A question...or rather two seperate questions about Sync music

[merlin.gyoery]

Hi there,

I’ve been talking with some friends about music stuff, and I’ve been left with questions I don’t have answers for. So I figured I might find some amongst this friendly bunch, and if not it might still make for a fun discussion. So broadly speaking it about synch music. I have a rough idea how it works, and I’ve worked for a little for games and trailers, but I have no real experience in this field.

What I can find online, seems mainly like a bunch of hustle culture salesman, making cloud castle promises in order to sell their course, book, or coaching lessons.

I understand there are music libraries and trailer houses, and that there also online libraries like Pond5 and the like. But what I don’t get is how people get into this stuff. I don’t know how I could get into it, and I have friends and students asking me about it (not sure where the get the idea I would know), and so I’d love to learn a bit more of how it ACTUALLY works.

Does anyone here have experience with this and is willing to share it? Or do any of you know any resources online that are actually helpful and informative? I’d really appreciate whatever you have to share.

Now, that being said, I don’t think sending cold call demos to libraries until they take you can be the way to go. But it’s what the Internet seems to suggest. I can find a lot online about how the music, mix, or email “should” be structured, but that’s not the issue for me. I’m also not looking to make huge bucks. I don’t want to live of it or anything. I’d be happy if it can pay for a beer now and then. But I am curious about it, and I am sitting on something over 200 pieces just from last year.

I am also wondering what some of you might know or have experienced in regards to that industry changing. I can certainly see a lot of changes due to technology and AI in the world of games and scoring. Is synch influence by this? Do you think music supervisors will now just type prompts into “musicGPT” ?

I for one think and hope, that the media industry will always value the quality of “hand made” music by humans, and the nuance and emotional connection it can elicit and foster, but I’m not ignorant of commercial interest and priorities. I just wonder what the influence and shifts might be now and in the next few years. Do you have any thoughts on this?

[graz]

Hi, there’s a lot to know, too much to answer here.

There will always be those who will run down the organisations that have been set up to help, but try taxi.com and syncmymusic.com for a start, and I will 100% guarantee that these are NOT “hustle culture salesman”. They will charge you for services and its up to you whether you choose to, or are capable of taking advantage of such services. Those who do well are usually very happy, those who do not (for whatever reason) are the one’s that complain.

However, you don’t have a to spend anything at all. Taxi has a forum of helpful folk, and also has an absolute ton of Taxi TV free videos covering absolutely every topic about sync. Similarly, Jesse from Sync My Music has a Youtube channel with loads of free content. Both have debated at length the potential impact of AI.

One thing most will tell you though, is that if you just want to get your back-catalogue licensed then there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed. It could be brilliant, but could also be totally inappropriate for sync purposes (eg structure, lyrics, style, sounds, production, etc). Also, if you want to get involved through music libraries then giving them what they’re looking for to furnish new shows is the way to go, rather than sending them what you have in the hope that it might fit. They’ll also tell you that its a numbers game, so it takes quite some time and effort to build up a portfolio of licensed music that MIGHT get broadcast, then it could be 6 months to 2 years to get paid just a small amount of money for that. The more tracks you license, the more such payments accumulate to reasonable amounts of money. Its certainly not a fast track to wealth.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

[merlin.gyoery]

Hi Graz,

Thanks for taking the the time to respond. Have you used taxi.com or similar services? It might be for the reason you listed, but I just haven’t heard anything positive from anyone I know who tried out taxi.com.

I’m not saying they’re not legit. I just don’t know myself, and am of course a little biased based on what I’ve heard from people I know. But i will definitely give it a look, again. It always seems suspicious to me if you have to pay to apply to something. I’m not saying that’s necessarily wrong. I’m just saying I prefer a different model.

I’ll definitely check out both YouTube channels in regards to the influence of AI.

I think one thing I am trying to clarify, is that while I can find a bunch of people online “claiming” to make money from synch and enticing it, I’ve been around the block a time or two and I’ve never met anyone in person who actually does it and can show me what they do. Of course there might be many reasons for that. All I’m saying is that’s why it’s frustrating to me, that the information about it doesn’t seem straightforward and somewhat obfuscated.

Anyhow, I appreciate your feedback mate! I’ll keep investigating.

