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sync-contacts-in-london · 8 years ago

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London's Sync Licensing Industry

You’re living in the UK and you’re ready to take on the monster that is the London music scene. You’ve recorded or manage some great music and are ready for the world to hear it, so now what? I have two words for you - SYNC LICENSING! Have you ever found yourself watching a TV Show or Film and wondered who selects and licenses the songs? Or maybe you have thought to yourself ‘It would be cool to have my music featured on a TV Show but where can I find details for music supervisors working in the UK?’ Although sync licensing used to be a major labels game, it’s not anymore; music supervisors are sourcing their music from all over the place, including London. London is a great place to be setup as a musician looking for sync deals because the industry is so alive and vibrate, especially if you want to get your music licensed into a London commercial. Using a sync licensing directory is a great tool to use to land a sync licensing deal in a Movie, TV show, Game, or Commercial that could lead you to that big break you’ve been waiting for! Multimedia (Film, TV, Game, Advertising, YouTube, etc.) is a booming industry, with the average person consuming over five hours of multimedia per day! That’s three hundred minutes of opportunities for people to be discovering your music and three hundred minutes of opportunities for your music to be earning you money. Here are some pro tips that will teach you how to find music supervisors working in London, when to contact music supervisors looking for music to feature in London commercials, and how to land those sync licensing deals!

Who to contact...

The first question you may have when it comes to sync licensing is ‘who chooses the music for films, TV, commercials, trailers and Games? The decision for what music makes it into final the production is usually made by a team of people. However, it’s the Music Supervisor that sources the songs initially, so the goal is to get them to hear your music. Two of the most common ways do this is by:

Emailing the music supervisor directly. If you have the correct contact details and think that your song is worth their time, then go for it. A good way to ensure you’re contacting the right person at the right time is to use a sync-licensing directory. But remember, most music supervisors inboxes are overflowing with email containing ‘the best song you’ll hear today,’ so make sure your email is catchy, to the point and personable, and the song fits their project.

Emailing the music coordinator or music assistant. Music coordinators and music assistants often have a bit more time to sift through their inbox, this means you have more chances of someone listening to your tracks and fast tracking them straight to the top of music supervisors pile.

Each country and region has its own specialties. For music supervisors working in London, their biggest market is commercials. It’s their job to work with London advertising agencies and source the best music for a brand. This however, doesn’t mean that if you’re living in London you can only land sync deals with London commercials, although, commercials are a great way to get your music out there and get your foot in the door. Thanks to our old friend the Internet, music supervisors are able to just as easily source music from London as they would from their hometown. But remember, although it’s great to dream big, it’s sometimes more important to dream strategically. The music industry is full of artists competing with and against each other; every sync-deal you land is a massive achievement.

Communication is key!

Communication is the key to landing any opportunity, no matter what the industry is. For Sync licensing in London however, it is imperative that you are communicating with the right people at the right time. A great way to ensure you are doing this, is to use a sync licensing directory or a music supervisor directory that has up-to-date information including the correct name and contact details of the company you want to pitch your music to. Once you have found a project that you think suits your music style and genre it’s time to make contact with the relevant party, whether it is a music supervisor or a music coordinator.

It’s true what they say, first impressions are everything, so do your homework, and then do it again, ensure that every word in your email is a necessary, personable, relevant and customised for the company and project you are pitching to. Be confident that the style and genre of the songs you are pitching are relevant to the project and are of high quality, not just demos that you promise to record later. Include links to the tracks in the email, rather than attaching an mp3 file. Always try including instrumental versions of the tracks, they are needed when editing and they also double your catalog. Another important point to remember is to always get clearance from every single person that helped bring the track to life. As well as this, it is vital to make sure all your tracks are registered with Both MCPS/PRS and PPL UK before hitting that email send button. Time is money, if a music supervisor likes your music but they have to wait around for you to finalise clearances and register your songs, chances are they will move on to someone else. In contrast, if your email is messy, has poor grammar and spelling, is lengthy, rude, missing important information or unprofessional most people won’t even bother listening to the music, let alone sending you a reply. Contrary to popular belief, music supervisors don’t just sit around listening to music all day waiting for the perfect song. They are very busy people, so make it easy for them, answer all their questions before they ask them, don’t give them a reason to pass on your music. Always take a minute before you hit send on an email to make sure you are putting your best foot forward every single time.

