🎶 Trends in music licensing...and the good news! 🎶
It’s hard to ignore the difficult situation many musicians find themselves in today.
Streaming royalties make it increasingly difficult to generate a meaningful income. The investment required to make an album can sometimes make absolutely no financial sense. And now, with AI able to churn out any number of cheap, fast-food music options 🤖🍔, it’s understandable to wonder where the industry is heading.
Sometimes, you just want to give up.
But here’s something I’ve noticed that gives me a lot of hope. ❤️
It took me 25 years to get my first sync. When it finally happened, it was incredibly exciting and the income from that one placement was significantly more than I’d seen from streaming. When you’re a musician, sync income can be the BEST! 💰🎬🎵
Of course, it doesn’t happen every day. Production companies are dealing with shrinking budgets, and clients don’t always want to spend money on music licensing.
But here’s the good news… 🌟
Over the last 12 months, all of the international music licensing my company has been involved with has featured music made in the last century.
Think about that for a moment.
This was music made because people simply wanted to make music. 🎸🥁🎹
These artists weren’t sitting in the studio thinking:
“Is this going to work with the algorithm?”
“Will this go viral?”
“Is this commercially viable?”
They made it because it was fun. Because it was art. Because something inside them said: this has to be made.
And decades later, people still want it.
Why?
I believe a big part of it is authenticity.
It’s analogue. It’s imperfect. It’s human. ❤️
It was made by people with beating hearts, ideas, personalities, limitations, weirdness, passion and something they wanted to say.
And in a world increasingly filled with the artificial, the manufactured and the fake, I believe authenticity and realness are going to become more valuable, not less.
So if I could give one piece of advice to an up-and-coming composer or musician, it would be this:
🎵 Make music because you want to.
❤️ Make it because you love it.
🔥 Be authentic.
🙉 Stop worrying about what everybody else is doing.
Because ultimately, being genuinely yourself is how you cut through.
And even if nothing happens after you release your music – no sync, no playlist, no viral moment – at least you’ll know you made something you’re proud of.
And then?
Go and make more. 🎶❤️
#MusicLicensing #SyncLicensing #MusicIndustry #IndependentMusic #MusicPublishing #Authenticity #Songwriters #MusicSupervision #SyncMusic #NewZealandMusic