Music Supervisors Want Awesome Music
I can put together a list of boxes you can check [of what supervisors want] and I do that when [composers] ask us for input on creating tracks. But I think just being really good at what you do, being interesting and having a unique voice goes a long way. And if there’s a way to fit that within a structured song, that’s a goldmine.
At the Movies
Trailers have huge budgets and are important. No matter how good your movie is, you’ve got to sell it…and part of selling it is that song. With independent artists, you don’t necessarily have recognizable songs. That’s where covers come in handy. You don’t have to pay as much, but you’re getting a recognizable song.
Since trailers were a department we needed, we created Scissorbox. We partnered with a sound design and production company based in Singapore and created a sound library for trailers. We create releases quarterly with those types of cinematic cues. We’re integrating it with our roster, so on the other side of every release we have current songs of our artists remixed in the format trailers need.
Contracts Made Simple
In the beginning, it was a handshake and anything we could do, but that can get you into trouble. We started doing agreements and would take forever to get them done.
About two years into having Lip Sync, I married a music lawyer. He helped finalize an agreement for us. I told him, “Make something you would sign in 15 minutes.” It’s a one-year term, but you can get out of it in 30 days. It’s all negotiable, but we don’t generally bend on basic things. We take a percentage of what we bring in. It’s simple and we like it that way. We need to move fast. It’s all about what’s new, so we don’t have time to go back and forth with lawyers.
Pressure
One minute you’re up for a million-dollar ad and then it falls through. You’ve got to keep all those balls in the air all the time and that’s high pressure. It’s very competitive. And it’s a necessity for bands that they get licenses, so there’s that pressure of performance.
I’ve signed my favorite bands, tried so hard for them and gotten them nothing. It’s heartbreaking. We don’t have much control. You’re working with production timelines—not music industry timelines. It’s a lightning-in-a-bottle type of business we’re trying to make into a formula. It’s a struggle, but we’ve figured out a way to have a well-oiled machine.
Bright Future
Everyone’s freaking out that budgets are getting lower, but I feel positive about the future. It seems like things are doing better.
The future of licensing is definitely becoming more based on being unique and talented, where a year ago it was about the cheesy song that says “I love you” 15 times. Having BadBadNotGood get this Apple ad was just wow! I can see people are going to be making more and more interesting choices. It’s an exciting time if musicians can keep making exciting music.
Well Enough
Very Well Music Group is a unique take on publishing, because we’re working with artists we’ve already produced results for. We’re not owning any of your publishing—we just admin it for you. We’re offering a service that a publisher would, but not signing away your life. It’s similar to our licensing agreement, a lighthearted take on offering a service and adapting to the industry as it is, rather than an old model that doesn’t work. It makes everybody happy.
We partnered with PIAS. Their publishing company, Strictly Confidential, is our international partner. They have an amazing roster and are extremely connected internationally. That’s exactly what we needed. It’s exciting to branch out beyond what I’ve been doing. Now, I’m able to get my hands dirty and pair up writers with artists and producers and have amazing songs made.
When a Plan Comes Together
My grandfather was a musician in Nashville as part of the A-Team. I went to Nashville when he passed away, and I wanted to do research on him and hear some stories. I ended up having lunch with a bunch of the A-Team. I talked about doing sessions with my baby artists, and we’re working on that right now, figuring out the details of the agreement. Now, I’m looking at opening a Lip Sync Nashville, because we opened up a can of worms with these old guys who are dying to do cool things.
Clients: Daptone Records, Innovative Leisure, Dim Mak, IHEARTCOMIX, Bloc Party, Charles Bradley, The Go! Team.
Position: CEO / President, Lip Sync Music, Inc.
Years with Company: 6
Web: lipsyncmusic.com
