There is an immeasurable number of composers who can be hard to find. Not from any fault of their own, but because it is sometimes difficult for film and TV composers to market themselves and their talents within an opaque industry. With a film and TV composer agency, composers get help to find work, and production companies are able to gain great talent for their projects. It’s a win-win for the film and TV industry.
What Does a Film & TV Composer Agency Do?
A film and TV composer agency locates composers, songwriters, and other musical talent to create a roster of composers that a film and television music supervisor can choose from when they need to choose music to add to their production.
A film and TV composer agency will take music talent with experience in film, television, or video games and share a reel or database that directors, producers, and music supervisors can sample to determine which composer they want to use.
A film and TV composer agent is ideal for composers who have not had much exposure and is a great way for composers to gain experience and create a portfolio of pieces that they have created for various films, television, and video games.
Not only does this help the composer gain experience in the music industry, but it also helps them form a reputation and become a more desirable candidate for employment with various directors, producers, and music supervisors for film, TV, ad, and video game composition.
Why Use a Film & TV Composer Agency?
A film and TV composer agency will showcase the artists’ work, including film scores and film music that you have created for various visual media.
The film and TV composer agency will highlight all of your credits in film, television, ads, and video games, but it doesn’t stop there. The agency will also include a biography of each composer in its roster of composers. The biography will include information about the composers themselves, including their work history and what genres the composers focus on.
A film and TV composer agent can secure work faster for a composer. What can take years of networking, advertising, and marketing can be done in a few months using an agency.
How to Become a Successful Composer Using a Film & TV Composer Agency
A composer doesn’t need to limit themselves to just one genre. You can work on a broad range of musical styles and genres. Composers should take advantage of as many opportunities as they can across different media types to find what they’re best at and what they enjoy the most.
That’s a Wrap!
At Score a Score, we know how important it is for composers to gain experience and be noticed and recognized. Using a film and TV composer agency can help kickstart your career.
To stay relevant on social media, you need to be on all the latest platforms. The latest and fastest-growing social media platform is the music-centric app TikTok, with an estimated 1 billion users. That’s a lot of potential exposure! Artists are constantly gaining popularity on TikTok by adding their music to the app. This is why it’s so important to get your music on TikTok. Users can add your music or sound to their videos, which can end up getting millions of plays, or even billions if it goes viral. But before your song goes viral, it needs to get onto the app. Score a Score will walk you through the process of how to get music on TikTok and why it’s important to have your music on the platform.
How to Get Music on TikTok
When your music is on TikTok, you can gain popularity and make money. Just like how plays on Apple Music and Amazon Music can get you paid, so can plays on TikTok. To get your music on TikTok, you’ll need digital distribution.
Digital Distribution
Have you ever noticed that not all songs are available on TikTok? That’s because the songs have to be officially added to the TikTok library through digital distribution. If they’re not added to the TikTok library, you can’t add the song to your video on the TikTok app.
Digital distribution is how you will manage the rights to your music and get credit for every time your music plays. You will need to distribute your music to the TikTok app for it to be on the list of available sounds to choose from, so it can be streamed. When streamed, you will be paid for each stream.
Release the Music
Once you have distributed your music onto the TikTok library, you’ll have to release it. Creating a release means providing detailed information to a streaming platform, and it is a very important step in the process.
To release the music onto the TikTok app, you will need to provide album artwork, publishing information, and detailed metadata proving that you are the author and owner of the music you’re releasing.
Get Paid for Plays
Now that you have released your music onto TikTok, you are ready to get paid. Anyone can create a video and add your music to their TikTok videos. Getting paid for adding your music to TikTok works this way:
A TikTok user creates a video
The user chooses to add your music to their TikTok video
The TikTok video is published and ready to be played
You earn money every time the TikTok video with your music is played
Another Great Way to Get Music on TikTok
Adding your music to the TikTok library is a great way for the app’s users to find your music and choose your song for their video, but that’s not the only way you can get your music on TikTok.
Did you know you can make a music profile and create your own content on TikTok? This is another great way to gain exposure and reach the one billion users on the app.
To promote your music on TikTok, you will need to make a music profile complete with album artwork or an avatar and all of the information pertaining to your music identity. This includes a biography and links to websites and other social media and streaming platforms.
All the videos on your music profile should be between 10 and 20 seconds long; the shorter, the better. Remember to interact with users who comment on your videos. You can also duet with other TikTok users who have a large following! This will help your music get exposure and gain popularity.
