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Best Atlanta/Southeast Vocalist Contest

Best Atlanta/Southeast Vocalist Contest

SteeleSync is searching for all-genres Atlanta-based talent or within responsible travel distance (within the southeast preferred)

Submit your music to steelesyncatlanta@gmail.com
Please put “ATL Vox Contest” in the subject.

Particularly looking for synch-friendly songs we can place.
Winner will receive a 4-hour block of studio time for free.
Possible discounts on mixing and mastering for songs recorded at SteeleSync’s Private Studio. Songs selected and submitted will all be considered for synch purposes.
Deadline for submissions: July 15th

Mathew Steele’s Top Ten Tips for Music Licensing

  1. Have an instrumental version of your songs available.
    When in the post process the audio editor has more to work with if there is an instrumental version of the song.  Sometimes having an instrumental under the dialog of a scene makes it easier to hear the dialog.  Giving the audio editor this option makes it easier for him/her.
  2. Get your songs professional mixed and mastered
    With budgets shrinking across most platforms where music is licensed more and more indie music is being used.  It’s important for the sonic quality to be close to what a major label’s record sounds like.  Many indie songs might fit great for a cue but if the quality of the song isn’t where it needs to be they will run with a song from someone else instead.  Have your song professional mixed and mastered might be the difference on landing a nice paying opening cue rather then it just being used as background music for just a few hundred dollars.
  3. Submit high-res (320kbps) mp3 files and have your 16-bit 44.1 .Wav/Aiff files ready. Also do not attach mp3’s in email but send a streaming links to your music. Private links through Disco, Soundcloud, Box, Dropbox as well as public links to Spotify are still acceptable.
  4. Have lyrics sheets available Submit them with your songs and include the lyrics in the metadata.
  5. Stay away from samples:  If your song contains a sample it has a slim chance of it being placed.
  6. Be sure to register as a writer and publisher with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI & SESAC) so you can collect the performance royalties if your song is placed.  It will take at least 6-months to a year for these to start rolling in.
  7. Metatag/ID3 tag your songswith genre, lyrics, BPM, emotion as well as writers/composers full names and PRO, publishing companies, contact info & album cover.  This is extremely important and when a music supervisor is digging through their catalog including your music it will be simply overlooked if it’s not tagged correctly. You can tag the music in iTunes. Just create a playlist add the songs you want to tag and right click the song and select “Song Info”
  8. Have a clean version for your song available If your music contains explicit material
  9. Have Cover Songs recorded professionally. This can be a great way to get a music supervisors attention. You want to make the song your own by changing the tempo and feel from the original. Upload the cover to youtube and tag it well so if a supervisor comes looking they will find it. Also don’t forget to but your contact info in the description.
  10. Do your research!  If you are submitting for a film, watch other films the music supervisor and director worked on.  Same thing goes for television shows, watch previous seasons or episodes. Tunefind.com can be a great way to find out quickly the kind of music used on projects.

The Increased Prominence of Female Leads in Television and Film

In such as male dominated business the female lead is getting more and more attention then ever. Let’s discuss a few examples.
First let’s have to look at the largest grossing film franchise, The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last year Marvel introduced their first feature film featuring a lead female superhero “Captain Marvel”. Bre Larson who played Captain Marvel said In a speech in 2018, that 64 percent of the reviews for Hollywood’s 100 top grossing movies in 2017 were written by white men. “We’re telling a female story, but it’s not good enough to just be like, ‘You just hired a female lead and then we did it!’,” Larson said. We will also see Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson hitting theaters in May.
DC/Warner Brothers released “Wonder Woman” two year prior to “Captain Marvel” which was the first female-led superhero film in more than a decade, and with Patty Jenkins at the helm, it’s the first to be directed by a woman. Jenkins is just the second female director to make a movie with a budget of more than $100 million (Kathryn Bigelow, with 2002’s K-19: The Widowmaker, was first) and she now holds the record for the largest opening of all time for a female helmer, with Wonder Woman taking in an estimated $100.5 million.
We were also introduced to Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016) who we can expect a feature in 2020 “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn”
Not just are we seeing female lead superheros but we are also seeing women behind the camera directing these films as well. Five of the biggest titles set for release this year — including all four major superhero movies — will be directed by women: “Birds of Prey” by Cathy Yan, on Feb. 7; “Mulan” by Niki Caro, on March 27; “Black Widow” by Cate Shortland, on May 1; “Wonder Woman 1984” by Patty Jenkins, on June 5; and “Eternals”by Chloé Zhao, on Nov. 6.

