213. Sync Licensing and Connecting with Supervisors with Chris SD

My friend, Chris SD, from Sync Songwriter will talk all about sync licensing -- all the ins and outs, all you need to know, all the different ways you can get licensed, how you can build relationships in the business and how to get more of your music licensed. Be ready to get excited about sync placements just like how Chris is so passionate about it. He is bringing 5 of his music supervisor friends on a virtual panel this October 11th so you can learn inside tips directly from them. Join us on this free workshop at femusician.com/chris. 

Chris started as a touring indie musician in Canada. The band parted ways then he got into music production and working in different roles with bigger artists and won some awards. He was then given the opportunity to move to LA for work. After his wife got pregnant, he yearned to spend more time with his daughter instead of being in the studio for 12-14 hours a day. He thought about moving his work online which he did, then he started getting inquiries about sync licensing. He previously had a similar job in Canada and so he started connecting with music supervisors in the US. So now his job is connecting indie artists with music supervisors for television and film. 

There is so much great music from indie artists but they lack relationship with the right people in the industry. When Chris was working with indie artists in Canada, he did notice that the indie artists were just as good as the bigger artists except that they do not have the managers and labels to push them. 

When Chris started doing sync licensing, he didn't know anything about it. He thought having the connections was enough so he did all the mistakes. He sent the wrong music or sent it at the wrong time and did the wrong approach. By talking with music supervisors and learning more about the behind the scenes, he cracked the code about sync licensing and helped people do that. After teaching people, he brought them infront of the music supervisors and let them build that relationship themselves. 

Here are other important things Chris shared:

Types of Payments from Sync Licensing

• When your music if played on TV or film, you got performance fees from your PRO. 
• Sync Fee - lump of cash to license your music from the production
• Royalties - Everytime that show airs, you get royalties for that. You can have one song playing in more than one show and you can get a lot of royalties for that.

Typical Ways to Submit Your Music for Sync Licensing

• Pay-to-submit sites (ex. Songtradr, Broadjam, TAXI)
• Non-exclusive Music Libraries
• Exclusive Music Libraries
• Licensing Agents

Tips on Sync Licensing

• Music supervisors prefer songs that was written from the heart rathen that music written specifically for sync.
• There's no way to submit a demo. Whatever you submit has to be the final mix that is played.
• Your songs also need to be cleared ahead of time and fully and legally authorized to be used in the show.
• When you get yourself a placement, you have to be ready. You will get a lot of attention but that is fleeting. You need to capitalize that moment. You need to make sure your music is out there and people can find your music and find out who you are. Having your lyrics on your website also helps in a big way so people can search you just by your lyrics.
• The ultimate way of getting your music into TV and film is developing relationships and your reputation with the actual people who play the music.

Chris will be having an amazing event on October 11th at 11 AM Pacific Time where he brings 5 music supervisors and hear all the behind the scenes of sync licensing so you can see a road map on how you can get your music into TV and film. To join, go to femusician.com/chris and register for free.

Link mentioned in this episode: femusician.com/chris