 These are the essentials that are necessary to start pitching your tracks. I’ve been asked many times, over the years, what is needed to get started in licensing, so I’ve put together a checklist of requisite things you should have ready to go and things you should do, prior to pitching your tracks. Download a free PDF of "The Music Licensing Checklist" here. Ten to twenty, high quality, fully produced, ready to be licensed tracks. There isn’t a hard and fast rule when it comes to how many tracks you need to start licensing your music, but based on my own experience, and hundreds of interviews I’ve done over the last few years, I’d say somewhere between 10 and 20 tracks is ideal to start with. If you only have one or two great tracks, it’s really hard to generate much interest. The chances that you have the perfect song for a specific opportunity with just one or two songs is slim. The more tracks you have and the more diverse your tracks are, the greater the odds are that something will get placed. Also, if you present two or three tracks to a library or supervisor, and they love them, usually they’ll want to hear more. There’s a considerable amount of paperwork and time involved with signing a new artist, so most places, although not all, prefer artists that have an album’s worth of material at least. There are exceptions though, and in fact, I got started in licensing with literally one song that I signed to my first publisher and built my catalog from there. Either way though, you should work towards building a sizeable catalog in order to license more tracks in more places. Instrumental & Vocal Versions – At a minimum you should have both vocal (for vocal tracks) and instrumental versions of all your tracks ready to go when you start pitching your music. These two versions you will almost always be asked for. Often times, depending on the company, you’ll also be asked for alternate mixes as well, such as a “vocal down” version, a version with just bass and drums, and different length mixes, such as 30 seconds, 60 seconds and so on. It really varies a lot from company to company, so I tend to approach this on a case by case basis. But again, at the very least, you should always have a vocal and instrumental version of all your tracks ready to go. You can create alternate mixes and edits when they’re requested. Wav And MP3 Files – It’s a good idea to always have both mp3 and wav files of your tracks on the ready. Often times companies will have you initially submit an mp3 version for them to check out. Then, if they like your tracks, they’ll have you send them a higher quality wav file once you move forward. It’s best to have both formats ready to go at the outset so you don’t have to worry about doing this later. Register Your Titles – Be sure to register your tracks with your PRO prior to pitching them. In order to get paid performance royalties from your PRO, your tracks need to be registered. It’s best to do this before you start shopping them around and submitting to different companies, to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. One word of caution is that keep in mind some companies will register titles on your behalf when you work with them. If they are not changing the title and they register a duplicate title, that you’ve already registered, it will show up as a duplicate entry in your PRO’s database. This creates confusion since there are now two duplicate entries with different information. So, be sure whenever you’re signing with a new library or publisher, to ask them how they handle title registration in order to avoid duplicate title registrations. Add Metadata To Your Tracks - Be sure to add metadata to all your tracks that includes the artist name, song title, album name, composer name, cover art and so on. Although you can't add metadata to wav files directly within Windows (for PC users), you can use third party programs in order to embed the requisite metadata into your tracks. MP3 tag is a good, free program that will allow you to add metadata to both mp3 and wav files. Copyright Your tracks – Although not technically a pre-requisite for licensing your tracks, it’s a good idea to first “copyright” your tracks prior to putting them out into the world. By default, you own the “copyright” to your tracks the moment you compose them. Copyright literally means the write to copy or reproduce. If you wrote a song or composition you automatically have that right, it’s your music after all, but it’s a good idea to “copyright” them by registering with the Library Of Congress, or whatever the equivalent is in your country, if you live outside the U.S. That way, if you’re ever in a situation where someone tries to steal your music, or you need to prove that a song you wrote is yours, you’ll have legal proof that you own the copyright. More info: https://www.copyright.gov/registration/ Do you have a publisher? If you sign your tracks to a publisher, then you don’t need to worry about this step. But, if you’re going the music library route, it’s important to know that not all libraries take your publishing. Some libraries only take a percentage of your sync fee, or a percentage of your publishing in addition to the sync fee. If you work with libraries that don’t take all of your publishing, it’s best to have a publishing company set up so that you can collect the publishing share of your performance royalty, in addition to you writer royalty. Anyone can set up a publishing entity, but it works a little differently depending on which PRO you belong to. Check with your PRO for details on how to establish yourself as a publisher, in addition to a writer member, if you plan to license your tracks through companies that don’t take publishing. This way you’ll be sure to get all the royalties owed to you when your songs are used. Here’s info on how to join as a publisher with ASCAP and BMI: ASCAP - https://ome.ascap.com/ BMI - https://www.bmi.com/creators Music Submission Spreadsheet – This isn’t a pre-requisite per se, but it’s a good idea to have some sort of a spreadsheet that you can use to keep track of the submissions you make and to document which songs are accepted by different libraries and publishers. If you have a lot of tracks and you’re pitching and signing them with a lot of different places, it can get confusing fast. You need to organize which songs are where and whether they’re signed exclusively or non-exclusively and so on. Having a spread-sheet you use to document everything will help you stay organized. (We have a template you can use in the resource section of HTLYM premium) For in depth resources related to licensing your music in tv, films, ads and more, be sure to join HTLYM Premium. Your premium membership includes daily licensing leads, one on one coaching, in depth music business courses, a weekly live video mastermind session, up to date industry directories, a music licensing reference library and much more. Visit for more: https://www.htlympremium.com/
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 Music licensing is a long-term game. It’s not something that most artists will jump into and see immediate success right out of the gate. There are always exceptions, but the vast majority of artists I’ve spoken to and interviewed over the years have said that it’s taken at least a couple years to really get going in the licensing business and start earning significant money.