[graz]

You can’t please everybody, and no amount of genuine testimonials is enough to convince those who fail to make it work for themselves. Some could be great artists but can’t or don’t want to work to a brief. Some consider their ‘talent’ is beneath making a 2m dramedy track, of which 10s might get broadcast on some dodgy reality TV show (if their lucky) and pay less than $1 over a year later. Each to their own and its certainly not for everyone. Just like every other worthwhile endeavour, it takes a lot of work to get ‘lucky’. Those who put the effort in make the contacts, but no two paths are ever the same. “What’s the best music library?” is a wasted question. Those who feel entitled are the worst candidates. Making music quickly, to a brief, that will work for sync, that doesn’t sound dated (unless intentionally), portrays a single mood, develops as it progresses, and is ‘broadcast quality’, is what’s usually needed. You don’t have to be the best composer, but you do need good admin skills, and a lot of patience. For now, no reputable music library will touch AI compositions.

Yes I’ve used Taxi. I made contacts and some great friends and collaborators. I went to their free rally in LA and it was a fantastic experience. I learned a huge amount from them, and got myself into a few libraries before going it alone. I’d happily be a member still but although I value their service I can manage without it (and paying the fees).

There IS information out there, it is freely available and it IS straightforward. The bit that confuses things is US. We all want or expect something different, have a different perspective, and our conditioning to be suspicious means that we trust the disgruntled rather than the satisfied. You have to be willing to help yourself because nobody can drop the perfect solution for you in your lap, but if you really do investigate you’ll find everything you need to know. It might not be what you think or would like it to be but if it can work for you then great. If not, there’s no point grumbling about it, or about those who offer services that try to point you to the doors.

Finally, I’ve no doubt there will be others here who work in sync and will have opinions that differ from mine. It will be interesting to see whether they wish to share their views.

Best of luck to you!

[merlin.gyoery]

Hey Graz,

thanks again for your reply. I really do appreciate your input. I think my own frustration may have gotten the better of a little bit in regards to my tone in the last reply. I agree with you, it’s easy to get frustrated and to find confirmation in the voices of those complaining and seeking fault in anything but themselves. My apologies for coming across overly negative!

I suppose it’s also fair to say that there are a fair amount of people and companies out their who are to different degrees exploitative in their intent, and seek to pray on those who may be inexperienced and impatient trying to break into this. And I probably have been cut by things like that one too many times l, so now I’m maybe a bit too suspicious at times.

I’ll still look into it further, and thanks for the tip about not focusing solely on your back catalog. I get that not everything works for synch, but no harm in trying with stuff that is already there and fits structure and quality, while writing something new to a brief

I’d be curious to hear what others have to say too, but thanks again for answering my questions and taking the time, dispite my internal frustration bleeding somewhat into what I wrote.

Cheers!

[muso.dave]

Yeah I’ve used almost all of the above. I’d avoid Pond5 and the other royalty free sites as they are just not a great place to be anymore. Taxi will vet your music, give you feedback on it from a sync POV, and submit it to various libraries according to briefs those libraries have sent out. It’s legit and works…but is also unnecessary in some ways, and I really don’t like having to pay upfront just for the chance of some work.

Now on to the good stuff - I work almost 100% in sync, with a bunch of libraries and am happy to answer your questions as best I can!

First and foremost - Music in libraries is to serve a purpose - usually in tv, film or advertising. So the music you have might not be suitable -and often you’ll be asked to write to a brief anyway. It’s unlikely music made for other purposes will be suitable.

Yes, cold emailing is the way to go, but it’s not scary. Research the libraries, don’t bother blasting out to hundreds at a time. Find ones where you think your music would fit, and they have a track record of getting their stuff placed.

Send a brief concise email with an easily streamable demo containing four or five 45-60s clips in a variety of sync-suitable styles. Do not use downloadable links or services with ads - they will likely get skipped. Reelcrafter is perfect.

Send to a few libraries at a time - preferably one at a time if you’ve done your research. Someone will get back to you - it can be very quick, within hours sometimes. If they want you to do an album for them, they should have a “factsheet” that explains the file types and different versions they’ll need, It’s straightforward.
Be professional, polite and timely. And that’s it.

