How I Make Cinematic Music For Brands/Ads/Commercials Pt 1 | Direct Placements

[markhimley]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed the video and also subscribed to your channel

I also went through the course you mentioned in the video a couple of years ago which I highly recommend as well.

A question if I may:
Seeing that you have experience in both Film/Tv and Ads, what do you feel is more lucrative, both financially and also "artistically" ?
Personally although I do enjoy both, I have concluded that from my experience doing the "homework" in the aforementioned course, composing to picture gave me more satisfaction than doing library tracks, however I recently heard that the ad world is getting more similar to production music in the sense that there is less custom composing to picture going on and more pre-made music being selected which also results in less financial potential I imagine. Just curious to know your thoughts and experience.

Keep up the good work.

Owen

Hey Owen,

Thank you so much! I appreciate that

I would say the world of ads/promos/trailers is MUCH more lucrative than general film/tv placements in terms of financially. I'm not sure how I would see something as being lucrative artistically, but I find much more artistic fulfillment in creating music to submit to libraries, where I can create something that satisfies my artistic itch while still making it fit into the mold of being something "licensable" if that makes sense. Just my experience though and based off what I've heard from others. I think having music in both worlds is the best approach.

I too really love scoring work. I went to school for composition and filmscoring and wish I could do more of it, however, I find it very hard to find well-paying gigs doing work actually scoring to picture. I have heard that too from many people about the ad world, that they are doing more "pulls" now (pulling music from pre-existing catalogs/libraries to license rather than paying for custom music). I do think, and have seen, that there are less and less of the giant up-front paying ads. From what I've heard, this has a lot to do with the fact that not many people are watching national ads anymore. For example, not many people are watching a tv channel that is playing the exact same show and ad to the whole country/world. More and more people are watching localized/regional content, and even streaming does this as it can change ads based on your location, so the ads have much smaller and more targeted reach, which results in lower budgets and such. Just part of the picture, but I've heard that come up many times.

My goal and approach, which I get into a bit in part two that goes live this coming week, is to build up a catalog over time and let music libraries do the work. I still think there are TONS of opportunities with sync/music licensing and I am VERY optimistic for the future. Yes, things are changing. But there is more and more need for music every day. There's sooooo many new outlets for content now, and they all need music. So, maybe less potential for the big and glamorous sync fees, but much more potential to land tons of placements in many new places and expand your reach with your music.

Thanks again! I really do appreciate your time and thoughtful reply

[ErinC]

Awesome. Looking forward to checking out that template video. Templates are something I haven't messed with but I know I really need to. I appreciate your time making and editing these videos and sharing information

Erin C



Hey thank you so much!!

Yes it’s a great sound for sure, Spitfire has a way of creating tons of great and easily usable sounds in their instruments

I actually do already have a video covering that! It’s in the video where I show how I made my template and walk through how to create one. Feel free to watch here: https://youtu.be/tKOfPEjhOCc

Thanks again!!

[markhimley]

Awesome. Looking forward to checking out that template video. Templates are something I haven't messed with but I know I really need to. I appreciate your time making and editing these videos and sharing information

Erin C

Hey my pleasure!!

[OwenGrech]

Hey Owen,

Thank you so much! I appreciate that

I would say the world of ads/promos/trailers is MUCH more lucrative than general film/tv placements in terms of financially. I'm not sure how I would see something as being lucrative artistically, but I find much more artistic fulfillment in creating music to submit to libraries, where I can create something that satisfies my artistic itch while still making it fit into the mold of being something "licensable" if that makes sense. Just my experience though and based off what I've heard from others. I think having music in both worlds is the best approach.

I too really love scoring work. I went to school for composition and filmscoring and wish I could do more of it, however, I find it very hard to find well-paying gigs doing work actually scoring to picture. I have heard that too from many people about the ad world, that they are doing more "pulls" now (pulling music from pre-existing catalogs/libraries to license rather than paying for custom music). I do think, and have seen, that there are less and less of the giant up-front paying ads. From what I've heard, this has a lot to do with the fact that not many people are watching national ads anymore. For example, not many people are watching a tv channel that is playing the exact same show and ad to the whole country/world. More and more people are watching localized/regional content, and even streaming does this as it can change ads based on your location, so the ads have much smaller and more targeted reach, which results in lower budgets and such. Just part of the picture, but I've heard that come up many times.