It makes sense if you think about it. Even in the best case scenario it’s going to take time to make connections, sign deals, wait for your music to be pitched and successfully synced and then usually wait to get paid anywhere from 6 to 9 months after the fact. This is just the nature of the licensing business and the way it’s structured. Again, this would be the best-case scenario and assuming your music is on point and ready to be licensed. This isn’t the case for most artists that are first starting out and trying to break into the business. There are usually adjustments that need to be made along the way to either the music’s production, the music itself, or both. Most artists that try to break into licensing seem to get burnt out before they succeed because they get frustrated by their lack of initial success. I get it. It can be frustrating when you’re pitching your music over and over and not seeming to get anywhere. But once you understand the nature of the business and the obstacles you need to overcome in order to succeed, it becomes much less frustrating and you can simply focus on doing the work. I’m a big advocate of musicians spending a lot of time networking and marketing. You have to if you want to go anywhere in the business. If you’re spending all your time making great music, but you fail to successfully connect it with the right people in the industry, you’ll probably simply be making great music for yourself and your friends. Conversely, if you spend all your time pitching your music, but the music itself isn’t great or high enough quality for licensing, your marketing efforts will fall flat. The key is to strike a balance between these two necessary sides of the music business; making great music and successfully marketing your music. Over the years, I’ve developed a natural rhythm of shifting back and forth between these two necessary areas. I will often spend two to three months immersed in writing and recording music, where the majority of my time is spent focused on making great music. I’ll then go into music marketing mode, where I will shift my attention to focusing on networking, pitching my new music to companies I work with and also cultivating new relationships and signing new deals. Both making music and marketing music are ongoing parts of sync licensing. You’ll never really stop doing either thing. If your marketing efforts are not fruitful, go back to focusing on the music itself. If your music is great and ready to be pitched, spend time getting it out there and don’t stop until you start to see results. I like to think of pitching music as launching a campaign. A campaign is an organized course of action to achieve a goal and it’s helpful to think in these terms when trying to get your music licensed. I will typically start a new licensing campaign when I have between eight and ten new songs that I’m excited about. When I reach this point, I will set about signing these new songs to either existing companies I work with or finding new companies to work with. A licensing campaign will typically consist of pitching my music to upwards of 50 new companies or more. This will usually result in three to four new deals, often with a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive companies. For example, I recently ended a licensing campaign for ten tracks that resulted in four new contracts, one which was exclusive for three tracks with a highly reputable company, and three other non-exclusive companies, who will all pitch the remaining tracks. As an experiment for this most recent campaign, I used the exact leads that we have listed in our premium site and saw a great return on my efforts. In fact, two of the companies I’ve signed with as a result of this campaign are two of the most established companies I’ve ever worked with and both focus on high end placements in ad campaigns and films. Don’t give up before you get the results you want. Understand that succeeding in licensing is going to take time and that you’ll need to fluctuate between making great music and spending time focusing on getting it out there. Licensing isn’t for the faint of heart, but when you understand how the business works and simply focus on doing the work, success becomes not a matter of if but a matter of when. For in depth training and thousands of music licensing leads, be sure to join our premium site here: https://www.htlympremium.com/ We also offer our comprehensive directory of music libraries, publishers and supervisors by itself here: https://www.htlympremium.com/2020-music-licensing-directory.html  I’ve spent much of 2020 focusing on my own music. The quarantine and lockdown served as an unexpected catalyst for a new batch of songs and led to one of the most prolific periods of songwriting I’ve had in years.
I also found myself, due to the extra time on my hands brought on by the lockdown, spending a lot of time “cleaning up” my website, social media and online presence. During “normal” times I am usually very busy with several different things going on. Between running my business, writing and performing, and focusing on marketing and licensing my music, it can be hard to find extra time for things like updating my website, social media etc. But these things are also important and can make a big difference when it comes to prospective libraries and agencies choosing to work with you or not. Here are a list of things you might not be thinking about, but should be, before you start actively pitching your tracks: Get your social media house in order – I’ve talked a lot previously about the types of files you need to have and the different mixes and edits you should have before you start shopping your music for licensing. See my “Music Licensing Manifesto” for more on this. Another area you should have in order, that you might not necessarily think about when it comes to licensing, is having your social media and online presence in order. I spent a lot of time during quarantine focused on growing my Youtube channel and creating new content. When it comes to social media and licensing, there are no hard and fast rules. It’s not necessarily a pre-requisite to have x number of followers or subscribers, and some companies and agencies are more concerned with social media than others. But as a general rule, it will only help your marketing and pitching efforts to be established on at least one or several social media platforms. It will certainly never hurt. I have close to 5k subscribers on Youtube. In the grand scheme of things this isn’t that big of a following, but you’d be surprised how many artists I see that have very few subscribers and views on Youtube. In some cases, I’ve seen artists who have amazing tracks but have made very little impact on platforms like Youtube and Spotify. Even some fairly established artists have relatively small followings on these platforms. Again, it’s not really a pre-requisite per se that you have x number of subscribers or followers to license your music, but it helps people in the industry see that you’re actively promoting your music and that you’re consistently growing your fanbase. I personally aim for releasing one new video each week, although there are periods where I fall behind due to my schedule. However, when I am releasing new content each week, I can see very tangible trend upward in terms of subscribers and views. Update your website – Another thing I did during quarantine, that you might not have thought about, is update my website. When you submit your tracks to libraries and sync agencies, you will often by asked for a link to your website and social media. The places you’re submitting your music are obviously going to check those sites out. Make sure everything on your website is up to date and looks good. I recently went through my website and updated my licensing credits, all the images and the layout to make it look even better than before. It’s a good idea to update your website several times a year to make sure everything is up to date, current and is the most accurate reflection what you and your music are about. Update your bio and credits – I also recently updated my bio to include recent projects I’ve worked on and ended up re-writing the whole thing. I cut out a lot of the fat and unnecessary fluff that was in my old bio and highlighted more of the important credits over the last couple years. Make sure your bio is up to date and mentions any relevant licensing credits and placements. You’d be surprised how many artists I come across that leave out this vital information. Create a playlist and/or showreel – One of the other new things I did this year was to create different playlists of my music based on genre; singer/songwriter, rock and instrumental. In my initial submission I usually submit three or four of my recent tracks, with a link to several different playlists should they want to hear more of my music in a specific genre. This has proven to be really helpful as I’ve already ended up signing several new songs, I might not have otherwise, as a direct result of this move. Update your initial email – One of the other things I did was to update my initial email and what I say when I first reach out to new companies. I made a few minor changes in order to come across more succinct and professional. I also did an a/b test of two different emails, both using different tracks, to see which one got the best results. I would show you the exact email I’ve been using, but I think it makes more sense to find your