Q&A With Film/TV Sync Licensing Company
A regular question that I get asked is “How do I get my music on film, tv series or ads?”
Avant Music Port is a one-stop music catalog used to source music for FIlms, TV Series, Adverts, Games, or any commercial project that needs help finding the right music for their project. I recently spoke to their director and music supervisor Jeanette Rehnstrom.
Q: How does an artist pitch their music to you?
A: Anyone can submit their music to newmusic@avantmusicport.ie. It’s really important to send a high-quality WAV file. Sometimes we can’t fully appreciate or hear what’s going on in an mp3 or streaming link. Also it’s very important that our clients are hearing the best representation of the track when we are pitching to them.
Q: How does your vetting process work, what do you look for?
A: It’s very simple, we listen to the tracks and if the quality is good enough we’ll add it to our library. Is it going to grab attention, sound unique, or sound like something else! This is where sync differs from the normal music industry, where they are usually looking for a unique or fresh sound… We can get asked for a song that sounds like a particular artist. For example, a music supervisor may want a Hozier song in a movie, but don’t have the budget to license a Hozier track, so they will ask for something that sounds similar. Reworks of existing songs can also work really well for placements.
Q: Typically who would contact Avant looking for music?
A: It can be anyone! Movies, TV Series, Podcasts, Brands for Advertisement, Games and Commerical Businesses.
Q: What type of brief do you usually get, how do you store and look up your music libraries for suitable songs?
A: We can get asked for absolutely anything our metadata and keywords are very important. That’s why we always need the song lyrics and a list of descriptions (mood, feeling, era, etc) and similarities (to other artists) can also be very helpful. They will usually be looking for a certain theme or word, so we can easily look this up with this data. Having said that, the advantage of being a more boutique sync company is that we generally know what’s in our libraries.
Q: Is there a particular genre that's in high demand at the moment?
A: For advertisement, probably Hip-hop or rap, but more so they want songs with really positive themes like Happy, upbeat, lively, positive, encouraging, working hard… anything that will encourage people to buy their product! In relation to film/tv it can be anything, and again it’s more theme-driven than genre driven.
Q: What type of deal does the artist get if their track gets placed?
A: Always a non-exclusive publishing deal. The payments can vary depending on the placement, but in general, they’re amazing publicity for artists. People pay so much money for PR, and the exposure that some of these placements bring can be far greater and further reaching than what someone would get with a normal PR campaign, it’s a win-win, but it’s also a long game, it can take a while before the right opportunity comes up.
Jeannette has been kindly offered to answer any further questions that may arise, so if there’s anything else you’d like to ask simply DM them to me on Facebook, Instagram or email me at dave@davskeltonrecording.com.