The first 3rd of the “How to Get Yout Music Licensed” Class at UCLA
Posted on | July 20, 2009 | No Comments
I have enjoyed teaching my class at UCLA 15 times more then I could ever have imagined. First off, I have very hungry students, which is key, and second, 12 classes is barely enough time to cover all that we need to in regards to the topic of “How To Get Your Music Licensed in a Commercial.”
The first 4 classes (in a series of 12) were about:
- the landscape of advertising
- who the players are in the process
- how the process works
- when does music come into the process
- who the music influencers are
I have had some incredible speakers so far this semester.
- Landis Smithers; former Creative Director Ogilvy Chicago, former in-house Creative Director Old Navy, currently Directing Commercials and Print through Supply & Demand Productions
- Liz Graves, Freelance Agency Producer
- Dan Wilcox, former Director of Music at Ten Music, KCRW DJ and Music Supervisor
- David Taylor, Music Supervisor at Media Arts Lab (client, Apple)
Each brought their own personality, experience and wisdom to the class. The one question each was asked at the end of each class was: “How do you market to a marketer? Is it different then marketing to a consumer?” The answers were varied, but fantastic to hear. Here are some highlights;
Landis Smithers: “Don’t do things the same way everyone else does if you want to stand out; the last recession I found myself looking for a job. When I looked closely I could see that everyone was sending resumes in the sasme white mainla envelopes. So I sent mine in oversized red and got an almost 100% retention rate. Looks matter when it comes to sending music to Advertising Creatives.
Liz Graves: “it is about networking. packaging helps, before that you need to know who to get it to.”
Dan Wilcox: “Make sure you don’t send unfinished demos to Music Supervisors, you get one chance to make a quick impression. ”
David Taylor: “I know it sounds basic, but if the music is good, we will listen, and your album art matters.”
It’s been a great semester so far. I remain excited about providing Artists and Artists reps valuable skills to help them navigate these shark invested waters (Answer: knowledge) by showing them what has been typically shrouded and reserved for the Labels, Publishers and Reps. And by the way it took some of the aforementioned years to figure it out as there were no formal resources.
Stay tuned for more as the semester unfolds.
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