Sync is all about quality of music and relationships. Get to know people, get to know the business, and opportunities to progress will come up. You’ll start being given bits and bobs to do. If you make good music, are reliable and can build trust you’ll start getting asked for me, and maybe brought in for custom work. It builds.
Also the royalties are slow burn. It can be months before your album gets into the hands of editors, then months before the show comes out, then months before your PRO pays out for it. Can easily be a year between your music being used and you getting paid. It’s not a get rich quick situation (although custom work can be a lot quicker on the payment side).

AI is not a major concern yet, except on the bottom rung of the ladder…the royalty free sites.

High quality libraries will be delivering top notch music to high quality clients - where AI might come into play at some point is in separating sounds, and possibly adjusting tracks (although the composer would still get the royalties and credit). It’s not something to worry about yet if you plan on doing high quality work. That could change but who knows.

Feel free to ask me anything else, I’m still relatively new to it , a couple of years on and off, and the last 18months or so have been solid…released 14 or so albums I think since the start of 2024. Had one come out today

[merlin.gyoery]

Hi Dave

Thank you for this fantastic overview. Part of my aim with this question was not just answers for myself, but also to leave behind a topic that might serve others, so thank you for contributing to that as well. I think what you outline sounds like a really good overview.

I do have some specific questions. I get the specific purpose of library music to some degree, but I think some of it is still a little blurry for me. I’ll compare to trailers, since I know that a bit better. My impression is that with trailers it’s fairly formulaic, and I mean that without any devaluation. But it’s music for a specific function. To get you to have an emotional response to the thing (movie, game, etc.) and to want to see/buy it. And as such the structure is largely the same. Length, edit points, dynamic development etc.

With synch music it seems like it a bit more loose in terms of all of all of those things. So when you say “synch is all about quality of music”…what exactly do you mean by that. Just a clean mix, broadcast master, and structure that makes alt edits easy, or is there more? What makes a “good” synch track in your opinion?

Similarly, it makes sense to me that writing fresh to a brief is probably better for chances of landing something, and for also for personal growth in terms of composing. But from what I can observe there is a fair bit of musical variety in synch music. So wouldn’t it make sense to try to utilise one’s own backcatalog somehow? Especially if the goal isn’t to make this a full time effort, but instead just a casual little side gig.

I think your point about taxi.com make a lot of sense too. But it also makes me understand that feedback in this are could be really valuable, and that I want to understand it better. I used to have a regular stream on twitch where I gave music feedback. This was more general, and most of what was submitted was more in the realm of pop music, so the feedback was m ore centred on mix, structure, feeling, etc. in that context. But now I wonder what the intersection is like, since there seems to be a fair bit of pop music in synch too. Even if that’s probably more the higher end of it, where a track gets used cause it’s popular, not because it fits so well in the synch context.

I guess I potentially have more questions ^^ but I hope this isn’t too many already, haha. Congrats on 14 albums in less than 2 years! that seem quite a lot to me at this point. Can I hear one of them somewhere? It would be cool to hear something that is specifically written for synch to have an idea of what that sounds like.

Thanks again for taking all the time to reply, and share all of your experience and input with me and everyone else who might stumble into this corner of the internet looking for answers!

[muso.dave]

No probs! Yes you are right about the comparison with trailers, they are in fact a sort of the top end of sync! And you are right about them being formulaic in terms of length and structure etc. The point you made about purpose is the key thing here: trailer are ads, and the music’s job is to add to the feeling of making the audience want to see the film.
Part of this is simplicity of expression - it needs to communicate the feeling very directly and in a simple way, even if the means to achieving that is complex. Most trailers will not have a lot of counterpoint (or any) won’t have lots of countermelodies…because that’s just too distracting.

Understanding the purpose is what I mean by “quality of the music” in sync. It varies for the different uses - a tension album wants to provoke that feeling - AND NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE. The people making the show have the job of doing the extra stuff - our job is to provide tension music,

As composers the big trap we fall into is making it clever, and making it more complicated because that interests us. The trickiest thing is restraint, and doing the job without adding in our “art” to the point that it makes the end result less suitable. And that is why pre-written music will often not be suitable - it will do too much, be too multilayered, too subtle.

You generally want to paint in simple, bold colours.

But also it’s about understanding what is suitable - for example if it’s music for a classy historical drama…you might do some string writing with fancy counterpoint as that suits the usage.

There are all kinds of styles in sync, and as you mention pop - yes there’s a lot of modern pop, rock and electronic music needed, but again these are usually very focussed on a particular sound if it’s an album for a library.