Over the past 12 months, the likes of Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”), Olivia Wilde (“Booksmart”), Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”) and Melina Matsoukas (“Queen and Slim”) helped propel the number of female-helmed movies to new heights — some 10.6% of the 100 highest-grossing films of the year were from female directors. In fact, two of the top 10 most successful global releases, “Frozen II” and “Captain Marvel,” were co-directed by women (Jennifer Lee and Anna Boden, respectively). It’s a big jump from 2018 when a meagre 4.5% of the top films were overseen by women.

Now the second highest grossing movie franchise is also taking suit, Star Wars. Rey (Daisy Ridley) from Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) who was also in the two previous films “The Last Jedi (2017)” & “The Force Awakens (2015)”. Rey, a young woman with surprising Force powers, takes over as the lead previously taken by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Rey is a young woman living in the nowhere planet of Jakku as a scavenger. It’s the same diamond in the rough theme repeated in Star Wars as we have seen recently in Rey’s character as Luke who was introduced living on a moisture farm on the desert planet of Tatooine with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.

June Osborne from The Handmaid’s Tale is played by Elisabeth Moss. The Handmaid’s tail is set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. It is another major production and is Hulu’s top viewed original show with over 8 million views.

Writer/Producer/Director James Cameron, known for Titanic and Avatar was involved in two movies last year with a female lead, Alita: Battle Angel played by Rosa Salazar and Terminator: Dark Fate which actually featured three female roles. The First is Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton who we know from the original two films Terminator & Terminator 2. The second is Grace played by Mackenzie Davis a enhanced cyborg sent from the future and Dani Ramos played by Natalia Reyes. Cameron said “Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female! When asked why are movies still so bad when it comes to depicting truly powerful women? For the first time, Cameron is lost for words. “I don’t – I don’t know. There are many women in power in Hollywood and they do get to guide and shape what films get made. I think – no, I can’t account for it. Because how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like I’m shouting in a wind tunnel!”

Some other recent television shows that featured a lead female are American Horror Story, How to Get Away with Murder, Quantico, Shadowhunters, Jessica Jones, Claws & Once Upon a Time.

Not just are we seeing and increase of lead females and directors but we are seeing more female music supervisors. Women are absolute dominating music supervision. Some examples would be Andrea Von Foerster who has worked on “Yellowstone” 2018-2020, “Queen of the South” 2017-2019, “500 Days of Summer” 2009 and “Daybreak” 2019. Mary Ramos who has worked exclusively with Quentin Tarantino including in his film released last year “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and some some other films such as “Marshall” 2017 and the upcoming film “Stillwater” featuring Matt Damon coming out later this year. Another music supervisor, Lauren Marie Mikus who was a guest speaker we had at our event: Panel and Pitch, in Atlanta May 21st 2017 has worked with director Terrence Malick on films such as “Tree of Life” (2011) and “Song to Song” (2017) as well as a few other films such as “Swiss Army Man” (2016) and” Green Room” (2015). Jen Malone is another superstar in music supervision working on such projects as “Creed II” (2018), “Atlanta” (2016-2018) and “Euphoria” (2019).

“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”s Music

I went out to the theater last night to finally check out Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. The movie features an all-star cast as Leonardo DiCaprio plays actor Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt plays Rick’s stuntman Cliff Booth and Margot Robbie who pays Sharon Tate. The 90 Million dollar budget film even had Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell and Al Pacino as supporting actors in the film. Unlike Quentin’s other films this one was more of a drama story with a finale action scene at the end.

The film takes places in 1969 during Hollywood’s Golden Age in Los Angeles and features a bunch of music and even commercials from that era throughout the film. The music supervisor of the film is Mary Ramos who has worked with Quentin exclusively over his past few films and even goes back as far as Pulp Fiction where she was a music coordinator.

The following music cues are in order played in the film.

