How to get your music used by Netflix & Amazon TV shows
With most producers using streaming as their primary source of income, many seem to overlook the possibility of sync placements of their music within TV and film. However, these placements can be extremely lucrative when successful. Whether it’s a movie, video game, film trailer, or TV show, licensing your music to media companies can be a great way to earn an additional source of revenue. In this article, we’re going to discuss what a music supervisor is, and how they are crucial to getting your music placed in your favorite tv shows.
Essentially, a music supervisor is somebody that underscores a piece of video with songs once the producer/director supplies them with the footage. For example, they may put an upbeat EDM song into a party scene of a movie. Once they have negotiated a fee with the content creator (artist), it is placed into the movie or tv show for broadcasting. It may be the original song, an instrumental, or just a short snippet. Whatever the section of the track, it’s a huge acomplishment to be able to say that your music was used in a TV show.
Now that we know what a music supervisor is, it’s time to discuss how to get in contact with them. Contrary to popular belief, cold emailing hardly ever works in this situation. The same answer applies to pitching your song via Twitter – or another social platform for that matter. Instead, the most common way of getting song placements within TV shows and movies is getting a “song plugger”. These are people who have strong relationships with music supervisors, and they pitch your music directly to them. Alternatively, you could try getting your music into a sound library in which content creators can purchase music from. If you’re able to obtain enough downloads, this can also work out as a great revenue stream for your music career. When getting in contact with song pluggers, it’s worth noting that the song has to fit perfectly with the requirements of the movie/tv producer in order for the placement to be effective. Now that we know the best way to get your music heard by music supervisors, here’s a good example of a pitch to a song plugger. Although this is a simple template, it’s worth adapting it and personalizing the email to whoever you’re pitching to.
Subject:
“Song Placement for TV/Movie similar to _______”
Body:
“Hey ______
How are you? I’ve taken a look through your portfolio and am a massive fan of your work. I noticed that you obtained a sync placement for ______ in the movie _____. My music is very similar to theirs, and would love to send you my newest track for sync placement consideration. I’ve attached a private streaming link with download enabled. I look forward to discussing further.
Talk soon,
_______”
During your pitch, you should try and keep it short and sweet. After all, they probably receive hundreds of similar emails per day. By personalizing the message and stating your music is of a similar style to successful placements that they’ve obtained, it will grab their attention very quickly. Also, don’t state your budget within the first email. Most often, the song plugger will reply with a price range of what they can offer. It is incredibly difficult to have your music placed as an independent artist – and so you shouldn’t be disheartened if you get rejected on the first few tracks you send out. But once you find a company that you are excited to work with, the process of communication between the two parties will become exponentially easier.