Mark Seeley, on his local classical station, WDAV:

>My local classical music station, WDAV out of Davidson College, is
>celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.  To mark the special occasion,
>it commissioned a piece by North Carolina native, Russell Peck. ...
>
>I think the idea of commissioning a piece is a great idea, but, I wonder
>what it costs to commission a piece like that and whether that is money
>wisely spent, especially by a non-profit donor driven radio station.  Any
>comments?

It depends.  Were the funds restricted to the commission? In that case,
WDAV must commission something.  How much did Peck charge and how long did
it take him to write the work? Did he demand the money up front? At least
one composer I know solicits private funds for commission and performance
in return for public acknowledgement.  He also spends his own money on
recording (he makes a pile writing 30-second commercials, but he's lucky
to have broken into that).  In this case, the station would have only to
broadcast the recording.  Most composers spend their own money, I suspect.
Most commissions do not cover expenses.

Steve Schwartz