The Film starts off with “Roy Head- Treat Her Right”

Some score was used in the film as well including “Bernard Herrmann- The Rocks”

Next was “Billy Stewart- Summertime”

“Joe Cocker- The Letter”

“The Bob Seger System- Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man”

“Deep Purple- Hush”

“Cashman & West- Son Of A Lovin’ Man”

“Paul Revere & The Raiders- Good Thing”

“Buffy Sainte-Marie- The Circle Game”

Another score piece was used next “J.S. Bach: Prelude And Fugue in E Flat”

“Los Bravos- Bring A Little Lovin'”

“Neil Diamond- Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show”

“Dee Clark- Hey Little Girl”

“The Sounds Of Harley- Victorville Blues”

“Robert Corff- Don’t Chase Me Around”

“Jose Feliciano- California Dreamin'”

The Rolling Stones normally require around one million per synch so this one must of cost.
“The Rolling Stones- Out Of Time”

“The Mamas & The Papas- Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)”

And lastly, “Maurice Jarre- Miss Lily Langtry (cue from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean)”

Want the playlist on Spotify here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ins8IFzebv6esQz4aNCsY

How to Run A Succesful Music Licensing Company

I am writing this research paper with the purpose of sharing my knowledge of music licensing. Music licensing is when music is synched with film, television shows, video games, webisodes or ads. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the owners of copyrights and masters on musical works are compensated for certain uses of their work. It’s common to have songs licensed with lyrics that support the story, or reinforce an idea, emotion, event or action. There are two main players in music licensing. The person or party who authorizes permission to use a song based on those terms and conditions outlined within the final draft of the agreement is called the licensor. The person or party who seeks or is given permission to use a song is called the licensee (Wilsey). This paper will be focused mainly on the licensor who typical are the music licensing companies. This paper provides my extensive research to an audience that is interested in learning more about what makes a music licensing company successful, as well as why certain artists are also successful in music licensing.

The first concept to realize when being successful in licensing and running a successful music licensing company are the connections and relationships you make with people within the business. In the music licensing business and in the entertainment business in general people make up the business. A company that has mediocre music but strong relationships within the business will go so much further than the company with outstanding music but no relationships at all. One example showcasing this is the CEO of DangerBird Records, Jeff Castelaz. Castelaz was able to find a distribution deal from networking. Castelaz friend who was head of sales at Warner Brother records, referred Andy Allen. His friend vouched for him and even though he had to go through a detailed vetting process with Allen, he ended up getting the deal. Jeff would not have made that deal if he did not have such a strong relationship with his friend at Warner (Jeff Castelaz). Lynn Grossman, Owner Of Secret Road, has two more examples. Lynn arranged her first music supervisor job on House by bringing with her another supervisor, a friend of hers, to meet with the production company. While she was out of the country her friend, Andrea Von Foerster, ran her company and signed up Ingrid Michaelson. Since then, Ingrid’s music was used on Grey’s Anatomy and later on a Navy commercial. Michaelson later landed the cover of Billboard magazine from her success. Today Grossman not only represents Ingrid’s music in music licensing, but also manages her (Lynn Grossman).

As you can see the right connections can lead you to success. Music supervisors usually do the administrative work such as clearing the tracks with publishers, record companies and whoever owns the masters. A music supervisor’s job is to clear all of the rights of the music so there is no possible copyright infringement. They are also the liaison between the composer and the editor, producer and/or director. Music editors are also important as they do the actual job of synching the music to the show in post-production. Many times they will go ahead and synch some music temporarily to a scene, and if the music it actually works it can be authorized later by the music supervisor (Tarquin). Other connections, such as heads of production companies, directors, and producers, can also be key in licensing.

