Music Licensing
June 3rd, 2010 by Lior ShamirNot every songwriter and recording artist out there succeeds in licensing his songs for film and television.
And I’d be lying if I told you every music licensing opportunity pays big bucks.
But I can tell you that the music licensing business is the most lucrative and accessible business for independent artists. Songwriters and performing artists make more money by licensing their songs than performing live, signing a record deal and getting commercial radio airplay combined.
Music Supervisors spend all of their time searching for great music to place in film, television shows and advertisements. They have big budgets, and are always willing to open their wallets for fresh material.
These are the people you want to get your music to, hard and fast.
Best of all, unlike record labels and publishers, Music Supervisors love to receive unsolicited submissions from artists. They even advertise for it.
But you need to know where to look.
Fortunately, a bright young mind (and good friend of mine) decided to create a marketplace for Music Supervisors. It’s a single hot spot where industry leaders come together to advertise their projects and access independent music from artists just like you.
That place is called YouLicense.
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Great information! The world of music licensing is indeed a scary one. Places like YouLicense are taking a step in the right direction.
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Im my experience, the statement:”Best of all, unlike record labels and publishers, Music Supervisors love to receive unsolicited submissions from artists.” is not entirely true, as there are supervisors out there who will not accept unsolicited material, and they are very clear about it.
So, unless explicitely told otherwise, I owuld always get in touch and establish initial contact first.
Lior Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
You’re right, George. That was a sweeping statement.
June 4th, 2010 at 7:25 am
I agree music licensing doesn’t always pay a lot of money i have recently gotten a gig from youlicense and still waiting for the big pay off but i believe it is the future!
Lior Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I’m sure it will come through… and lots of small licensing deals do add up.
June 7th, 2010 at 12:02 am
This is an excellent resource. However, I would like to see some attempt made to bridge the gap between “A list” artists and independent production. In addition to supporting independent music, what we need is a sync licensing clearinghouse that will enable smaller operations and individuals to attain sync licenses for popular music for a very small fee. If Youtube’s billions of music sync’d plays were even accumulating pennies per impression, we would be putting more money into the music industry as a whole. We might then start to see music become good again. Cause, let’s face it, pretty much everyone seems to think it has gone to shit in the last 10 years.
Lior Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
It was all so much simpler in the 60’s…