Bridging The Gap In African Music With Sync Licensing – Part 2.

Written by: Allen Kwasi Adjei.

In the Part 1 of our sync licensing series, we took a look at what sync licensing is and the opportunities it presents. We also developed some context as to what the situation is with respect to the average indie artiste in Africa. In the continuation of this series, we discuss the importance of sync licensing and how it works.

IMPORTANCE OF SYNC LICENSING TO INDIE ARTISTS.

A sync license gives African independent artists more than just increased exposure and potential career development opportunities; it also gives them financial security because they will be paid royalties each time their song is played commercially, which is something that many smaller labels don’t always promise up front when adding new artists to their rosters. This implies that in addition to the up-front payment, they also receive ongoing residual income from continued use over time, which helps to assure sustainability in this fiercely competitive industry.Interestingly, the sync licensing sector is more indie artist-friendly compared to signed artists to big labels, and here is a major reason why.1. Production companies find it quite costly to afford the license fees of music artists signed to big record labels. It costs about 6 to 7 figures to license songs from major record label artists which affects most production budgets.2. Complexity of licensing a major label’s catalog is one major hustle most production companies do not want to get involved with. Many times over, most projects released by artists signed to major labels are co-written and composed; sometimes above 5 co-writers on a single project, which requires clearance from all these composers and their publishing reps. On some occasions, production houses get caught with issues of wrong metadata prolonging long production hours, and budget before licensing them for a visual media project.In the second part of this series, we’ll take a look at how sync licensing works and the various ways of revenue generation.

HOW SYNC LICENSING WORKS.

Sync licensing helps a visual media project achieve its objectives by utilizing a variety of media platforms, TV commercials, movie projects, video games, movie trailers, and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) all have unique criteria and features that you should be aware of when preparing your music for a pitch. Before publishing a story or making a post on social media platforms, content creators who use music synced to their videos must obtain licenses. However, social media apps have taken things a step further by obtaining these licenses on behalf of content creators to support their user-generated content (UGC) features on platforms. When you sync music to a device, you don’t pay directly because of this.A scene in a movie about heartbreak or even a movie trailer may not require music that perfectly complements a TV commercial. Composers that operate in the interactive sector might benefit greatly from paying close attention to the specifics of each media channel. The same is true for other executives in the interactive industry, such as independent sync agents, independent video production companies, and sync agencies. Some music supervisors may choose to concentrate on working only with film productions, while others may choose to explore one or more combined. so it is imperative to always run a background check on who you intend to pitch to.Occasionally a syncable song may not necessarily be or have to be a “great song”, mainstream music, or even a hit track and the type of music a video production needs may sometimes differ from what your fans will yearn for. As long as you have what they want, you are good to go.A visual media project’s displaced audio-visual content, where the content and background music are parallel or less significant to the audience, is one aspect that leaves a lot to be desired. Imagine watching a heartbreaking movie scene with a backdrop of hard rock music? Accessing the “syncability” of your song for a visual media project is essential to prevent yourself from wasting time and that of others.Your journey through sync licensing will be made much easier if you can search your music catalogs for potential sync opportunities that match a Brief (a Brief is a descriptive request for music from a person capable of licensing it; it typically may contain a budget, musical references, time music is needed, rights sought, territory, etc.). Browsing your libraries will assist you find prospective sync sounds and the best music supervisor or sync agent for your particular genre or style of music.You can find soundtracks with links, credits for music supervisors, or sync companies in that industry by exploring TV and media websites like Tunefind.com, which can also assist you with pitching your music. A lot of TV, ads, and movie trailers should be binge-watched as well to develop your sync ear and classify your musical niche to find sync chances.