The next thing that can make a successful music licensing company is growing a quality catalog. It can be beneficial to have a large catalog of songs but it is important to have quality songs. Quality over quantity is key. This is why I am very selective in who I sign on to my roster. I only take less then the top five percent of submissions I receive. Of course I would like to have over half a million songs like APM has in their catalog but for right now I’m focused on adding one outstanding artist to my catalog at a time in hopes that the cream will rise to the top. Tanvi Patel, the CEO of Crucial Music gives us a great example. In the early years of running her company she took on a band called The Elliots, a Swedish band from Gothenberg. Crucial Music was able to land them a few high-profile placements in some prime time shows and because of that they received some good press including a big article in a Gothenberg newspaper. Due to the popularity of the article many other bands from Sweden started pitching their music to Crucial Music. Having more submissions means it becomes harder as they had to listen to much more music but the positive side of this all is they can afford to be a little bit more pickier on which song to take in. So the idea of growing a quality catalog is emphasized. Less is more in this situation and it pays to be pickier. The music you pitch for opportunities reflects your company. You want to put your best foot forward. Also you do not want to sign something that does not meet the right quality standards. There is no point in signing something your not able to pitch or risk pitching sub-par music that can ruin your reputation (Goetz).

The music in your catalog should be quality but also diverse to meet different needs. For example, It is good to have uptempo party songs in the catalog, but that is not all you should have. You need slower sad songs, dark songs, love songs and everything else between. Also, it can be highly effective to focus on a certain genre like many music licensing companies do but if you have several genres you may be able to fill more cues. For those who might not know, a cue is a piece of music used in music licensing (film/television/ads/video games). There may be a dozen or more cues on each project. An example where this may really benefit you is if your working directly with a film director on an independent film and are able to fill different genre cues across a project therefore saving the director precious time compared if he had to reach out to multiple other companies and musicians to fill those needs.

The third most important aspect of running a successful music licensing company is to actual know what your doing. There are many music licensing companies that are popping up left and right. The problem is not all of these new companies carry the experience and knowledge of performing their job like they should do. Knowing how to pre-clear the music so that both the master side and the publishing side are both cleared in extremely important. Knowing all this upfront saves you a lot of headaches. If you pitch something that has a problem connected to it, then you’re connected to the problem, and someone will remember that more than they’ll remember you. So pre-clearing all the music shows a music supervisor that they can trust you and there is not going to be some publisher or songwriter coming out the woodwork once a placement has been secured. I actually put in all the writers and publishers information in the metadata of the mp3’s I pitch. If a music supervisor like a song I send they can download it and check the metadata. The metadata can include everything from tempo, genre, mood, writer’s names and split percentages of the song, lyrics, artwork and whatever else you would like to add such as contact info. This metadata is important because all of this data is searchable within many software programs such as one of the most commonly used iTunes. Another key term that should be found in the metadata is one-stop. A one-stop is when the same person controls the writer’s side of the record and the publishing side. You can see when there can be five different writers and publishers on a record how this may look much more appetizing to a music supervisor who’s job is to track everyone down.

Danny Benair, owner of Natural Energy Lab says it best by saying you first must understanding what someone needs. “If someone says I need a female singer songwriter that has a song about “light” and “bright”, and you don’t have it but send songs anyway, then you’re not paying attention.” They are not going to take anything against you if you do not send something but if you send 10 horrible ideas that are nothing like they are looking for they are not going to like it and probably will not contact you again for wasting their time (Otero).

APM has one of the largest music licensing catalog within the business with over 500,000 songs in their catalog. They focus is on lower-budget cues where the popularity of the music is not as much of a facture. Adam Taylor the CEO states that “All of the rights of their music is pre-cleared and every right is available, so we license both the master side and the publishing side. Production companies and people looking for music to license want to use one-stops because it’s much easier to clear. The problem with music is that the rights are very complicated, and you can’t just take a commercial track and sue it in a production without having permission on both for the master re-recording, itself, as well as for the underlying composition, and that’s complicated. Some of the songs today have four or five writers, four or five publishers plus a record company. You have to go to all of them to get permission. If you don’t get all of their permission then potential copyright costs for infringement cost are enormous, up to $150,000 per instance.” Taylor also sells the competitive advantage of his company of having unpopular music as saying that you don’t want to have just popular music on every cue because it’s distracting. You want music to be storytelling and being so will enhance the value of the production. The main goal of having quality music in film and television is to entrain the audience and not to distract that same audience from the message.

