{"id":19673,"date":"2023-06-17T12:08:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T17:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?p=19673"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:11:44","slug":"sync-licensing-success-for-songwriters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/sync-licensing-success-for-songwriters\/","title":{"rendered":"Sync Licensing Success for Songwriters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What Songwriters Must Know About Briefs, Output, and Craft to Land Sync Placements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The following information on sync licensing is excerpted from the Berklee Online course Songwriting Sync Success: The Art and Craft of Licensing, Film\/TV, Advertising, and Production Music<\/a><\/em>, written by Bleu McAuley<\/a>, and currently enrolling.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Early on in my career I often wondered why my songs weren\u2019t being placed in ads. I had some idea that there was money to be made there, and I certainly didn\u2019t have any moral qualms about using my music to sell stuff. I thought I had an album or two with good songs on it (plus other demos, etc.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of years into my journey I was on a major label. I even had a song on the original platinum-selling Spider-Man<\/a><\/em> soundtrack. Surely I just needed to find \u201cthe right person.\u201d I envisioned some sort of magical sync licensing wizard who would put my great song in a great commercial and then I could replace the transmission on my touring van (for the second time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do I Get My Songs in Ads?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Well, now that I have had success with a few big (and many small) ads over the years, I\u2019ve had several people approach me with a similar question about sync licensing: \u201cHow do I get my songs in ads?\u201d They have a record or two, or three, with some good songs, maybe even some songs that could have worked well for a specific ad. The very first thing I ask them is \u201cDid you write these songs for ads?\u201d And 100 percent of the time, the answer is \u201cno.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBUT,\u201d they say, \u201cI saw such and such ad, and that was just a song off of so-and-so\u2019s record.\u201d Yes, we\u2019ve all seen those ads. Some old song from 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago becomes huge (or huge again) because it was in a car commercial. Or some song from a new unknown artist goes bananas on Spotify because it was featured in an iPhone ad. Well, I am extremely sorry to report that the likelihood of that happening is, let\u2019s say, not huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the bad news, BUT the good news is: you can have success in the field of sync licensing. The first thing you should know is that a huge percentage of the songs featured in ads were either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. written specifically for that ad, based on a brief sent out by the company, or more likely an advertising agency or other intermediary<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. written with ads in mind<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. happen to have stylistic elements that typically work well in ads<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How Much Music Do You Have?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The second question I ask is \u201cHow much music do you have?\u201d Usually, the answer is, this record (my first), that record (maybe a second), and maybe some demos that didn\u2019t make the record. So that\u2019s 15, 20, maybe 30 songs. Is it possible one of those songs could work for a specific commercial? Absolutely! Especially if they\u2019re in a genre that ads tend to like. But is it likely? Well, certainly not as likely as if you have 100 or 150 songs, with different tempos, moods, genres, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Winning the Sync Licensing Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Music for advertising is much like the other types of custom songwriting: if you want to win the game, you must know the rules of that game. Once I figured out what game I was actually playing, I started to have success with sync licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Example: iPhone Commercials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    We get more into that game in detail in my Songwriting Sync Success<\/a><\/em> course, but since I mentioned iPhone commercials, let\u2019s listen to some songs that were used in those. Check out the clips on this YouTube playlist<\/a> I made. And to be clear, I\u2019m focusing here on songs that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. aren\u2019t old or legacy songs (because you can\u2019t write those now)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. aren\u2019t by fairly big, well-known artists (because if you\u2019re one of those, you probably don\u2019t need to worry so much about sync licensing to make a living wage)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Analyze These Songs:
      <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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      • What do they have in common musically?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What do they have in common lyrically?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • How about feel? Tempo?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What do they have in common in terms of production?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What do they have in common in terms of instrumentation?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • And what don\u2019t <\/em>they have in common in terms of those things?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Why do you think these songs were chosen for these ads?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Do you think any of these songs were written specifically for the ad?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Commercial Ad Search Briefs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Okay, now let\u2019s take a look at a brief for a commercial ad search, which is a term commonly used to describe a wide search that goes out to publishers, ad agencies, possibly labels, or managers, to find the \u201cright\u201d song for a particular ad. It is very likely that they will listen to 50, 100, or more songs for these searches, many of which will be created from scratch from the brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        A simple yet unexpected piece of music. It should be fun and maybe a bit quirky. We\u2019re not locked on a genre (it could be jazz or indie or electronic). Should build to a nice place by the end.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        We are also looking for some lyrics that work with the theme of our spot: opportunity, your day has come, connecting, we\u2019re with you \u2026 things like that.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        We\u2019ve already heard a lot in the indie genre (which definitely could work, so if there are more tracks there, send them). But I think we also need some more classic stuff. It could swing (this is the unexpected part?) maybe even music that is reminiscent of the \u201960s or \u201970s if the lyric is right. It should make our hero seem a bit cool (we had tried a Louis Armstrong piece that did this well but wasn\u2019t quite modern enough).<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Common Words or Phrases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        This is an ad search that I submitted music for more than eight years ago, but I swear it could be from yesterday! There are several words and phrases here that I see over and over (and over) again.
