Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

Independent Music

Why You Should Be Thankful For Your Lack Of Music Licenses

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It’s a really special time in United States culture this weekend, Thanksgiving. While most of the folks reading this will be preparing for a turkey dinner with family and friends, a lot of my readers across the globe will be carrying on with their lives as normal.

Either way I hope you’ll find today’s thought interesting and useful.

Many times when talking to artists I hear “I really want to get my music on TV.”

It’s awesome and I love it. It means they’ve done some homework and have discovered music licensing. They’re starting the arduous but rewarding path it presents.

It’s a long journey, equally frustrating and inspiring – this is true whether its your own music, someone else’s catalog, or your new role working in the music industry.

Today it’s important to remember how incredible it is to be able to focus on something like music licensing, no matter how challenging it gets, instead of having to worry about basic needs like food and shelter.

It’s very easy to tell ourselves a story about how difficult things are, but this really just boils down to an excuse we use to pardon ourselves from doing the work.

Today, give thanks – among all the other great things in our lives – for challenges, inspiration, success, and learning experiences (sometimes called failures).

The more we treat obstacles as opportunities, the more likely we are to accomplish real goals.

Learn How A Record Label Pursues Music Licensing

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If you’re an artist or in a band, chances are you’ve got a record out. Maybe you put it out yourself, maybe you’re signed to a small indie label, or maybe you landed a major deal with a nice advance from one of the bigger guys. The bottom line is you have a record.

But what exactly does that entail, and what does your label have to do with music licensing?

One of the basic elements of how music licensing works is the copyright for the sound recording. Just like the song you wrote, the actual sound recording has copyright protection as well. Typically sound recordings have only one owner.

A sound recording is often owned by the funders of the album.

That could be a record label, your band, a single member of your band, and less commonly a music publisher or company that had you create a work-for-hire…or your Aunt Mildred.

Ownership comes with responsibilities (ask Spiderman) and while a record label’s aims are more than just licensing your music on television or getting music in a commercial, it’s a valuable revenue stream and that’s what we’ll focus on here.

Here are some ways that your label (or you) can go about getting that recording licensed:

  • Direct Outreach – Market directly to music supervisors on TV shows, ad agency music producers, and other relevant contacts
  • Indirect Outreach – Create PR around your music by revealing a story through video, press release, or other media hoping the buzz brings you to the forefront of new music
  • Public Performance – Whether it be a tour around a region or playing at a branded event or for an ad agency’s happy hour, this can be an excellent venue to get your music heard and your charisma felt

Should your song achieve some traction and a license be requested, the label (or owner of the sound recording) will then be responsible for licensing the sound recording for use. They should be able to negotiate some standard terms and collect a ‘music synchronization fee’ (or ‘sync fee’) for the use of the sound recording.

If you own your masters or perhaps your band owns them collectively, you can get your music licensed with your own efforts. You can also seek representation by labels, publishers, and synchronization representatives in exclusive and non-exclusive agreements.

Do you have any experience with a record label and licensing your music? Leave a comment and let us know about it!

If you want to learn how to start building relationships with record labels for music placements, subscribe to my newsletter.

Learn About Music Licensing And Why Getting Music On TV Can Be Valuable

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Music licensing is something record labels, music publishers, artists, songwriters, and pretty much everyone who survives in music is focused on. Music licensing, or more specifically music synchronization licensing, simply means the fixing of music to moving picture.

(Other types of music licenses exist, so clarify music synchronization licensing when necessary!)

Music In Commercials

Types of common music synchronization licenses

  • Advertising – The use of music in commercials promoting products or services

  • TV – Adding music to television programming, or television promotions, to enhance the project

  • Film – Probably the highest profile use of music in media

  • Video Games – This covers everything from consoles to apps and is an area more and more musicians are trying to get involved in

As you can guess, music on television, music in commercials, and music all media serve as excellent outlets for artists both classic and emerging. Let’s look at three key benefits of licensing music.

