. One challenge I’ve faced in my music journey is figuring out what genre suits me best. Although I’ve solved that problem, I now struggle with how to distinguish myself and avoid sounding generic within my chosen music style. I attempt to make my music authentic, but it still ends up sounding like everything else I hear on TV. I want to stand out from the crowd, but I also want my music to have a unique quality.
Great question Lucas. It can be a challenge finding a unique voice while also fitting in with contemporary music found in playllists or on TV.
If you find that you’re sounding too much like TV music, try expanding your references. I constantly build playlists in Spotify with new sounds that catch my ear. I also listen to new releases on Friday and then add sounds that resonate to my playlists where I can study them regularly.
Also, getting some qualified feedback on your songs can help give you some perspective and other ideas.
Hi, Eric.
Thanks for Lesson # 2. Being an African and living in Africa (Uganda), I struggle with the kind of lyrics that would resonate with Americans & Europeans. I, therefore, seek collaboration with American and European lyricists, so I may concentrate on melodies. I have catch-up work there, too, but not as bad as with lyrics. My other comment/question is this. In the late 1980s, we saw especially, British and other European companies/advertisers using Soul/R&B Hits from the 1960s and these songs hit the charts once again (Jackie Wilson, Percy Sledge, Bill Withers, et al). Do you have placement opportunities for advertisers/companies that lean towards retro songs?
Yes retro songs are always in demand. The sounds from the 60s and 70s are quite popular in TV and commercials and I think it will remain that way for a while.
For your first question, focusing on writing strong melodies while collaborating with American and European lyricists is a great idea.
And also, sites like genius.com can help you analyze the lyrics of American songs making your own writing more relatable.
The balance between being an independent artist and a songwriter for sync has been a challenge for me. Should I be releasing my own music? Or will that hurt my chance to be placed for syncs? Should I quietly be submitting my music to libraries in the background? Or will that make me unsearchable and unattractive to music supervisors who are looking for “real” artists?
I think I know which direction I am going to go in, but would love to hear from the community.
You can pitch songs whether they are released or unreleased.
From a brand’s perspective, if they are looking to see if you’re a ‘real’ artist, then they will expect to see releases out there. However, you don’t have to release everything and again, you can pitch a song whether it’s released or not.
I get the importance of building on the emotion of the songs…..how important is using the sounds that almost everybody uses for sync as appose to using different sounds that would supports the song build up
I assume you’re referring to the music production? In terms of sound selection, producing for sync isn’t much different than producing for mainstream songs. You want to use sounds that people in the genre are familiar with but at the same time you always want to push the envelope so that your music doesn’t sound typical or average.
Struggling? That’s a good question. I feel like I’ve come so far but still have so much to learn! I can put together a complete song so much more quickly now and have definitely honed in on my writing, production, singing, and mixing skills. But still, no placements. That’s probably my number one struggle right now. I’m hoping to get on another round of emails and connects next week after I put together another playlist on disco.
Thanks for sharing Patrice. It’s great that you can see how much progress you’re making.
As far as placements, are you pitching to supervisors or to sync agencies. It’s really hard to get a direct placement from a music supervisor. I recommend artist focus their energies pitching to sync agencies.
In addition, have you been getting any qualified feedback about the syncability of your songs? If not, I recommend seeking that out before (or while) pitching to agencies.
For me, I think it is about re-structuring how I write music and certainly lyrics. I am an older artist and have been doing this for a long time and need to “break” out a bit from how I am used to doing things. And I need to work a bit harder on cohesiveness, clarity of message. I have written and released a lot of songs but I just need to fine tune my approach to the way I do things.
I appreciate this Dave. This is the reason I continually listen to new releases and build playlists of new songs that resonate with me.
I always find new things to apply to my writing technique so that I’m not keeping myself in a box.
As a producer, I find it tough at times to break the mold of producing for artists and compose pieces that fit well in sync. Applying your formula to my sessions could definitely assist but I’m curious if this translates to music production/producers as well.
The main part of the formula that producers should pay attention to is Song Structure and Dynamic track production.
I find that making your tracks more dynamic keeps them interesting from start to finish so it’s a skill that improves your artist tracks and also helps you make music that is more syncable.
