The changing landscape of Music Licensing

Hi All,

Its been a while since I posted to this blog but have not forgotten you. It is just that things are heating up in the music arena and I am trying to be in the middle of it.

So the question for the day is where is it all going?

This is my blog so I will just give you my perspective.

The way I see it record companies are on their way out as evidenced by the huge $2 billion write down from EMI last week. They will get smaller and support only acts that can be counted on to create an ROI. They may even be swallowed up by the likes of Live Nation in a effort to maximize all areas of monetization for an act ( Music sales, touring, and merchandise.

I currently see every label and publisher pressing to have their music licensed for media. You see this too I am sure. The down side for an indie is that they are starting to negotiate lower pricing and actually practice good customer service which has been missing for many years.

Also, after talking to many Music Supervisors my conclusion is that they are quickly getting tired of all the music solicitation and in need of a great music filtering service. This is the opportunity, and this is where MyMusicSource is currently working.

Please give me your comments, for/against, and ideas... how do we make this easier for the end user of our music?

More to come - Michael

Can I make money licensing music?

This is one of my favorite questions because I could talk about it for days. You know by now that I like to keep these tips short so lets make this a 2 part question and change it a bit. How about Part #1 “Can I make money licensing music” and then Part #2 “Who is licensing music, what are they licensing it for and for how much?”

Lets take the “who” first. Think for a moment about everywhere that you hear music and then write it down. Your list might look something like this:

TV
Radio
Movies
Advertising
Documentaries
Internet Programming
Web casts Podcasts
Internet ads
Feature films
Corporate marketing videos
Wedding videos
Conventions
On, and On, and On…  

The great news here is that both background and foreground music is used much more than you might imagine. The not so great news is that there are lots of music suppliers trying to make music available to these users so competition is pretty fierce.

That’s why MyMusicSource.com is a sync license distributor to many suppliers. If we can get your music in front of many buyers/licensor's and in many ways we have a much greater chance of placing your music. The important thing to remember is that although some of these potential uses of your music are more sexy than others, they all pay and 100 placements in conventions might make you more money that 1 great placement in a feature film. The bragging rights are not as cool, but the power company, or restaurant does not care where your money comes from.

Remember that licensing music for a living is a long term commitment and don't expect to start going the mailbox to collect your checks right yet. I won't fill you full of success stories, but I can tell you first hand that I have made enough money to live comfortably from performance royalties alone and you can too. I still receive checks for music I wrote 15 years ago. Its not much but over time it adds up.

So my recommendation is license your music anywhere and everywhere you can if you are looking at your long term return. If you have hopes (like we all do, or did) of having the elusive hit in a series, or film then go the route of limiting exposure of your music. If you choose this method be honest with yourself and set a date in the future to let it loose and see if you can make money with your music in a more open forum like a music licensing company. 

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or share your experiences.

Submit specific questions to info@mymusicsource.com

There will be much more to come on this subject so stay tuned!

Michael Redman
mymusicsource.com

Answering your Music Licensing questions

Good morning eveybody - I'm still in Ukraine.

First of all thanks for the support and interest in this blog, makes me feel important! I have received many questions related to specific areas of music licensing and would like to answer them all personally but I cannot. 

What I would ask you to do for the time being is send your questions to info@mymusicsource.com . I will then try to compile similar questions and write more global answers. Hope this is a good way to do this. I am open to suggestions.

Also, I need to help making this an RSS feed on blogger. Hate to say it but my expertise is not on the tech side, just music.

Thanks Michael

Writing Music for Sync Licensing

This week I’ like to cover some of the basic ( or maybe not so basic ) things you should consider when constructing your songs, or compositions to make them more attractive to a music supervisor, or broadcast producer. Without making this a long explanation, here is the summary… 

1. Get to the meat of your song very quickly. No long intros before the lyric starts, sound efx, etc. When a producer or music sup is listening to potential tracks for a production at a rate of sometimes 15 tracks a minute. Do the math - you may only have 4-6 seconds to grab their attention. When I used to conduct music searches we might go through 300 tracks to find a suitable fit (and sometimes 5 or more music music search sessions looking for just one song). 

The process went something like this - I would preview tracks for the producer, noting the ones that may be of interest, and continue until I may have 20 possible tracks. Then we would go back and listen to a bit more of each track and trash the rest. 

Next we may repeat the process. What we were usually looking for was 5 to 10 tracks that the producer could take back to their team and offer up as contenders for the production, or scene in a film.

2. If you are writing a song with lyrics that you hope will make it through the initial review process and into a film or advertisement think about the message of your song. In almost every case a producer is looking for that special combination of a very relevant message matched with an engaging melody (hook). Every producer is looking for a “Hit”. 

Think for a moment about a record company 10 years ago listening to songs submitted by a band hoping for a record deal, or by a publishing company wanting to place their songs with a high profile artist. They are looking for the same things a music sup, or broadcast producer wants today - a “Hit”. That special track that works on a soundtrack release, or make a scene stick.

Please feel free to comment, share your experience, or ask questions! 

Michael Redman

mymusicsource.com

Welcome to "Licensing your Music"

Hi Folks,

This is the very first installment of "Licensing your Music". A blog presented by MyMusicSource.com and dedicated to educating artists and musicians on the art of licensing your music for commercial usage, and other ways of creating financial success in the music business.

Each week when I am not traveling, I will post to this blog on a subject related to licensing, or music business and hope that you will ask questions, or pass along your own experiences.

This Sunday I leave for my third trip to Ukraine to adopt 2 girls. I will have alot of time so we'll start then.

Michael Redman
MyMusicSource.com