own voice and communication style. I’m not a big fan of copying and pasting emails templates. It’s better to find your own voice. With that said, here are a few key points to keep in mind when you’re submitting your music to someone for the first time: Keep your communication succinct and to the point - Don’t write long emails that take a long time to read. Most people in this industry are busy, so be respectful and keep your emails as short as possible while still effectively communicating key points about you and your music. I usually limit my emails to two fairly short paragraphs. Mention any relevant credits, experience, etc. – I always make sure to highlight any relevant credits, recent placements I’ve had and so on. This lets people know that your music has a proven track record within the licensing industry. If you don’t have any placements yet, no worries, just skip this part. But once you start getting placements, no matter how small or insignificant you think they are, be sure to mention this in your initial emails to new libraries and publishers you reach out to. Link to playlist or showreel – Like I said, I’ve started including links to relevant playlists I’ve created on soundcloud, in addition to the initial songs I submit (usually three or four). This gives people the option to peruse more of your tracks if they like the initial ones you send. Start with three or four tracks you feel best represent you and then link to an extra playlist or two of related styles. If you have a showreel that features some of your credits and placements this is also great. I’m in the process of my updating my showreel to include my recent placements and will add this to my emails as well. Between the tips above and the checklist of things to do before pitching your music in The Music Licensing Manifesto, you’ll have a complete overview of everything you should have in order prior to pitching your tracks. If you do all these things AND you have a great product, you’ll get results. If you want more in depth resources related to getting your music synced in tv, films and ads, be sure to join our Premium Site, for up to date courses, daily leads, private coaching, webinars and a weekly live video mastermind session. You'll save half off the full cost of your membership between now and Sunday. Learn more here.  Producer Gary Gray hosts a weekly, 90 minute long, live video mastermind session every Saturday for "PRO" level members of HTLYM Premium. During these 90 minute long sessions, Gary goes deep into a variety of concepts related to getting your music licensed, including music production, mixing and mastering, networking and business skills and much more. The weekly mastermind provides ongoing training and networking opportunities with other HTLYM members, live, in real time, every single week. I wanted to give everyone who isn't a member yet access to one of these sessions so you can see just how valuable and informative they are and to give you an idea of what to expect when you GO PREMIUM. You can watch the entire, 90 minute mastermind replay from 5/9/20 below. Highlights from this mastermind include: Gary Gray introduces how the Gary Gray Advanced Craftsman Clinic Course will be incorporated into the HTLYMPremium Mastermind sessions and launches the 1st Lesson for the Advanced Craftsman Clinic by demonstrating a free plugin, Blindfold EQ, on a current project. Gary's words of wisdom this week include an important topic for anyone wanting to make LUCRATIVE income licensing: "How do you create masterpiece recordings fast?" and "In mixing, there are subtle things that DO matter, and subtle things that DON'T matter - you'll find out exactly which is which (and WHY) in this Clinic." A member's bio and 3 tracks are also shared as part of the weekly "Show & Tell Triple Play" Series - where we get to know each member, and listen to their music. When you go premium and sign up for our 365 Day Music Licensing Challenge, starting July 1, as a "PRO" level member you'll have access to these live mastermind sessions for an entire year. (Intermediate members will have access to the replays.) More details. Watch the replay below:  The following is an excerpt from my 17 page guide, The Music Licensing Manifesto. Available in both PDF and video format. One of the most important things you should be doing, on your music licensing journey, is to focus on creating an amazing catalog of music. How many songs do you need? Great question. I don’t have a precise answer, but think about it this way, the income you make will more than likely, be directly proportionate to the size of your catalog. The more songs you make, the more songs you’ll be able to license. The more topics and moods your songs address, the more potential scenes and uses your music will be a good fit for. The more songs you license, the more money you’ll make. Your ongoing mission should be to create a diverse, vibrant catalog of amazing music that will meet the needs of the licensing community you’ll be serving. Of course, you don’t need hundreds of songs to get started, but your goal should always be to create more songs that will work for more productions, shows, films, ads and so on. At the end of the day, this is what it’s all about; making music. The money you invest initially should be on tools and resources to help you get to a place where you can consistently create high quality music on an ongoing basis that is “on target” for licensing. If you’re going to be producing your own tracks, then obviously you need to invest in things like instruments, recording equipment, your DAW, microphones and so on. If you’re going to be working with other producers, then you’ll need to have some sort of budget for your recording projects that you can afford on a regular basis as you’re building your catalog and creating music for projects you pitch to. Where will you get the money for all of this? Well, unfortunately, I don’t have any top-secret sources of money to tell you about. Licensing music isn’t a get rick quick scheme. It’s a business and like any other business, it’s going to take time and money to build and turn into something profitable. The most likely solution is that in the beginning, you’ll probably need to have some sort of day job that will allow you to sustain yourself and invest into your licensing business as you’re getting started. I was a guitar teacher when I got started and did that for seven years until I was making enough money from all my side projects to stop doing that. Bottom line: everyone’s situation is different. Do whatever it takes. The New Music Licensing Paradigm Back in the day, there was this model that bands and artists seemed to follow, that went something like this: 1) Record and release an “album” of ten to twelve tracks 2) Tour for two years or so to promote the album 3) Repeat That was the model that worked for recording/touring artists for many years. I think that a lot of artists my age are sort of stuck in that paradigm. They’re still looking at the music industry through the lens of the old model. They’re not adapting to the new music industry. The old model worked when people were buying millions of albums and it probably still works for a few elite bands and artists. But the above model doesn’t really apply to licensing at all. If you’re only creating ten tracks every couple years, it’s going to be really hard to turn that into a full time revenue stream. Of course, there are always exceptions and I know a couple artists that do pretty well with small, niche catalogs. But for most artists, you’re going to need volume to create a significant revenue stream. You’re going to need to create a lot of music if you’re hoping to make a lot of money. Remember, more music = more money. And if you think about, this is good news! You went into this because you love making music, right? Yeah? Well, great, you’re going to get to make a lot of it as you build your licensing catalog. And here’s the really cool thing: This all might seem a little daunting in the beginning. But in my experience, when you get into a flow of writing a lot of music and creating music more frequently, more and more songs and ideas come! When you get into the habit of writing music on a daily basis, it starts to feel as if you’re priming your musical pump, and the songs and inspiration just keep coming. These days, I never run out of song ideas or feel I lack inspiration. In fact, my biggest problem these days is trying to keep up with all my song ideas and get them recorded and produced quickly enough. I have a backlog of like 20 songs right now, that are all in various stages of production and I’ve written three new songs in the last week or so. When you really get into this, you can get into a rhythm and flow with songwriting and composing that is truly amazing. The more music you compose and create, the easier it gets. Bottom line: Work towards creating a large, diverse catalog of music. More music = more money. (Of course, it goes without saying, the music you create needs to be of high quality.) If you know music licensing is for you and you’re ready to start turning this into a career, then go premium and take advantage of all of our in depth courses, monthly webinars with music licensing experts, daily music licensing leads, in depth directories and much, much more. We have over 200 hours of the most in depth, cutting edge information on how to make money licensing your music in tv, films, ads and more you’ll find anywhere. GO PREMIUM HERE.