There’s an interesting top 10 used tracks list from BMG here: Music for Film, TV & Ads | BMG Production Music | The Hidden Hitmakers

It’s interesting to listen and think about how many of these don’t sound mind blowing to us. They are not tracks that would stand out to composers - but these were the most used track from a huge library recently.

Notice there’s an 80’s pop album in there, Afrobeat, Soul (but these are “sync” versions of these styles)…but also a “Molecular Cuisine” album - again something a regular composer would never write in a million years, but a sync composer will be like “yep I can do 10 tracks of that” haha.

But it just highlights how this is not about “composer” music - it’s a whole different area, and being able to put aside your ego and serve the purpose is one of the best attributes you can have - and again why pre-written music might not be useful.

As for my music I’ve just put out a Crime and Investigation album: Pinnacle Audio
And I hoping when you click that first track your instant reaction is “oh that sounds like it should be in a crime drama show”

Or positive music for daytime TV: Pinnacle Audio
I’m hoping you’ll hear that and think it sounds like a “life in the country” type show or maybe a kids show… but notice how the instrument choices, the harmonic language etc are tailored to the use. The difficult thing for me here was keeping it simple and light. I would take so many ideas out it was painful. Not being clever, not making it more complicated…it’s not easy!

This is an interesting one - neutral textures for documentaries/factual programs: Pinnacle Audio

The sound needs to conjure up a general feeling of “Science” and “stuff being done” without being too intrusive.

Anyway this is getting huge now. No problem at all feel free to ask anything else!

[muso.dave]

Forgot something - research!

It’s vital to understand the industry to find work in it so always keep an eye on the big players and what music they are putting out:

New Releases

BMGPM - Search

This gives you a good impression of what is useful to the industry at the moment.

[marcusmanderson]

I’ve been in the sync world for a relatively short time—actively for about 3 years—and I’ve been fortunate to secure a lot of placements. In the trailer space, I’ve been working for around 2 years. They are definitely two different beasts, and my best advice is to focus on one or the other initially.

I tend to suggest avoiding “pay to submit” models like Taxi since there are plenty of free opportunities out there. Some people find Taxi useful for training, though I can’t personally vouch for it since I’ve never used it.

A solid starting point is the free Sync Licensing 101 course at CTRLCamp.com. It’s not my site, but it’s a great entry point.

Plus, you can join my free Facebook group, “Syncrets To Success,” where we have music supervisors, sync agents, and sync libraries. We share resources, job opportunities, and unique content. Recently, a music supervisor found some artists for an Afrobeats x Chris Brown style project right from our group.

Another tip is to dive into YouTube and social media—just search “sync” and explore. Take notes, and soak up all the available knowledge. I did that for years (and still do it).

Over the past three years, I’ve hosted panels at some of the biggest conferences, including NAMM, AES, Sync Spotlight, and more. I’ve organized another sync panel for SXSW on March 11th and will host and manage Sync Spotlight Atlanta on April 5th.

Feel free to DM me (@dafingaz) for exclusive bonuses I share with panel attendees, including footage from panels I’ve hosted.

There’s a lot more I could discuss, but this should give you a solid start.

Enjoy the journey!

Best,
Marcus (@dafingaz aka the person with the most Pianobook demos ever! LOL)

[merlin.gyoery]

Hi Dave
Wow! Thanks again for taking all the time to answer my questions, and to show me some of your work. That is really tremendously helpful to me. I haven’t listened to everything yet, but I think I get what you mean, and I do think your crime album fits very well. If I were to make a crime show I might want to use some of that music XD

But I actually have to point out that this also makes me realise something else. Which is how much I appreciate the quality of this interaction. I don’t think I can put my finger on it, but it just feels like what I would call a “good old back in the day” internet conversation. It’s nice to be engaged without being told what to do or being “marketinged” at. That doesn’t go to say everyone else here hasn’t been super helpful and nice either, but there is a certain “vibe” in a lot of composer and synch communities I just don’t mix well with. Maybe you know what I mean?

When I used to teach composition I did like to teach by example, so I think thats maybe why I also like to learn that way. And so having your examples just helps me getting what I need to understand the rest. Speaking of that…The structure of your crime album seems to mainly be a progressive build of intensity through out. Usually with 3 sections and 2-3 edit points. That’s a generalisation of course, but is that specific to that album, or would you say it`s a solid rule of thumb in general for synch music?

