At One Night Stand, we specialize in music and its management, recognizing the importance of strategic placement for a successful music career. Our team is here to guide you through the process of How to Get Your Music in Movies. This is what independent artists, producers, and composers prefer to expand their reach or network. The precise placement of music is something that comes with a High-Impact Exposure, Profitability Potential, and Lasting Artistic Validation in the film and music industry. This page is dedicated to understanding the complete process of getting your music in movies, covering every aspect in detail and preparing you to make a professional submission of a track.
Whether you are going to start a career in the same field or are looking to grow your presence further, here is everything you need to know to place music in movies and beyond successfully.
Why We Guide You Through How to Get Your Music in Movies
Music placement licensing enables musicians and those at the beginning of their career to earn money by licensing their song tracks for use in movies, ads, games, TV shows, and more. Here are a few reasons why so many artists are pursuing such song placements:
- Your exposure to national and international audiences
- Ongoing royal and sync income
- Improving your artist profile and expanding your portfolio
- Industry contacts and new creative opportunities
Film, television, advertising, and gaming continue to grow, and the need for high-quality, licensable music has never been greater.
How One Night Stand Prepares Tracks to Meet Supervisor Standards
How to Get Your Music in Movies supervisors are the people responsible for selecting songs to be used in film and television projects. They are not only looking for great music but rather the right music for a particular scene, mood, or story. The key areas they are looking for are usually:
- High production value
- Emotional or thematic relevance
- Instrumental versions of your tracks
- Metadata and track clarity (genre, tempo, mood)
- Easily licensable music that has no clearance concerns
The closer you can deliver clean or well-polished tracks, the better the chance of a selection.
Our Step-by-Step Process for Preparing Music to Get Music in Movies
Before you submit music for consideration, it is essential to ensure your tracks are ready to be presented in all aspects of the industry. This involves not just the musical quality of the sound, but also how your music is presented.
Put the Finishing Touches on your Track
- Be certain your track is mixed and mastered professionally
- Do not overload it with extra production that might take away from the scene
- Focus on building emotional depth and dynamics
Everyone loves Alternates
- Instrumental versions (more common than you think!)
- Edits (30, 60 seconds)
- Clean versions (Instrumental or if you have explicit lyrics)
Be Certain to Tag it with Metadata
Things to include are Genre, Mood, Tempo, Keywords, and Contact info
This assists the supervisor/editor in searching and sorting your track in an ocean of many tracks within the library.
Our Strategy for Pitching a Music Track
Learning how to get your music on movies means also learning how to pitch the tracks, as there are multiple ways to pitch:
Music Libraries
Music libraries are places for supervisors and editors to search and license music. Some allow submissions, while others are selective.
Sync Licensing Agencies
These companies will pitch your music on your behalf and submit it to their catalogue of clients within their network, including film, television, and advertising. Just like One Night Stand Music and Management, we have a non-exclusive sync licensing service for independent artists. If your music is suitable, we will submit it to our library’s film and TV professionals, as well as developers and ad agencies, without deducting any commission from the payment.
Direct Submission
Some supervisors accept direct pitches from artists, while most work with sources that they trust. The volume of submissions encompasses most unsolicited pitches received, as well as the potential legal ramifications associated with unsolicited submissions.
Reaching out to trusted avenues validates the opportunities to pitch your music and ensures that your music will be listened to.
One Night Stand’s Advice on Mistakes to Avoid to Get Your Music in Movies
Even terrific music can get turned down based on silly mistakes you could have avoided. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:
- Submissions without instrumental versions
- Using cleared samples of copyrighted music
- Submissions that are too complex or cluttered
- Submitting music without metadata tagged properly
- Not following submission guidelines
- Relying only on cold outreach to supervisors
Taking a professional approach musically and administratively is essential to getting taken seriously.
Our Insights on Metadata’s Impact on How to Get Your Music in Movies
Metadata is the data embedded in your music file that provides information and context, helping industry professionals find, classify, and understand your track. If the metadata is inaccurate, this can mean the difference between your track being identified or being overlooked. Examples of metadata usefully filled out include:
- Track Title
- Composer/Writer Information
- Your Contact Email
- Genre/Subgenre
- Mood and Keywords
- BPM (tempo)
Make sure this data is filled out and consistent across all of your versions of your file.
Our Tips for Building Lasting Industry Relationships
Building relationships in the sync licensing world is significant as well. The more trusted relationships you create, the wider the doors will open, and the more opportunities you will have. Here are some ways to grow your network:
- Attend industry conference and sync approved music industry events.
- Join licensing communities and licensing platforms.
- Connect, engage, and follow people in the music supervision and licensing profession on LinkedIn.
- Participate in forums and stay active in online sync licensing groups
While placements have been confirmed through existing ongoing relationships, opportunities that unfold through relationships can provide more tailored, personalized opportunities and long-term business interests.
Get Started Today! How to Get Your Music in Movies, please send us a bio and streaming links. If we think it’s a good fit, we will be in touch to explain the next steps and how to get started!