My goal and approach, which I get into a bit in part two that goes live this coming week, is to build up a catalog over time and let music libraries do the work. I still think there are TONS of opportunities with sync/music licensing and I am VERY optimistic for the future. Yes, things are changing. But there is more and more need for music every day. There's sooooo many new outlets for content now, and they all need music. So, maybe less potential for the big and glamorous sync fees, but much more potential to land tons of placements in many new places and expand your reach with your music.

Thanks again! I really do appreciate your time and thoughtful reply

Hey Mark,

Likewise! Thanks for your detailed response - much appreciated!

Very interesting observations in there especially with regards to regional ads. Makes sense.
Yeah all things considered I have to agree that having a lot of music in both worlds is really the way forward. "Lot" being the keyword here as just like you said, the budgets have gone down but the opportunities are almost overwhelming in a positive way.

That being said, I wonder if all of this, combined with the fact that most libraries are exclusive these days maybe makes the argument in favor of non-exclusives a little more appealing, kinda to compensate for the decline in per track profit potential. Who knows?:) Staying positive and keep pumping out tracks in the meantime is sure the best plan

PS. Got notified re part 2 which I will be watching very soon!

Take care
Owen

[markhimley]

Hey Mark,

Likewise! Thanks for your detailed response - much appreciated!

Very interesting observations in there especially with regards to regional ads. Makes sense.
Yeah all things considered I have to agree that having a lot of music in both worlds is really the way forward. "Lot" being the keyword here as just like you said, the budgets have gone down but the opportunities are almost overwhelming in a positive way.

That being said, I wonder if all of this, combined with the fact that most libraries are exclusive these days maybe makes the argument in favor of non-exclusives a little more appealing, kinda to compensate for the decline in per track profit potential. Who knows?:) Staying positive and keep pumping out tracks in the meantime is sure the best plan

PS. Got notified re part 2 which I will be watching very soon!

Take care
Owen

Overwhelming in a positive way - I like that

Well, in my humble opinion, I far prefer exclusive for instrumental tracks and cues, but prefer non-exclusive for vocal songs / collabs with artists. That's a longer discussion and rabbit hole, but I think that's a fairly common approach. Very briefly - I am not precious with my instrumental cues. I crank them out and send them off, no personal attachment. I prefer to send them to exclusive libraries as it raises their value, and they are then distributed globally through the publisher's foreign sub-publishers. For vocal songs though? I don't want them tied up with one exclusive library, especially without upfront payment, and I want the freedom to be able to shop them around and use them freely for things like YouTube videos and such. I put a looot more work into these and feel much more attached to them artistically, and don't want them collecting dust in some exclusive catalog and never getting used and also not being able to post them publicly and all that. Also, I prefer to collaborate with artists who have at least somewhat of an artist brand - and they generally want to be able to promote the song and use it for their brand too if it fits. Non-exclusive seems to fit better for those.

Thanks for watching part 2 and commenting! Appreciate your time and thoughtfulness

[OwenGrech]

Overwhelming in a positive way - I like that

Well, in my humble opinion, I far prefer exclusive for instrumental tracks and cues, but prefer non-exclusive for vocal songs / collabs with artists. That's a longer discussion and rabbit hole, but I think that's a fairly common approach. Very briefly - I am not precious with my instrumental cues. I crank them out and send them off, no personal attachment. I prefer to send them to exclusive libraries as it raises their value, and they are then distributed globally through the publisher's foreign sub-publishers. For vocal songs though? I don't want them tied up with one exclusive library, especially without upfront payment, and I want the freedom to be able to shop them around and use them freely for things like YouTube videos and such. I put a looot more work into these and feel much more attached to them artistically, and don't want them collecting dust in some exclusive catalog and never getting used and also not being able to post them publicly and all that. Also, I prefer to collaborate with artists who have at least somewhat of an artist brand - and they generally want to be able to promote the song and use it for their brand too if it fits. Non-exclusive seems to fit better for those.

Thanks for watching part 2 and commenting! Appreciate your time and thoughtfulness

Hi Mark,

Thanks again for your response and apologies for my late reply!
I really like your point here with vocal tracks as I totally agree in that they require much, much more work and it makes much more sense to spread them far and wide!

You are welcome! Keep pumping out great content and best of luck for a bright future ahead

Take Care
Owen