I diligently follow a few forums online that discuss Music Licensing, because as a consultant and educator, it’s my business to know what YOU need to understand in order to succeed.

I have made it my business to help Musicians succeed in the Music Licensing world.

Now that I think about it, this has been my business in different iterations since 1999 when I met Eric Hilton and Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation at a Music Festival in Iceland. They planted a seed inside my head that changed the course of my life forever. You can read my bio if you want to know more about that story.

When I started Ten Music in 2000, it was my job to REPRESENT Record Labels and Publishers to the Advertising community for the potential of licensing tracks. It was a very new model….there was no one else doing what I did, so there was a certain amount of  ”behind the curtain” in my job. My rolodex was mine and that was what my clients paid me for. It was the “agent mentality. I was trained to think that way. “Stand back while I go out and make magic happen for you.”

As time went on, I began to see that the clients of mine who KNEW the most about the music licensing business, TRUSTED me the most, and stayed the CLOSEST to me, were the ones who succeeded the most. Funny right?

It actually makes perfect sense. With KNOWLEDGE of that which you seek, you have a greater chance of success.

Now I am 3 years into my career as an educator, honing my craft and taking in information in a completely different way in order to feed it back to you in a way you can understand, digest and USE for yourselves. But one thing is still stands true.

KNOWLEDGE is the ultimate PROTECTION and POWER that an artist can have if they want to succeed.

Let’s think about that on a purely artistic level, like how you write a song, or how you get inspired to write a piece of music. The more you KNOW about how to play your respective instrument, the better you are. The more you KNOW about other music, the more you have inspiration.

So this theme felt appropriate to point out as I head into the second (and final) Workshop session for this year.

Here is the Question:

“Sarah, if I want to license my music, what should I do.”

LEARN….you need to learn….it will change everything you do and set you on a course that is tangent to what the business is looking for.

If you want to learn more about my workshop, you can do so HERE. Registration is open for a few more days or until the seats are filled (I am over half way filled in just one day).

http://bit.ly/GYMLWkReg

The workshop begins on July 12th and runs for 4 weeks.

Have an incredible holiday weekend!

Best,
Sarah

The argument has gone mainstream.

Last night on THE COLBERT REPORT, Stephen Colbert went public with his vote for Best Alternative Album.

Funny stuff…take a look. So those of you that think it’s a sell out for Indie Artists to license their music to ads, take a look, cause 3 of arguably the biggest names in Indie music were willing not only to license their music to Zales, Victoria’s Secret, HP, Honda, Tommy Hilfiger, and Sony Ericsson but they were willing to go onto the Colbert Report and make fun of themselves for it.

A few days ago Hoover contacted me and asked if I would like to do a “blog interview”  on being a Music Supervisor and how to counsel anyone who wants to license music to Film/TV or Ads. Naturally I was thrilled.

Comments are rolling in. Can’t see enough of these! Stay tuned all…..more info to come with the book HOW TO GET YOUR MUSIC LICENSED in the Winter of 2010

Check it out, and add TNRP to your blogroll!

Thanks guys!

Best,
Sarah

SXSW has a “Panel Picker” that allows anyone to sign in and have a vote. Its a pretty cool system.

First off I want to say THANK YOU to my collegues who have logged in to vote and left comments as well. It means alot to me. No matter how trifle it may seems, to look back on 10 years of work, its an incredible feeling to that is it respected. I tip my hat.

If you would like to vote, for my panel or others, then simply log on here:

Here is the link to sign up:
Panel Picker Registration

Here is the link to my Workshop to comment and vote:
Get Your Music Licensed in a Commercial

Let me know if you plan to be at SXSW this year!

The first 4 classes (in a series of 12) were about:

• the landscape of advertising
• who the players are in the process
• how the process works
• when does music come into the process
• who the music influencers are

I have had some incredible speakers so far this semester.

• Landis Smithers; former Creative Director Ogilvy Chicago, former in-house Creative Director Old Navy, currently Directing Commercials and Print through Supply & Demand Productions
• Liz Graves, Freelance Agency Producer
• Dan Wilcox, former Director of Music at Ten Music, KCRW DJ and Music Supervisor
• David Taylor, Music Supervisor at Media Arts Lab (client, Apple)

Each brought their own personality, experience and wisdom to the class. The one question each was asked at the end of each class was:  “How do you market to a marketer? Is it different then marketing to a consumer?” The answers were varied, but fantastic to hear. Here are some highlights;

Landis Smithers: “Don’t do things the same way everyone else does if you want to stand out; the last recession I found myself looking for a job. When I looked closely I could see that everyone was sending resumes in the sasme white mainla envelopes. So I sent mine in oversized red and got an almost 100% retention rate. Looks matter when it comes to sending music to Advertising Creatives.

Liz Graves: “it is about networking.  packaging helps, before that you need to know who to get it to.”

Dan Wilcox: “Make sure you don’t send unfinished demos to Music Supervisors, you get one chance to make a quick impression. ”

David Taylor: “I know it sounds basic, but if the music is good, we will listen, and your album art matters.”

It’s been a great semester so far. I remain excited about providing Artists and Artists reps valuable skills to help them navigate these shark invested waters (Answer: knowledge) by showing them what has been typically shrouded and reserved for the Labels, Publishers and Reps. And by the way it took some of the aforementioned years to figure it out as there were no formal resources.

Stay tuned for more as the semester unfolds.

Having your music used in a commercial can mean relative overnight success for a little-known band, artist, or composer. But how do you get your music in the hands of the right people? In this course, learn the history of music licensing in advertising, how commercials are made, and who the decision makers are. Topics cover the basics of music publishing and learning what questions to ask to ensure that when you do get the call, you are able to secure the best deal possible. Standard contracts and best practices for dealmaking are reviewed. Techniques for marketing music to the advertising community are discussed weekly, highlighted by industry guest speakers, including advertising creative directors, agency music producers, directors, producers, and editors.This “green” course provides course materials online to minimize paper waste; Internet access required.

UCLA: 167 Dodd Hall
Wednesdays, 7pm-10pm
June 24 – September 9

12 meetings total

register here: http://tinyurl.com/dxfujq