One thing I’ve struggled with in my songwriting journey is building a solid catalogue, being consistent, and (to be transparent) having that hookability in my songs. I know I have a strong voice and great storytelling but for some reason, it feels like my music doesn’t appeal to the masses. The feedback I received in the past from sync folks was completely pejorative and not constructive which was disappointing but I’ve learned to continuously affirm myself that I’m meant to do this despite the odds. I’ve also struggled with finding the right producer for quite some time who can build a song around an initial idea along with me toplining and an engineer who can actually bring out my voice the way that it needs to on songs for that top quality sound. I’m not the best when it comes to knowing mixing terminology which I’m working on to communicate better with my engineer, but I’m hoping with these lessons I can go back to the basics and fall back in love with writing what’s authentic to me as an indie artist but still relatable and pitchable. Thank you for providing the space for us to be vulnerable and self-reflective!
Thank you for sharing yourself Lynda. I understand the struggle. I like that you’ve clearly identified your strengths and weaknesses. A lot of people have taken the time to assess that.
“Hookiness” can be learnt especially if you’re already good at storytelling. A good exercise is to spend some writing sessions just writing hooks. Pull together a playlist of songs with some hooks that really speak to you and try to identify exactly why they’re hooky. Then spend a couple hours just trying to come up with a few of your own.
As far are the mixing knowledge, that is a universal struggle amongst artists. I think it’s helpful for artists to study at least the basic of recording and mixing to at least understand the lingo when working with an engineer.
This is so informative and inspiring. Your talent and knowledge is ridiculous. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I’m super excited to learn more and take bigger steps in my sync journey.
Another great session Eric. I think my biggest struggle is to break the storytelling mold I have been in for most of my 50+ years of writing. However, I also think my writing is moving in the proper direction, but like all habits, breaking them takes time. 🙂 slowly but surely…
Hey Lynda 🙂 I totally get this. It’s a challenge but I think of it this way – instead of telling a complete story ourselves, we’re writing songs in support of a larger story.
Just saw video 2… Great stuff… One thing I’ve struggled with is my production quality. I think I have the knack for consistently creating great songs, but the overall sound quality gets lost between the headphones and the car speaker. It’s getting better, but it’s still a big challenge.
Thanks for sharing. Production quality can definitely be a challenge especially since the bar is constantly being raised as the definition of what’s “contemporary” frequently evolves.
This could be an area where collaborating could come in handy. Especially if your songwriting skills could be an advantage to a producer that’s lacking in that area.
One thing I’ve struggled with is actually writing around themes that are more positive and upbeat. I love purpose-driven, positive music of course. But by the time I actually finish the lyrics, my songs either tend to suffer from bad production quality, or they’re just too niche for a wider audience. This is one big reason why my sound currently tends towards garage rock, grunge, or even the blues where a ‘lesser’ sound quality is actually part of the genre’s appeal. As a lyricist and poet, my songs have often been referred to as “soulful.”
That said, being my authentic self has never really been an issue! I just need to work on getting stronger in the other half of the sync formula, and then I know I can make this work for me!
Thanks for sharing R.T. If I understand your post correctly, the struggle lies in writing authentically but still giving supes what they’re looking for – especially pertaining to positive lyrics.
I know if can be a struggle to write from a place of positivity and still have it come from an authentic place. I think this is usually becuase we’re more inspired to write when we are feeling negative emotion (which might be why the blues is a comfortable genre).
But positive emotions can be just as strong but it takes. more practice for us to tap into them. I find it helpful to start journaling around our positive feelings just like we might around negative. That can help us find our authentic language.
Hi Eric,
I’m a producer and artist from Nigeria. One of the issues i face is my accent. I make Hiphop music but my Nigerian accent is noticeable in my songs. Will the accent make the song sound less authentic since Hiphop in sync is mostly done by American artist?
Good question. Yes, most hip hop comes from the US but it is also a global artform and more in more you’re hearing hip hop with differing accents. I don’t think the Nigerian accent is a problem today. As long you English is understandable and you’re talking about subjects that people relate to universally, it might give you a unique advantage.
Must I do a two versed song? I personally don’t like dogs with 2 verses but if it’s important for the sync structure then I will.
What is the ideal song length that work for sync? My regular song length for music is release to DSPs is about 1:40, so it’s pretty short
For most songs, I recommend sticking to a standard structure. And when you go on streaming services, most successful songs have 2 verses (though some are shorter). On average the length is about 2:30. This isn’t just for sync, I think it will help your artist releases as well.
