MCB Interviews Ron Proulx
Ron Proulx, owner of Canada's leading music supervision company Arpix Media, has a passion for connecting the television and film industry with talented composers. Proulx and his team at Arpix have worked on more than 90 films and 500 episodes of television and his guide to music licensing is a must-read for anyone interested in profiting from their music.
It is easy to see that Proulx has a passion for technology and how it has forever altered the business of composition. "A big difference is that people understand that, for better or for worse, a composer is also an arranger, a producer, a player," says Proulx. "Something that used to go into the hands of several people is all being done by one person now. Therefore, a producer/director knows that they're going to hear something like the final product of the music a lot earlier than they would back in the day."
Decreasing production costs has led to an influx of new composers and producers are always looking for opportunities to save money. "Is there a race to the bottom? I will say yes, at the low end of the industry," Proulx explains. "I really can't speak to the high end of the industry, the Hans Zimmers and John Powells, I don't work with those people. I tend to work with people who are doing much more modest kind of stuff - episodic TV, movies of the week, that kind of thing. Both commissioned and licensed music has prices going way down."
Breaking through the noise is a challenge for any aspiring composer. "I've been doing this for 16 years now, and I think that like anything giving stuff away to get people hooked is the way to get work and build a resume," says Proulx. "If you're up against a more experienced composer who is looking for more money, what do you have to offer? You can't really say you're more talented that the other guy, but you can certainly say that you're cheaper and someday the money will follow...once you establish that what you have is what someone wants, they'll call you and pay for your services - I see this in the composers I manage, that's the way it works."
Getting into the industry doesn't mean you have to move to Los Angeles. Advances in video have made it easier than ever to produce television and film that might have cost millions just ten years ago. "You don't have to be in LA to make productions," says Proulx. "People make stuff everywhere. This is again the beauty of the internet, technology and the cloud." Proulx recommends that young composers develop relationships with local filmmakers and offer to score their projects.
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