Benefits of Music Licensing

  • Exposure – Licensing music can be an excellent way to reach a lot of people at once. Music used in commercials, popular TV shows, and big films can end up in front of an audience many times a day for years!

  • Pay – If a song gets licensed, there’s usually a good fee involved. Unlike selling albums where a significant amount of sales is needed in order to generate revenue, a few licenses a year can be enough to live on for a decade!

  • Association – Association creates an instant recognizability. When someone hears your song, they may automatically remember a favorite scene in a film or identify it with values like ones their favorite brands represent.

Lots of other questions arise when you’re considering licensing your music on TV, in commercials, or for any type of media like how to value exposure? What is your song worth? And what do you need to know in order to start the licensing process?

Have you had any experience with music licensing? Tell us about it in the comments or ask any questions and we’ll help you through the process!

What Can A Song Placement On MTV Mean For Your Career In Music?

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Do You Want Your MTV?

In my last newsletter I outlined some ideas about the value of placement exposure vs. the actual monetary compensation. We went over some things to consider when talking with music supervisors directly, publishers, and generally anyone involved in the process of licensing your music. At the end of that newsletter I asked for some feedback from anyone on the list who had success getting a placement on MTV. The response was really amazing and I wanted to share with you my favorite 4 throughout this week! Yes, I’ll be emailing you more often than usual this week, but it’s really important you read each and every story. The cool thing you’ll see is that there are so many different ways to get your music placed, and there are also varying degrees of success related to those methods. Let’s start the week off with Lauren.

Case Study No. 1: Lauren F.
Lauren wrote to tell me her story about her song “3 AM” which played during the MTV Movie Awards in 2012. The crazy part? She didn’t even KNOW about it until almost a full year later when she received a royalty statement from BMI! Now a lot of you may be thinking something along the lines of “Wow, that’s rough!” (only with more swear words), the great part about Lauren’s story is how she still took advantage of the opportunity to tell a story.

Lauren Says…
“While it would have been amazing to have known about it in advance and told people to tune in, I was still able to make the most of the situation by posting a very ridiculous picture of myself reacting to my BMI statement.  I posted it online for fans and friends and also sent it in some thank you emails to people who had helped me along the way.  It got a lot of responses including a very encouraging email from a VIP that is currently pinned to my wall.  I also updated my website to reflect the important placement.”

Lauren's Photo Touting Her BMI Statement

Tremendous right? She was able to leverage her successful placement into a great story she could share with fans. Out of something that happened a year before, she managed to get up a relevant photo, directly communicate her success to fans, put some great PR on her website, and even got feedback from a key business contact.

Method of Placement: Through A Music Library Cold Call

Value Gained: Lauren said the BMI statement wasn’t a bank-buster by any means, but she was happy for the win and excited to be able to have non-musical content to tide her fans over while they awaited her new album.

The Doc Brown Advantage: I asked Lauren what she might do if she had the opportunity to hop in the DeLorean with Doc and Marty and inform 2012 Lauren about the upcoming placement before it happened. She had a great idea (I left out the hover board antics for brevity’s sake):

Doc Brown + Music Licensing = Success!

“If I had known about the placement in advance, I would have promoted it on social media and frankly told my Mom to watch! I would have tried to make it a “virtual event” that fans could join, regardless of their location.”

IMHO: First, always embrace your wins just like Lauren did. Totally rad that she took an opportunity that most people would consider ‘old news’ and still turned it into a meaningful story for her present day communications. And remember, just because you don’t make a million dollars immediately is no reason to downplay your success. Get excited! You work REALLY hard to get your music out there so when it pays off, it’s time to f’in party!

