Songs that are
licensed can have very short or very long life spans depending on several
different factors. I've written songs as
far back as 11 years ago that are still used every year and that I still get
paid for. I've also had songs used once
and then never used again. Some of this
is just dumb luck, but there are other factors to consider when it comes to the
potential life span of a song.
Here are a few...
Style
Does the song sound
timeless or is it stylistically tied to a certain "sound" and certain era? Some songs have a very specific sound that is
connected to the time frame in which the song is written. Different trends come and go and if your music
is very connected stylistically to a very current sound it might have a shorter
life span than a song that is more stylistically "open". For example, guitar and vocal songs worked
fifty years ago and they still work today.
Some styles never completely go out of style. On the other hand, a style like grunge or
disco isn't nearly as popular today as it was during their respective heydays.
Subject Matter
Another consideration
when it comes to the potential life span of a song is the subject matter and
lyrical references. Do your songs
reference current events and things happening in current pop culture? These sorts of references can work great, but
they can also limit the relevance of your music a few years from now. I always suggest when writing for licensing
opportunities to keep things as broad as possible in terms of subject
matter. Themes like love, break ups,
pain, moving on and so forth never go out of style. These topics are just as relevant today as
they were in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The
broader your subject matter the more potential opportunities your music will work
for.
The one exception to
this rule is if you are asked to write about a specific topic or specific
them. Then of course it makes sense to
write about something more specific. Sometimes supervisors are looking for very
specific lyrical references to fit very specific scenes. Maybe they need a reference to a specific
city or a specific person's name. This
actually happens a lot. But I personally
don't try and write for all these potential scenarios unless I know about a
specific project. Otherwise it's sort of
like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Do Supervisors Like Your Music?
Another situation
that can arise is when a supervisor just happens to really like your sound or
style. Sometimes supervisors have
artists they simply like more than others and use their music repeatedly as a
result. This of course isn't exactly in
your control. But what you can control
is the quality of your work. It's
probably beyond obvious to state that you should always strive to create the
best music possible, regardless of what style or genre you're writing. In all the interviews I've done with
publishers over the years I've been consistently told that most catalogs have a
small percentage of artists, five to ten percent, that end up getting the majority of placements. This really comes down to the quality of
music and the quality of production. Good
music rises to the top.
Comment on my blog:
http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/blog/the-lifespan-of-a-song
