I got an interesting email the other day from someone who has been trying to get his music licensed, unsuccessfully, for some time now. He emailed me and basically said he has amazing music, and that he’s been trying to get it licensed unsuccessfully for over a year now. He wanted to know what "the secret” to licensing music is. He feels like he’s tried everything and that nothing is working.
I could really relate to this email, because as someone who has both licensed a pretty fair amount of music, and also someone who at times has struggled to go further and get to the “next level” with my music, I can relate to the frustration. It can definitely seem at times, that when you’re not getting the results you want, that it’s because there’s some secret formula to success that you don’t know about. It can feel like there’s
some sort of secret that others that are having more success are in the know about.
And, truth be told, there are some things related to licensing, that if you're aware of, will help you get ahead. But these aren’t really “secrets” per se. There is no grand conspiracy holding you back. There is no secret music licensing club, at least that I’m aware of, that your membership to will guarantee success.
There is no secret, but of course there are many things to learn. Like in any industry, it takes a fair amount of dedication and persistence to get ahead. The music licensing business is different than other industries in the sense that we’re shooting for something that is more or less a moving target. The ongoing needs of music supervisors and music libraries is constantly changing. This makes getting started in the
first place tricky. How do you know what to write if you don’t know what people are looking for?
Although there aren’t really any secrets, there is a sort of checklist you should adhere to when you’re getting started in licensing.
Here are things you should be focusing on:
Write lots of music. The more the better. It’s true that the needs of supervisors is changing, based on what project they’re working on. But let’s face it, there are only so many different themes and so many different styles of music out there. Write as much as you can. I wouldn’t necessarily try to do styles that you’re not good at it or don’t enjoy. But write a wide variety of songs
that cover a wide variety of themes. The more bases your catalog covers, the greater the chances one or more of your songs will be what someone is looking for.
Produce it well. I’ve covered this ad nauseum over the years. Your music has to be produced well for it to work in tv, films ad ands. Either learn how to do this yourself, or work with a producer who has the necessary chops.
Market your music regularly - Once you have a diverse, well produced catalog, next comes the fun part. The most critical part. Getting your music to the right people and getting placements. There are different types of placements and some pay much more than others.
There are essentially three different types of placements:
Entry Level – These are the easiest types of placements to get in the beginning and it’s probably best to accumulate a few of these in the beginning to build your resume. Think instrumental cues in the background of cable TV show. These don’t pay that much usually, but if you generate enough of them they start to add up. For example, on my most recent ascap statement I had one track used ten times that only paid about 50 dollars. But when you do a
lot of these and get multiple placements they can collectively generate decent revenue. It takes a lot though
Mid-Level – These types of placements tend to pay in the range of a couple hundred dollars, to a couple thousand or more, depending on how they’re used, how much of the track is used and so on. I’ve had a lot of these over the years, and they’ve ranged from as little as 150 dollars for a single placement of about a minute on a soap opera to as much as $2,500.00 for a song used in its entirety and featured several
times.
High End - These are the most lucrative and sought after and these types of placements can generate substantial revenue, anywhere from 10k to 30k or more. Think major ad campaigns, film trailers and so on. These types of placements are pretty hard to secure and they tend to go acts with amazing production, that are fairly established and making waves. Not always, but generally speaking
there's more of an emphasis on how "established" you are.
So, to sum up, there isn’t really a “secret” to licensing music, but there is a natural sort of pecking order and things that need to be in place before you succeed. If you’re new to licensing, go after the easier types of placements to build up your resume and get your name out there. It’s easier to get placements one you’ve had a few to start with. It’s sort of a catch 22, as in many industries, you need experience to get
experience. The solution is to start by going after the types of placements that are relatively easy to get, then build from there.
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Happy Songwriting!
Aaron Davison
