An Interview With Takashi Seo 

I recently did an interview with Berklee College of Music student, Takashi Seo, for a music business class he's taking at Berklee currently. Takashi is a member of How To License Your Music Premium and is currently a student at Berklee College Of Music. Takashi approached me recently and asked if he could interview me for a music business class he is taking at Berklee.  As an alumni of Berklee College Of Music, I was more than happy to oblige!

I thought his questions and my answers would be interesting to those of you who are subscribers to my newsletter, so I'm posting our interview below.

Here it is....

Takashi: What would you say the biggest difference in the licensing business is now compared with when you started? I often hear that the industry is shrinking, and also that composers now need to work with different genres, as well as a higher quality of production being expected. If you could please give me both positive and negative sides of your opinion, that would be fantastic. 

Aaron: The licensing space has become much more competitive since I started licensing my music back in 2002.  At that time, licensing was a relatively unknown, somewhat obscure way of making money from music.  But since then, as the industry has shifted and sales from recorded music have dropped substantially, more and more songwriters and composers have entered the music licensing business. As a result, it’s become much more competitive and crowded.  Fortunately, there has also been substantial growth in terms of new networks and new forms of media like Youtube, Netflix, online advertising, VR games and much more that all license music. 

But I think it’s fair to say that overall, it’s become more competitive and is probably a harder industry to break into than when I started. But we are where are, I think instead of comparing the industry to what it used to be, it makes more sense to focus on the opportunities that do exist and focusing on being competitive in today’s industry.

Takashi: I understand it’s possible to do full-time music with licensing but I also get only a very limited number of people manage to reach that point. What are the other possibilities for income stream related to this field? I know for example you do education and that’s definitely the big one. I’ve recently gotten into Gary Vaynerchuk (You’ve mentioned him in the podcast) and I’m curious to see if you know of any creative ways to earn income as a musician like being an “influencer” in the licensing world. 

Aaron: The way I like to think of media and content in general, whether online or offline, is that it’s all about driving traffic and getting people’s attention.  If you can drive traffic to your content, whatever that content is, whether it’s music, educational content, youtube videos, or something else, there are a multitude of ways to generate money.  And in general, the more traffic you can attract, the more money you’ll make. 

I teach courses, in addition to making music, because there’s a tangible need for the information I provide.  People are looking for answers, and therefore it’s relatively straightforward to drive traffic to the solutions I provide.  With music, it’s harder in the sense, that although you could argue that there is a “need” for music, it’s a less tangible and urgent need.  Music is also highly subjective and there’s a ton of it, which is why I think it’s really important that musicians understand new forms of marketing and monetization, like music licensing.

Music licensing is great in the sense that there is a very tangible need for music in the context of licensing.  TV shows, films, ads and so on need music for their productions. If you have music, you potentially have something that there’s a big need for in the context of licensing. And that’s really why I create the courses I create, to provide examples of people surviving and thriving in our new music business paradigm, and to provide a map that details how other musicians can get there.

And sure, there are certainly ways to make money being an influencer, ala Gary Vaynerchuk, but in the music industry.  However, I would be very careful about deciding to go down this route, if you actually aspire to be a musician.  It’s hard to do it all, and there are only so many hours in a day. I also think you have to be really aware of what it is you actually enjoy doing and have a passion for.  Gary Vaynerchuck is extremely successful as a business person and you could argue as a motivational speaker, because he has a clear passion for the topics he's discussing.  He exudes excitement when he speaks about business because he's clearly very passionate about the topic.  I think this is a major part of his success, he's really into what he's doing.  

If your passion is music and you want to make music and make money from your music, I would suggest focusing all your free energy and time on that goal.  Learn everything you can about how musicians are succeeding and making money from their craft in 2018. Really study the music business and how it’s changing, for better and worse, and focus on that, if making music is your real goal.

Takashi: How does a new platform like YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc... affect things in terms of licensing? What are the differences between working for TV shows vs those new platforms? Are deal structures any different? 

Aaron: For streaming only shows, such as those that air on Netflix and Amazon Prime, upfront sync fees tend to be higher, in my experience, since there isn’t really much back-end in terms of performance royalties, like there is for shows that air on television.  But like with TV, it really depends on what platform you license your music through and what deals they’re able to negotiate on your behalf.  There are many different types of deals, depending on the artist and who the music is being licensed through and where.

Takashi: I hear a lot of networks are coming up with their own music libraries. It does make sense to me but could you please tell me how it works from a composer stand point if there’s anything specific that’s different from working for traditional music libraries? How would you get involved with the libraries for these platforms?

Aaron: Some shows have “go to” staff composers that are their “go to” person for creating and curating music.  In a sense this person become sort of like a music supervisor, who also composes music. These composers work closely with the show’s music editor or editors and both create and pitch music for use in the show.  In terms of getting involved with these shows and libraries, it works the same way it does with licensing in general, network and get to know the right people!

A friend of mine, and collaborator on my new premium website, Eddie Grey, is the staff composer for a show called “Born This Way” on A&E.  Eddie actually started his career as a client of mine and went on to land this gig, among many others, after taking my courses.  He got his break as a result of an email campaign several years ago. He spent months emailing and reaching out to different people in the industry and eventually connected with someone that led to his job on the show, all as a result of simply sending emails and connecting with people in the industry that way.

Takashi: Could you please name 3 composers who made a successful transition from having a busy day job to the full-time licensing world? 

Aaron: Three that come to mind, that I’ve worked with personally via my website, are Eddie Grey, Dario Forzato and Chuck Hughes.  There are many, many more. Be sure to check out my podcast for more examples:

http://musicmoneyandlife.podbean.com/

I hope these answers help!  For more, related information, be sure to get my free video series on writing music for television here:

http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/

Also, be sure to check out my new premium website with tons of resources, leads, courses and more, all related to music licensing and the music business, here:

https://www.htlympremium.com/

Musically yours!
​​​​​​​Aaron Davison