Thank you so much Eric. I really appreciate this! It’s really powerful concepts! I consider myself a real artist, and I found in sync an opportunity to make money for a living, so I think you’re the one I needed to hear, because I don’t want to stop being myself. Tell me what you think about this, my native language is Spanish, I’m from Argentina, and my emotional songs are in Spanish, although I also have English for sync but my emotional songs so far are in Spanish, do you think songs in Spanish could work? They’re kind of acoustic, folk, folk rock in Spanish. Thank you Eric for taking your precious time to share this with us! Eternally grateful!
I think Spanish songs can work but you should probably shop them to an agency that licenses music in spanish speaking markets (throughout Mexico, South America and Latin America).
For the US, there is a lot of interest in Latin genres with English lyrics (or songs that have a mix like some spanish in the verses but maybe the chorus is in English).
Great Eric! I’ve done a lot of Latin music productions in English, great songs and very well produced. So I will definitely go down that path if there is so much demand in the US. I’m also a flamenco guitarist, and I’ve done a lot of gypsy rumba in English too, do you think that’s also in high demand in the US? Or a mix of the two. They’re styles that I handle perfectly. Great news, Eric. Very, very grateful for your time. And lastly, could you recommend some synchronization agencies, because so far I’ve only contacted supervisors. Thanks again, Eric!
Hey Eric, thanks for this second video! I love the idea of marrying both artistry and sync skills.
Having that in mind, would you say is ok to release a certain song/album on platforms after pitching to music sups, or is it better to give some sort of “exclusivity” to the companies sending them the songs first?
Thank you Eric. Great video. I think i’ve struggled with lyrical component. Most of my music production is instrumental. Would it be best to focus on colabs or trying my hand with lyrics?
Hey Eric! Thanks for the info! As a song writer, I personally struggle with closing a song. Be it the bridge out to the second chorus, or a chant as the second verse… just the second verse in general… adding intensity has always been a weakness because my voice is so mono toned. I’ve recently learned to add layers which has helped allot! I just get blocked when I get to the second half of carrying out the story. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Yeah, finishing a story can be a challenge. From a writing perspective, I will try to map out the story before I start writing. So, I organize the story line almost like chapters in a book. There’s the theme of the first verse, then the chorus, all the through the end. If I know where I’m going before I start writing, it’s easier for me to get there.
I dont have a writing problem but more of what topics to write about. I do multiple genres and there’s times I feel I should stick to 1-2 but I do pretty well in the others.
I get this struggle. I like to write in multiple genres a well. Sometimes I find that I have to focus in order to get a catalog of songs together. Also, focusing helps me get better at one genre. But if I’m cranking out good work in that genre, I might switch so that I can start improving on something else.
I think my struggle as a songwriter is that balance of writing for a pitch versus writing for myself – what I personally like may be different from what is in a brief and being requested to write – how to pull emotion from situations that you may not have been in but for the sake of writing and creating to a brief – using imagination and creativity to pull those together – but it may not come across organically as a situation you’re actually familiar with
totally get this Lorenzo. Often, we can relate to sync themes more than we’re aware. We just don’t spend as much time analyzing those feelings so they’re harder to write about. I’ll try to create some content around this cause it’s an important subject.
So appreciate this information, thank you! I got into sync because I wasn’t that good at writing lyrics. Friends would say I lack the discipline. I would get an idea for a track and record it and then get another idea and it just would repeat. I would sometime record a melody or track how I would sing/hum it, but it’s off to the next one cause I don’t want to lose the idea. Sync seemed to be the perfect avenue where I could create cues all day. what’s also interesting for me, as a singer, I was an artist but I guess I was looking for a way to be creative but hide… I say all that to say my biggest weakness is writing lyric. It’s not so much that I can’t, I feel like I’m losing momentum by stopping to take a few days to write lyrics.
signed lyrically challenged
Thanks so much for your transparency Robbie. A lot of writers struggle with finishing songs. Sometimes it’s easier to just do the part that comes quickly to us. But it sounds like you’re ready for the challenge of taking on the hard part – and for you that sounds like it’s the lyrics.
One way to avoid that break in momentum is to write to tracks that you’ve completed a while ago and haven’t used (or write to someone else’s tracks).
For me, one of my major challenges is the feedback piece.
First, I know I need a little more feedback on my tracks, but I think, sometimes, I could stand to be SHOWN more about the production part.