How did the founders of all of these successful music licensing companies get started in the business? Here is an example from Simon Horrocks the CEO of Affix Music. Simon was running Akon’s record label while consulting for an advertising agency that was at the time producing television spots (commercials). They ran into a major issue when the spots came back and the music was terrible and was potentially going to offend the audience they were trying to target. Simon stepped in to remedy the situation by going through some CDs of a music producer he had worked with and found something that fit. Then the producer got paid for something he already had and he delivered something that worked for the spot. He then realized that there was a business here and the next days he asked the producer if he could represent his music. Afterwards Simon wrote a business plan with a software package and followed Guy Kawasaki’s The Art Of The Start. Simon also suggests using social media as an inexpensive way to promote your company.

After everything discussed so far now let us go into how music licensing companies work. Well first the typical split you will see a company take is fifty percent. Now there are smaller companies and individuals who may only charge twenty to thirty percent, but fifty percent is the industry standard in licensing. Mainly companies also take a portion of publishing on-top of that fifty percent as well. The term of the agreement is normally one to two years with an option to renew once that term is up. It is always best two ask for a shorter term and see how things go then to commit years to a company especially if the agreement is exclusive. The agreement can either be exclusive or non-exclusive meaning if it is exclusive that your giving only that single company the right to represent your music in music licensing and no other company can pitch your music. Even though there may be a unique situation where a big exclusive deal might be the best move I would recommend working non-exclusively so you can working with multiple companies at the same time. Music licensing is a numbers game and simply if you if you have multiple companies pitching your music then your chances of landing a placement are normally much greater then having just one.

When you get a record deal, the label will often control your music, which can limit how many income streams you can create. If you’re independent and you paid for the recordings and/or equipment used to make a recording, you own the master recording and publishing rights, and therefore the legal right and authority to license, lease, lend, or transfer these rights. When an entity interested in licensing your music learns that you own and control all of the various rights to your recordings, you become more appealing from their vantage point, especially if a deadline is tight. (2)
Up-and-coming artists, usually seek three things to advance their musical careers; more income, exposure; and credits for their press kit. Getting music licensed creates all three. (3)

Many music licensing companies focus on being a great source for music libraries and production music. Production music refers to genre-specific music collections that have not been written for any particular program or film. It is usually provided by music libraries, which some many regard as being the musical equivalent of a stock photo library. People who need music content can pay for the right to use that music for their specific projects. It can be used on song at a time or in bulk. Libraries have become more popular and increased in number as budgets get tighter. They provide access to a larger variety of music for less money. The steps required for obtaining a well-known song for a film, video or TV show can be a complicated process and is often both time-consuming and expensive. Music libraries can be much simpler, faster, and cheaper to get music from. Entire collections can be licensed in tandem under the terms of a blanket license agreement. (9)

Marketing services spend a good deal of time researching leads that come from word-of-mouth referrals, classified ads, and specialty publications that contain descriptions of either in-progress or upcoming film or video projects. They also respond to specific music requests, forward information on prospective licensing parties with suitable music request suggestions, and handle all the paperwork that follows. Since they make money when you do, it’s in their best interest to find projects that might be able to use your music. These marketers are in demand because they offer filmmakers and production companies great convenience. Reputable marketers dramatically streamline the licensing process because most offer “one-stop music licensing,” which allows them to grant clearance for both the synchronization and master licenses in tandem.

These marketers already have agreements in place with the owners of the songs and recordings being represented, which means they’ve been granted permission to pursue licensing opportunities freely and negotiate deals on behalf of all parties. Their commission is often a 50/50 split on any licensing deals that result from their effort. Although these marketers are often not publishers in the traditional sense, their deal may involve publishing right pertaining to placements they are responsible for securing. For this privilege, they assume the responsibility of handling all necessary paperwork for these licensing deals, providing clients with copies of the contracts, and distributing payments once available. (30-31)

Works Cited
“Interview with Simon Horrocks, Co-Founder of Affix Music” Gaebler.com http://www.gaebler.com/Interview-With-Simon-Horrocks-Co-Founder-of-Affix-Music.htm Accessed 10 February 2018.

Goetz, Rick. “Getting Your Music Licensed Today” MusicConsultant, 6 October 2011, https://musicconsultant.com/music-licensing/getting-your-music-licensed/#.XAAXbehKjIV Accessed 29 November 2018.

