I received a brief yesterday for a major ad campaign from one of the companies that I work with and thought I’d share it with you all to give you an idea of the types of pitches that will come up as a result of taking part in the upcoming 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge.
To be clear, I’m not going to be sending out briefs like this directly in the 180 Day Challenge. Why? Well for starters I’m not really allowed to do that. The relationships I’ve developed are based on trust and have taken me years to cultivate. I’m not in a position to send 100 random writers directly to supervisors without any sort of quality control in place.
I’ll be instead directing you to submit your music to companies that get sent briefs like this and you’ll be submitting your music to them per their protocol. As in all businesses, there is a pecking order in place. You need to establish relationships with people “in the know”, to find out about licensing opportunities that are out there. Once you get to know someone and become part of their “inner circle” you’ll start to get these sorts of briefs that
tell you exactly what they’re looking for, how much the project pays, the terms and scope of the license and so on.
A big part of the 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge is focused on how to develop relationships that lead to this sort of information. To my mind, this is at least
50% of getting your tracks licensed. If you don’t know who is licensing what and you have no idea of the actual needs of supervisors that are working on real projects, you’re simply shooting in the dark. Your basically throwing your music against the wall to see what sticks. It’s not a very efficient way of going about getting your music licensed. When you learn what the specific needs are of brands and projects, with reference tracks, it makes things infinitely easier
and will greatly increase your odds of success.
The brief below was a last minute pitch for a car commercial that ended yesterday, so please don’t email me about how to submit your music for this one, as this pitch has ended. The following is the information I was sent, word for word. I took out the company names so that they can remain anonymous. I’m not sure if they would
want me advertising this information publicly and I’d rather err on the side of caution.
Check out the reference tracks they list to get an idea of the genres/styles that this particular brand is looking for.
Here’s the brief…
Hi Aaron,
I am actually working on a music search for a major car company. See below and let me know if you have anything that would be a fit. If so, I need the tracks as attachments and with the understanding that you can clear 100% of master and publishing.
My client is referencing the following
tracks in terms of the kind of sound/emotion/feel he is aiming for. I would stick close to these genres, too.
- So Alive - Goo Goo Dolls
- What We Live For - American Authors
-
Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads
- Sail - Awolnation
- Something Just Like Us - Chainsmokers/Coldplay
If you have anything you’d like to pitch similar to what I’ve referenced above,
please send it to me by end of business day today, June 6th.
Same specs (below) - looking to do $10K-$15K all-in and no union reuse issues.
Thank you
SPECS
USE/MEDIA:
In one (1) :30 commercial with versions, edits, lifts, tags including retail tags. This
will be a general brand film showcasing various visuals of the vehicles for use in all moving media including but not limited to TV of any kind, Internet, Social Media (which will likely get paired down), In-store, and industrial/in-house. Internet to be streaming only, in-context of spot.
TERRITORY:
Broadcast/non-broadcast: The United States its territories and possessions
Internet/Social Media: The World
TERM:
For thirteen (13) weeks beginning around Labor Day, 2017.
OPTION: To renew for an additional consecutive thirteen (13) weeks
*** NO
EXCLUSIVITY
