Access Film Music
at Tallinn Music Week
4 - 6 April, 2024
Tallinn, Estonia
Panel Workshop:
"The Business Side of Sync: How To Get Your music Licensed In Visual Media"
Presented by Steph Rushton and Chicago Mike Beck
"The Business of Sync"
at Tallinn Music Week
16:00 on 5 April, 2024
Nordic Hotel Forum - Altair Room
Tallinn, Estonia
WORKSHOP RESOURCES
The following links can prove useful to music artists and their teams interested in pursuing sync licensing opportunities:
Steph Rushton's "The Business of Sync" Workshop Presentation Slides
EAÜ
Estonian Performance Rights Organization (PRO), which collects
performance royalties for songwriters and music publishers.
STIM
Swedish performance rights organization (PRO), which collects
performance and mechanical royalties for songwriters and music publishers.
DISCO
A comprehensively conceived platform for sharing music which was developed by music supervisors with the specific needs of music supervisors and artists, record labels and music publishers in mind.
Their website includes extensive background and training documents and videos about current best practices for sync licensing and presenting music to people working in the visual media industries.
Inventory of Works for Sync Licensing
A spreadsheet template for organizing and documenting your musical works and details of your intellectual property, metadata, and relevant information so that you can make your music "Sync Ready".
Songwriter Split Sheets
When a new musical work is created by more than one author (aka songwriter / composer / lyricist), "Songwriter Split Sheets" are the recommended method to document
the relevant percentages of ownership / authorship / control for each "interested party" (individual authors and their respective publishing companies).
| |
Access Abundance split sheet pdf 11" x 17" (single page)
Access Abundance split sheet pdf 8.5" x 11" (2 pages)
The 2 split sheet documents above are identical, except that the 8.5" x 11" version can be printed on the front and back of a single sheet of A4 paper. Tthe A3 version allows all of the information to be viewed simultaneously. The 2 content of the 2 documents are identical -- Choose whichever format works best for you.
Access Abundance split sheet - Addendum pdf 8.5" x 14" (2 pages)
The split sheet addendum is only needed in instances where there are more than 4 songwriters. |
Musician Work-for-Hire Agreement - sample pdf
Sync 101 Handout and Glossary
IMDB
IMDB is a great resource for researching music supervisors and other personnel involved in visual media productions: Films, television shows, etc. IMDB Pro allows you to explore projects that are currently in production and pre-production, which can be a valuable source for sync licensing contacts.
The Guild of Music Supervisors
The Guild of Music Supervisors maintains a directory of music supevisors which may be made available to members of the organization. They produce events where their members are often in attendance. Their website also offers some insightful videos and webinars featuring interviews and commentary from prominent music supervisors.
Example Sync Licenses
Example EU Sync License
Example US Sync License
Film Festival Resources
Access Abundance Film Festival List (always a work in progress!)
Steph Rushton's Film Festival Database
Wikipedia's List of Film Festivals
Fest Agent Film Festival Database
Seven Seas Music
Access Film Music LLC
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
The world of sync continues to mystify musicians, label owners and other industry professionals. How does it work? What is reasonable to expect? Where does one start?
Most independent musicians, labels and publishers are seeking opportunities to reach a wider audience and are eager to earn money with their music. Having your music included in a popular film, television series, videogame, ad or new media outlet can serve both these goals, and it’s not as far out of reach as you might expect.
This 60-minute session will unveil the sync process behind the scenes and show several avenues to bring your music to the big screen. Participants will leave the session with an understanding of music rights, the knowledge of how to get sync-ready, and gain confidence to reach out and seek sync opportunities.
The session will cover the following topics:
Part 1: "Follow that money!" - Copyright law, your musical rights and how to track them, and the legal fundamentals of music in film, TV and video games (types of rights, royalties and types of agreements).
Part 2: “Get it right, get it tight” - the importance of metadata, quality mastering, song organisation, instrumentals, lyric sheets, making your music discoverable and always including contact info.
Part 3: "You oughta be on the big screen" - How does music get into movies, TV, video games and advertising? The key players in the industry, the role of music supervisor and sync agent; how music is selected; and custom score vs pre-recorded music (not made specifically for the visual).
Part 4: "Scoring it big in the movie business" - Getting your music in movies, and getting paid for it! - How do Music Supervisors like to receive music, the perfect pitch, quote requests vs confirmed use, why independent artists have an advantage over major label music, types of income streams, and what to expect regarding fees.
For tickets to
Tallinn Music Week, please visit
TMW.ee.
Speakers:
Stephanie Rushton is a Canadian music supervisor and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) based in Paris. Through her work as a music supervisor at California-based Seven Seas Music, The Rights Workshop and for her independent film clients, Stephanie specialises in sourcing and licensing authentic international music for their projects. Her accounting work intersects with her music work as her trusted clients include record labels, film studios, artist collectives, Burning Man camps and individual musicians. She shares her expertise by volunteering with global organisations to educate musicians about music rights, publishing and the basics of synchronisation. If you would like to connect with Stephanie, you can find her on Instagram @thedangerousaccountant.
Chicago Mike Beck is an ASCAP award-winning songwriter and recording artist who has toured the US and Europe since 2001. Mike is also the founder of Access Film Music LLC, whose mission is to connect music creators and filmmakers. Access will once again present music showcases in Paris, France as the Official Music Partner of the ÉCU Film Festival. Mike has served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Song School in Lyon, Colorado, and has been a featured speaker on sync licensing and other topics at AmericanaFest, South-by-Southwest, Folk Alliance International, Nordic Folk Alliance and other songwriting camps and retreats, music conferences and film festivals throughout North America and Europe. He has also presented his music business workshops at UCLA, Berklee College of Music in Boston, Stevens Institute in New Jersey and the Viljandi Cultural Academy of Tartu University.
ChicagoMike.com AccessFilmMusic.com