To see our entire catalog of courses and resources related to licensing music, visit our online store.  2020 marks the 12th year that I’ve been running How To License Your Music dot com and its related sites, Youtube channel and podcast. It’s mind blowing when I stop and think about how long I’ve been doing this.
Next year is the third anniversary of How To License Your Music Premium, our premium member site that hosts all of our courses, webinar and training in one convenient place. HTLYM Premium is like a Netflix for music licensing that has grown to a community of over 400 songwriters and composers that are all utilizing our in depth content and training in order to further their careers. Our members have had syncs in a wide variety of projects as a result of using our site, including Netflix, Toyota, NBC, ABC, CBS, Bravo, A & E, Showtime, HBO, Fuse TV, Oxygen Network, Discovery, VH1, MTV, Spike TV, Fox Sports and many more. The majority of my time these days, apart from time spent on making my own music, is focused on improving our premium site, creating new content, researching and posting daily licensing leads, hosting webinars, creating and editing video content, and much, much more. My team and I have invested countless hours into creating what we confidently feel is the single best resource available for musicians who want to learn how to license their music in tv, films, ads and more. As a reminder, between now and December 31, save 50% on all of our membership packages and be enrolled free of charge in our upcoming 365 Day Music Licensing Challenge. Details here: https://www.htlympremium.com/ By working and connecting with supervisors, publishers and songwriters all working full time in the business over the last 12 years, I’ve been able to get a real “bird’s eye” view of how the business works. The big picture, if you will, of the music licensing industry. The life of a musician can be lonely at times, and one of my main goals with HTLYM Premium is to bring as many different people as possible working in the business together to share their stories, so that you can learn from a really wide range of people that work in the industry. So that you’ll get a better perspective on your own journey and hopefully feel a little less isolated and alone. In today’s post I thought I’d break down 7 key takeaways that I’ve gotten from the last several years of working in the music licensing business and networking with a variety of people in the business. These are 7 points that pretty much everyone I’ve interviewed and spoken with has been in agreement on. 1) You can make a full time living, but it’s takes a lot of time and effort – One of the questions I’ve been asking everyone I interview is about the viability of turning music licensing into a career. Is it possible? Feasible? Is it practical to try to make music licensing a full time career? Everyone I’ve spoken with has said more or less the same thing. Yes, it’s possible, but it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get to that point. Music licensing, most of the people I speak with say, should be approached more like a long-term investment. Sort of like a 401k plan for musicians. It’s something that you need to build up over time. You need to approach music licensing like you would investing in the stock market. In other words, think long term and diversify. Write a lot of different songs. Place them in different libraries and with different publishers. Go direct to supervisors if you can. You might get lucky and land a huge placement right away. It could happen. But don’t necessarily count on that happening. Keep writing and pitching and over time the money you make will grow. If you persist long enough (usually several years or more) you can build up your catalog to a point that it generates a full time income. 2) It’s better to write from the heart than to try and write what you think will work for licensing – Although it’s important to be aware of what works and why in the context of licensing, the overwhelming consensus has been that, at the end of the day, you should just focus on writing great songs and compositions that are inspired and from the heart. This advice that I’ve gotten, over and over, sort of took me by surprise, in a good way. I hate the idea of trying to force my music into some sort of pre-conceived, pre-determined, homogenized mold. The “artist” in me cringes at this thought. I went into this business to make art! If I wanted to just create cookie cutter widgets, void of substance and meaning I’d work in a factory or something. So the fact that the majority of people I’ve interviewed, from supervisors to publishers to songwriters to composers, all agree that we should, first and foremost, strive to write great, inspired music gives me hope. Of course, you should still pay attention to things like lyrics and arrangement and make sure they’re not too far out of the realm of what works for licensing. You still need to consider the way in which your songs will be used, if and when they’re licensed. But don’t do this at the expense of the music you’re creating. Don’t forego writing a great song too simply try and make it fit the music licensing mold. Music supervisors are music fans. They’re drawn to the music business because, for the most part, they love music. Don’t forget this when you’re creating music you plan to pitch for licensing opportunities. 3) It takes a lot of pitching and submitting your music to land placements - The music business is competitive. There is a lot of music being pitched. I spoke with one prominent music supervisor who told me that she gets as many as 1,000 submissions a week! Many supervisors simply don’t have time to listen to everything that is being sent to them. Your job as a songwriter, is to rise above this noise and competition and get your music heard. Going through libraries and publishers is a good way to do this, as they can help you do the job of pitching and finding out about projects. They’ll take a cut of what you make of course, but it’s well worth it in my experience to have the extra help. You can go directly to music supervisors as well and if you catch them at the right time, with the right track they might be open to it. In my experience, supervisors draw from a lot of different sources to meet their music needs and many are open to working directly with artists when it makes sense to do so. Whatever route you go, if you want to do this at serious level, you need to devote considerable time to pitching your music and finding out about projects. Most writers that do this full time, devote at least two to three days a week to doing nothing but pitching. It really is where the true work comes in when it comes to landing placements. I wish there was an easier way, but the consensus is that to be successful at licensing, you need to keep pitching and networking on a regular basis. 4) You have to approach this like a job if you want to be successful – I think this piece of advice applies to any aspect of the music industry. You have to approach this like a job or business if you want this to be your job. Songwriters that make a full time living doing this, work full time hours! I think what Sam Beam, aka Iron And Wine, said about the music business sums it up succintly, “if you treat music like a job, they’ll pay you like it’s a job”. Apply this mindset to everything you do in terms of being a musician. Set up regular hours to write and record music. Have a set schedule you adhere to when you’re pitching music. Be consistent. There are a lot of musicians out there, but in terms of musicians that are really going for this in a serious way, it’s a much smaller pool. 5) You need to have thick skin for this business – This probably comes as no surprise, but the music business is really hard. It’s competitive. You will be rejected, most likely a lot. Don’t even pay attention to the rejection. Keep making music. Keep improving your music and keep pitching your music. If you’re passionate and motivated, eventually you’ll win other people over. Of course, listen to the feedback you get, if you send your tracks to 20 people and they all say that your vocals are off key, take note and work on improving that. We all have things to improve. But, music isn’t an exact science. What one music supervisor hates, another might love. That’s why I don’t pay too much attention to criticism or rejection in general, unless it points to something specific that I hear over and over. There’s a difference between someone just not feeling a track and someone not liking it for specific reasons. If you know deep down you’re writing and recording great songs, keep pitching them until you find others that agree. 