As well as publishing my own music with Rowan Recordings, I also produce (as Myoukochou) custom, exclusive music for VTubers and other content creators, including stream-safe background music (BGM), SFX, stings, and ‘starting soon’ and so on. I’m also happy to work on music for videos or games or any other project you may have.
You can commission something to your individual requirements and tastes, working with me to produce music that fits you, or your project.
I’m happy to work with other artists, and have done so many times before. I’m also happy to work on covers, but bear in mind that you don’t have all the same rights with covers of other people’s music that you do with music that’s been written under commission.
Status
Commissions are currently OPEN.
Portfolio
See my released work under my real name and my Vtuber alter-ego.
For a portfolio of examples of my previous commissioned work, please see: https://rowanrecordings.uk/portfolio
Contact
Preferably, either contact me on Discord — myoukochou — or by email: myoukochou@myoukochou.com. You can also reach me on Mastodon at VT Social. (Sadly Elon just messed up Twitter DMs, so try one of the other routes.)
Terms and Pricing
Both terms and prices are negotiable — please enquire and discuss what you want, giving a realistic idea of your budget and a general idea of your brief: expectations, how long you’re expecting it to be, what you’re using it for and any requests you might have.
I generally hold an initial meeting when we’re both available (note: I’m English, so bear that in mind for timezones), brainstorming ideas, and then bounce back and forth from my clients quite a bit, seeking feedback at several points throughout the process until we have something you’re happy with!
I usually organise payment via either Square (transaction rates are lower, so preferred) or PayPal invoices, if that’s convenient, but I’m open to other ways too. I usually charge 50% upfront as a deposit to start the work, and 50% on completion for you to get a licence to actually use it: that limits the risk to both of us. See below for an example set of terms.
I’m English (sorry about that), so I charge in GBP (£ Pounds Sterling). I am not VAT-registered (too smol to need to be).
I’m pretty affordable as this sort of thing goes. I generally charge depending on the length of what you want, and its complexity, rather than the number of hours (but I can do that if you want for larger projects). I charge more if you want me to hurry. I may not be able to do very rushed jobs because of my other commitments.
Typically I keep the copyright but give you a (very, very wide) licence, and some sample terms are below. My pricing varies on if you want an exclusive licence (only you can use the music, except for portfolio demonstration stuff), or if you want a non-exclusive licence and want me to be able to publish the music on major platforms as well. We can negotiate about other things (for example if you want to retain all the copyright, although that‘d cost more). I’m not too keen on ghost-writing, however.
Styles
My home territory is ambient and electronica (and that’s a style that demonstrably works well for background tracks), but I can do vaporwave, city-pop, neo-classical, techno/trance, D&B — even something that sounds like it came out of a PS1 Western game, if that’s what you want!
Want me to do something weird? — ask! I love stretching my horizons through commissions. I can’t produce every style, so don’t worry, I’ll let you know if something’s too far outside my comfort zone or skill level (and will try to recommend another trusted musician who can help). I am not very good at doing my own vocals, so I generally won’t, but if you are or have a vocalist, or we can work together to find one, I can absolutely do vocal production as part of the commission (I’ve got Melodyne, Nectar, all the usual things on tap and I’ve done vocal tracks before — vocal stuff generally doesn’t work well as background music you’ll talk over, but obviously it’s more common in covers).
Sample Terms
My terms are negotiable, but here’s a sample of the type of terms that I usually propose for commissions. So far, all of my commissions have been completed successfully and my clients are happy. There are explanations/definitions of what I mean by these terms under major terms here (hover over or tap the underlined bits), but if you want more info or you want to change anything, just ask!
Deposit
I will begin working on this commission within a reasonable time as agreed, once the upfront ‘advance’ charge is paid. A further ‘completion’ fee as above will be payable on completion of the work when you are satisfied it is complete and usable.
I will consult with you as mutually convenient and create an original composition and recording of approximately the estimated length to your specification (subject to reasonable artistic licence). Any right to withdrawal will end at the end of our initial consultation, except by mutual agreement.
Upon completion and after acknowledgement of the final ‘completion’ sum of payment, unless we agree otherwise, the intent is that:
I will provide you with a finished version of the recording, including a looped version;
I will then grant you an exclusive, perpetual, non-revocable, sublicensable, copyright licence to use the resulting composition and recording wherever you wish to do so: including commercial use, Discord, Twitch and/or YouTube, and including all appropriate rights to synchronisation and public performance, subject to appropriate credit; and,
I shall not, without your express prior written permission, publish the work elsewhere.
You are not liable to pay the ‘completion’ sum if you are unhappy with the result of the commission or it does not meet your requirements, but in that instance I shall retain the rights to the resulting composition and recording and the above paragraph will not apply. My liability is, in any event, at maximum limited to refunding the ‘advance’ sum to you, for example if I am unable to complete the work.
An exception to the above, which must be retained in any sublicence, is that the work may not be ‘minted’ as a ‘non-fungible token’ or feature in any other cryptocurrency transaction or contract1.
Notwithstanding the above, I retain the right to feature the work in my portfolio of commissioned artistic work, which I may exhibit to future prospective clients. I may stream the creation of the work on Discord or Twitch, if we mutually agree to the same (but if on Twitch, I will delete the VOD).
By paying this invoice, you accept these terms.
Completion
As per the Terms and Conditions in invoice […], the final files have been delivered to you, along with any other formats you may require, and provided this ‘completion fee’ invoice is paid and cleared within 30 days and is not refunded, you will hold an exclusive, perpetual, non-revocable, sublicensable, copyright licence to use these compositions and recordings wherever you wish, including commercial use, Discord, Twitch and/or YouTube, including all appropriate rights to synchronisation and public performance, subject to appropriate credit.
An exception to the above, which must be retained in any sublicence, is that the work may not be ‘minted’ as a ‘non-fungible token’ or feature in any other cryptocurrency transaction or contract.
I retain the right to feature excerpts of the works in my portfolio. I will not upload or publish them elsewhere, without your express prior written permission.
My liability is limited, at most, to refund of this 50% share.
By paying this invoice, you accept these terms and agree that the work is complete to your satisfaction.
NFTs: No Fucking Thanks. The only term that’s an absolute red line for me and I won’t vary. See my copyright terms.↩︎