Let Score a Score Help
If you’re ready to get music on TikTok, let us help! Be sure to check out all of our information about Score a Score + TikTok. This will answer any additional questions you may have about how to get music on TikTok.
If you’re looking to master the art of creating music on TikTok, you’ve come to the right blog. We all know and love TikTok for its short-form videos. Over the past few years, TikTok has become an incredible source for music discovery, where new and upcoming artists can promote their music to a wider audience. As a proud TikTok Sound Partner with dozens of trending tracks in the TikTok Commercial Music Library (CML), we felt it was time to cover everything you need to know about how to get your music on TikTok in 2023.
Understanding the Importance of Music on TikTok
Music on TikTok has come a long way since the early days of lip-syncing and dance challenges on Musical.ly. Today, sounds on the platform are a mix of original content, snippets from popular songs, lo-fi tracks, sound effects, and narration. We will dive into the power it holds for musicians in a moment. As far as brands and businesses are concerned, incorporating music into your TikToks and TikTok ads plays a vital role in storytelling, sonic branding, and brand recall. In fact, according to TikTok insights recently reported by Social Media Today, “there has been a 120% increase in awareness lift for brands that use TikTok’s music-driven, sound-on ad solutions.” Alright… enough hype. Let’s talk about how to get your music on TikTok!
Join the SAS Roster and Create Custom Music for the TikTok Commercial Music Library
As we said, we are a TikTok Sound Partner. What that means is we are an official music distributor and rights holder on the platform. Essentially, Score a Score is involved in fueling the entire musical ecosystem from artists to labels to brands. If you are a brand or business, you can select from a wide array of tracks composed by our SAS roster in the TikTok library to pair with your content. By using our tracks from the CML, we make it much easier for you to find audio to soundtrack your TikToks. It also means that you can come to us to help develop your strategy and approach on the platform!
What this partnership means for all of the talented artists reading this blog is that any song or sound that exists in our collection of tracks in the CML has the chance to get paired with major brands’ TikTok campaigns. It even gives your music the potential to go viral!
Get Involved With The New TikTok Artist Program
Within the TikTok Custom Music Library, is the newly released Artist Impact Program. This program is meant to create more possibilities for artists and brands to work together. Musicians will also be able to monetize their work, which in return, gives businesses access to a world of music from the CML. The increase in artist discoverability that comes from that kind of collaboration is unparalleled. Access to this program starts with finding a distributor that’s an official TikTok Sound Partner. To put it simply, and yes, we sound like a broken record now, start by joining the SAS Roster.
Strategies Beyond a Music Distribution Company
There are a handful of other strategies to help bring your music to a wider audience on TikTok. In addition to choosing the right distributor a.k.a. Score a Score, we recommend the following.
Collaborate With Other TikTok Musicians
TikTok’s collaborative nature makes it an ideal platform to connect with fellow musicians. Reach out to other artists whose work resonates with yours and explore the possibility of creating duets. The more you connect with other artists in your community, the easier it is to introduce your music to a wider audience. It even helps foster creativity.
Participate in Challenges and Trends
TikTok is known for its viral challenges and trends. By participating in them, you can ride the wave of trending music and engage with a wider audience. Keep your eye on the For You Page (FYP) to stay updated on the latest challenges and trends within your niche and in general. Jumping on these trends can provide an opportunity to showcase your skills and gain exposure.
Engage With Your Audience
No matter how small, building a loyal fan base requires active engagement with your audience. Respond to comments, address questions, and show appreciation for your followers’ support. TikTok’s duets and stitches are great features to use to interact and respond to what your following is doing with your music. This engagement creates a sense of community, encourages user-generated content, and enhances your visibility on the platform.
Utilize Hashtags in Your Captions Effectively
Long gone are the days when TikTok had its Discover page. However, hashtags live on. When you use them right, they can be a big help in increasing your reach. At the end of each caption, we recommend choosing three niche hashtags and one broad hashtag. You don’t want to use the same hashtags every single time. Do some research and come up with a list of 30 or so tags for both your niche (for us, it’s music) and for the broader ones. Keep in mind that there are three ways you can go about finding hashtags on TikTok:
Do a search on TikTok on what you’re posting about i.e. custom music, and find what other related hashtags pop up.
See what hashtags top creators in the music community are using.
While scrolling through your FYP, take a look at what hashtags are used in viral videos. This will help you find broader tags.
Please note that it’s essential that you do not incorporate irrelevant hashtags as it will draw in the wrong audience.
Track Your Music’s Performance
Lastly, use your analytics to your benefit. Tracking the performance of your content on a weekly and monthly basis will help you understand what is and is not working.
