Tokyo based Music Supervisor is seeking several indie rock tracks for an upcoming television show. Music needs to be current and should have an edge to it. Music examples provided: The White Stripes, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, and The Hives etc. Login to your SongCatalog.com account for more information and to listen to music examples. Not a Member? SongCatalog's "Music Network" exposes your music to the right people at the right time for the right music licensing opportunities. With almost a decade of established relationships with top Ad Agencies and Companies from around the world we work to get your music connected. Visit SongCatalog.com for more info on how to become a member.

So, as an independent artist, you’re undoubtedly aware of the “overnight” success of bands and artist like Fiest, Ting Ting, Yael Naim, and of course, Jet to name just a few, and take great interest in how to replicate their success. The questions are, what do these bands and artists have in common, and what catapulted them to the level of success they have achieved? The answers are; TV commercials and Apple. All of these bands and artists got known on a large scale because their songs were featured in one of Apple’s ads for either a computer, an iPod, or an iPhone. Here’s a great article from Yahoo on the latest band to make it big by being featured in an iPod commercial: Apple made Canadian indie artist Feist a star, and after the MacBook Air ads, Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim became ubiquitous every time the ad ran between our favorite TV shows. Most recently, the Ting Tings’ tune, “Shut Up And Let Me Go,” was featured in heavy rotation for Apple’s iPod + iTunes ad. This time, the marketing gurus at Apple create another feast for the senses. The commercial begins with iPod Nanos lined up in a rainbow patterns sprawled with album art on their screens. Virtual paint starts to drip down from each device. Lyrics play in the background: “I tried to do handstands for you / I tried to do handstands for you / Every time I fell on you, yeah / Every time I fell for you-ooh-ooh-ooh / For you.” The lucky band behind the song is Brooklyn-based trio Chairlift. Their tune “Bruises” is upbeat and bubbly in the electronic, avant-pop tradition, with a light synthesizer sound. The song is featured on Chairlift’s 2008 debut album, Does You Inspire You, and the group will be open for the newly-popular indie band Yeasayer.

When you as an artist think about licensing your tracks, you invariably picture your track running through it's entirety in the middle of a TV show, commercial, or Movie, or during the opening or end credits, correct? I think it's safe to assume that, yes, most artists picture this as the most common arrangement when it comes to licensing their tracks for use in TV and movies. But, allot of the times, it's not. Next time you're sitting in a theatre, or watching TV, and a commercial comes on, take note of the music or track that's playing and how long it's playing for. Most commercials are 15-30 seconds long and if they use a licensed track, due to the length restrictions of the ad, they're only able to play a small snippet of it, like the intro to the track, or the chorus, or just the meat and potatoes of the song.
Take a Coca Cola ad that was out during the Summer Olympics in Beijing this past August. I was sitting watching the ad, and I thought, man, the song they're using sounds so familiar, where have I heard it before? It sparked enough interest in me that I went to my iTunes library and listened to pretty much every track I had, because I was so sure I had the CD that it was on. Sure enough, I found it. It's a track called Breathe Me by a fantastic, albeit relatively unknown, artist by the name of Sia. If you listen to the complete song, it conjurs up a completely different emotion than the Coca Cola ad does, but by using just the intro to the song, Coca Cola was able to take a wonderful song and make it mean something totally different.
What does this have to do with you the artist? Everything if you're thinking about licensing your tracks. Go into it with the mindset that it may not be the whole track that gets used, but maybe just a snippet. If you've got some tracks that have a cool intro, or a catchy chorus, or a nice build, then by all means, you should think about submitting it for licensing opportunities, because these Ad Agencies and Film and TV music supervisors may see (or hear) something in your tune that even you didn't think of. You just never know.

Major NYC based Fashion Designer is seeking several original music tracks for their shows online launch. Music should have a cinematic flare with orchestrated and/or electronic elements. Also some tracks need to have an exotic Middle Eastern feel to them as well. The overall music vibe for the show needs to conjure up images of Morocco and Casablanca.

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Not a Member?

SongCatalog's "Music Network" exposes your music to the right people at the right time for the right music licensing opportunities. With almost a decade of established relationships with top Ad Agencies and Companies from around the world we work to get your music connected.

Visit SongCatalog.com for more info on how to become a member.

Major Fashion Company looking for background music to be used during an interview with basketball star LeBron James. Company is looking for 3-6 songs for 3 short segments all with LeBron. Music should have an edgy hip-hop vibe, but still feel smooth, elegant and polished enough to go with this high-end fashion brand.

Login to your SongCatalog.com account for more information and to listen to music examples.

Not a Member?

SongCatalog's "Music Network" exposes your music to the right people at the right time for the right music licensing opportunities. With almost a decade of established relationships with top Ad Agencies and Companies from around the world we work to get your music connected.

Visit SongCatalog.com for more info on how to become a member.