A question that one of the publishers I work with often asks me when I’m submitting music to her, is where I see my music being licensed.  She doesn’t ask me this because she doesn’t know the answer, but instead to encourage me to think about how and where every song I write could potentially be used. This question used to throw me off, but I’m so accustomed to her asking me this, that it’s made me think more carefully about the music I write and where it could potentially be used.

Thinking about music this way as it relates to licensing is very insightful.  Before I would just write whatever music I felt like writing and then just hope there would be a licensing opportunity where my songs would fit.  Sometimes there were and sometimes there weren’t, but I didn’t really have that much success until I started really considering how and where the songs I write would likely be used.

There are a lot of things to consider when writing music specifically for licensing.  Some types of songs work better than others and some songs work better in certain scenes than others.  The more you can really understand how and why music is used in the context of licensing, the greater your chances of being successful are. You don't necessarily have to completely change what you're doing musically, but by being aware of what types of songs and what types of themes get placed the most, you can incorporate these ideas into your songwriting and composing.

In previous newsletters I’ve addressed things like subject matter and how certain lyrics work better than others for licensing.  For example, if you’re writing about universal themes like love and heartbreak you’re going to have more opportunities for licensing your music, simply because these themes come up so frequently in tv shows and films.  Conversely, the more obscure your subject matter is the fewer chances you’ll likely have to license your music.  Similarly, if you’re subject matter is extremely specific and mentions specific names or names of cities, than you’ll also limit your chances for licensing, unless there happens to be a show involving the specific names of people and places you mention in your songs. 

For example, if you write a song about Austin, TX that mentions the city by name, that would most likely only work in the context of a scene set in Austin.  If you keep your lyrics more broad and universal, they will work in a wider variety of contexts. Of course, with that said, there are sometimes situations where a supervisor will look for songs that are about specific cities or specific places, but these are hard to anticipate. 

Songs that are licensed into tv shows, films, commercials and so on, are used to support whatever is happening in the scene music is being licensed for.  So, for example, let’s say there’s a tv show where one of the main characters is a young female adult who has just met the love of their life.  The music that is synched to a scene like this will be reflective of a young female who is falling in love.  The song will most likely have female vocals, lyrics that are about new love or falling in love and stylistically will probably be a sound that is contemporary and current since the scene involves young characters.  So, you can see, there’s several components that songs licensed into a scene like this would need to have; female vocals, lyrics about falling in love and a style that is contemporary and current.

Let’s look at another example.  Let’s say there’s a movie and there’s a scene where one of the characters, a middle aged American male, is trying to get over a recent breakup and decides to take a vacation to Hawaii to get over his ex.  Music that is used to support this type of scene would call for a completely different type of song.  A music supervisor syncing music to this type of scene would probably be looking for a song with a more retro vibe, since the character is older, and the lyrics would need to be about breaking up or thinking about an ex.  The mood of the song would need to be reflective but not too sad or gloomy since the character is going on vacation to try and cheer himself up.

As you can see, what kind of songs music supervisors are looking for is totally dependent on the context of the scene in which the song is being licensed for. In the past I’ve talked about the importance of listening to the production quality of music that is being licensed to get an idea of where your music stands production wise.  It’s also important to pay attention to what kinds of songs are licensed and why.  Start listening to lyrics of songs that are used in tv shows and films.  Take note of the style of the music and how it relates to the overall context of the scene.  You’ll start to notice connections that were there all along, but you may have missed if you weren’t paying close attention.  Once you're aware of these factors you can start to craft your own songs in a deliberate and conscious way that will have a much greater chance of being placed.

 

I hope that helps!

-Aaron