From the course: Learning Music Licensing
Welcome
- [Jake] Getting your music from your bedroom into an international TV ad or blockbuster video game can seem impossible. Where does one even get started? It's not easy, it takes work and discipline, but I've seen it happen hundreds of times before for unknown and independent artists. By the end of this course, I hope you'll have a firm understanding of what it takes to get your music licensed in film, TV, advertising, trailers, and video games, and how to get paid for it. I'm Jake Versluis, and I'm a music executive with over 20 years in the business, starting as a representative for Atlantic Records during college. After moving to LA, I worked in artist management with multi-platinum and Grammy-nominated artists. For over 15 years now, I've been deep in the licensing world as A&R for artists and composers, and responsible for hundreds of licenses within TV, trailers, ads, video games, and film. Using the tools I've laid out in this course, I've witnessed artists go from complete unknown with 500 video views on YouTube total and zero music placements, to YouTube videos with millions of views and licensing income in six figures within a year. If you have great music, I promise you, people want to hear it. Can you envision your most recent song as the backdrop to the new big action movie this summer, or how about that sentimental scene in your favorite TV drama? Together, we're going to make a plan so you can go after it and pull it within reach. I'm sure it's no surprise to you to hear that one of the best ways to get exposure for your band's music is to get a song placement in a visual medium with a wide audience. In this course, I'll show you how to present yourself when pitching your music, whether that's alone or with the assistance of a publisher or sync representative. We'll go through the basics master and sync licensing, how to prepare your music files and song edits, why and where you should register your songs, what creative executives expect, how to target the correct people, how to write a pitching email that will get opened, how to get paid, and more. If you pay attention to the things I'm going to tell you here, and you're legitimately talented, then your chances of getting your song in TV, in the movies, in ads, and in video games will go up substantially. Even for those of you who already know a music supervisor, I'll be sharing some hard-won tips here that can help make sure your song submissions are opened and actually listened to, and the music supervisor will thank you. Licensing your music for media placement can help you raise your artist profile and get you new fans, increase your TV and movie credits, which can lead to more music jobs, generate income through licensing fees and sales and streams of your songs. And the money you make can help you reinvest in your craft, such as recording, touring, buying gear, buying merchandise, PR, and marketing. I've put many of the lessons learned from my years in this business into this course to set you up for success, and I want to hear your success stories. I still get goosebumps to this day when I'm at the movies, and a song I worked on blasts through the theater in a trailer or advertisement. It's a very gratifying feeling, and I want you to have that feeling, too. Okay, let's get started.
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