Music & Marketing: URBANIZED!

I just want to share a quick tip with you. When you're in the studio recording tracks with the idea of pitching them to TV and Film licensing opportunities, make sure to also get an instrumental version of all of the tracks that you record. Sometimes libraries and publishers will only be interested in instrumental versions of your songs, even if they were originally recorded with vocals.

I recently pitched a group of songwriter's tracks to a prominent music publisher. All of the tracks I pitched were vocal tracks, but the publisher was primarily interested in signing instrumental versions of songs from several of the artists. Most of the artists in question had instrumental versions of their tracks on hand, but a couple didn't and so they missed out on signing with a great publisher who has placed numerous tracks in feature films and network television shows.

I also suggest having a couple different mixes on hand as well, one with the vocal more upfront and one with the vocal turned down. Sometimes supervisors will prefer that the vocal track of your songs are mixed very low so they don't distract with the scene the song is being used in. Other times supervisors will be looking for songs with more prominent vocals to support the plot of the show or film your song is being used in.

Basically, try to be as prepared as possible with several different mixes, so if one mix doesn't meet the needs of whoever you're pitching to, you'll have another one ready to go that does.

Aaron Davison is a Berklee College Of Music Alumnus who has been working in the music business for over ten years. His songs have been heard on a variety of television shows and he has performed live throughout the world. Visit Aaron's website, http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com, for more information on getting your songs placed in TV and Film.