Submit Music

Before receiving a music sample from you, we PREFER to first review your music on your website, YouTube or other web-based media site. Providing a link to one of those will save time. If we are interested, we will then ask you to send additional MP3s. You must own or have rights to the music you send. If co-written, you must get permission from the other writers.  

Copyright. Your songs must be protected. It is very important. If we represent your music, you must belong to a Pro Affiliate: ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in the US, SOCAN in Canada, or a corresponding affiliate in your home country. WHY? That is the only way you will get paid your royalties.

How do I get my music on TV?

We aren’t all signed to major record labels (which is probably a good thing), and we don’t all have huge media corporations controlling our publishing either.  But all Artist are still trying to make a living, with or without record deals, and in a post-Napster generation of file sharing, record sales have crashed, and artists need to find other ways to earn income from their music.

Placement of songs in TV shows, Commercials, Video games, and other media outlets has become a crucial part of the music industry over the last decade.  A placement on Grey’s Anatomy, an iPod ad, or a Tony Hawk video game can give huge exposure to artists, and be the tipping point to move them from being an unkown, to an uberstar!

But if you are an artist and are unfamiliar with music licensing, you need to take some time to educate yourself before you start signing on the dotted line to give your rights away. US Copyright laws require that three separate licenses need to be cleared before any piece of music is put into any TV show, Commercial, or Film.  Those rights are:

Synchronization, Master Use, and Performance rights.

Synchronization (sync) rights come from the music publisher, who gives license to the intellectual property that is your song, while Master Use rights typically are owned or controlled by the record label (unless you’re Ray Charles, and you stick it to the man).  The “masters” are the actual recordings of a song.  So one song may have several different masters (maybe even from artists other than the original performer).

So a music supervisor would need to get a license from both the Record Label, and the Publisher (which may or may not be affiliated with the Label). Production Music companies like ours exist to make that process easier, so we control “both sides” (which means sync and master) on everything in our music library, so our rates are inclusive of both sync and master.

Whether you use a music placement company, or try to get your songs placed yourself, you will want to register all of your songs with a Performing Rights Organization.  The three main PRO’s in the US are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.  Whichever you choose (we will remain neutral, since we use all three), it will be their job to monitor the public performances (mainly broadcast) of your music, and collect and pay you royalties each time your music hits the airwaves.  Matt Hirt wrote a great article about how much money you can make from Film & TV Music, but it can be hard to predict, so don’t buy that new guitar or drum kit until the check is in your hands!

To briefly toot our own horn (can someone please explain that phrase to me?), 5 Alarm Music has a label just for independent artists, so if you want to find out more check out: Rescue Records.   And here is great article from Billboard about how DMI Music (our loving parent company) used several different media outlets to boost the career of one of our artists: Kirsten Proffit.

It’s a Good Time to License Independent Music

The panelists all agreed that it was a fantastic time for independent artists to look for licensing deals, simply because of economics. Producers are more open to indie music, as A) indie music is typically cheaper to license, and B) many producers consider themselves tastemakers, and want to be known for breaking Artist. Alicen Schneider spoke about the fact that 75% of the music used by NBC is now independent music.

How Much Can Artists Expect to Get Paid?

There is a wide range in the amount of money artists can expect to get paid from a licensed track, much of which depends on usage. Variables include the length of the use, the thematic placement (is the song in the credits or in the background of a scene?), the budget of the production, if the song is for a one-time use or used as a recurring part of the promo for the production, and more. The more that is requested of the song, the more the song will be worth. It’s important to also note that when a song is used in TV or film, two licenses are needed: a synchronization license from the copyright owner of the music, as well as master recording license from the copyright owner of the sound recording. These are two separate agreements, and typically, artists that control both their master rights as well as their publishing will do “All in” deals that cover both “sides” of the composition. According to Jennifer from SubPop, artists can expect to receive anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 for the master rights alone for one-time placements.