That’s a Wrap!
From finding the right distributor to collaborating with other creators in the TikTok music community, there are tons of ways to make the most of this platform. If you are interested in learning how else Score a Score can be of service, or if you just want to say hello, email us at music@scoreascore.com. Happy scoring!
Sound design is the process of recording, editing, and mixing various sound elements and musical pieces for all types of visual media, including in a feature film, television, advertisements, video games, and live performances, like theater. For sound design to work, a sound designer and sound design team must know a variety of sound techniques and elements and when to use them. Sound design is music, sound effects, or both that are combined and manipulated to create a sound design element. The sound design element plays a significant role in the audio production of a specific scene of a movie, TV show, play, advertisement, or trailer.
Sound Design Elements
There are five different sound design elements. It is important to know what these five sound design elements are, what role they play in visual media, and when to use them.
Ambiance
The ambiance is background noise that matches the scene. An example of ambiance includes crickets chirping in the background in the forest at night.
Foley Sounds
Foley sounds are added audio elements that make scenes more realistic. A foley artist takes what is happening in the scene and adds a louder sound effect to help enhance the scene. An example of foley sounds includes a sword being drawn from a sheath.
While drawing a sword from a sheath creates a natural sound, a foley artist uses a foley sound to make that specific sound louder and stand out in the scene.
Audio Effects
Audio effects are sounds that a sound designer creates to represent a specific action that can’t be naturally heard in real life. An example of an audio effect includes dinosaur sounds or alien creatures.
Voice-Over
A sound designer will use a narrator’s voice to speak to the audience about what is happening, what the character is thinking, or how the character is feeling. The narrator can be the main character’s voice or someone entirely different who is unseen.
Music
Sound technicians and designers use music to set the movie’s tone to let the audience know how to feel at various scenes of the movie, TV show, or advertisement.
What Does a Sound Designer Do?
A sound designer and a sound design team will meet with directors and producers, create sound effects and music through sound editing and mixing, and help lead the sound design team to perform specific job duties.
Meet with Directors and Producers
When a sound designer and a sound design team are brought in to do the sound design work of a television, film, or advertising production, their first step is to study the script of the production. This will help them understand the different emotions, tones, and feelings that will come from the production to determine what music and audio elements will work best.
The directors and producers may have their own ideas and visions for some of the music and sound effects they want to have included in the production. Because of this, the sound designer and sound design team need to meet with the directors and producers to make sure they include important elements in the music and sound effects of the production that the directors and producers want to have included.
Determine the Budget
Once the sound designer has met with the directors and producers during pre-production, the sound designer will determine the budget for the production. The budget will cover the following expenses:
● Sound production including recording, editing, and mixing
Create Sound Effects
Many techniques go into the sound design process. A sound designer may use pre-existing sounds, original sounds, or a combination of both. Then, the sound designer will edit the sounds and synchronize them to match the visualizations. The sounds will be cut and mixed to get the best results.
Lead the Sound Design Team
A sound designer will be responsible for leading the sound design team. The sound design team will consist of various positions, including Foley artists, audio engineers, dialogue editors, music editors, and various other roles. Each member of the sound design team will have an important part in the overall sound design of a production.
The sound design team will be responsible for setting up the sound playback equipment to ensure it works properly during production. They will also make sure the soundboard operator is properly trained. The last thing the sound design team will want to have happen is the equipment or soundboard operator to fail during recording.
Once production has finished, the sound design team will need to take the audio files and match them to the visuals. The team will need to be familiar with video editing software to ensure the music or voice-over matches the visuals.
How to Design Unique Sounds
The difference between good video production and great video production can lie in the sounds that are used. To create unique sounds, a sound designer will need to know the best pre-existing sound effects to use; otherwise, they will need to make their own. A sound designer can make unique sounds through synthesizers and audio software.
One of the best ways to design unique sounds is through testing, especially if you’re trying to create foley sounds or certain audio effects that can’t be found loudly or even exist at all in real life.
When the film Jurassic Park was produced, the sound designer had to use sounds in real life to determine what a dinosaur should sound like. Sound designers used the sounds of dolphins, geese, and horses to replicate the sound of dinosaurs running and calling out.
Some of the best unique sounds that have been used in iconic movies didn’t come from the animal or object they were representing, but instead, something completely different and unexpected. A great sound designer will know how to use various objects to create the exact sound they’re looking for.
Designing Sounds for Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror
This is typically the most difficult genre for a sound designer to create unique and original pieces for. Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror productions often include many scenes and elements that can’t be heard in real life.
