|
Just a quick reminder that December 26 is the deadline for the early bird registration for my upcoming mentorship program, "The Sync Tank", that launches on January 8. Sign up by December 26 and save 100 dollars off the full price. “The Sync Tank”, includes extensive one on one coaching, with training and leads specifically tailored to your music and your situation. You won't find this sort of customized training on how to license your music anywhere else. There are limited spots available. Learn more: https://www.htlympremium.com/sync_tank.html Creating a successful career in music often requires more than just talent and passion; it involves understanding the industry from different perspectives. For musicians looking to enter the world of sync licensing, a vital piece of advice is to think like a music supervisor. This approach is not just about making music that resonates with audiences but also about understanding how your music fits within various contexts where it can be licensed.
In today’s post, let’s dive deeper into this concept. Understanding the Role of a Music Supervisor A music supervisor is responsible for selecting and licensing music for various media, including films, TV shows, advertisements, video games, and more. Their primary goal is to find music that enhances the narrative, emotion, or branding of the project they are working on. This requires a deep understanding of how music can influence an audience’s perception and experience. Music supervisors look for tracks that complement and elevate the visual content. This can range from finding a song that perfectly encapsulates the mood of a scene in a movie, to choosing a track that aligns with the brand identity for an advertisement. When you’re writing music specifically for sync licensing, consider how your music can be used in different settings. Is your song suitable for a dramatic movie scene, a light-hearted commercial, or a suspenseful moment in a video game? My first publisher, who was also my former songwriting teacher at Berklee, used to ask me a really simple question whenever I would send her tracks, which was simply, “Where do you see this song being used?”. At first this question would throw me off. I was thinking to myself, I don’t know, you’re the publisher, where do you see this song being used. But I eventually realized, what she was really trying to do was to get me to think more about how and where my tracks could be potentially used, so that I would write and create tracks that had the best chance of being synced. She was encouraging me to think like a music supervisor. Of course, you don’t always know in advance where or how your songs will be used when you write them, since it’s possible anticipate all the different projects your song could potentially be used in. But if you’re writing specifically for sync, it’s helpful to think in these terms. By anticipating what types of projects your music could potentially fit in, it will help you create tracks with better odds of actually being licensed. Crafting Versatile and Thematically Relevant Music You should aim to create versatile music that can fit into various themes and contexts. While it’s important to maintain your unique sound and style, consider incorporating elements that make your music adaptable to different scenarios. For instance, a song about universal themes like love, adventure, or struggle can be more easily placed than one with very niche or specific themes. A great exercise, and one that I suggest anyone interested in writing for sync do on a regular basis, is to simply start paying attention to the music that is used in tv shows and movies that you watch. When you start to actively pay attention to what types of songs are used in different scenes and different contexts, you’ll develop a better sense of how music supervisors select music for their projects. Building Relationships and Networking Understanding the music supervisor’s needs also involves building relationships within the industry. Networking with music supervisors, attending industry events, and staying informed about current trends can provide insights into what supervisors are looking for and how to pitch your music effectively. As I’ve often discussed in my blogs and videos over the years, my first music publisher for Sync was my songwriting teacher at Berklee. Although I didn’t actually license any music through her until about 7 years after I finished Berklee, the fact that I knew her made it much easier to get her to check out my music and work with me. You of course don’t need to personally know everyone you work with in the business, but it helps to form personal relationships when possible. As humans, we’re simply naturally inclined to want to work with and help people we know. Research and Customization in Pitching When pitching your music, do your research. Tailor your pitches to the specific needs and preferences of the music supervisor you’re contacting. Demonstrate how your music can solve a problem or enhance their project. Personalized pitches show that you’ve put thought into how your music fits their specific needs. Staying True to Your Artistic Identity While adapting to the needs of the industry is important, it’s equally important to stay true to your artistic identity. Your unique voice and style are what will make your music stand out. Balancing commercial appeal with artistic integrity is key. Conclusion Thinking like a music supervisor when entering the world of sync licensing is a strategic approach for musicians. It requires understanding the role of music in various media, creating versatile and high-quality music, effective networking and pitching, and balancing commercial needs with artistic integrity. By adopting this mindset, you will greatly increase your odds of getting your music licensed. The music licensing business, like any other business, is ultimately about understanding and serving the needs of your clients. So be sure to take the time to really understand the business and craft music that will work in a variety of contexts and settings. Warm Regards, Aaron Davison
0 Comments
