client music in order to establish a time span. This ranges from 2004 to 2023, covering a period of 19 years. I would like to divide this range into five sections:

1. 2004-2009
2. 2009-2014
3. 2014-2019
4. since 2019
5. since 2004

For the music features, I will create tables that represent my music and client music for the time periods and the respective feature.

Analysis

In this section, I will now analyze the above-mentioned characteristics one by one.

Workflow

This aspect cannot be deduced from my portfolio. I try to reflect on how the process works. For a client project, there are always discussions about the project and its scope at the beginning. On the other hand, I often start my own music projects more spontaneously. For example, often as an experiment with my tools, which I test in this way.

In the further course of a client project, there are multiple rounds of revisions, which are less common in my own music projects. I do intuitively revise passages in the music piece, but not based on client feedback.

However, I maintain a project structure that is very similar to client projects. By this, I mean things like folder, file, and time tracking naming conventions.

When it comes to my music, there is no need to upload an audio sample since no client needs to "listen back". Rarely, I upload it to get feedback from friends or others.

In summary, there are indeed differences in the initial phase of a project, but not in the overall structure of a project.

Time requirement

For the time requirement, I can think of both the tracked working time as well as the difference between the start and completion dates. Unfortunately, I haven't tracked the former for older works, so there will be fewer data as a basis.

On average, I need 1:40h for one minute of my own music. For client music, however, it takes 3:41h for one minute of runtime. That's a noticeable difference. It is likely due to the fact that there are revision loops in client projects and the music conception can also become more complex.

The number of days until a work is completed is also different:

In my system, the difference between the day I started composing the respective work and the day I marked it as "created" is calculated. It does not reflect how many working days I need. So there can also be days in the time span when I was engaged in a completely different activity.

The table for the completion day difference shows that, on average, I spend more time on my own music than on client music. It also shows that there are pieces of my own music that I don't work on for many years (see maximum). For client music, this range is significantly shorter.

Overall, the time requirement indicates that I spend less time on my own music in terms of working hours, but more days spread out over a period of time.

Work atmosphere

Regarding the feeling when composing and producing music, I have to rely on my intuitive reflection. When I think back to client projects, I also always think of a certain pressure that can prevail. At the same time, in client projects, there is always the vision of the clients, which can provide a pleasant guidance throughout the project. Also, the feedback from clients is often very inspiring and motivating. Nevertheless, my music projects are generally more relaxed because specific time pressure rarely arises. Furthermore, I often consider them as a practice and further education for myself.

In summary, I would say that my music takes place under more relaxed conditions. The start of the project is usually more aimless, but in client projects, it is often more clearly defined.

Music features

I want to present the music features in tabular form, as explained above.

The average duration per music track:

The average durations of the music tracks actually only differ in the first period. This could be because in my early days, I might have done slightly fewer commissioned works.

The five most produced genres:

Here everything is a bit mixed. Overall, I consistently produce the most Soundtrack music for both my own music and client music, and also quite a bit of Electro. Rock has been almost exclusively produced as licensed music, which is why it has hardly made it into the top 5 for client music. Jazz tends to appear more in client music.

The average tempo:

Here it becomes clear that in my early days, I made somewhat slower music for my own music. However, the tempo is ultimately very similar for both areas.

Ratios of key signatures (Major to Minor to Undefined):

For client music, there may be a slight tendency towards Major key signatures overall. Perhaps client music is generally more positive and open-minded.

The five most frequently composed instruments:

Unfortunately, this reflects that I produce a lot of soundtrack genre music. The usual top instruments in the lists are common in symphonic arrangements in my productions. In the span from 2014-2019, I may have produced more Hybrid Score for licensed music, which means soundtrack with electronic elements. This briefly brought Synth Bass into the list.

The five most commonly used tags:

These lists are also very diverse. It's a bit difficult for me to make sense of them, but I'll try to provide an intuitive evaluation based on the entire period since 2004. For my music, I tend to have more exciting tags, while for client music, I tend to have more optimistic tags. I interpret this as meaning that I have often produced music for my radio plays, which may have required a certain level of tension and drama. On the other hand, client music may have been used more often for an application that demanded a positive vibe. In any case, forward seems to always be the top tag.

The personal rating:

The ratings may have a small error overall. I only introduced my catalog of works in 2017/2018 and retroactively added and rated pieces. Certainly, many very old pieces seemed rather poor to me because they did not meet the quality standard that I had developed until then. As a result, the pieces between 2004 and 2009 are generally rather rated as poor.

Regardless, I seem to rate client music better overall than my own music. Perhaps I intuitively put more effort into client music? Or maybe I am more critical of productions that I make for myself?

Conclusion

My music compared to client music has significant differences. The analysis shows that these differences even occur in different aspects of music creation.

In the workflow, it becomes clear that my music usually arises from personal drive and with fewer external influences, while client music is often controlled and corrected from the outside. The working atmosphere here is also lighter in terms of perception for my music. This is also reflected in the time spent, where my music requires less total working time, but over a longer period (thus more relaxed). There is no external pressure in this regard. In contrast, client music is more time-oriented, with clear objectives, which can increase the pressure.

The characteristics of the music also vary. Both my music and client music are often located in the soundtrack genre. However, client music tends to have major keys more frequently. Interestingly, the personal ratings tend to rate client music better, which could indicate higher quality requirements in client projects or a more self-critical approach to my music. Self-criticism because I always strive to improve. However, I may tend to leave out this aspect in client projects, as the result (in this case the music) should be more predictable. Although there are moments in client projects where I should experiment, there are still often clear guidelines to be followed. In such cases, I tend to follow the known patterns and approaches to avoid unwanted surprises. Even the tags indicate a difference. Client music seems to always have a slightly more positive touch. Perhaps this is because client music is often intended for applications that aim to reach a broad audience.

Overall, the process of music creation is a multifaceted process influenced by different motivations and influences. The differences between my music and client music are evident in certain aspects but rather minimal in others. So yes, my music seems to be different from client music! And the workflow also differs, especially in terms of the time invested. This is probably due to the fact that I generally treat customers differently from myself, and the work pressure in my projects is always different from that in client projects.