WHY IS MUSIC SYNCHRONISATION SO IMPORTANT
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Synchronisation made its debut in the music industry over 30 years ago when Matthew Broderick lip synced to the Beatles “Twist and Shout” in the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day off”. With other artists shortly following thereafter including Frank Sinatra, David Bowie and Michael Jackson in the world of synchronisation, it was no surprise to see sync was here to stay.
Synchronisation in the music industry is simply the process of having a musical composition in connection with a moving picture. This could be a tv show, a film, advert, video game or anything with a visual platform. If anyone would like to use a particular song for their visual platform, they will usually gain this permission from a publisher/songwriter and acquire something called a “Sync License” . Having a sync license gives them the permission to use that composition in sync with a visual and removes all the restrictions.
Why is sync so important?
Well sync has always been really important, it wholeheartedly has helped many new/established artists create a bigger awareness of their music by simply being attached to a product, TV or film. In the long run this has opened doors for them which exposed them to a wider audience.
Physical CD sales were once one of the main revenue streams for the music industry, but with the introduction of streaming and downloading, physical and digital copies of tracks no longer were the focus of customer musical consumption. With the CD recently experiencing drastic changes with only 165 million units sold 2015, and with sales declining a further 14% a year after that, sync has now become one of the main focused revenue streams.
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This made fan loyalty harder than ever before, as fans were less able to tangibly support their favourite artists through buying physical CD’s. However, it made it easier for artists to throw themselves into the limelight. Asides from radio play (which is already hard to break into) the next big thing was/is ‘That song from the advert!’. Companies, especially well known adverts that are projected during the Christmas period for instance, John Lewis, Coca Cola and Sainsbury’s adverts are examples of sync placements that are focused on finding that one off song for people to fall in love with. This in the long run can skyrocket an artist/band's career.
Sync doesn’t only benefit artists and musicians, but the whole music industry. Whether you’re a producer, publishing company or record label, sync can play a significant role. For example, if a publishing company, gets a song from their music library licensed for a major blockbuster film it can bring in sync licensing royalties for that company. It can also help build a good reputation for a company that will quickly be seen as a trusted source in delivering relative hits.
Sync is also serving as one of the foundations of the music industry’s revenue today, as it’s one of the ways of getting an upfront fee and a performance royalty as well as a guaranteed bonus. Some major mainstream artists can release music on one platform and get away with it supplying their monthly income. However, new artists may not have that same privilege just yet, so sync is a great way to get a foot in the door.
The Future
Although sync licenses can sometimes be difficult to come by, anyone who is able to position themselves correctly within the sync industry will not be let down. The potential revenues are huge. The US being the biggest and far exceeds all other territories.
As we strive to connect people within the industry together, we look out for and receive briefs daily from Music Supervisors across the globe. This means by pitching to a project of interest, a composer can easily enter into the sync market once the project owner sees their pitch and is interested.
For music catalogues, synchronisation is a major source of income and is attracting venture capital and savvy investors in a big way