By Napsugar Bardocz / GMS Coordinator
The GMS headed down to Brighton on the 9th May to present a panel on the first day of The Great Escape as part of the TGE Conference – Partner Panels.
‘A Panel About How To Actually Land A Sync Deal For Once‘ featured Abi Leland, Kate Young, Iain Cooke and Duncan Smith as panellists, who covered the creative process involved in finding the perfect music, and discussed how such deals work in TV, advertising, games and films.
Here are the key takeaways from the panel.
Abi Leland
– When you are pitching to Music Supervisors make sure you tell the most about the artist in the shortest amount of time – be concise – and remember to name the publisher and label.
– If you are a producer wanting to move into film composition that means that you’ve already got music to represent who you are, and that is your calling card. If you can get across who you are and what you’re about to people that you would like to work with, that’s a great position to be in.
– Main source for new music: playlists, record collection, trusted publishers and agents who act as a filter – they are specialists in specific fields
Iain Cooke
– When pitching, never say “this song is so syncable”! Instead, a perfect line in an email would be “I just signed this 20 year old artist and here’s their first EP”.
– Preferred ways of receiving music: via email as an attached MP3 (subject title is very important – research what we are working on first and refer to that) or via DISCO.
– Please do your research and treat us as individuals. Do not BCC every music supervisor into the same email – otherwise it is very likely that you will not get a response.
– Main source for new music: showcase events like TGE, SPOT, SXSW etc (on the ground), buying music from independent shops (look for under the radar bands)
Kate Young
– In advertising, brands love relating to the artists and their stories so they like to look at the bigger picture. Make sure you include that (in a concise way) in your pitch.
– Make sure your music is correctly registered with the collection societies (PRS, PPL) first, before you pitch them to Music Supervisors.
– Keep in mind that if a brand wants exclusivity on a song the price gets marked up by at least 30%.
– Main source for new music: playlists, trusted publishers and agents
Duncan Smith
– Production music is on the rise, plus it is very easy to clear. And there’s no surprises!
– Preferred way of receiving music: streaming links with an option to download (no MP3s please).
– Main source for new music: playlists, seeing live bands