#008 · 27 July 2026
12 opportunities this week, including a dev replacing his AI placeholder score and a paid $150–300 test track
Also: $300 a song for an animated series, and an oud commission with two reference recordings attached.
A Norwegian solo developer has shipped two years of work on his roguelite with AI-generated placeholder music in the build, and now wants the real thing. A GBA-style RPG is paying $150–300 for one test battle loop, judged blind against the team's own best track. A background-checked production company advertises US$1,500 for a feature score, then describes a small stipend and back-end participation in its contract terms. Elsewhere: an independently funded Golden Age movie musical looking for its first song, an oud commission with reference recordings attached, and three collaborations that are honest about what they are not paying yet. AI ran through this batch in both directions — as the thing being replaced, and as the thing being refused.
Indie
3113 Entertainment · US$1,500 stated; contract terms say small stipend plus back-end · Remote · Feature film · Closes August 14
The listing advertises US$1,500 flat, and then the contract terms describe something else: compensation "primarily structured through back-end participation and profit sharing," plus a small stipend. The film itself is substantial — a psychological techno-thriller in post-production from a background-checked company, with a named writer-director, cinematographer and VFX supervisor, a named lead actor, and preview screenings in September. Apply for the credit and the brief, and settle which of those two compensation structures is real before you start.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · $150–300 fixed for the test track · Remote · Video game (pixel RPG) · No deadline stated
The test is paid, which is the part that matters: $150–300 fixed for one 60–90 second battle loop, up to two revision passes, judged blind against the team's current best in-house track. Applicants get the deepest brief in this issue — a composition craft document, a 29-track analysis of the era, and spectral targets — and the hire criterion is stated plainly as hummability, melody above production polish. If the test lands, the follow-on contract covers battle, town, zone, boss and title themes as a full buyout for the shipped game, so price the rights in.
Closed
Independent developer (CastingCall.club) · $100 flat rate as listed · Remote · Visual novel · Closes August 13
A developer who already licenses a production library and commissions original music only when a scene needs something the library cannot do — an unusually clear-eyed way to hire a composer. The work is scene by scene rather than a full soundtrack, spanning psychological horror, western, science fiction, fantasy and quiet character moments, and finalists are invited to write a paid sample cue before any long-term commitment begins. The rate is listed as $100 flat, and whether that covers a single cue or the wider engagement is not stated, so establish it in the first conversation.
Closed
Production not named · £300 flat rate · Remote · Short film (12 min) · Closes August 20
The film is finished and waiting for a score, and the production offers to send the whole cut to anyone interested — more than most briefs this short disclose. It is a 12-minute dark fantasy told entirely in split screen, about a vampire looking back at her lover and trying to fix her future, and the only musical direction given is "dreamy but in a darker tone." £300 flat is modest for twelve minutes and delivery is wanted before mid-August, so this suits a composer who works fast and can take a loose brief somewhere of their own.
Closed
Independent creator (CastingCall.club) · $300 per song · Remote · Animated series · Closes August 31
The rate is the clearest thing here: $300 per song to write and produce songs for an animated series set inside a fantasy RPG world, with Steven Universe and Undertale named as the tonal targets. The world-building is worked out in detail, down to how a character's level gates where they can live and what work they can take, but there is no named creator, no production timeline and no evidence of anything animated yet. Worth a message if you write songs and the rate suits you.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · Paid, rate not stated · Remote · Video game (action roguelite) · No deadline stated
Two years into development with a playable Steam playtest build, a solo Norwegian developer is replacing the AI-generated placeholder tracks currently sitting in his roguelite with handcrafted music. The ask is technically specific: two crossfading versions of each region theme, one for combat and one for calm, across three regions plus a boss track, in EDM, drum and bass or breakbeat, with Pathogenic named as the structural reference. He is upfront that he has no publisher, and asks for a portfolio and a rough rate in the first message.
Closed
Will Vancans, independent · Willing to pay, rate not stated · Remote, New England-based · Feature movie musical · No deadline stated
An independently funded feature-length movie musical with the lyrics already written, starting with a single song rather than the whole score — a small enough first commitment to be worth the conversation. The writer is producing it himself, names Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Sherman Brothers as reference points, and says compensation is open to discussion based on the scope of the collaboration. No figure is attached, so the rate is the first thing to settle.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · Tagged paid, no terms stated · Remote · Video game (2D pixel ARPG) · No deadline stated
The most-discussed listing in this batch, at 36 upvotes and 47 comments: a story-driven Godot pixel ARPG whose core mechanic is looking deeper into characters to see what they are carrying. Environment assets and core systems are already built and the demo is scoped scene by scene, which is more than most solo projects can show. The post is tagged paid, but the body asks for someone who wants to build a world together rather than complete isolated commissions, and never returns to terms — define the arrangement before you write anything.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · Paid, rate not stated · Remote · Video game · No deadline stated
A narrow, specific commission: slow, cheerful oud taqasim for a solo developer's game, with two reference recordings linked so the target is unambiguous. Nothing else about the game is disclosed — no title, no genre, no scope beyond "a few soundtracks" — and no rate is given. For a composer who plays oud or writes in maqam, that specificity is the whole opportunity.
Closed
Collaborative
Arjan Bains, writer-producer · Unpaid, expenses covered · Remote (shoot in Wraysbury, Berkshire) · Short film (12 min) · Closes August 5
Unpaid, stated plainly, with food and transport covered and the music work running remotely in post-production rather than on set. It is a 12-minute British football short about a father and son bound by a losing team, from a first-time writer-director working under the eye of former senior BBC personnel, built as a proof of concept for a feature. The camera department is already locked, work starts August 2 and the listing closes August 5, so this is a decision to make this week.
Closed
MET · No upfront payment, deferred revenue share · Remote · Short film (17 min) · Closes August 24
No payment upfront, with a commitment to share future festival and distribution earnings under a written mutual agreement — a more concrete version of deferred than most listings of this kind manage. The production is ID-checked with 20 previous jobs posted and three named producers attached, and the brief is specific: a 17-minute character-driven psychological drama needing tension, reflection and intimacy without overpowering the performances. Take it for the collaboration and the credit, and get the revenue-share terms written into the agreement before you deliver.
Closed
The Deep Dark: Resonance (CastingCall.club) · Deferred, amount to be agreed · Remote · Web series (episodic) · Closes September 18
A long-running cinematic web series made in Minecraft, and better organised than that description suggests: scene context, rough cuts, musical references and creative direction are all supplied, with flexible deadlines for deferred contributors. The musical direction is defined — organic instrumentation, piano, ambient textures and orchestral elements, aimed at character themes and mystery cues — and generative AI music is explicitly not accepted. Payment is a deferred agreed amount with no figure attached, so this is theme-writing and portfolio work first.
Closed
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