Your success as a singer-songwriter depends a great deal on the strategic way you position yourself as a musician. The artistry of producing good music—your vision, your disposition, your intuitivesense of rhythm and musical figures—is a vastly different beast than the often daunting legal and financial landscape of audio in this new era of digital distribution. One venture is creative and intuitive; the other involves red tape, legality, logistics and variables.
Apart from the creative process, it’s important to contemplate strategy when considering where you would like your music to take you. Do you create music as a career? Is music your main form of earning? Do you produce music to sell albums and create a fan base, or do you primarily wish to have your music placed in film, television and video games? Perhaps you create music for all three purposes.
Yet another important aspect to consider is what distribution technique will in reality make you money. Given the current landscape of diminishing download earnings and the high cost of antiquated physical distribution systems it generally is a daunting task to find the approach that is right for you. In 2012, most producers agree that the top two ways to make money from music are to tour, or to license music for film, television and video games. After considering the effort and cost involved in planning, booking and carrying out tours licensing definitely emerges as a preferred revenue stream generated by music. If placement in films and television is your main goal, please keep reading.
The way you control ownership of your songs is an essential element for potential music licensing deals in the future. You’ll want to research what makes the most sense for your own sound with a lawyer, but in general, you’ll want to keep in mind:
1) You'll need to keep your own publishing.
2) It is easier to consider licensing contracts if there is one sole
songwriter credit for your music.
3) It is less complicated to work with licensing agents if you release your own
songs as an independent artist. In general, the less parties there are
in a contract, the better.
4) It is best to evaluate licensing companies well. Have an attorney
review any potential contracts. If you choose a licensing agent, they
often prefer to be the exclusive agent—so choose well.
Musician Jennifer Clarke is one such . She creates her music primarily as an emotional pursuit. Her productions are deeply personal and soulful. Yet the moment the album is mastered and printed, Jennifer becomes all business. She licensed her track, “More Than I Have,” on the FX Series starring Denis Leary, Rescue Me. Her current album, Trinkets in Rubble, is scheduled for release in March 2012, when she’ll start new efforts to get the album licensed.
What can you do to pursue licensing? Get in contact with Music Nomad, ASCAP, or use your preferred search engine to seek companies that specialize in the field. Most importantly, never give up. If you knock on enough doors eventually one of them will open.
Singer Songwriter
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