6) There are no guarantees when it comes to licensing, until a track is actually licensed - At the end of the day, there are no guarantees in this business until a song is actually licensed. You might find ten publishers who love your tracks and they all pitch them to no avail. It happens. Until a specific supervisor wants to use your track for a specific project and the song has been synced, it’s all speculation. Don’t let this discourage you, but also don’t forget this reality of the industry. This is why the ongoing pitching of your material is so important if you want to approach this like a career. You never really know if something is going to happen, until it happens. Unless you are on staff for a network or hired by a production company to write music on a salaried basis, you’re always going to be looking for the next project and the next place to license your tracks. Of course, you’ll be building up residual income too, as some of your tracks will likely be used repeatedly and in different projects over time. But for most writers that are doing this on a freelance basis, in other words, most of us, the pitching never really stops. 7) You might decide this isn’t for you, and that’s ok - With all this talk about competition, rejection and how hard licensing is, you might come to the conclusion that this simply isn’t for you and that’s ok too. I feel like the only real reason to go into the music business in general is because you absolutely love making music more than anything else. If you don’t have that sort of intense passion for making music, then it really doesn’t make much sense as a career path in my mine. I believe success is possible for all of us, but if you don’t have an innate sense of passion for music, it’s doubtful that you’ll be able to push through the inevitable challenges that you’ll face. Music, to me, is a calling. It’s almost a religious like calling. It's something I have to do. Any money and success I may happen to attain is really just a byproduct of my desire to get my music out into the world and have it heard. That’s really what drives me more than anything. At the end of the day, I don’t really care if my music is played in the background of a soap opera or a reality tv show. It’s nice when it happens, but more than anything I just love playing music and you know, I have to eat and pay bills.  The Music Licensing Manifesto By Aaron Davison – Founder Of htlympremium.com Download PDF Of "The Music Licensing Manifesto" I’m happy to say, that after 17 years of working in the licensing space, both licensing my own music since 2002, and running my website, How To License Your Music dot com since 2008, I feel like I finally, truly “get” the music licensing industry, at least to the extent that “getting” a business like this is actually possible. I’ll admit it. I’m a slow learner. There were of course pieces of the business that I’ve understood and have been able to assimilate along the way. I’ve had a lot of “aha” moments about music and the music business over the last 17 years, many of which I’ve shared on my blog, podcast and in my courses over the last few years. The business has also changed a lot since I started back in 2002, and my understanding of the business has evolved and changed alongside the changes in the industry. But lately, I feel like I really “get” this industry in a much clearer way than I did when I was younger, and in a much clearer way than even just a few years ago. It’s taken a lot of trial and error, ups and downs, spending a lot of money, experimenting with different styles of music, working with a variety of musicians, vocalists, publishers and producers and so on, to get here. I’ve made multiple trips to places like LA and Nashville since I started and have attended multiple conferences and seminars over the years. I attended Berklee for two years, from age 19 to 21, where I learned everything I could about songwriting and how the business of songwriting works. I then moved back to Chicago, where I’m from originally, finished college at Eastern Illinois University with a degree in music, then formed a band in the city and spent about a decade playing in bands in and around Chicago, learning everything I could about performing and the business of playing live music. It took me a long time to figure out how to fit all the pieces of the music business together in a way that would sustain me comfortably. But gradually, over the years, after a lot persistence and hard work, it happened. “It” meaning I figured out how to support myself solely from my passion for music and the music I make. A significant part of my income these days comes from licensing, and this becomes more the case each year as my catalog and the income it generates grows. In this post I’m going to focus on licensing and share some of my missteps along the way. I’m also going to share some of the realizations I’ve had over the last few years that has led to quadrupling my licensing income over the last two years or so. This post is going to be a little longer than usual, because my goal is to layout ALL the fundamentals you need to understand in order to succeed at licensing your music in one single, epic post. I’m calling this post “The Music Licensing Manifesto” because this is my attempt to explain, in a single post, all of the principles it takes to succeed at music licensing. If you want to go deeper into these topics and how to succeed in music licensing, be sure to check out our premium site. How To License Your Music Premium has over 200 hours of in depth, premium content about every possible topic related to music licensing you’ll find. We go deep and granular on very specific topics like music production, music marketing, music supervision, networking, music publishing and much more. We provide daily licensing leads, monthly webinars, in depth courses, directories and resources and more. Learn more here. In the meantime, absorb the information in this “manifesto”. My goal with this manifesto is to make this a document you can return to over and over again, whenever you’re feeling stuck or lost, sort of like the way you’d pull out a map on a journey, whenever you get lost or off track. This “manifesto” doesn’t have all the answers, related to every single action you’ll need to take, but it provides a very thorough overview of the basic steps you’ll need to take to succeed in licensing your music. It doesn’t address every possible hypothetical situation you’ll encounter on the path to licensing success, but it will point you in the right, overall direction. This “manifesto” is, literally, the result of 17 years of experience and time working in this industry. So, with that said, are you ready? Let’s get started…. Attitude & Mindset I think your attitude going into this is probably the single most important piece of the puzzle, in terms of being successful, which is why I want to mention the topic of attitude and mindset first. You have to have a positive mindset that is determined to succeed. This probably sounds pretty cliché at this point, but clichés exist for a reason. Usually there is at least an element of truth to clichés. This one is no exception. The music business is challenging, but success is possible and attainable. You have to know and believe that going into this on a deep level. Don’t approach this as if success in music licensing is akin to winning the lottery. I think that, in retrospect, I approached the music business this way for a long time, because on some fundamental level, that’s what I thought. It was drilled into me from a very young age that being a successful musician would be hard, if not almost impossible, and I think I sort of internalized this mindset from a young age. Sure, I wanted to succeed at music, and I told everyone that’s what I intended to do. But looking back, I don’t know if I really, truly believed that. I think deep down I was scared shitless that I was going to fail and that I was making a colossal life error and was going to be destined to live a life of struggle. That was a mistake looking back, because you can succeed based on your hard work and efforts alone, IF you truly understand the business