“Jeff Castelaz, president of Dangerbird Records and Cast Management On Dangerbird Records” YouTube, uploaded by ArtistsHouseMusic 20 April 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkYBV-_GWoY

“Lynn Grossman Owner Of Secret Road On Q Score” YouTube, uploaded by emPOWERme.tv 21 October 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGcpaXpxZrg
Otero, Jackie. “Music licensing expert Danny Benair answers your questions” Jackieomedia, 30 June 2010, https://jackieomedia.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/music-licensing-expert-danny-benair-answers-your-questions/ Accessed 29 November 2018.

Tarquin, Brian. The Insider’s Guide to Music Licensing. Allworth Press, 2014. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=983762&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Music from Better Call Saul Two-Episode Debut

Music supervisor Thomas Golubić teams back up with Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan for the new AMC show Better Call Saul.

The first episode opens with the Ink Spots “Address Unknown”

and features Dave Porter’s fantastic score and also Massimo Ranieri “Se Bruciasse La Cittá” in the nail salon

and Dutch artist Shook’s funky “Milestones” during the skateboard scam.

Episode 2 features Esquivel’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” in the broken breadsticks sequence,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du7EwAnSB8o

and a home-built ‘All That Jazz’ “It’s Showtime” homage with more Jimmy McGill scale instrumentation.

Main title created for the show by the UK’s Little Barrie.

Interview with Michael Giacchino (composer of Jupiter Ascending)

 

Michael Giacchino, the composer of Jupiter Ascending talks about working on the film with the Wachowski’s.  He also speaks about scoring a 80-min symphony in a non-traditional scoring method before the film was actually shot.

The Art Of Music Supervision And Its Requirements

The art of music supervision has enhanced and made many advertisements, dialogues, movies, television plays, specials and many other venues more epic and emotionally satisfying. The talented people who pursue this occupation are inconspicuous for the most part, but their talent shines as the background music and themes thrill viewers as they listen.

A music supervisor is an individual who combines video media with music. Another, more lengthy definition could be stated as: a professional who is qualified and oversees all related music parts of film, television, advertising, video games and any other aspects of current or upcoming visual media sources.

This person has to have a vast knowledge and research capabilities of music in all forms from rock to symphony and opera, and must possess or be able to acquire a very much in depth the art of music negotiation and licensing. Previously recorded music is the usual recommendation of music to a director of a theater production, movie, or television venue. Advertisement, video games, promotions and trailers are some of the other areas that would apply as well.

The individual who is in charge of the art of music supervision is really the go-between and the chief negotiator between the spectrum of creation and the business ends of the music business. If the director approves a piece of music such as a song, or an orchestral musical score, then the publisher or artist of that music must be approached to secure the rights to use the music. The financial details are then discussed and also the arrangement and how the music will be used are discussed.

This is a very important position because the music supervisor must have great negotiating skills and superb musical acumen in order to work things out with both parties.

The scope of the use of music accompaniment in almost everything seen by the public is enormous. Everything from public events, movies, video games, theatre, television, and advertising requires the necessity for this talent. Music supervisors will work for or with networks, studios, and production companies or do work on a freelance basis.

The responsibilities of a person who practices the art of music supervision could be said to include everything in the process of securing and overseeing the addition of adding music to these venues. That is close to being the truth.

In summary the music supervisor must negotiate the contracts as previously stated, and must also create the credits to be displayed showing the artists and producers, as well as be in charge of collecting and paying royalties. The music supervisor must work within a budget, often 5% or less of the total budget for the whole project.

The background required of a successful music supervisor is daunting. He or she must have a passion for research in the musical genre. Education resulting in a bachelor of fine arts degree, coupled with business and legal education are excellent skills that would serve a music supervisor well. The key musical skills are not performing, writing and editing so much as a broad background in all types of music. Ability to research is a skill that comes to the forefront.   Skill in negotiation and interpersonal people skills are vital. If a music supervisor has a legal background  it will be a very useful skill in this profession.

Why You Should Hire A Music Licensing Company

To most people, the term “music licensing” is related to the world of famous musicians and musical artists under the control of huge corporations. But for someone who makes their own music outside of the mainstream, music licensing companies can often be the difference between making a name for yourself, or fading into obscurity. Thanks to the internet and social networking more and more artists are dedicating themselves to the craft with the hope of becoming famous, but they often find it is far more difficult than they thought. Obviously, an artist dedicates themselves to their craft, expending a great deal of time and effort, but in order to reap the benefits you need to be heard by a wider audience. This is where music licensing comes in.