Once you have sent your music through to the music supervisor or Coordinators the waiting game begins. It is important to be patient during this time, don’t send an email the following day asking what they thought. Mark in your diary the date you sent the track and count ten days from that date, this is when you should be sending a follow-up email. A follow-up email can be a necessary part of getting your music heard. There is nothing wrong with following-up, just remember to be professional, polite and put your best foot forward. Emails get lost, between junk mail, technical glitches, and the fact that music supervisors and coordinators inboxes are almost always overflowing, you can always be certain that your email was received. Sending a polite and concise email, following up your original message, could give it the little nudge it may have needed or at least get a reply.

If you don’t get the deal, don’t give up, pick yourself up and try again. Landing a sync deal is not easy. There are so many factors that go into the final decision of what track is used, such as, price, too many decision makers, personal preference and timing. It is important to remember that a music supervisor’s job is to find a piece of music that complements the moment, within the constraints of a deadline, a budget and the approval of the rest of the creative team.

Okay, but why?

Why put the time and effort into sync licensing? The truth is, music can no longer just survive on record sales and touring anymore. Every up-and-coming musicians or band manager’s main business objective should be to get their music into as many revenue streams as possible. Sync Licensing is a fantastic way to not only gain exposure, but it can also be really profitable. There are so many resources out there that can help you land sync licensing deals and gain that extra exposure and revenue. A great tool to utilise is the Sync Licensing platform The Sync Report. The Sync report is your right hand man for landing sync deals with up-to-date contact information for music supervisors and advertising agencies in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The platform includes a TV Calendar (so you know when to pitch), Films in production, over 1000 brands and a ton of helpful information on everything to do with getting your songs heard and ultimately licensed.

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how-to-get-sync-deals · 8 years ago

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Educate Yourself on DIY Sync Licensing

Being an independent musician or artist manager is a tough gig, but those long hours and stressful days are all worth it when you get to do what you love everyday and earn money from it! Sync licensing is a great stream to dip your toes into as it can not only get you that big break you’ve been waiting for and grow your fan base, but it can also bring in some pretty good income. If you’re an indie musician or artist manager you probably have a lot of questions around sync licensing like; how do I get my songs licensed into a TV show or film? Who should I contact to get my music licensed? Gaining a sync licensing education and learning how to land a sync-deal will not only benefit the promotional aspect of your music, it will also increase your independence and experience within the music industry. People working in the entertainment industry are extremely busy, so it’s important to be 100% confident you have the correct information on sync licensing before you begin pitching your music to a music supervisor or music coordinator. You need to know how to pitch your songs, who to send your music to, when the best time is to send your songs and what information to include in the pitch. Here are some tips and tricks to help build your sync licensing education and be on the track to becoming a DIY sync licensing professional.

Connecting with the “right people”

Finding the right people to contact in order to secure a sync deal is of great importance. Time wasted sending emails to dead ends could be used much more efficiently. Utilising a Music Supervisor Directory is a great way to find correct information on names and contacts of shows you may want to pitch for. It is important to remember that music supervisors inboxes are often over flowing, so only send your best and RELEVANT songs. Another route you could take is to contact music coordinators or music assistants. These people often have a bit more time to look through their inbox and could fast-track you to the top of the music supervisors list.

