How to become a film composer: 5 steps to success

If you’re trying to build a business composing music for films, you’ll need a diverse portfolio. It’s rare to land that one gig that pays all the bills, and having multiple income streams can give you much more security. If your production business is building nicely, TV and film offer excellent opportunities. The competition is fierce, but your existing skills will be invaluable, and the rewards are potentially huge.

1. Write for student films

There are two major boons you’ll gain from soundtracking student films. The first is that in a highly competitive field, you’ll know up-and-coming directors who owe you a favor. They’ll ask you to compose music for their films later on. The second is that you can develop a showreel that you can use to secure higher-profile work.

2. Apply for internships

Film composers end up acting more like CEOs: they run businesses that sell film music to clients. This means they can use skilled musicians who can add something to the business. Your expertise in audio engineering and editing or in studio management could be your golden opportunity. Interning with a more successful composer can give you the inside knowledge and connections you need.

3. Attend film industry events

Like every other part of the music business, film music is all about who you know. To become a successful film composer, you need to form personal relationships with people in the industry and then figure out what you can do to help them. Go to film festivals and events at film schools, and check out the Digital Cinema Society for other opportunities.

4. Strike a library deal

Music for motion pictures is divided into scoring and sync music. Score is bespoke music made to follow on-screen events. Sync music is ready-made. Filmmakers will often choose sync music from libraries, so signing with a music library makes your compositions easier for them to find.

Specialize in the styles you do best, then research the libraries that deal in them. All the compositions you create when you strike this type of deal aren’t guaranteed placements, but that provides you space to experiment and grow your overall repertoire.

Another tip is to keep each separate composition in one key and tempo. This makes it likely to get picked up, because it’ll be much easier for video editors to make cuts and splices to fit the visuals.

Consider whether you want to make royalty-free music, which will offer you more money upfront, or take a royalties deal for potential backend payoff.

5. Grow your social media presence

Social media is not important for sync music in the same way it is for artists. When you’re composing music for film and TV, the quality is all that matters, not the whole package. Even so, networking is essential, and social media is the main way many people network. A presence on YouTube or Instagram that demonstrates your ability to put out high-quality music on a regular basis can only help you. And despite library music’s origins as a low-budget way to license audio, it now has many dedicated fans. The boost in reputation and streaming income you get from reaching those fans can only help your career.

Aligning your collective vision with Pibox

As you grow your career in film and TV composition, your creative talent is just one part of the equation. How you collaborate, deliver, and communicate is what truly sets you apart. That’s where collaboration platforms like Pibox can become a useful part of your workflow.

Unlike scattered emails, messy threads, or vague feedback, Pibox gives you a centralized creative space built for precision and clarity. And that is exactly what’s needed when syncing music to videos.

Here’s how Pibox helps you deliver like a pro:

• Frame-accurate, time-stamped feedback — so cues align perfectly with every scene
• Organized version control — never mix up cuts or revisions again
• Custom file statuses — get approvals faster with clear, trackable status updates
• Comment threads in context — feedback lives on the waveform, not in someone’s inbox
• Seamless file management — no more Dropbox links buried in Slack
• Real-time chat — clients, editors, and producers all in sync

Whether you’re scoring an indie short or working with a streaming giant, Pibox gives you the tools to work faster, communicate better, and deliver with confidence. It’s not just about making great music—it’s about being the kind of composer people want to work with again and again.