All About ISWCs and How They Can Help You Get Paid
By Etan Rosenbloom
For ASCAP
The music business is full of acronyms. You don't really need to understand what ISWC stands for - unless you want to get paid the royalties your music earns. This helpful article from ASCAP explains the importance of these four letters. (By the way, it stands for International Standard Musical Work Code.)
What Is Mastering Music (and Should You Learn It)?
By Caleb J. Murphy
For Digital Music News
Mastering recordings is often the last step before delivering music but that doesn't mean it's not important. The polish and sparkle that come from good mastering are expected by decision makers. Digital Music News provides this helpful explanation of the process.
Increase Your Sync Licensing
By Jason Blume
For BMI
Jason Blume has been giving great advice to songwriters for a long time. We've learned so much from him over the years. In this article for BMI, he talks about ways to find success in the sync world.
Ten Sync Resolutions for 2023 and Beyond
By Mark Frieser
For Sync Summit
Though it may be a bit late for new year's resolutions, this list of steps to getting your music synced from Sync Summit is helpful any time of year.
Sorting Submissions - How To Get Your Music Heard
By Terry McDonald
For ASCAP
ASCAP published this helpful article about submitting music to publishers. It mostly pertains to production music libraries and contains quotes from many luminaries in the production music business, some of whom contributed quotes to our book. It also includes an excellent email template to use when contacting them.
Composing for Production Music Libraries: Am I Doing This Right?
By The PMA
For anyone wanting to know how to get your music into production music libraries, the Production Music Association presented an excellent discussion on Zoom about how do it. A recording is available on YouTube. (Length 56:39)
How Do Cue Sheets Work?
By ASCAP
Cue sheets are an important part of the sync music process because they allow songwriters and publishers to get paid when their music has been placed in TV shows and other visual media. ASCAP created this short, simple video to explain how the process works. (The other PROs work the same way.)(Length 1:39)
Get Repped! Conference
While some people get their music placed directly into projects, many sign their music with sync agencies. If you want to get in touch with them and learn more about the business, this event is a good way to do it. It's online so it doesn't matter where you live. This is an impressive list of sync agencies!
5 Common Lyric Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them
By Jason Blume
For BMI
We've learned so much about songwriting from Jason Blume over the years. (Good songwriting matters in sync.) In this BMI article, he shares 5 common lyric mistakes and how to avoid them.
The Art of Networking in the Music Industry
By Kaltlyn Raterman
For Flypaper
For those of you heading to music industry conferences or holiday parties, this article is a great reminder about how to get the most out of networking. “It isn’t about finding people who can help you out. Networking is about building meaningful relationships with people.” And that’s always a good thing, in the music business or any other business.
How Do Songs Get Picked for TV?
By Jack Denton
For VICE
“It depends on how the music is functioning in the show and how the song helps tell the story or convey an emotion that is not necessarily said in dialogue.” There you have it. That’s how the decisions are made about how songs are used in shows. Music supervisor Jen Malone summed it all up for us.
Insights From a Music Supe
Ghostwriter Music
For Music Connection
Some music creators have been successful getting their music licensed by dealing directly with a music supervisor. Most of us have not. As music supervisor Laura Katz explains, “If you partner with a good pitch company, they'll be sending in your music when it's appropriate and when the music supervisor needs it, which is the best chance of getting your song actually licensed!”
The 10 Most Overused Songs in Movies and TV
By Dalton Norman
For ScreenRant
Sometimes there are lessons to be learned about writing songs for sync where it would not be expected. This article lists, “The 10 Most Overused Songs in Movies and TV.” That may sound like a bad thing, but we certainly would LOVE for our songs to be placed too many times (whatever that means.) Dalton Norman writes of an “overused” song, “its lyrics were vague enough to apply to almost any situation, and yet it had emotional weight.” Class dismissed.
How Sync Licensing Helped Musicians Thrive
When Live Music Was Paused
By Dylan Smith
For Digital Music News
We wrote our book during the pandemic which left us little time for writing new music. Fortunately, the music we had already written continued earning royalties. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who benefited from having a sync music catalog.
How to Write to a Music Track: The Art of Toplining
By Jason Blume
For BMI
Toplining, or writing lyrics and melody for a produced track, is a technique used in songwriting for hits and for sync. Jason Blume wrote an informative article about the process for BMI.
Five Common Mixing Mistakes To Avoid
By Ronan Macdonald
For Pro Tools Expert
We've learned a lot about audio mixing from concise articles. Ronan Macdonald of Pro Tools Expert wrote a brief and helpful column on the subject.
4 Big Ways Songwriters Network
By Marty Dodson
For SongTown
Hey! That's My Song! includes a chapter about networking because it's THAT important. Writing great music is a good start but unless it gets to the right people, it may not find success. Marty Dodson at SongTown wrote an insightful article about networking for songwriters.
5 Different Ways You Can Outline Your Song
By Ramita Arora
For Flypaper
There are many ways to start when writing a song. We prefer to start with an outline of what the main idea of the song is and how we'll get there. Ramita Arora of Flypaper wrote a great explanation of the process.
5 Things That Make Mixing Music Easier
By Caleb J. Murphy
For Digital Music News
For songwriters and artists who record their own music, there's a lot to learn about the mixing part of the process. This Digital Music News article by Caleb J. Murphy simplifies some of the basics.
What to Say and Do When
You Meet a Publisher for the First Time
By Jason Blume
For BMI
When songwriters get an opportunity to meet with a publisher, they don't always know how to proceed. Our friend and longtime mentor, Jason Blume, wrote an insightful article for BMI explaining how to handle this situation. Though it is not intended specifically for talking with sync music professionals, it still applies to meeting with music supervisors, music library representatives, and sync agents.