Commissioning music is a common practice in Australia, whereby a custom piece of music is requested to be created by a composer, songwriter, sound artist or improviser.
This report aims to establish a snapshot of current commissioning rates and commissioning practices in the art music industry. It examines rates and practices across Australian creators of classical, jazz, improvised and experimental music, and sound art, referred to collectively as art music.
Data for this study was collected through two online surveys: one for music creators who receive commissions for work, and one for commissioning organisations and individuals who commission music.
This research was conducted by musician and researcher, Cameron Lam, in partnership with Music Australia and Creative Australia.
Image: The Luminescence Chamber Singers perform Andrew Ford’s Red Dirt Hymns at the National Museum of Australia during the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival. Credit: Creswick Collective.
Key insights
The commissioning environment
- On average, more than three quarters of music creators (78%) received three or fewer commissions per year.
- The majority of music creators (55%) received $5,000 or less in income from art music commissions per year.
- Private organisations were the largest group of commissioners (31% of all commissions).
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The majority of commissions (86%) had only a single funding source. The most common funding source for commissions was private individuals (25% of commissions). However, the most substantial funding source was private organisations (26% of all commission funds), despite only contributing to 17% of commissions.
Commissioning rates
- Across all commissions reported in the surveys, the average per minute rate was $596.11 per minute of music (median $414.73).
- For all work types (e.g. choral, chamber music, orchestral, electronic), the average actual commission rate was lower than the creators’ ideal commission rate.
- Commission rates across almost all work types in Australia were less than half of the value of comparable international recommended rates.
- A majority of both music creators (66%) and commissioners (61%) responding to the survey did not have a regular method for calculating commission rates.
- Half of commissioners (55%) reported having a standard commissioning contract, compared to only 20% of creators.
- Across both creators and commissioners, the majority of commissioning agreements (63%) did not have a clear process for managing disputes and more than half (52%) did not have a clear termination process.
Next steps
The next stage of this research project is to create a best practice guide for creators and commissioners within Australian art music. The best practice guide for art music commissioning is scheduled for publication in mid-2026, following further work and sector consultation.
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