I’d also suggest that anyone in a similar situation reach out to their publisher or whoever is placing their music and request that any news about new placements be delivered in a timely manner. Remember, your publisher works for YOU. They take a good chunk of your money and I believe that most publishers are obligated to do a lot more than they currently do in order to earn it. You may need to follow up once a month to check-in, but it’s good to put that pressure on your representative. That way your music stays top of mind and you can capitalize on wins like this one. I also like her idea about a live event. That’s a fairly simple thing to achieve with Google Hangouts or Goto Meeting, and really engages fans on a high level.

Check out Lauren’s website and music here.

Do you have other ideas about what you might do if you get a placement? How else can you capitalize on this exposure? I’d love to hear your ideas so email me or leave a comment below!

How I Got A Cover On The Top 200 iTunes Download Chart.

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Getting a song in a commercial or on TV is a great way to earn some money. But the other thing artists often consider is the tremendous exposure! We hear a lot about exposure and it’s often used as a negotiating tactic when it comes to licensing. I think exposure value can be all over the map, but this is a case where the original song and the brand’s efforts combined to boost this great cover of “All Shook Up” onto the iTunes Top 200 downloads.

Here’s a quick synopsis of my latest efforts…

The Project: One of my clients emailed me with a description of a new series of commercials he was working on and attached a storyboard (or simply, ‘board’). They wanted a sensual, sexy song for a new Trojan ad but also wanted something that people would recognize.

What I Did: After reviewing the creative material, I immediately recollected a new version of “All Shook Up” – Elvis Presley’s classic – that we had been sent by an independent artist. I pitched the song for the spot and they loved it.

There were some bumps and bruises along the way, but eventually we got it ironed out and I even got the track featured on the brand website with a link to download it in iTunes. Take a look, I think they turned out great! We just found out it entered the iTunes Top 200 at no. 152 and are expecting it to climb higher over the next couple weeks.

Listen to the Track

Music Licensed: "All Shook Up" by Avila

Watch the Commercials

Low Hanging Fruit in the Music Business: Leap-Frog Cold Calls And Get Noticed By Music Supervisors

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Before we get started, if you’re new to the blog you can read Part 1 of the Low Hanging Fruit series about getting music licensing or other music opportunities here. When you’re done with that, hit up part 2 here to learn how to make key music licensing contacts. If you’re done with one and two, strap in! We’re going to cover how to rapidly make connections with people who can actually help you in your career.

When you’re engaged in a conversation with someone – friend, stranger, or enemy – it’s key to have some triggers set up mentally. These triggers will act as stimulus for you to ask leading questions to help bring you closer to generating a genuine connection with someone that can help you. For instance, if I’m talking to a new acquaintance or stranger, the topic of “what do you do?” inevitably comes up.

In the last email, we talked a bit about how to respond to this question (you can tweak those phrases a lot to really behoove you, but I’ll cover that in a future email). Once a conversation is rolling, here are some key phrases to listen for (they should be blatantly obvious):

  • Advertising
  • TV
  • Film
  • A&R
  • Record Label
  • Publishing
  • A Brand

These triggers are probably already setup in your head and if you meet someone that works in these areas or knows someone in these areas, you obviously would like to dig without sounding greedy or pushy. Ideally, you’ll setup some form of informative conversation where you’re not taking too much time from the other person and make it REALLY easy for them to help you out.

When you hear any of the above, here is a string of questions you can use to try and find out if you can get connected:

1. Which company do they/you work for? This is an obvious one but even having the name of a company means you can at the very least go home and research it online. For instance, if someone works for a brand, even a local one, you can see if they’ve done any sort of media with music under it.

Example: Griffin Technology is a well-known brand. If you live in Nashville, TN this means that you may have a connection to the company. Their website is easy enough to find, and if you head over to YouTube, you can see they’ve posted content that has music under it (check it out here).

2. What do they do for the company? Another obvious question and to be honest, the answer doesn’t really matter. This conversation is all about connecting with someone who is willing to help you. If they happen to work in the mail room or are the CEO, someone willing to help you is more valuable than where they lay on the food chain (you will also find that people who are willing to help others are often higher on the food chain anyway).

