I had a longer reply but deleted it. Yes, my company. I left my law practice in 1990 to found it.
No, when I talk about the music biz devil I’m
not talking about TV commercials. TV commercial work is weird enough, but compared to other things it’s relatively sane, and the ad folks I deal with are super-nice.
Ad work (here I mean post-scored, custom music) is substantially more lucrative than 99% of TV program licensing, both in terms of initial budget, and due to repetition of ad placements, the broadcast performance royalties are better. However, everything is multiple-demo’d, and the competition is
fierce.
TV licenses:
In TV programming, being the composer of record is where the money is, though that’s declining due to reality TV.
The going rate for a one-shot TV
sync license for a show is laughably low. I’ve seen network shows pick up a sync license from a major publisher for under $500. You’ll need a publishing deal (with a major) to even get that far and be taken seriously. Unless you have an “in.”
Films:
You mention Oakenfold. Paul Oakenfold has an international following in electronic music. The guy’s got Grammys and works with artists like U2 and Madonna.
I’d wager that the music supervisor, or film editor, or director was already familiar with his work, and thought it worked with the scene. They probably cut the picture to the track, and then got the synch license.
However, without a wider audience for your work, a record and pub deal, you unfortunately won’t have much film music opportunity. Studio film music supervisors spend for the more established recording artists, or for latest-greatest-hippest major label acts with legs.
The little indie filmmakers are more approachable, but there’s usually no budget.
The unfortunate truth is that there’s so much music, and so many libraries out there available for nickels and dimes, that most of the gigs aren’t worth getting.
You can get the worthwhile film licenses if you don’t really need to get them, because you’re already successful in music. Catch 22.
Not complaining here, I’ve been very lucky and love what I do. But most folks find themselves running into a brick wall head first, and afterward the music devil keeps dragging them back in for yet another run at the wall.
If you want to swim, dive right in. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.
