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THREAD: You may or may not know that I write music for TV/ads/films etc. I’ve been asked a lot on how to get into this line of work, so I thought I’d put together a few pointers. I’m by no means an expert on the industry side of things and this isn’t the EXACT way...
of doing things, but it’s worked for me (so far). I’ve been composing and syncing full time for 8 years now and I was sending demos out for 4 years prior to taking the big leap. I’ll post a few links at the end to show a few bits of work I’ve done over the years…
1/ BE REALISTIC. This isn’t really anything to do with your skills as such, but more on what you do genre wise. Personally, I’m a HUGE advocate of there being room for ALL types of music, but it’s important to know what kinds of music are getting used a lot in sync/composing.
Look at what kind of music you do and think honestly how often you hear this type on ads/TV etc. It’s important to be realistic on what to expect from a genre. If you only write black metal then admittedly you may struggle for LOTS of placements but there WILL be a place for you!
2/ EVALUATE YOUR WORK AND SKILLS. IMO this is absolute key to success. It’s ok not to be as good as Michael Price or Jon Hopkins, Chances are you won’t be. I’m not either. They’re AMAZING composers with YEARS of experience and highly refined skills, but you will be...
better at them at some aspect of composing and you should OWN that. You should be tough on yourself and it’ll prepare you for the criticisms that will come your way. Then you can develop your skills and progress to become better at what you do.
3/ KEEP ON BEING AN ARTIST. Carry on releasing music, playing gigs, doing radio shows, doing videos etc. I’ve found that the industry LOVES this. They go nuts for it. They want to work with artists who smash up hotel rooms. Ok, maybe not this 100%,
But you get me. Keep doing your thing and of course use your releases to push your syncs and composing. You’ll find that a lot of artists who are releasing and gigging are also doing this work. I can’t emphasise this bit enough. Don’t worry if you make gabba, but also
want to be a composer. It can totally happen and the industry won’t think negatively about any of your past hippy jungle stuff. They WILL think it’s cool that you’ve been on labels, played gigs and have an interesting profile and personality as a musician though.
4/ LEARN MORE SKILLS AND EXPAND. You can do this with releases. Keep writing and learning about new genres. You can release the music or not, it’s up to you (although you may as well), but just don’t stop writing. Also - learn your tools inside out.
5/ PERSONAL TASTE VS BRIEF. This is more for composing only, not syncs. But yeah, listen closely to what’s being asked and translate it as best as possible. Listen to music you hate if you have to (you will have to). This is a composing job, not a composing party.
6/ FIND PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO WORK WITH YOU AND MEET THEM REGULARLY. Don’t be afraid to reach out and send your music to the relevant people. And then go and see them. And then speak on the phone. Keep in regular contact and become friends.
It sounds cynical, but it really goes a long way. Take them booze, cakes and vinyl. Invite them to your gigs and get them excited about your releases and upcoming activity.
7/ KNOW THE SCENE. Get to know who is getting syncs/composing work and who is giving it out. What can you learn about them and their approach? What is it about them that’s ticking the boxes?
8/ PRACTICE ‘THE BRIEF’. Get ready for a solid 12 hours of writing music when you get a brief. You should be doing a pitch in 1 day for an advert, which is very pressurising and stressful. So get some practice in with writing quickly and to a high quality.
If you go by what I said earlier about learning all your tools in advance and having a lot of music released or backed up you should be fine though as you can quickly get something together or butcher something you already have lying around! Trust me, it works.
9/ MIDI MIDI MIDI. Please do everything on a computer and with MIDI if possible. And I really mean that! If you record 32 bars of live drums and get asked to ‘add in 2.7 seconds of extra music’ how are you going to do that?!
10/ FEEL EMPOWERED. When pay day comes you should feel amazing about what you’ve done and you should feel empowered. You’re not sucking up to a ‘commercial tyrant’ for getting paid to write music. Maybe don’t do a track for a weapons supplier though.
It WILL come if you stick at it, drive hard and get really good at writing whatever kind of music you do. You shouldn’t put any unrealistic deadlines on your career as no one knows what they’re doing these days, but it works out. Also - HAVE FUN!!!
Here's a few different things I've done over the years ranging from 100% bespoke composing to syncs of my catalogue...
And an article for @residentadvisor I was part of re composing and syncing.
Also, ask me ANYTHING and I'll do my best to answer! https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2488
Also, ask me ANYTHING and I'll do my best to answer! https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2488