But mostly just the feedback- I don’t think I get enough of it to make me feel confident in my output
I relate to that Marcus. Things didn’t change for me until I started getting more qualified feedback. It took a while to find it and sometimes I pay for it (sometimes I can find it free in different communities) but now I prioritize getting feedback from people with deep experience.
It’s true that pop and rap are the dominant genres. However, practically every genre is represented in sync. One thing you can do now is start paying attention to music that you hear on screen and try to find where different types of jazz might be being used. Knowing the styles and the usage out there, it will help you know what lane to focus on.
Thank you so much Eric! Such great info and tips. Thank you for taking the time to support Indie artists in this arena. I’m getting better and better at Toplining. My challenge at the moment is in production- even producing sound ideas for another producer- finding the right reference tracks/sound selections for ear candy without getting too close to the reference- coming up with interesting instrument lines/sounds that serve the song well and sound modern-and when to know it’s okay to just have traditional instruments (drums, bass, guitar, piano) or if that is generally not enough anymore. I know it depends on the song but this can all be such a deep rabbit hole. Thanks again!!
Thanks for your comment Stacey. Just from the details of your comment I can tell that you’re asking the right questions around production. One of the things that helps me with sound selections is expanding the references in the brief. If they give me 1 – 3 references, I will add those to a place and then try to find 2 – 5 additional songs that fit (Spotify’s similar songs algorithm is really helpful with this). Having 5 – 10 songs gives a me enough variety so that I don’t have to worry about being too close to the reference.
I think the biggest thing I struggle with is the production quality mixing/mastering and some of the effects and transitions that are well known in sync licensed music too
Thanks for commenting Kenneth. Mixing, Mastering is definitely a challenge for a lot of artists in sync. If possible, you can consider outsourcing it (while using courses or videos to strengthen your own skills).
A challenge that I’ve had recently, is finding vocalists to partner with in order to go from “rough reference track” to a completed song. I have alot of recorded references and idea tracks, but they tend to live in my hard drive because I don’t have the vocal range to replicate what I was hearing in my head as I was writing it. Those end up being skeleton tracks where I’ll write and recite the verses, but the hook sections stay blank because they need a softer more melodic tone.
Hi Eric! Once again, you knocked it out of the park! These tips are gems!
One thing that I find as a struggle is that the majority of my music is instrumental. Being that I’m a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, but not a strong vocalist, I find my true artistry in instrumental music. The elements of emotional resonance, song structure and dynamics are a big part of what I strive for in my pieces. I’ve written a handful of songs with lyrics and have been collaborating with vocalists to bring those lyrics to life, but it’s a slow process and takes a long time to develop a finished product when waiting on others to sing my songs. But I use thematic development, evolving rhythmic layers, and refined harmony and melody to give my songs a wordless story and emotional arc.
Do you have recommendations for someone like myself, where lyrical content is an elusive element.
I keep getting feedback that my music belongs in sync, particularly video games and ambient projects, like documentaries and movie trailers.
Thank you and I’m gearing up to watch part 3 as soon as I hit send! ✌️
I don’t know if this is a struggle or more of a question that I have. I got three songs picked up about 2 years ago but since then I haven’t been able to really make any traction. I only have one agency that I am submitting too right now so I guess my question is how do I go about finding new agencies to submit to? And are there certain agencies for different genres of music?
Thank you for the insight Eric, it’s been helpful as always. What I’ve identified as my recent challenge has been giving my tracks those dynamics as you mentioned. However, I find that the more I listen to other artists/music, the more I’m able to extract and infuse new ideas. Overall, when I feel like I get into a musical “rut”, I put my own stuff away and just listen, listen, listen.
I have struggled with emotional writing. I think I’m good with melody and song structure, but it’s the emotional writing that I can’t quite seem to get right.
. One challenge I’ve faced in my music journey is figuring out what genre suits me best. Although I’ve solved that problem, I now struggle with how to distinguish myself and avoid sounding generic within my chosen music style. I attempt to make my music authentic, but it still ends up sounding like everything else I hear on TV. I want to stand out from the crowd, but I also want my music to have a unique quality.
Great question Lucas. It can be a challenge finding a unique voice while also fitting in with contemporary music found in playllists or on TV.
If you find that you’re sounding too much like TV music, try expanding your references. I constantly build playlists in Spotify with new sounds that catch my ear. I also listen to new releases on Friday and then add sounds that resonate to my playlists where I can study them regularly.
Also, getting some qualified feedback on your songs can help give you some perspective and other ideas.