3. How do they/you like it there? This question is great because you’ll almost always be interested in the answer. People really open up when they talk about what their work life is. Also, they can leave clues here if they’re struggling in accomplishing a task or project. You never know, that could be something you can help them with.

4. What are they/you working on right now? A heavy hitter. Here again you’re giving the person a chance to talk about what they’re doing and to see if you can help. If you’re talking to a connection, here’s where they may not know. That’s fine but if it’s the case you can follow up with “I would love to sit down and chat with X about what they’re doing.”

As you can probably tell, these questions are great and they’ll help you start a natural dialog. Even with people you may have little in common with, you may just find out something interesting about what they do. Here’s where what we talked about in part 2 comes in handy – always saying yes. Keep your eyes open for ANY opportunity through the natural dialog above will help you help more people.

Next it’s good to know some job titles because ultimately we’d like to get our music on TV (or published or what have you), wouldn’t we? So when you hear these job titles, or phrases, get real curious and see if you can’t fix yourself up with a meeting by drilling down with the questions above:

Producer
– Producers exist in music, TV, advertising, still photography, and much more. Generally being a producer means being responsible for over-seeing a project and helping facilitate the various logistics.

Art Buyer
– Ad agencies have art buyers to, duh, buy art. That includes ANY sort of art including music. And because music and picture so often go hand-in-hand, these folks can be great to get to know. Even if they don’t do anything with music, they will know who does.

Creative Director
– At an agency, creative directors are responsible for the overall creative vision for a brand. They oversee and conceive of major creative ideas for commercials, packaging, and any place where you’d see some sort of brand execution. Obviously they are key decision makers and are great to know or meet.

Copywriter
– These folks write the verbage for whatever brand they’re working on. Whether it’s a commercial script or a print ad. Sometimes they’ll be tasked with coming with lyrics for custom music as well.

Director
– An obvious one, these guys are responsible for the overall vision of a video project for either film, video, commercials or music videos.

Publishing
– Generally speaking people at music publishers can do any number of jobs – the good news is they’ll typically know who to talk to if they’re not it!

Record Label
– Another obvious one. Same as publishing above.

Line Producer
– Line Producers are tasked with budgeting on a given production. For this reason they interface with all departments and know how much money they have to spend on any given piece…like music!

Any of the above with the word “associate” in front of it, or “coordinator” behind it.
– Generally speaking these folks are going to be pretty new to their industry, or to the company they work at. They’re great to get to know because they can move up very quickly but are also receptive to things like free show tickets and album downloads.

These are just a few of the many types of names and titles at production companies, ad agencies, music companies, and people in the film world. However, having a good idea of the TYPES of jobs available at these companies, combined with a few simple questions, you can really set yourself down a path to making solid, real connections quickly.

It’s also important to remember what I said in a previous article: you’re not looking to solve your ultimate goal, you just want to meet and talk about what they do and see where it leads. The very worst that can happen is they can’t help you directly but you end up with a new friend or contact. It’s important to keep that in mind because literally ANYONE can be a fan.

Action Step: It’s time to prepare yourself for conversation. First, do a Google search for any music companies, ad agencies, production companies, or other entities in your city (or in the one nearest by) you’d like to contact. Take a look at their “about us” or info pages and look for any relevant material like video with music underneath it. Then do the following:

Email 15-20 of your friends individually (personalized messages)
Ask if they know someone who works for one of your target companies
If so, ask them if they’ll connect you to that person, and see if you can all grab a coffee together sometime.
If not, tell them to keep their ears open and that you’re looking for music connections based on what you found doing research on the company.

I hope you’ve found The Low Hanging Fruit Series useful. I’m working on my next batch of emails so stay tuned for more music business strategy (including how to put your best foot forward when pitching your music to a contact) and if you need to subscribe, click here!