I guess I just need to check your other albums out to find out XD. Thanks also for the tip to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s being used at the moment…that’s definitly not something I am super good at yet.

I think the next thing I need to do is find some people I can ask for feedback or to join taxi and test that out.

What you say also made me realise once again, that I didn’t contextualise what Graz was saying the right way. I naturally lean towards simplicity, maybe too much so, and so I often forget what I observed plenty of when teaching or just with my friends, which is also what you mention. That most people naturally seem to make things more complex more intricate and musically sophisticated the longer they do this stuff. I think it’s a blind spot for me. But now I understand what you and graz were both saying in term of painting simple and with bold colours. To me it’s so mentally separated to write for one of my artist projects vs. writing for a trailer or game…it took me a few seconds to make the mental connections you were referring to.

But I digress ^^ Again thank you so much. You have been a huge help, and I also just realy enjoy chatting with you. You have a very approachable and authentic style. I really appreciate that. Once I’ve listend through all your stuff I may have 1-2 more questions I’ll come back with if you don’t mind

Cheers & I hope you have lovely Sunday!

[merlin.gyoery]

Hi Marcus

Thank you for the generosity mate. I’ll definitely check out the CTRLCamp course. Never heard of that before.

Why would you recommend to choose between trailer and synch?

Your facebook group sound interesting too. I might give it a look. I have to admit though my experience with online communities around this topic hasn’t been great. This is maybe more about me and what I like and how I like to connect. But there is often a certain vibe I find not too comfortable. I value wholesomeness, genuine connection, support and empathy, and most communities I’ve found so far are more about the hustle, competition, and looking cool.

I’m not saying there is necessarily anything wrong with that, but it’s not for me. The same applies to most of what I find out there in terms of YouTube and so on.
All that goes to say, if I join your group and just lurk or leave after a few days, please to don’t take it the wrong way.

How did you get into sync and trailers? And do you have any thoughts on how the world of sync changed in the last 3 years since you are actively in it?

Cheers!

[marcusmanderson]

Hey Merlin!

Thanks for your kind words. I completely understand about joining communities; it can be a hit or miss based on personal preferences. My Facebook group is quite different. Recent posts have included sharing resources for those affected by the LA fires (resources you won’t find anywhere else) and listing job opportunities in the music space. I aim for a supportive vibe focused genuinely on connection and empathy, so feel free to join, lurk, or leave as you need—no worries at all!

As for choosing between trailers and sync, each path offers unique challenges and rewards. Trailers can be more cinematic and impactful in short bursts, whereas sync encompasses a wider variety of placements across different media. Trailer is mostly entirely up front payments. Sync is mostly backend (with some up front sync fees). I’d recommend exploring both and seeing which area aligns with your creative interests. There’s definitely nuances to each that I can’t fully dive into here.

I got into sync and trailers through a mix of passion for music and networking with industry professionals. After playing in church for almost 30 years, the church went virtual in the pandemic and I got into sync in 2021 (after doing hundreds of pianobook demos in 2020 LOL).

Over the last few years, especially with the pandemic, the sync world has become more digital and competitive. Despite the challenges, there’s been a growth in opportunities, with diverse platforms and collaborative tools becoming available. And collaboration. Both are a patience game. Not a get rich quick thing.

For example: You can get placements in May…and not get paid until December. That was the case for me when I got back into sync in 2021. LOL.

[muso.dave]

No problem at all. I also have found online spaces difficult - tend to be negative and toxic and it gets to me, especially social media. I have set up my own one so I can keep the vibe nice, but I’ll resist pushing it at you for now.
Would also say to pay attention to @marcusmanderson as I follow him on LinkedIn! He always has great advice, and he’s been at this longer than me and has broader experience!

[marcusmanderson]

Thanks for the support @muso.dave! Also a great point about starting your own community to offset some of the others that can be negative or toxic, or just a waste of time. LOL.

[cosmicdolphin]

Nine years in the Sync trenches here…Just giving MHO on your initial post so I may be repeating some of the other replies.