What to send a music supervisor

Before you make any contact with music supervisors, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. You need to be putting your best foot forward so it is important to research what each music supervisor is looking for, and what projects they have worked on and what projects they are currently working on in order to get an understanding of what they are licensing now or in the future. Research music supervisors on websites such as IMDB and watch the TV shows and films they have worked on to get a better understanding of their style and preferred genres. Once you’ve done your homework and have found the project you think best suits your music, it’s time to compile your email. Here are some key things to remember:

Always include links to your music not mp3 files

Make your subject line specific and eye catching

Make sure you have clearance from everyone that worked on the track and have their information included in the email

Don’t forget to include your name and contact details

Never address an email ‘To whom it may concern’ EVER!

Keep the content of the email concise, specific and personal

The volume of syncs needed are up, so don’t be afraid of sending your music to a project, just make sure you are being professional, personable and polite.

When you should be contacting people

Music supervisors are ALWAYS looking for great songs for their Go – To music files. Song ideas are gathered months prior to a show going to air, so it's always better to get in too early than too late. Music supervisors will always look at their Go-To music files before looking elsewhere, so if you can get your music into those files you will significantly up your chances of landing a song into a project. However as a general rule, you should pitch songs anywhere up to 12 weeks prior to a network or cable TV show going to air or up to 6 months for streaming shows.

What you shouldn’t do

There are so many things you need to avoid doing when trying to land a sync deal. But, the most important thing to remember is that music supervisors are busy people, so you need to be putting you best foot forward ALWAYS! First impressions really are everything, so make sure that when your emailing a music supervisor you have included all RELEVANT information, don’t leave any important questions unanswered. If a music supervisor has to email you back for simple things like contact information, you will more than likely miss out on getting your songs heard never mind licensed. You also need to send songs that are of the highest quality, a demo will not cut it. You may think your songs are great, your mom may think you're going to be the next Taylor Swift or John Mayer, but a music supervisor may disagree. It’s a great idea to get other peoples opinion on your music before sending it to a music supervisor. Send your tracks through to your local community/public radio station and see if you get any radio play, or find a radio promoter that plugs similar music to yours and ask them to have a listen and give you some feedback. If you have other musician friends or connections in the industry send the tracks to them. Try getting as many opinions on the tracks as you can, that way you can be confident that the tracks are good enough to be considered for a sync deal.

The best way to connect with music supervisors

Landing a sync deal is all about having the four P’s; patience, persistence, personality and professionalism. No matter how great your tracks are, if you don’t have the four P’s your music will most likely end up lost among the hundreds of other unheard songs.

Patience

It’s been said before, but people are busy. If you don’t get a reply straight away don’t loose faith. A great tip is to mark in your diary or calendar the date you send your email and count ten days from it, whatever date you land on is when you should start consider sending a follow-up email if you haven’t heard anything back. Don’t send anything before this date; give the music supervisor time to get to your email.

Persistence

Never be afraid to follow up, it’s very important because most of the time your first email won’t get a reply. Your follow up email should simply remind the music supervisor to check out your original email. Never be a pest but always remember that people that find music for a living are always looking for great tracks see if your polite and your not wasting their time then eventually they will get back to you. Remember, “Polite Persistence Is Insurance Against Failure”

Personality

Never EVER send out a bulk email. Everyone wants to be respected and treated like an individual. Bulk emails are impersonal and just don’t work. It’s easy to identify a bulk email and it’s a great way to get your email deleted. Always address the email to the correct person and explain why your music would suit their specific projects. Don’t be afraid to put your personality into the email as well. You need to sell yourself and your music through words so make it interesting for the reader and entice them to listen to your music.

Professionalism

This one is a given. If you can’t be professional, then learn to be. Do your homework, know who you are pitching to and why, show the music supervisor that you know what you’re doing and you respect them as a professional.

Follow these tips and tricks and you’ll be on the right track to landing a sync deal. If you want to know more and want to further your sync-licensing education, theSYNCreport offers a great 5-day FREE DIY course that will help set you apart from other people trying to land syncs deal. They also offer a Sync licensing network that can help you find the right contact information for music supervisors and further prepare you in becoming a sync licensing professional.

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