Waiting For the next session sir
part 3 comes in a couple days
Hi, Eric.
Thanks for Lesson # 2. Being an African and living in Africa (Uganda), I struggle with the kind of lyrics that would resonate with Americans & Europeans. I, therefore, seek collaboration with American and European lyricists, so I may concentrate on melodies. I have catch-up work there, too, but not as bad as with lyrics. My other comment/question is this. In the late 1980s, we saw especially, British and other European companies/advertisers using Soul/R&B Hits from the 1960s and these songs hit the charts once again (Jackie Wilson, Percy Sledge, Bill Withers, et al). Do you have placement opportunities for advertisers/companies that lean towards retro songs?
Thanks Raymond.
Yes retro songs are always in demand. The sounds from the 60s and 70s are quite popular in TV and commercials and I think it will remain that way for a while.
For your first question, focusing on writing strong melodies while collaborating with American and European lyricists is a great idea.
And also, sites like genius.com can help you analyze the lyrics of American songs making your own writing more relatable.
The balance between being an independent artist and a songwriter for sync has been a challenge for me. Should I be releasing my own music? Or will that hurt my chance to be placed for syncs? Should I quietly be submitting my music to libraries in the background? Or will that make me unsearchable and unattractive to music supervisors who are looking for “real” artists?
I think I know which direction I am going to go in, but would love to hear from the community.
You can pitch songs whether they are released or unreleased.
From a brand’s perspective, if they are looking to see if you’re a ‘real’ artist, then they will expect to see releases out there. However, you don’t have to release everything and again, you can pitch a song whether it’s released or not.
I get the importance of building on the emotion of the songs…..how important is using the sounds that almost everybody uses for sync as appose to using different sounds that would supports the song build up
I assume you’re referring to the music production? In terms of sound selection, producing for sync isn’t much different than producing for mainstream songs. You want to use sounds that people in the genre are familiar with but at the same time you always want to push the envelope so that your music doesn’t sound typical or average.
Struggling? That’s a good question. I feel like I’ve come so far but still have so much to learn! I can put together a complete song so much more quickly now and have definitely honed in on my writing, production, singing, and mixing skills. But still, no placements. That’s probably my number one struggle right now. I’m hoping to get on another round of emails and connects next week after I put together another playlist on disco.
Thank you so much for your time and knowledge!
Thanks for sharing Patrice. It’s great that you can see how much progress you’re making.
As far as placements, are you pitching to supervisors or to sync agencies. It’s really hard to get a direct placement from a music supervisor. I recommend artist focus their energies pitching to sync agencies.
In addition, have you been getting any qualified feedback about the syncability of your songs? If not, I recommend seeking that out before (or while) pitching to agencies.
For me, I think it is about re-structuring how I write music and certainly lyrics. I am an older artist and have been doing this for a long time and need to “break” out a bit from how I am used to doing things. And I need to work a bit harder on cohesiveness, clarity of message. I have written and released a lot of songs but I just need to fine tune my approach to the way I do things.
I appreciate this Dave. This is the reason I continually listen to new releases and build playlists of new songs that resonate with me.
I always find new things to apply to my writing technique so that I’m not keeping myself in a box.
Yes for sure. I have been doing this for a while now.
As a producer, I find it tough at times to break the mold of producing for artists and compose pieces that fit well in sync. Applying your formula to my sessions could definitely assist but I’m curious if this translates to music production/producers as well.
The main part of the formula that producers should pay attention to is Song Structure and Dynamic track production.
I find that making your tracks more dynamic keeps them interesting from start to finish so it’s a skill that improves your artist tracks and also helps you make music that is more syncable.
One thing I’ve struggled with in my songwriting journey is building a solid catalogue, being consistent, and (to be transparent) having that hookability in my songs. I know I have a strong voice and great storytelling but for some reason, it feels like my music doesn’t appeal to the masses. The feedback I received in the past from sync folks was completely pejorative and not constructive which was disappointing but I’ve learned to continuously affirm myself that I’m meant to do this despite the odds. I’ve also struggled with finding the right producer for quite some time who can build a song around an initial idea along with me toplining and an engineer who can actually bring out my voice the way that it needs to on songs for that top quality sound. I’m not the best when it comes to knowing mixing terminology which I’m working on to communicate better with my engineer, but I’m hoping with these lessons I can go back to the basics and fall back in love with writing what’s authentic to me as an indie artist but still relatable and pitchable. Thank you for providing the space for us to be vulnerable and self-reflective!
Thank you for sharing yourself Lynda. I understand the struggle. I like that you’ve clearly identified your strengths and weaknesses. A lot of people have taken the time to assess that.
“Hookiness” can be learnt especially if you’re already good at storytelling. A good exercise is to spend some writing sessions just writing hooks. Pull together a playlist of songs with some hooks that really speak to you and try to identify exactly why they’re hooky. Then spend a couple hours just trying to come up with a few of your own.
As far are the mixing knowledge, that is a universal struggle amongst artists. I think it’s helpful for artists to study at least the basic of recording and mixing to at least understand the lingo when working with an engineer.
This is so informative and inspiring. Your talent and knowledge is ridiculous. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I’m super excited to learn more and take bigger steps in my sync journey.
Thank you Brandyn. I’m so glad you find it helpful!
Another great session Eric. I think my biggest struggle is to break the storytelling mold I have been in for most of my 50+ years of writing. However, I also think my writing is moving in the proper direction, but like all habits, breaking them takes time. 🙂 slowly but surely…
Hey Lynda 🙂 I totally get this. It’s a challenge but I think of it this way – instead of telling a complete story ourselves, we’re writing songs in support of a larger story.
Just saw video 2… Great stuff… One thing I’ve struggled with is my production quality. I think I have the knack for consistently creating great songs, but the overall sound quality gets lost between the headphones and the car speaker. It’s getting better, but it’s still a big challenge.
Thanks for sharing. Production quality can definitely be a challenge especially since the bar is constantly being raised as the definition of what’s “contemporary” frequently evolves.
This could be an area where collaborating could come in handy. Especially if your songwriting skills could be an advantage to a producer that’s lacking in that area.
One thing I’ve struggled with is actually writing around themes that are more positive and upbeat. I love purpose-driven, positive music of course. But by the time I actually finish the lyrics, my songs either tend to suffer from bad production quality, or they’re just too niche for a wider audience. This is one big reason why my sound currently tends towards garage rock, grunge, or even the blues where a ‘lesser’ sound quality is actually part of the genre’s appeal. As a lyricist and poet, my songs have often been referred to as “soulful.”
That said, being my authentic self has never really been an issue! I just need to work on getting stronger in the other half of the sync formula, and then I know I can make this work for me!
Thanks for sharing R.T. If I understand your post correctly, the struggle lies in writing authentically but still giving supes what they’re looking for – especially pertaining to positive lyrics.
I know if can be a struggle to write from a place of positivity and still have it come from an authentic place. I think this is usually becuase we’re more inspired to write when we are feeling negative emotion (which might be why the blues is a comfortable genre).
But positive emotions can be just as strong but it takes. more practice for us to tap into them. I find it helpful to start journaling around our positive feelings just like we might around negative. That can help us find our authentic language.
Hi Eric,
I’m a producer and artist from Nigeria. One of the issues i face is my accent. I make Hiphop music but my Nigerian accent is noticeable in my songs. Will the accent make the song sound less authentic since Hiphop in sync is mostly done by American artist?
Good question. Yes, most hip hop comes from the US but it is also a global artform and more in more you’re hearing hip hop with differing accents. I don’t think the Nigerian accent is a problem today. As long you English is understandable and you’re talking about subjects that people relate to universally, it might give you a unique advantage.
Must I do a two versed song? I personally don’t like dogs with 2 verses but if it’s important for the sync structure then I will.
What is the ideal song length that work for sync? My regular song length for music is release to DSPs is about 1:40, so it’s pretty short
For most songs, I recommend sticking to a standard structure. And when you go on streaming services, most successful songs have 2 verses (though some are shorter). On average the length is about 2:30. This isn’t just for sync, I think it will help your artist releases as well.
Thank you so much Eric. I really appreciate this! It’s really powerful concepts! I consider myself a real artist, and I found in sync an opportunity to make money for a living, so I think you’re the one I needed to hear, because I don’t want to stop being myself. Tell me what you think about this, my native language is Spanish, I’m from Argentina, and my emotional songs are in Spanish, although I also have English for sync but my emotional songs so far are in Spanish, do you think songs in Spanish could work? They’re kind of acoustic, folk, folk rock in Spanish. Thank you Eric for taking your precious time to share this with us! Eternally grateful!
Thanks for your comment Damian.
I think Spanish songs can work but you should probably shop them to an agency that licenses music in spanish speaking markets (throughout Mexico, South America and Latin America).
For the US, there is a lot of interest in Latin genres with English lyrics (or songs that have a mix like some spanish in the verses but maybe the chorus is in English).
Great Eric! I’ve done a lot of Latin music productions in English, great songs and very well produced. So I will definitely go down that path if there is so much demand in the US. I’m also a flamenco guitarist, and I’ve done a lot of gypsy rumba in English too, do you think that’s also in high demand in the US? Or a mix of the two. They’re styles that I handle perfectly. Great news, Eric. Very, very grateful for your time. And lastly, could you recommend some synchronization agencies, because so far I’ve only contacted supervisors. Thanks again, Eric!
Hey Eric, thanks for this second video! I love the idea of marrying both artistry and sync skills.
Having that in mind, would you say is ok to release a certain song/album on platforms after pitching to music sups, or is it better to give some sort of “exclusivity” to the companies sending them the songs first?
Thanks again!
Best,
You can pitch released or unreleased music. It’s good to have a big enough catalog where you can do both.
Thank you Eric. Great video. I think i’ve struggled with lyrical component. Most of my music production is instrumental. Would it be best to focus on colabs or trying my hand with lyrics?
You can do both but collabs might get you there quicker while you work on improving your lyric writing.
Hey Eric! Thanks for the info! As a song writer, I personally struggle with closing a song. Be it the bridge out to the second chorus, or a chant as the second verse… just the second verse in general… adding intensity has always been a weakness because my voice is so mono toned. I’ve recently learned to add layers which has helped allot! I just get blocked when I get to the second half of carrying out the story. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Yeah, finishing a story can be a challenge. From a writing perspective, I will try to map out the story before I start writing. So, I organize the story line almost like chapters in a book. There’s the theme of the first verse, then the chorus, all the through the end. If I know where I’m going before I start writing, it’s easier for me to get there.
I dont have a writing problem but more of what topics to write about. I do multiple genres and there’s times I feel I should stick to 1-2 but I do pretty well in the others.
I get this struggle. I like to write in multiple genres a well. Sometimes I find that I have to focus in order to get a catalog of songs together. Also, focusing helps me get better at one genre. But if I’m cranking out good work in that genre, I might switch so that I can start improving on something else.
I think my struggle as a songwriter is that balance of writing for a pitch versus writing for myself – what I personally like may be different from what is in a brief and being requested to write – how to pull emotion from situations that you may not have been in but for the sake of writing and creating to a brief – using imagination and creativity to pull those together – but it may not come across organically as a situation you’re actually familiar with
totally get this Lorenzo. Often, we can relate to sync themes more than we’re aware. We just don’t spend as much time analyzing those feelings so they’re harder to write about. I’ll try to create some content around this cause it’s an important subject.
Lesson 2 even greater
So glad to hear that!!
Although I’m not an artist, as a producer who is striving to start a career in sync, this is very informative.
I’m glad it’s helpful Josh. As you collab with songwriters, it’s good for producers to know what kind of songwriting works for sync.
So appreciate this information, thank you! I got into sync because I wasn’t that good at writing lyrics. Friends would say I lack the discipline. I would get an idea for a track and record it and then get another idea and it just would repeat. I would sometime record a melody or track how I would sing/hum it, but it’s off to the next one cause I don’t want to lose the idea. Sync seemed to be the perfect avenue where I could create cues all day. what’s also interesting for me, as a singer, I was an artist but I guess I was looking for a way to be creative but hide… I say all that to say my biggest weakness is writing lyric. It’s not so much that I can’t, I feel like I’m losing momentum by stopping to take a few days to write lyrics.
signed lyrically challenged
Thanks so much for your transparency Robbie. A lot of writers struggle with finishing songs. Sometimes it’s easier to just do the part that comes quickly to us. But it sounds like you’re ready for the challenge of taking on the hard part – and for you that sounds like it’s the lyrics.
One way to avoid that break in momentum is to write to tracks that you’ve completed a while ago and haven’t used (or write to someone else’s tracks).
Hi, Eric!
For me, one of my major challenges is the feedback piece.
First, I know I need a little more feedback on my tracks, but I think, sometimes, I could stand to be SHOWN more about the production part.
But mostly just the feedback- I don’t think I get enough of it to make me feel confident in my output
I relate to that Marcus. Things didn’t change for me until I started getting more qualified feedback. It took a while to find it and sometimes I pay for it (sometimes I can find it free in different communities) but now I prioritize getting feedback from people with deep experience.