 Wilco In Guadalajara, Mexico. 12.8.23 Ok, now that the pre-launch for my new course on AI for musicians is out of the way. I thought I’d shift gears and write a blog post more focused on the human side of making music and the music business. Last Friday I saw the band Wilco in Guadalajara, Mexico. Wilco, in case you’re not familiar with the band, is a band from Chicago, where I’m from, that was founded in 1993. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico these days and Guadalajara is about a four-hour drive north of Puerto Vallarta so when I saw they were playing nearby I told my girlfriend, who had never heard of Wilco, we have to go. I spent the next week bringing her up to speed on all my favorite Wilco songs and she seemed to genuinely like their music. Throughout the week she would send me her favorite Wilco songs as she discovered them. I invited a friend from Portland, who brought his girlfriend along, and the four of us made the trek together to Guadalajara to see Wilco. Seeing Wilco live in Mexico was a really special experience for me for a few different reasons. For one, I simply love Wilco. I discovered them around 2002 when their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out and listened to their music incessantly for several years straight. Yet for some reason, despite them being from Chicago and me living in Chicago, I never saw them live during this time. To get to see them my first time in Mexico was pretty wild. Secondly, seeing them perform for a mainly younger and primarily Mexican audience was pretty surreal. There were probably around 1,500 people in attendance and the crowd seemed to be true Wilco fans that responded enthusiastically to both new and old material. For example, there was a Mexican guy behind me, probably about 25 years old, who sang along, word for word, to every single song of the show. This is the power of music and the internet, that transcends cultures, age and geography. At one point during the show, I turned around, saw this kid singing along, smiling ear to ear, I smiled at him back and we both high fived. No words exchanged. No words needed. About halfway through the show, Jeff Tweedy, Wilco’s lead singer, acknowledged the crowd and said, “Thanks for inviting us Guadalajara. It only took 30 years”. Something about that simple statement struck me as profound. Wilco is a band, that has been together a long time and although they aren’t as commercially successful as say, The Rolling Stones or Taylor Swift, they just keep doing what they do, and slowly over time, they’ve developed a following around the world. This sort of relationship that bands develop with their fans is something AI will never be able to replicate. There’s a lot of concern about the impact AI will have on the music industry, and of course, many other industries. Some of the concerns are well founded. AI will most likely disrupt and transform the music industry, as it will many industries. As always, change is inevitable. AI will definitely change many aspects of the music industry, in ways that I don’t think any of us fully comprehend yet, which is why I'm doing my best to stay on top of AI and how it's transforming the industry. However, I can’t imagine a scenario in which AI will be able to replicate what I witnessed and experienced on Friday night. Live music remains the one aspect of the music industry that technology simply can’t replace. Writing and creating music and then having that music connect with an audience on an emotional level is a distinctly human experience. I actually teared up during one of the songs they performed on Friday, I was so moved. I’ve yet to shed a tear over any AI created art, although some it is pretty cool. Here are a few clips I captured from the show on Friday. Here’s a clip of Wilco’s guitarist, Nels Cline, who by the way is 67 years old (he joined Wilco when he was 49), tearing it up at the end of his solo to their song “Impossible Germany”. I’d like to see AI do this! Next, one of my favorite songs of the night, their beautiful song “Hummingbird”. What a great songwriter and lyricist Jeff Tweedy is! Here are just a few lyrics from this beautiful song. Even if AI could write lyrics like this it would take a human to feel them and relate to them. His goal in life was to be an echo The type of sound that floats around And then back down like a feather But in the deep chrome canyons of the loudest Manhattans No one could hear him Or anything So he slept on a mountain In a sleeping bag underneath the stars He would lie awake and count them And the gray fountain spray of the great Milky Way Would never let him die alone Remember to remember me Standing still in your past Floating fast like a hummingbird As we approach the end of another year, and I approach the milestone of turning 50 years old next year, I find myself reflecting a lot on my relationship with music and its role in my life. Most of the blogs I send out to my subscribers are focused on the more technical aspects of the music business and how to make money licensing music and so on. After all, that is the point of the newsletter and this website, and that is why you subscribed. I aim to provide the type of information you're seeking that will help you reach your goals. But first and foremost, I’m a musician who loves making and playing music. From time to time, I like to send out blogs like this that really illustrate how much I actually love music and making music and what a huge role it plays in my life. These days, I find myself playing more and more live shows and actually enjoying the entire experience more. I've reached a point where I just love playing music for the sheer thrill of playing music and it's a great social outlet for me as well. And if Nels Cline from Wilco can still rock out at 67 years old, then there’s no excuse for me to not keep playing at my age! It's also one of the few straightforward ways left in the music business to make money. I play a gig and I get paid cash at the end of the night. I like the simplicity of it. At this point in my life, I’ve come to two conclusions about music and the music business. One, the music business is much harder than I thought it would be, when I started out so many years ago. And number two, I love music much more than I ever realized, which is why I keep chasing this crazy dream after all these years. I'll leave you with a clip of me playing in a promo video for my new rock/blues guitar duo I've been performing in, with a great local musician here in Puerto Vallarta, Emilio Prado. Happy Holidays!
Aaron Davison |
Archives
September 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed