What kind of music get licensed?  In short, all kinds.  Virtually every conceivable style of music get licensed and regardless of what kind of music you make, there are probably opportunities to license your music in TV shows, Films and other mediums right now.   But with that said, there are some styles of music that get licensed much more than others and different places have different needs for different styles of music that change on an ongoing basis.

A question I'm often asked is what is the best kind of music to submit to libraries and publishers when first making contact with them.  There's no one size fits all answer to this question. It depends on both what kind of music you make and what kind of music the places you're submitting music to need.  If you're an artist and you write original music that is all essentially in one style, then unless you're submitting for a specific project, simply start by submitting three or four of your favorite and best produced tracks.  If whoever you're submitting your music to likes the initial tracks you send them, then almost invariably they'll request that you send more.

If you write in a variety of styles and you're not submitting your music for a specific project then send three or four tracks in three or four different styles and when you submit your music include an email or cover letter indicating that you write in a variety of styles and have more music if their interested.  If the tracks you submitted aren't needed specifically for anything, but the recipient of your music likes the overall quality and sound of your tracks and gets the impression you have additional music in styles they need, they'll most likely invite you to follow up and submit additional music at that point.

The point is to the best of your ability to try and put your best foot forward and also be as relevant as possible musically to the places you are submitting your tracks to. If your music is strong and is something the library or publisher you're submitting to has a need for, you'll be invited to move forward by first submitting additional tracks and then most likely signing some or all of your songs. 

When you're at the point of sending additional tracks I suggest inquiring as to whether or not there are specific projects they need music for and if so what styles of music they're looking for.  That way it's clear you don't want to just be a passive artist in their catalog, but that you want to be an active participant in your own career. 

Want to comment on this article? Now you can read and leave comments on all my articles here: 
http://www.musiclicensing101.com/blog.php