and the steps you need to take, many of which I will outline below. I think a lot of musicians are completely in the dark about the business and feel like this is all one giant roulette table. It can sure seem that way, but the odds of success are much, much better than roulette, if you understand the business and how things work. You can tilt the odds in your favor if you take the time to truly understand the business and the needs of those working in it and you persist in reaching your goals. And to be clear, I’m talking specifically about the licensing aspect of the music business. Becoming a rock star ala Justin Bieber may actually be sort of analogous to winning the lottery. There is a lot of luck involved in that level of success. But, he doesn’t seem too happy these days anyway, so I’m not even sure that would be a desirable goal to aim for. Britney Spears isn’t happy either. It’s pretty clear at this point that massive fame doesn’t automatically equate to happiness, and could even exacerbate mental health issues in some cases. So, let’s set aside that particular goal for the sake of this manifesto and focus on success we can actually attain, based on our hard work alone. When it comes to licensing, your actions, responses to challenges and the steps you take will ultimately determine whether or not you succeed. It’s really that simple and in the following sections of this “manifesto” I’ll outline what those steps are and what you should focus on. When I look back over the last ten to fifteen years at the periods where I floundered the most and when success seemed to be the most elusive, if I’m completely honest with myself and with you, my attitude at the time played a big role in why I wasn’t progressing. I was my biggest obstacle. Of course, at the time, I couldn’t see this, and I felt like my attitude and the way I approached things was justified. In a way it probably was, because I was simply reacting to things and approaching the business the best way I knew how at the time, based on the limited tools, resources and knowledge I had at my disposal. Let me give you an example: After the first few songs I licensed, which I all paid a producer to produce for me, I started seeking out more cost-effective ways to produce my tracks. I wanted to keep my costs down so that I could make a larger profit. This wasn’t an inherently bad strategy, but I ended up creating a lot of tracks myself or with other inexperienced, but cheaper, producers that simply weren’t good enough to license. I didn’t have the skills or the tools at the time to create tracks that met the needs of those I was working with. This resulted in a sort of two steps forward, one step back period, where I tried and experimented with different production strategies until I eventually found a new system that worked and was sustainable. During this period a lot of my tracks were getting rejected because I was unwilling and perhaps a bit afraid to invest properly in the production of my tracks. I didn’t want to lose money and I didn’t have the confidence I needed at the time to take the necessary steps to move forward, in terms of investing in better gear, mores skilled producers and so on. I wasn’t convinced I would see a good return on my investment. My mistake, in retrospect, is that I was unwilling to take an initial loss on my songs in order to create long term passive income. I tried to cut corners wherever I could to keep my costs down. I used to think that if I created a song that landed me a thousand dollar placement, that song shouldn’t cost me more than 500 dollars to create. This thinking wasn’t completely wrong, the goal is to make money after all. But what I failed to realize early on, is that one track that initially created a thousand dollars in revenue, has the potential to generate many more thousands of dollars in the future, over the life of the song. In other words, this is a long-term game and you have to think long term in order to create long term, sustainable success. This leads me to the second point that you need to be aware of, when creating a business out of licensing music…. Invest In Your Success You have to invest in your career. In other words, “it takes money to make money”. Many years of being a struggling musician and feeling the pain of not having a lot of money, led to me becoming pretty frugal with my money. I spent the better part of a decade in my twenties and early thirties going for music with all I had. I spent a lot of time and money chasing my dreams during this period and over the years I went down a lot of dead-end roads. As a result, I became much more conservative and careful in how I invested my time and money. I got burned a few times and made some bad decisions that set me back financially. You have to be careful with your money and where you invest it. But, you have to realize that you are most likely going to need to invest money into this initially, if you intend to turn this into a career. It’s almost inevitable, unless you have really rich parents or investors or you find a large bag of cash lying around, which has never happened to me even once. You’ll need to invest money in equipment, producers (if you don’t produce your music), education and training and so on. The key is knowing when and how to invest money and when spending money is a wise decision, and conversely, when it’s not. A lot of musicians are only spending money on things they feel confident they can instantly recoup. This was my mindset for a long time. But licensing needs to be approached like a business and most businesses do not make money right out of the gate. In fact, many businesses are in debt, at least on paper, for many years before they become truly profitable. For example, it took Twitter a decade to become consistently profitable. Most businesses start out in debt and only over time become truly profitable. Of course, you probably won’t have access to the same amount of capital as companies like Twitter do to keep you afloat in the beginning. That’s ok. Think of your licensing business as like a mini twitter or mini Facebook. Your goal is going to be to build a business that, over time, will grow and deliver consistent profits. But it’s going to take time to get there and you’re going to have expenses along the way. You’ll probably have to operate “in the red” for awhile initially. You don’t have to spend or risk a ton of money right out the gate if your risk averse or not in a position to invest a lot. You can start small and scale things as you go. But, and this is the key, when you see something that is working, you have to invest in those areas and nurture them if you want growth. If something is working on a small scale, double down and invest back into what’s working. If you license one of your songs, find out why that song worked and produce ten more like it. When those songs start making you money, create 100 more like those and so on. This is how you scale a licensing business. You have to keep growing, creating new music and investing back into your business. Educate Yourself One of the things you should be doing, on a regular basis, is educating yourself about the business. Before you jump head first into this, spend a ton of money, and create hundreds of songs that may or may not work for licensing, make sure you take the time, upfront, to really research the industry. Get a feel for what kinds of songs are licensed and why and figure out where you and your music fit into things. You could be making amazing music that’s too obscure for licensing and that there isn’t really a demand for. Succeeding in licensing is all about serving the needs of your clients and helping them get their musical needs met. So, before you start just blindly shopping your music around, take some time to really look around at what music is being licensed where and by who. Educate yourself about the business. Your education will come in a few different ways. You can research and learn a lot about the business online. You can go to publishers and music libraries’ websites and check out the kind of projects they’re working on, check out the artists they work with and so on. The more you understand the business and learn how music is licensed, the better decisions you’ll tend to make in terms of reaching out to the right people, with the right music. A lot of people ask me what tracks they should send when initially reaching out to someone. The answer is you should be sending the most relevant tracks you have for each submission. Licensing isn’t an exact science, so you’ll often be making educated guesses. But if you’ve taken the time to learn about the people and companies you’re pitching your music to, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about what tracks you send them. You can also educate yourself by listening to my free podcast, where interview a variety of people succeeding in the licensing space. I find people succeeding at a high level and I ask them how they did it. There are tons of gems in my podcast. Check it out. You can also educate yourself by checking out our in-depth courses and webinars. Our premium members get access to hundreds of hours of in-depth content where we dive deep into all things music licensing related. We have in-depth courses on music production for licensing, music mastering, music marketing, writing tracks for tv and commercials, working with Logic, pitching to supervisors and much, much more. The more you understand going into this business, the quicker you’ll succeed. If you want to sample our courses first, we’re even offering a completely free, four-hour audio/video course that you can check out right away called “The Ultimate Music Licensing Guide”. No strings attached. Get “The Ultimate Music Licensing Guide” here. Create A Catalog Of Music Ok, so you’ve developed a great mindset and attitude, you’ve invested in yourself and you’ve educated yourself about the business, now comes the fun part: The music. The next thing you should do, on your music licensing journey, is to start creating an amazing catalog of music. How many songs do you need? Great question. I don’t have a precise answer, but think about it this way, the income you make will more than likely, be directly proportionate to the size of your catalog. The more songs you make, the more songs you’ll be able to license. The more topics and moods your songs address, the more potential scenes and uses your music will be a good fit for. The more songs you license, the more money you’ll make. Your ongoing mission should be to create a diverse, vibrant catalog of amazing music that will meet the needs of the licensing community you’ll be serving. Of course, you don’t need hundreds of songs to get started, but your goal should always be to create more songs that will work for more productions, shows, films, ads and so on. At the end of the day, this is what it’s all about; making music. The money you invest initially should be on tools and resources to help you get to a place where you can consistently create high quality music on an ongoing basis that is “on target” for licensing. If you’re going to be producing your own tracks, then obviously you need to invest in things like instruments, recording equipment, your DAW, microphones and so on. If you’re going to be working with other producers, then you’ll need to have some sort of budget for your recording projects that you can afford on a regular basis as you’re building your catalog and creating music for projects you pitch to. Where will you get the money for all of this? Well, unfortunately, I don’t have any top-secret sources of money to tell you about. Licensing music isn’t a get rick quick scheme. It’s a business and like any other business, it’s going to take time and money to build and turn into something profitable. The most likely solution is that in the beginning, you’ll probably need to have some sort of day job that will allow you to sustain yourself and invest into your licensing business as you’re getting started. I was a guitar teacher when I got started and did that for seven years until I was making enough money from all my side projects to stop doing that. Bottom line: everyone’s situation is different. Do whatever it takes. The New Music Licensing Paradigm Back in the day, there was this model that bands and artists seemed to follow, that went something like this: 1) Record and release an “album” of ten to twelve tracks 2) Tour for two years or so to promote the album 3) Repeat That was the model that worked for recording/touring artists for many years. I think that a lot of artists my age are sort of stuck in that paradigm. They’re still looking at the music industry through the lens of the old model. They’re not adapting to the new music industry. The old model worked when people were buying millions of albums and it probably still works for a few elite bands and artists. But the above model doesn’t really apply to licensing at all. If you’re only creating ten tracks every couple years, it’s going to be really hard to turn that into a full time revenue stream. Of course, there are always exceptions and I know a couple artists that do pretty well with small, niche catalogs. But for most artists, you’re going to need volume. You’re going to need to create a lot of music if you’re hoping to make a lot of money. Remember, more music = more money. And if you think about, this is good news! You went into this because you love making music, right? Yeah? Well, great, you’re going to get to make a lot of it as you build your licensing catalog. And here’s the really cool thing: This all might seem a little daunting in the beginning. But in my experience, when you get into a flow of writing a lot of music and creating music more frequently, more and more songs and ideas come! When you get into the habit of writing music on a daily basis, it starts to feel as if you’re priming your musical pump, and the songs and inspiration just keep coming. These days, I never run out of song ideas or feel I lack inspiration. In fact, my biggest problem these days is trying to keep up with all my song ideas and get them recorded and produced quickly enough. I have a backlog of like 20 songs right now, that are all in various stages of production and I’ve written three new songs in the last week or so. When you really get into this, you can get into a rhythm and flow with songwriting and composing that is truly amazing. The more music you compose and create, the easier it gets. Bottom line: Work towards creating a large, diverse catalog of music. More music = more money. (Of course, the music needs to high quality.) Ok, moving along. Networking And Persistence So, to recap, at this stage in your journey, you:
At this point in your journey, you’re ready to start bringing your music and your catalog to market. In other words, you’re ready to start making connections and pitching your tracks to people and companies who license music. Who should you send your music to? Do some research and figure it out. There are tons of resources both online and offline to help you get started. How To License Your Music Premium posts daily licensing leads and also has contact information for over 2,000 libraries, publishers and supervisors. Google is a great resource for finding individual music libraries and supervisors. There are a variety of conferences and seminars related to licensing. The information is readily available if you take the time to find it. For this step, you need to go back and revisit the first part of this manifesto regarding your attitude and mindset. This is the part of the journey where you’ll more than likely face a few setbacks, rejection, un-answered emails and so forth. This is all normal and is a part of the process for most artists that end up succeeding in this industry. None of us are batting 100 and none of us are a perfect match for everyone we pitch our music to. However, the good news is that if you actually took the time to do all the steps I outlined above, your odds of success are way higher than most. If you’ve put in the work at the beginning and you have a catalog of music ready to go, that you know works for licensing, based on actual research, you will eventually succeed. It will take time, but YOU WILL succeed if you follow these steps. How long will it take? I wish I could tell you. Everyone is a different. There are simply too many variables involved to tell you how long it will take you to succeed. It depends on a variety of factors, including the music you make, the quality of your music, the style of your music, how aggressively you promote it, how often you pitch it, where you pitch it, and so on and so forth. Most of the artists that I know who are making a full time living doing this, have been at this at least a few years. The nature of the licensing business is such that it takes time to build connections, generate