I did the first two yrs with Taxi which helped me learn the ropes which I perosnally found helpful and made a few friends for life along the way, but I’ve seen tons of musicians rock up there with big ideas and fall flat on their faces so you need a bit of humilty and a service mentality rather than an artist one for this gig. The music is not that difficult once you know how, it’s the constant rejection, initial years of little to no reward and just the relentlessness of it that most can’t stomach. They try it for a while, get a few knock backs, don’t see much income and then quit ( often blaming Taxi )…but I’ve seen it time and time again. The ones who do well are those who stick with it and focus on the process rather than the result. The Taxi mantra is “Write -Submit - Forget - Repeat” and it’s true, if you can get into that habit and keep going you’ll eventually get enough traction to make a dent in it.

Online resources ( mostly YT ) - Matts Music Minute - 52 Cues Podcast and community - Taxi TV - Sync My Music - Make Music Income

Sending cold demos can work and I’ve signed albums that I’ve made to multiple libraries since I left Taxi, but you need to consider the following and a lot of this I learned through the process of being a Taxi member - However there is far more info out there now on the above mentioned channels than when I started so there’s no excuse.

1. Is it in a genre they use and will get placed enough to be worth while ( i.e. even the worlds best made Death Metal Polka is not super licensable… an album of simple goofy Dramedy cues would be though )

2. Cues should be structured, 90-120s long, one or two edit points, music that builds slightly through the sections with the biggest section at the end.

3. One mood , one key , one tempo

4. No Foley

5. No AI and no samples even if they are licensed from Splice etc ( shakers etc okay )

6. Everything mixed and mastered to competive broadcast quality

7. You have an acocunt with a PRO set up

8. You can provide deliverables they specify. Alt mix - Stingers - Cutdowns - Stems.

9. You are prepared for edit requests and changes you may not agree with

If you’re only after beer money then it may not worth it, theer’s such a lot of work to get any traction that I don’t think it you would find the beer money to be very satisfying. You could probably get that beer money from uploading those 200 tracks to Pond5 without the hassle of writing 5 -10 production music albums a year and trying to get them signed. That said it sounds like you’re productive so if you aim high you’ll make beer money in the first couple of years but after that it can snowball. I work full time but made an extra 25% from my 750 sync tracks last year. Then you have to pay tax on it lol.

AI - it’s a no-no in the industry right now. No legit library or TV/Film production company will touch generative AI with a barge pole as they don’t want to risk any copyright infringement cases. That said , source audio ( who host the music catalogues of many production libraries ) have just launched some AI upgrades to their platform, so now if they opt in a library can offer AI generated tracks that are trained on that library catalogue and track the contributry writers on a % basis. Not sure how that will pan out but it seems an obvious use of the tech,

I think going forward we’ll be okay - I forsee a lot of these cases coming to court against the generative AI companies that basically admitted they’ve stolen the training data , not licensed it and are now trying to claim ‘fair use’ which I don’t think will fly with any sensible judge or jury.

Hope that helps answer your questions, making the music is probably the easier part of the gig…being ghosted, rejected, having to write 100 tracks a year and getting little to no money at first is where most struggle. Took me 4yrs to get to 50 TV placements, now I can get that many in a month or two as I keep getting music into the system and it’s a compund effect.

CD

[muso.dave]

These are great points, and align with my experiences. Big thing is the “service mindset” and also the patience…I’ve struggled with letting go of outcomes - placements are outside our control, but I still feel like I need to check them all the time and it’s a bit unhealthy! Need to be more zen!

[merlin.gyoery]

Hey CosmicDolphin

Thanks so much for chiming in as well. I think you are adding a lot of concrete points I find really valuable. I get that it’s subjective, but that what I asked for, so it’s perfect.

I get you point about the effort and long breath it takes to build any sort of traction when I am just after beer money. And I think that’s what I will really have to consider. Of course I am not averse to more then beer money XDDD But I think it is an excellent point for me and anyone else who might stumble across this, to know that this potentially takes years of consistent effort and upkeep to yield anything, and that it’s a cumulative process.

So for me it sounds like it is only worthwhile building if I can a) separate my artist-self form my service musician-self, and b) if I think I can deal therefore with a long game that involves a lot of rejection and getting your own ego out of the way. But if the answer to that is “yes” then it has the potential to grow into something lucrative over the next decade or so ^^

I also really appreciate the extra YT channels you shared. I’ll definitely give them a look.

As it happens, a couple of days ago a friend asked me about sync and I was so happy I could just send him the link for this conversation.

