Sync Success is Ageless, Genreless, and Talentless?

The Sync Licensing community is still pretty small, but it is growing, and you should be part of the family no matter who you are, how old you are, or even what you sound like. If you make music that TV, film, and Ads needs (and you probably do, because it needs everything), you can get placements.

I have to give so much respect to my elders out there making magic happen. I am 36, but many of my successful peers are well into their 70s. These rockstars have either been in the game for a very long time, or they're leaving their safe careers to finally make a living with music. 

Each one of us has a special sound. I just saw a trailer for a western featuring the deep voice of a man who has seen some things in his day. It was perfection. There are ads that call for that very "mom" sound, and there are shows that need a soulful southern baptist church choir (probably sung by one woman layered over and over with the magic of modern recording).

Then there are co-writes, co-writes, co-writes. No matter how awesome I like to think I am, I cannot make myself sound like a man. But that doesn't mean I need to be excluded from sync placements that require a male singer. I just co-write with a male vocalist and he cuts the record! OR if I'm feeling extra confident in the song, I'll hire a male demo singer as a work for hire to record my song (revoking all the rights to me). 

You're probably wondering what I mean by the "Talentless" part of this blog title. Well, if you have no natural songwriting talent, but you are willing to do the work and surround yourself with the right people, you'd be surprised at what is possible. There are trends in sync licensing that work every time. Tried and true songwriting styles, lyrical themes, and formats that if studied and understood, can be replicated over and over to lead to a very lucrative career. Anyone can learn these formats and themes. And you know what else? Anyone can be a great vocalist with the right vocal producer. If you or someone you work with is versed in modern vocal production techniques, the possibilities are endless. You can be pitch perfected with Melodyne, pop perfected with Vocalign (these are plugins for production), and effected in such a cool way with blown out distortion, it'll be the ear candy sync needs.

One thing I see people having a lot of success with is interesting genre blends. Country vocals over four on the floor electronic dance records. Americana acoustic guitars with almost whispered dainty vocals. And my favorite, the resurgence of Disco elements like ketchup on everything complimented by a rich deep R&B voice. Or rather, that same soul singer over classic rock guitar is still alive and well. 

If you have a very unique voice, there might be a not so obvious genre of instrumental you might discover is a magical combination. That's something I love of sync licensing. There is format, but there's also freedom. What Top 40 radio wouldn't understand, sync will. 

Whoever you are, reading these words, yes you should explore sync. Join the family if only to start finding those first breadcrumbs. The Singers Success Path community is here for you, and so is 2Indie. Check out my interview the my sync mentors John and Sonnet in the video linked above, and consider coming to one of our singers mastermind chats on the first Friday of each month by signing up in the form below. Your sound is needed.