Often, many elements have to be put together to create one fluid piece. This means that a sound designer would have to line up all of the sound files to match the visual elements in the production. Background ambiance is often included in horror and Sci-Fi productions to help set the scene. This can include eerie instrumental music or rustling leaves in a dark forest.
The sound design team will need to know when to use music or sound effects and when not to. The team will need to be able to marry soundscapes, music, or sound effects with the visual media so that the scene is natural and fits together.
A horror scene can be set by adding soundscapes at the right time. The soundscapes shouldn’t take anything away from the visual but instead add to it. After all, the overall goal of a sound design team is to help encourage the audience to feel or react a certain way.
When adding soundscapes, sound effects, or music to horror, fantasy, or Sci-Fi production, the audience will get a better direction of how to feel at different times during the movie or TV show.
How to Become a Sound Designer
It takes training and experience to become a sound designer. A degree isn’t required to become a sound designer. Instead, it’s recommended to get training at a theater, film school, or production studio as an intern or work-study.
You will need to put your education and training to work by creating a sound library to showcase your work. You can work as a freelancer or join online sound design communities to find work.
You will likely have to take small jobs before the bigger opportunities come along for creative sound design. We recommend becoming involved in sound design during the post-production phase so that you can focus on placing the right audio in the right places of the production.
Becoming a member of a sound design team or sound design program will help you work your way to the top to becoming a sound designer in music production.
Final Thoughts
What is sound design? Well, sound design requires a skill set of creativity and organization. Often, a sound designer will have to create unique musical pieces or sound effects instead of using pre-existing music. This makes creativity an important qualification to have if you want to go into sound design.
It’s important to remember that you may have to become a member of the sound design team before becoming a sound designer. The sound design team will work in various audio workstations to focus on their specific job for the TV, film, or theater production. Each job that the design team performs is important for the sound design to be successful.
The sound design and audio production in TV, film, or theater can include all five of the sound design elements, so it’s important to understand what the different sound design elements are and how they are used.
Movies, television, video games, and advertisements all use music to provide the audience with a memorable experience. To ensure the audience receives the best experience, the music will need to be carefully and strategically chosen by someone who has knowledge of music placement, music licensing, and the overall importance that music plays in the production.
What is a Music Supervisor?
A music supervisor is the leader of the music department in a production. A music supervisor will have many roles and responsibilities; often, delegating the duties to various members of the music supervision team.
A music supervisor will manage all aspects of the production that involve music. This includes musical credits, music licensing, cue sheet maintenance and tracking, and many more responsibilities.
The Responsibilities of a Music Supervisor
Meet with Directors and Producers
A music supervisor will need to meet with the directors and producers to better understand their ideas and visions of the production. During these meetings, the music supervisor will offer their professional opinion and expertise on how music will contribute to the experience they are entrusted with directing and producing, as well as what will be possible with the production’s music budget.
Review the Visual Media
The music supervisor will review the visual media and combine it with the director, creative team, and producer’s vision to help determine what music will go best with the visual media.
When reviewing the visual media, the music supervisor will help determine what type of music should be added at the opening credits, during the most emotional scenes, and during the closing credits. Choosing the right music is key.
Determine All Costs and Licensing
A music supervisor must possess a network of musical talent, including artists, record labels, music publishers, and more to negotiate and secure music works between the hired talent and the production team. The music supervisor may choose pre-existing music or hire talent to create new songs or scores for the production.
A music supervisor must know the laws and regulations that come along with using musical elements in film and television production. This includes costs, music licensing, and royalties related to the music used in the visual media.
Distribute the Royalties
Royalties are an important part of the music supervisor’s roles and responsibilities. Royalties will need to be tracked accordingly so they can be distributed correctly. Cue sheets are used to track all of the songs played in the production.
The music supervisor will maintain the cue sheets to ensure that the writers’ and publishers’ royalties are distributed accordingly. Royalties are important because they are a payment to the artist or company that has provided the musical elements, so they will need to be correctly tracked and paid.
The Skills, Qualities, and Qualifications Needed to Become a Music Supervisor
A music supervisor should be knowledgeable, organized, and personable. Because so many meetings will need to occur between production teams, directors, musical talent, and synch reps, a music supervisor will need strong people skills to ensure that negotiations, contracts, and deals are successful.
Perhaps the most important qualification that a music supervisor should have is knowledge of music history and the music industry. This includes different types of music and different musical, and cultural backgrounds. This will ensure the music supervisor can help choose the music that most fits the production.