I think for myself I just have to consider if I want to make this kind of time investment. I don’t mind a service mindset, and I think I have developed a fair bit of that through my day-job. It’s why I have my artist persona for that side of things, and a completely different instance for “work” music stuff. I’m not worried about it not paying me anything beyond “beer money” for a few years. I’m just wondering how much time it will take up if I seriously pursue it, and if it makes sense if I am really just looking for something “additional”.

But I guess there is just one way of finding out. ^^

Thanks again for all the input from everyone. I’ll make my way through the course, check some you tube channels, and write some tunes, and come back with more questions once they pop up!

Also I really appreciate this space and the kindness and tone you all bring to it. It’s so nice to find these little pockets of the internet where that is still possible.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!
Cheers

[graz]

Hi again, I hope by now you’ve had a chance to investigate some of the suggested sources of information. If so, it might have become apparent that the most common way into this is through libraries that furnish TV shows etc. The ‘royalty free’ ones will usually let anybody submit anything, so its a low bar. ‘Non-exclusive’ is libraries are less popular these days but still operate, but the better quality libraries tend to offer ‘exclusive’ contracts. Be sure you know what those terms mean.

Finding a good (for you) exclusive library is a valuable thing if they can get better placements on better shows and better channels, but it usually means that you’ve signed away your track as well half of your entitlement to royalties ‘in perpetuity’ (check those terms again). Sadly, there’s a fair chance that we all end up with some tracks that never get placed and/or in libraries that are not working for us. Some can’t detach themselves from their creations and have difficulty dealing with that. I say, just make more music and put it elsewhere instead.

Many (but by no means all) good libraries will accept cold submissions but its up to you to decide whether they’re a good match for you and your music. If they are not, then you could send them a ton of tracks but never get any placements, and that’s where there’s a measure of ‘suck it and see’, even though it could take a couple of years to realise the answer. Those who make good library choices, either by design or plain luck, can sail ahead of equally good composers that make a bad ones.

I’d rather go for a spread bet and keep furnishing a few libraries that get me placements instead of relying on just one, because they all blow hot and cold at times. Finding more libraries is where introductory services (eg Taxi) can be helpful but its no guarantee of making the best connections.

Alternatively, you can find easily libraries on your own because there’s thousands of them. Asking other people can help inform you, but might not help you get in. Libraries are always protective of their briefs to prevent masses of unknown writers swamping them with inappropriate material, so that can give the illusion that there’s some kind of secret society. There isn’t. It just common sense. They’re professional businesses, often run by just a few people, with little time to waste on the unprofessional or those who simply don’t understand how things work. Educating yourself on the ins and outs of the business before your early library encounters will pay dividends. [ Dare I mention Taxi and SyncMyMusic again? I have no affiliation with either but I trust the information that they offer, which is all free. ]

Collaborating with people who are already in good libraries that they KNOW get them placements is a great way to open doors, so this is where getting yourself known in composer communities helps (and yes, I dislike forums and social media too so I don’t do it either). Potentially though, if you have skills to offer than can compliment someone else’s then you have some currency and can become a desirable collaborator, should you wish to follow that route.

Again, there’s much more to say that’s beyond the odd post here, but you’ve got some good replies and a lot to think about. I hope it all helps.

…and finally, have you checked out GEMA yet (your national performing rights organisation)? If you do decide to go ahead with sync then you will need to become a member of one PRO before you can sign a library contract, so its worth reading about what they do and how to join. They also have a discussion on AI (doesn’t everyone?).

Good luck!

[merlin.gyoery]

Hey graz
Thanks for chiming in again!

Yes, I had a chance to check out a few resources, and also went through the CntrlCamp course. I have to say, there wasn’t that much new information to me, but despite that, I think it’s a great course, especially since it’s free and accessible for anyone interested to get into this. I’ll definitely send some of my students that are curious about sync there. It’s a great resource.

Thanks for your tips on library choice and especially collaboration. I think it might be a great idea for me to find a couple of people to collaborate with who are maybe a bit more experienced in this are. Could also just be a nice way to get my feet wet.

Good point on the PRO too, but I’ve been an ASCAP member for over a decade now, so I’m good on that front

I’ll keep exploring! And yes I think the responses here have been super helpful and interesting, and I hope they’ll also help others who have the same questions!

Cheers!