Thank you so much for all the details in this video. It is very much appreciated since I am at the beginning of my efforts and career in Sync.
I am a jazz vocalist and songwriter. Is there any potential for this genre in sync or do Music Supervisors mostly seek out pop, rock and R&B?
It’s true that pop and rap are the dominant genres. However, practically every genre is represented in sync. One thing you can do now is start paying attention to music that you hear on screen and try to find where different types of jazz might be being used. Knowing the styles and the usage out there, it will help you know what lane to focus on.
Thank you so much Eric! Such great info and tips. Thank you for taking the time to support Indie artists in this arena. I’m getting better and better at Toplining. My challenge at the moment is in production- even producing sound ideas for another producer- finding the right reference tracks/sound selections for ear candy without getting too close to the reference- coming up with interesting instrument lines/sounds that serve the song well and sound modern-and when to know it’s okay to just have traditional instruments (drums, bass, guitar, piano) or if that is generally not enough anymore. I know it depends on the song but this can all be such a deep rabbit hole. Thanks again!!
Thanks for your comment Stacey. Just from the details of your comment I can tell that you’re asking the right questions around production. One of the things that helps me with sound selections is expanding the references in the brief. If they give me 1 – 3 references, I will add those to a place and then try to find 2 – 5 additional songs that fit (Spotify’s similar songs algorithm is really helpful with this). Having 5 – 10 songs gives a me enough variety so that I don’t have to worry about being too close to the reference.
I think the biggest thing is the mixing/mastering and some of the effects and transitions that are in sync licensed music too
I think the biggest thing I struggle with is the production quality mixing/mastering and some of the effects and transitions that are well known in sync licensed music too
Thanks for commenting Kenneth. Mixing, Mastering is definitely a challenge for a lot of artists in sync. If possible, you can consider outsourcing it (while using courses or videos to strengthen your own skills).
A challenge that I’ve had recently, is finding vocalists to partner with in order to go from “rough reference track” to a completed song. I have alot of recorded references and idea tracks, but they tend to live in my hard drive because I don’t have the vocal range to replicate what I was hearing in my head as I was writing it. Those end up being skeleton tracks where I’ll write and recite the verses, but the hook sections stay blank because they need a softer more melodic tone.
Another good one.
I think I struggle most with inviting others in. Feedback is fine, but my DIY tendency is strong.
The roadblock is mostly the logistics of finding and effectively communicating the vision to collaborators.
Hi Eric! Once again, you knocked it out of the park! These tips are gems!
One thing that I find as a struggle is that the majority of my music is instrumental. Being that I’m a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, but not a strong vocalist, I find my true artistry in instrumental music. The elements of emotional resonance, song structure and dynamics are a big part of what I strive for in my pieces. I’ve written a handful of songs with lyrics and have been collaborating with vocalists to bring those lyrics to life, but it’s a slow process and takes a long time to develop a finished product when waiting on others to sing my songs. But I use thematic development, evolving rhythmic layers, and refined harmony and melody to give my songs a wordless story and emotional arc.
Do you have recommendations for someone like myself, where lyrical content is an elusive element.
I keep getting feedback that my music belongs in sync, particularly video games and ambient projects, like documentaries and movie trailers.
Thank you and I’m gearing up to watch part 3 as soon as I hit send! ✌️
I don’t know if this is a struggle or more of a question that I have. I got three songs picked up about 2 years ago but since then I haven’t been able to really make any traction. I only have one agency that I am submitting too right now so I guess my question is how do I go about finding new agencies to submit to? And are there certain agencies for different genres of music?
Thank you for the insight Eric, it’s been helpful as always. What I’ve identified as my recent challenge has been giving my tracks those dynamics as you mentioned. However, I find that the more I listen to other artists/music, the more I’m able to extract and infuse new ideas. Overall, when I feel like I get into a musical “rut”, I put my own stuff away and just listen, listen, listen.
My struggles have been focusing in on a specific style and finding the right approach to sync with it.
I think my struggles have been focusing in on a specific style and finding the right approach to sync with it.
Hey Eric,
I have struggled with emotional writing. I think I’m good with melody and song structure, but it’s the emotional writing that I can’t quite seem to get right.
I’ve had difficulties with keeping my melodies dynamic. I know they need to change but sometimes need help making them fluid and interesting.