        <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Can you guess what they might be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Simple, unexpected, fun, quirky, build, opportunity, your day, connecting, we\u2019re with you, cool, retro\/modern<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Why do you think we would see those terms used over and over?
        <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Here are some other general words or phrases that you are very likely to see in ad briefs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        In relation to lyrics: <\/strong>all together, my crew\/fam\/squad, etc., individuality, inclusiveness, a call to action (going for it, leap of faith), movement, newness\/freshness, winning, rebel, great\/best day, bravery, exciting<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        In relation to the song:<\/strong> swagger, different, exciting, upbeat, horns, groove<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Do you think some of the songs from the iPhone commercials might work for this pitch? Why?
        <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Do you see where I\u2019m going here? Although this pitch is from long before those iPhone commercial songs were ever created, some of them could possibly work were it a brief that went out today! The details of the music may change, what\u2019s \u201cin\u201d and \u201cout,\u201d \u201chip\u201d or \u201ctired,\u201d but the general things people are looking for stay much the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        The ONE BIG THING<\/strong>
        <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        I like to think of most of the analyzation I do as having two parts: the \u201cONE BIG THING\u201d and the \u201cmany-little-things.\u201d They are both important, but usually if you can figure out what the ONE BIG THING is (or what someone else thinks the ONE BIG THING is!) you\u2019re much more likely to be successful in whatever it is you\u2019re trying to create. Of course, the many-little-things better not contradict or distract from your ONE BIG THING. In fact, they should probably all somehow point right to that big thing. And sometimes, unfortunately, the ONE BIG THING can actually be something very small. Hey! No one said this was going to be easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Many artists now understand that getting their music synced into film, television shows, and advertisements can be not only a good payday, but a way to gain more exposure and potential fans. But what some people don\u2019t realize is that a huge portion of the artist-oriented songs used in film, TV, and ads are actually created with the potential needs of those markets in consideration (or at least not completely ignoring them). Much like pop songwriting, there are specific approaches, techniques, and themes that can help increase your chances of getting synced. I like to call it \u201capproaching the market.\u201d You can express your individuality and unique creativity to make \u201cyour\u201d music while stacking the deck, so to speak, to increase your potential of getting syncs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Let\u2019s zoom back to the iPhone commercials we looked at earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Sync Success Story: NVDES<\/strong>
        <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        I didn’t put the names of the artists on the links, so you may not be aware that there is one artist who appears SEVERAL times in those examples, and is the only artist to have more than one song featured there. I happen to know that artist: Josh Ocean, who goes by the name NVDES (pronounced nudes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Based just on iPhone commercials, which are an incredibly coveted and prestigious sync (not to mention lucrative), I would say that NVDES has been very successful at getting his artist songs synced. He\u2019s done four worldwide iPhone campaigns and several other campaigns with Apple, as well as work with Samsung, Google, and Netflix. Let\u2019s check out some of his work on this playlist that I made and try to determine what makes his music so ready for sync licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        NVDES iPhone Commercial Playlist<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n