placements, get paid for placements and so on. But keep in mind that you are building a business that has potential to sustain you for many years. You are building your own “mini-twitter” or “mini-facebook”. Don’t forget that as you move forward. Work smart, be strategic and think long term. When you start pitching your music and you start finding places that like your music and want to work with you, focus on those relationships. If you sign ten songs to a company and they get you a couple placements, thank them and offer to send them 20 more tracks. Double down on anything that is working and keep expanding. At the same time, keep reaching out to new people and making new connections. Don’t rely on just one company to get you placements. Diversify. Have so much music, with so many places, that if one or two sources of income dry up, you still have ten more in the pipeline that will step up and assure that you always have positive cash flow. While that’s happening, keep making new music and creating new connections and relationships. Again, think of this like a business, because that’s exactly what it is. Wash. Rinse. Repeat If you actually do all of the steps outlined in this manifesto, you will succeed. I can’t tell you how long it will take you and I can’t tell you exactly how your success will play out, but eventually, if you follow these steps, you’ll be successful. Once you start having success, you just have to keep repeating the steps that led to your initial success. If you find a library that likes your tracks and they get you a few placements, nurture and cultivate that relationship. Send them more tracks. Find out what they need and how you can help them. At the same time, always keep making new connections, creating new tracks and building new revenue streams. This isn’t a business where you can rest on your laurels and get complacent. The path to success in music licensing is not a mystery. It’s not about luck or getting lucky. This music licensing business isn’t a giant casino with lucky winners and unlucky losers. The music licensing business is a business. When you understand how the business works, how to meet the needs of the marketplace and how to consistently deliver a quality product, you’ll win. I hope you’ve enjoyed “The Music Licensing Manifesto”. Like I said at the beginning, I see this post as a sort of map of how to succeed in music licensing. Evaluate where you are now based on the steps I’ve outlined. Maybe you’ve already taken some of the necessary steps on your journey and you’re on your way to success, but just need to keep going. Use this manifesto to figure out what the next steps are. Maybe you’re completely new to the business and you’re not sure where to even start. Use this manifesto as a map moving forward and refer to it as needed on your journey to success. If you want to explore the topics discussed in this post further, be sure to check out our free four-hour audio/video course called “The Ultimate Music Licensing Guide”. This four-hour program breaks down the steps you need to take to succeed at music licensing even more extensively than this post. The course, like this manifesto, is completely free and you can get it here. If you know music licensing is for you and you’re ready to start turning this into a career, then go premium and take advantage of all of our in depth courses, monthly webinars with music licensing experts, daily music licensing leads, in depth directories and much, much more. We have over 200 hours of the most in depth, cutting edge information on how to make money licensing your music in tv, films, ads and more you’ll find anywhere. GO PREMIUM HERE.
To see our entire catalog of courses and resources related to licensing music, visit our online store. One of the keys to getting your tracks placed is writing tracks that work in the context of television and enhance and support the overall dialog and feeling of the scene. Building "tension" and suspense is one of several very common feelings and emotions that music is used to evoke in the context of music licensing. Check out composer Eddie Grey's approach to creating "tension cues" below. GO PREMIUM to access the full webinar, and new ones like it, posted every month. Live Webinar And Q & A With TV Composer Eddie GreyMark you calendars premium members!
Eddie will be discussing some of the techniques and ideas presented in his latest course, How To Write A Track For TV In 60 Minutes Or Less, and will also be taking your questions live, in real time, throughout the webinar. If you're a premium member, you can watch the stream live on Sunday, by logging into the member's area and going to the "Webinars" page. I'll put a big, visible link at the top of the member's home page a few minutes before we go live on Sunday. If you're not yet a premium member, be sure to register here, to access our monthly webinars, daily licensing leads, in depth courses and much more. Premium members get access to hundreds of hours of in depth training, monthly webinars, in depth music business courses, hundreds of interviews with leading music licensing and music business insiders, music industry directories, ebooks and more. If you register as a premium member between now and Sunday, you'll save 50% off the full price. Want to get a sneak peek inside our upcoming course, "How To Write Tracks For TV In 60 Minutes Or Less"? Check out this introductory video to get an idea of what our new course is all about:
As I mentioned previously, we're about to release our latest course here at How To License Your Music Premium, created by composer Eddie Grey, called "How To Write Tracks For TV In 60 Minutes Or Less".
Being able to create tracks quickly and efficiently is key in terms of success in licensing for two reasons: 1) It allows you to create music for specific projects that often times have a very quick turn around. 2) It allows you to simply create tracks more quickly, in general. The more tracks you have, the more money you can potentially make. This is the third course Eddie has created for How To License Your Music Premium. Eddie has also been a guest on my podcast several times and has done two webinars with me for members of How To License Your Music Premium. Check Out Our Recent Podcasts: The Path To Music Licensing Success With Eddie Grey Six Figure Licensing As A TV Composer With Eddie Grey Eddie has been an amazing asset to our community the last couple years. He has a wealth of knowledge about the industry he's accumulated over the course of 10,000 + placements and has an obvious passion and skill for sharing what he's learned. Eddie started as a student of How To License Your Music.com over five years ago and he's gone on to become a powerful force in the music licensing space. I had the chance to meet Eddie in person in LA in 2017 when Eddie spoke at an event hosted by How To License Your Music.com. I even got to go to his apartment and spend a couple hours with him, discussing his approach to licensing, recording, life as a musician and more. I was so impressed with what I saw in person, that I somehow convinced Eddie to join my team here at How To License Your Music Premium and he's gone on to create three amazing, in depth courses. Today I thought I'd share a replay of a webinar I did with Eddie Grey and my producer, Gary Gray, last year, on the topic of how to write instrumental cues for TV. In this hour and twenty minute video presentation, you'll get a sneak peek inside Eddie's home studio in L.A. and his thought process when it comes to crafting music specifically for TV. You'll get to see, up close and personal, why I'm so excited to have Eddie on board as a part of the team here at How To License Your Music Premium. Stay posted to this blog and my newsletter for more information regarding our upcoming course. In the meantime, check out the webinar with Eddie Grey! Want to get a totally free, four hour course, on how you can make money licensing your music in tv, films, ads and more? For a limited time, I'm giving away my newest course, The Ultimate Music Licensing Guide, free of charge, no strings attached. This course took me months to create and I normally charge $77.00 for the course, but I've decided to offer it for a limited time absolutely free of charge. I'm so excited about the information and how much it can help you, that I want to give it to you to check out. |
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