With music licensing, you are able to have your musical product marketed to the world in the best light possible. You will have access to tools, people and markets that you would not have had otherwise. One of the most lucrative licensing you can acquire is anything related to various arms of the entertainment industry including radio, television, independent films, commercials, even video games. A music licensing company can help your music get into the right hands, and as a result more people will hear your work.

Getting your foot in the door on your own is virtually impossible. This is because there are so many thousands of artists trying to get attention at the same time, and this in turn increases competition. Luck will not get you to the top, it is those with the right people behind them. Music licensing protects your product, promotes your product, and the results will far exceed anything you could have done on your own.

Most reputable music licensees only make money when you do, therefore if a licensing company asks you for money up front this should set off a mental alarm. If the company likes your product they will promote it based upon your talent, and because they know that with the right backing you can make them – and yourself – money. Do not consider licensing as a form of “selling out”. You want people to hear your music, and you want to make money from it.

When searching for the right company, check their references, and ask for names of some of their other customers so that you can inquire about their experience. If the company is as they represent themselves to you, then you will have found a company that can protect your material, market you properly, and get you the notoriety you deserve.

The benefits of hiring a music licensing company are immense. If you are a struggling musical artist who desires a wider audience you need to take advantage of this opportunity right away. Your success may depend on it.

Tips for Music Licensing

 written by Mathew Steele

Have an instrumental version of your songs available.  
When in the post process the audio editor has more to work with if there is an instrumental version of the song.  Sometimes having an instrumental under the dialog of a scene makes it easier to hear the dialog.  Giving the audio editor this option makes it easier for him/her.

Get your songs professional mixed and mastered
With budgets shrinking across most platforms where music is licensed more and more indie music is being used.  It’s important for the sonic quality to be close to what a major label’s record sounds like.  Many indie songs might fit great for a cue but if the quality of the song isn’t where it needs to be they will run with a song from someone else instead.  Have your song professional mixed and mastered might be the difference on landing a nice paying opening cue rather then it just being used as background music for just a few hundred dollars.  Submit high-res (320kbps) mp3 files and have your 16-bit 44.1 .Wav files ready.

Have lyrics sheets available Submit them with your songs

Stay away from samples:  If you song contains a sample the lesser chance it will be chosen for a project.  Because it has a sample it means they have to pay both you and the owner of the sample to have it cleared for a project which these-days does NOT happen often.

Be sure to register as a writer and publisher with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI & SESAC) so you can collect the performance royalties if you song is placed.  It will take at least 6-months, normally a year for these to start rolling in.

Metatag/ID3 tag your songs with genre, lyrics, emotion as well as composers full names and PRO, publishing companies, contact info & album cover.  Check out the following youtube video to learn how to do so below.  This is extremely important and when a music supervisor is digging through their catalog including your music it will be simply overlooked if it’s not tagged. Also be sure your album is entered in the Gracenote database.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQD3b1q5wOI

Know about the project your submitting to.
Take a look at what the music supervisor has placed in related films or tv shows.  Pay attention with the kind of music used.  If the project is being marketed toward a younger audience then classic rock wouldn’t be an ideal genre to submit.

Try reaching different people on the project.
A music supervisor on a project is just one of the people responsible with what is placed. Producers, directors, the music/sound editor, assistants or even sometimes the marketing executive also can influence the decision on what ends up being used.

Know when to submit to a project.  If the movie is coming out in less than a couple months chances are it’s already too late to submit.  The best time to submit music is when they first go into the post process which is after shooting. Certain cues the director or music supervisor will know in the filming process what they plan on using but most of the time the decisions all happen in post.

Do your research!  If you are submitting for a film, watch other films the music supervisor and director worked on.  Same thing goes for televisions, watch previous seasons or episodes.

Sign up with a http://www.imdb.com/ Pro account.  It will give you contact info, industry directory, what projects are in production and much other information that isn’t publicly known.  It will make your job easier to find which projects might be better to submit.  It costs $125 a year.

Independent Artists Submit your Music To High Quality Tracks To Music Supervisors

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