Final Thoughts
A music supervisor plays a vital role in the overall success of a television or film production along with the director and producer. Not only does the best music supervision company have to know the musical history and cultural backgrounds, but they will also have to know how to determine costs, contracts, and royalties associated with the music that is chosen.
Pay attention the next time an ad comes on TV. Do you hear background music that matches the type of ad being played? Now imagine if background music wasn’t added at all. Most commercials would sound like they were missing something, and they would be! They would be missing the vital background music that makes an ad captivating and engaging. That’s what makes advertising music so crucial to the TV ad. Music is crucial to advertising and branding, it plays a huge role in grabbing the audience’s attention and retaining it.
Advertising Background Music
Advertisements are typically for a product, service, or brand. Advertising background music is often upbeat, light, and has an overall happy tone to accompany what is being shown in the advertisement, but isn’t always limited to that. This applies to both products and services that are being advertised. The instruments used in ads often depend on the brand’s identity, the demographic they’re targeting and the specific thing they are advertising for. Think about what you’re advertising and add background music accordingly.
How to Choose the Right Music for Your Advertising Project
You’ve got an advertisement to create, now what? You’ll need to choose the tone and style of the advertisement, including how you want it to look and sound. Adding background music is imperative in making any advertisement successful. At Score a Score, we can help you find the perfect track.
What Message Do You Want the Advertisement to Deliver?
This should be the first question you ask yourself when choosing the right music for your ad. What story are you telling? Is there a conflict in the story that will be portrayed in the ad? Will the ad stay upbeat the entire time? The background music you choose generally should match the story being told, or can juxtapose it for comedic effect.
If a climax or conflict arises during the ad, the music can highlight that. The music doesn’t have to be extremely dramatic, but the tone or tempo can change slightly to let the target audience know about the change.
How Loud Should the Advertising Background Music Be?
Depending on the type of advertisement you’re creating will determine how loud your background music should be. If the advertisement is energetic or dramatic, you may want to choose background music that is louder or bolder to match the story being told in the ad. Not only will this grab the viewer’s attention, but it will also let them know the overall theme of the advertisement.
An advertisement that showcases a service or company will often be less dramatic and will need background music that simply supports the ad’s script. This could be light music that doesn’t take away from what the advertisement is selling or what the VO is saying. This type of background music keeps the service or company at the forefront of the ad while adding simplistic music that completes the story being told.
Why is Advertising Background Music important?
Music helps incite emotional responses, and emotions play a vital role in advertising, marketing, and sales. When emotions are ignited, people become personally connected to what has incited that emotion.
Background music that creates an emotional connection between the target audience and what’s being advertised can increase the audience’s chance of choosing to purchase that product, service, or brand. This is the overall primary goal of creating an ad. You want to reach as many people as possible and have them choose your product, service, or brand over the rest.
The music also helps reinforce the product, service, or brand being advertised. It is a subtle way to encourage viewers to trust what’s being advertised because of the music that matches in the background.
The music also plays an important role in telling the story. Background music will help you know how to feel when watching the ad. Even when you’re not watching the TV at the time the ad is being played, background music can grab an audience’s attention and redirect it to what’s being advertised.
The effect of advertising background is almost always subconscious for the viewer. The viewer is likely not directly thinking of the music when they’re watching the ad, yet the music is having an effect on them.
What if Advertisements Didn’t Have Any Music?
Commercials without any music could easily be unmemorable. It’s often the music that sets ads apart from the rest. In fact, it can be the song that first catches the audience’s attention rather than the commercial itself.
This is especially true in situations where the audience has lost interest in what they’re watching and has turned their attention to something else, like a phone or tablet instead of the TV. It’s when the ad begins playing background music that the audience can be captivated once again.
If ads didn’t have music, you might not know how to feel during the advertisement. Adding background music contributes to how well the overall tone and theme of the commercial are understood. Background music helps the audience know how to feel, or at minimum, directs them to a range of emotions that the advertiser wants them to feel about the advertising campaign.
How to Use Music in TV Ads
Adding background music to an ad needs to be done legally. You will need to obtain permission and a music license to use the song in a commercial. Music that is used without a license will subject you to copyright infringement. The best-case scenario for copyright infringement is having your ad blocked or muted. The worst-case scenario for copyright infringement is being sued.
Final Thoughts
Adding music to your commercial is essential. It will captivate your audience’s attention and incite an emotional response within them. This is important because it will help increase sales of the product, service, or brand being advertised, which will make the ad successful.
