7 Ways to Make Money With Your Music in Film & TV

How to Make Money with Music in Film & TV

Writing music for television and film productions can be a very lucrative way to make money in the music business.

Composers, songwriters, and producers who consistently make money in TV and film craft their tracks in ways that are proven to increase placements with music editors, music supervisors, and music libraries.

Of course, interesting and well-produced tracks are the first step necessary for success.

BUT, there are also some simple strategies you can use to increase your chances for placements.

I’ve included 7 of the most effective tips below.

1) Give Your Tracks Interesting and Descriptive Titles

An interesting title gives the music editor or music supervisor a reason to listen to your track. It creates a visual picture of your music and makes it stand out from the pack.

Here’s an example: Imagine you’re a music editor looking for a hard rock track for a reality show. You’re scrolling through a music library’s online catalog and seeing hundreds of rock cues listed by title.

Which track would you be more likely to take a listen to first?

A track called “Tomorrow”?

Or a track called “Speed Demon”?

Speed Demon will win out almost every time.

Make them curious to click on your track. Descriptive titles always beat out bland titles.

Try to keep your titles short, with a maximum of 4-5 words.

2) Stick To One Mood

Unless you’re doing custom scoring, changing the mood within a cue kills your chances of getting placements.

A music editor or supervisor usually chooses a track for its emotional vibe; they want the music to underscore or support what’s happening visually.

If your track starts off with a melancholic feel but quickly becomes happy, they’ll throw it out because it doesn’t work for the scene.

3) Stay In One Key

Another common mistake is creating music tracks that begin and end in different keys.

Tracks need to start and end in the same key because they’ll get frequently get chopped up and edited for length;

And if your track ends in a different key than it started in, these edits won’t work.

After about a minute of trying to get the edit to work, the editor will throw away your track and pick another one.

Make your tracks easy to edit by staying in the same key.

4) End Your Tracks With Hard Endings

Music libraries, music editors and music supervisors want hard endings to tracks and songs.

They can always fade out a track if need be, but they can’t create a hard ending very easily or quickly.

So don’t mess up a great track by fading it out at the end!

5) Create Tracks That Are Easily Editable

Cues that get many placements generally have lots of edit points that make it easy for an editor to cut the track to their desired length.

Reality TV shows frequently have many segments where they need only 10 to 15 second music cues. The editor must be able to cut down longer tracks easily, usually by using the beginning and splicing on the ending.

When writing and arranging your cues, think about adding stops and starts, fills, hits, etc. to your tracks. Not only do they add interest, but they provide great edit points.

Note that cues with long string notes or pads held over many bars can be difficult to edit without sounding chopped off.

Try to minimize their use unless they are integral to the cue’s style and arrangement.

6) Make Your Tracks 1:30 to 2:30 Minutes Long

Though most music placements for television shows are under 1 minute long, you should be creating longer tracks.

1:30 to 2:30 is the preferred length for most typical pop/rock/dance/mystery, etc. cues. This length gives enough variety for extended uses yet isn’t too long to make composing and producing them too time-consuming.

The only exception is promo cues that are difficult to produce well at longer lengths. These are the big dramatic orchestral-type tracks with big drums, choir, beats, etc. that are very popular for TV and film promos.

1:00 is considered an acceptable length for promo cues.

7) Master Your Tracks But Don’t Overly Compress/Limit Them

You want to have your tracks sound as good as can be, but you still want the dynamics to come through.

Unlike with records, you don’t need to take part in the loudness wars and make your tracks ridiculously loud.

So use compression and limiting judiciously; it’s easy to overdo it in trying to make your tracks as loud as possible.

Finally, mix your tracks with a maximum level of 0.5 dB. Leaving some headroom gives a little room to account for different audio systems and DAW playback idiosyncracies.

Conclusion

Maximize your TV and film placements by following these 7 easy tips when you create your next music tracks.

They are all simple to use and implement, and you’ll put your music ahead of the competition!

About the Author:

Michael Benghiat is a veteran award-winning composer, publisher, and producer. He is the owner of The Music Kitchen, a website that provides music business education, music productions tips, music equipment reviews, and how-to resources for musicians, composers, and songwriters. He is also the owner of Audio Addiction Music Library, a production music library with worldwide distribution.