Dos and Don’t: Rules for Submissions

Similar to traditional press, blog, or radio outreach, there are specific rules that artists should follow when pitching music supervisors. Once you find the name of a specific supervisor that you want to target (the Music Business Registry is a good option for finding contact info), your package should follow these guidelines:

1) Although they take Mp3 files in emails, music supervisors still primarily work with full art CDs. They prefer their music in proper jewel cases with a spine that lists the artists name and title. Madonna from Whoopsie Daisy (who has worked on “Smallville,” “One Tree Hill,” “Alias,” and “Felicity,” and others) said that she receives upwards of 150 submissions a week, many of which she files away. Artists have to make it as easy as possible for them to file your music, and find it later.
2) If you are burning a CD, be sure you have added all the track info to the individual songs (particularly artist and song names). If a supervisor burns your music into iTunes, you don’t want to be in their library as “Track 2.”
3) Clearance problems are always an issue. Make the publishing and master info as prominent as possible, especially if you control both.
4) Be sure you are targeting the right show. Music supervisors hate emails that ask: “What are you looking for?” Know your show’s demo, and send them appropriate music.
5) Do Not Call. Music supervisors have no time to spend on the phone. Quick email reminders are appropriate. Successful pitches are those that do not expect anything, and do not put too much pressure on the supervisor. Keeping in front of them is great; stalking them is not.
6) Do not ask them for opinions on your music. Music supervisors are not A&R reps. Good music will stand out and get placed at some point.

Use Songpluggers

All music supervisors have a trusted stable of songpluggers that they can go to in a pinch. Songpluggers (or independent licensing companies) have relationships with all the music supervisors in LA, know what their taste is in music, and can provide cleared music to them, which they can run with immediately. Indie artists should look into building a relationship with licensing companies that have these direct connections with the music supervisors. However – do your homework on them. Like any promo area in the industry, there tends to be some false claims and embellishments. Learn more about songpluggers

Music Licensing is Insanely Competitive

The labels are keenly aware of the importance of music licensing.  But the bottom line is that if artists can find fans of their music in the music supervisor, (or sometimes even a key actor, as was the situation with Death Cab for Cutie and their placements in the O.C.), indie artist have as much of a chance as a major label artist (if not more, with the smaller budgets) with success in music licensing.

What is a "music supervisor?"

A music supervisor oversees all aspects of music in a particular production and plays a key role in the development of the entire musical landscape. This may include facilitating a show's creative needs with artists, songs and score, handling all licensing and contractual elements, dealing with the technical aspects of on-camera and studio production work, soundtrack solicitation and more. We are the liaisons between the music and production worlds.

How does one license a song for use in a film or a television program?

Once the creative decisions have been made with regards to a song, we locate and contact the master and copyright owners (usually, record labels own the master and a publishing company owns the copyright) and, based on a particular production's music budget and the necessary licensing rights needed, we proceed with the negotiation process.

Can I license a song that has never been published?

Yes. A song can be licensed if it has not been previously published or registered with a performing rights society. In this case, the music supervisor would deal with the songwriter directly. However, it behooves a songwriter to publish their material so that future performance income can be generated and potential theft prevented. Moreover, if you get a song licensed in a television program or any kind of feature film, you are entitled to get a copy of the "Cue Sheet" from the production company who is usually the one responsible for submitting this form to the Performing Rights Organization ("PRO"). A cue sheet contains information on each piece of music used, how it was used (i.e. theme, background, feature performance), how long it was used (down to the second), and the list of songwriter(s) and publisher(s) along with their PRO. You should always keep a file of these "Cue Sheets" if any piece of your music is used in television or film. Remember, many times production offices disappear after a film has "wrapped" (or ended) and it then becomes virtually impossible to get a copy of the cue sheet at that point. This is important because if you ever need to show proof to your "PRO" after your program or movie has aired, you'll have a file on it as proof.

It is also very important to know and understand how money can be generated from licensing songs. Three separate streams of income could come from the following:

1) A Synchronization License fee (also known as a "Sync" License fee) on the "front-end" which is a fee for the actual use of a composition in a film or TV program.

2) A Master Use License fee on the "front-end" as well which is a fee for the use of the actual Master recording.

Both a Sync and Master Use agreement can be lumped into one license if the Master and Copyright owner are the same person or entity. This is often preferred by Music Supervisors due to the ease of licensing. Generally speaking however, there will be at least two different Licenses issued by two or more parties.

3) A Public Performance royalty on the "back-end" which is a royalty for the "public performance" or "broadcast" of a song that is aired over a television station (including cable and local) as well as foreign theaters. Performance royalties are not collected for the use of music on films in movie theaters within the United States because of a 1948 court decision when most of the major film studios also owned the movie theaters. Even though this is not the case today, this non-licensing status has never been reversed.

How do I find or contact a music supervisor and what are the chances that they will really listen to my music?

While there is no "directory" that specifies what supervisor may be working on a particular project, the information is out there if you take the time to look. There is resource material available that lists Music Supervisors and their contact information, but it generally won't list projects (see the end of this article). Also, keep in mind that the question, "So what are you working on?" is incredibly annoying. The reality is that you, the licensor, aren't really interested in what we're working on but rather how can you get involved. Remember, you are just one person, but we get bombarded by people all day long. Accordingly, you want to make the conversations quick and painless for us. Try something to the effect of "Is there anything you're looking for or need?" or "Can I help you with music in any way?" Also, we constantly listen to music but it must be done at our pace. We know you're anxious to hear back and do business, but if you haven't gotten a call it means that we haven't found anything of use yet. You wouldn't want someone standing over your shoulder bugging you to finish writing a song, right? You can always check back. Two months is appropriate versus a few days down the road. In addition, only send what we request. Do not "throw in a few extra things just in case." It only confuses the entire process and takes up limited office space.

How would a music supervisor want a CD presented to them for each project?

Make all the contact information (artists and songs) clear, simple and highly visible on the CD as well as the jewel case with the important information on the spine. Some even like to include the name of the artist on the spine as well. We need the facts – artist and record company (or if self-released), writer(s) and publisher(s), PRO (performing rights organization) affiliation and contact info. Ideally, it is also helpful to include the genre (Latin, Alternative Rock, etc.) and tempo (Mid-tempo, Ballad, etc.) of each track along with what project the song is being pitched for. It is generally not necessary to send bios or glossies. We can always get that from you later. If you don't have neat handwriting though, you should print the information from a computer. Please note: Music supervisors are not record companies! We are not concerned with how cool you are or how artsy your album looks. The creativity will shine through in the music, but if we can't locate you or find your album in the sea of material we constantly get – we can't license your music.

What should I know about the film or television project before submitting any of my songs?

First, you should know what type of music the music supervisor is looking for. Investigate the nature of the production you are submitting for and use deductive reasoning. Second, make sure that ALL the legalities of your music are in order so that when we contact you to license your material it is quick and easy. This is a business and relationships are crucial. Being a fantastic songwriter or artist is not enough. And remember, there is never only one song that works for a particular scene. If it is difficult or becomes too complicated to do business with you, we will find another song and another person to license from, period.

What are the rights and terms I can expect to deal with when licensing a song?

While all License Quote Requests look different, they all contain the same basic information. There will be a "Rights" section that reflects the licensing needs of a particular Production (like theatrical, television, home video or trailer use), a "Territory" section that defines where a Production needs rights for, a "Term" section that defines the period of time a license is good for (most companies try to license "in perpetuity") and a section that has a description of how the song will be used within the body of a show and for how long.

How do I compete with other major publishers and major record labels?

Make the licensing of your material FAST, EASY and INEXPENSIVE. We will keep coming back. Keep it simple – No extra pictures, folders or press stuff. BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP. Don't try to bilk a supervisor for a big score up front. Think long-term. If you end up walking away with less than you hoped, it is not a reflection on your creativity. It is merely a byproduct of a supervisor's project budget.

What can I do to make sure my music is available and ready to license and what would make my package stand out to a music supervisor?

There are many books on the subject of licensing and your PRO rep is available to help you through the legalities of it all. It's difficult to say what will make a package stand out as our creative needs are constantly changing. Some music supervisors might be more visually oriented and would give more attention to a CD that looks unusual (even if its just a color xerox), as long as the song titles are easy to read. The important thing is to keep developing relationships and don't be too pushy. Something will happen eventually. Be sure to add a cover letter referencing the conversation and the project you are submitting for. Also, including a "post-it" of standout tracks may work as we don't often have time to listen to an entire album. Feel free to call but don't do it too frequently. Again, once every two months is appropriate.

Should I have a manager or lawyer or other representative submit my songs on my behalf?

Frankly, this only works if your manager or lawyer has a relationship with a music supervisor. If they don't, it's no different than you calling. However, if you are unable to conduct business on your own in an appropriate manner (which is okay, many artists can't), find a representative who can do this on your behalf. But keep in mind that, in the eyes of most supervisors, the involvement of an attorney tends to put us off. It smacks of being too complicated and difficult to license. Any representative should incorporate everything previously discussed in this article into his/her approach as well.