Your success as a singer-songwriter depends a great deal on the strategic way you position yourself as a musician. The artistry of composing amazing new music—your vision, your disposition, your intuitivesense of rhythm and musical figures—is a vastly different beast than the regularly daunting legal and economic panorama of music in this new era of digital distribution. One venture is creative and intuitive; the other involves red tape, legality, logistics and factors.

Apart from the creative process, it’s important to consider strategy when examining where you desire your music to take you. Do you produce music as a career? Is music your main type of earning? Do you produce music to sell albums and gather a fan base, or do you primarily perfect to have your productions placed in film, television and video games? Perhaps you create new music for all three reasons.

An additional important aspect to consider is what distribution tactic will in reality make you money. Given the current landscape of diminishing download revenue and the high cost of antiquated physical distribution systems it can be a daunting undertaking to find the method that is right for you. In 2012, most musicians agree that the main two ways to make money from music are to tour, or to license productions for film, television and video games. After looking at the effort and cost involved in planning, booking and executing tours licensing certainly emerges as a preferred revenue stream generated by music. If placement in films and television is your main purpose, please keep reading.

The way in which you control ownership of your songs is an essential element for potential music licensing deals in the future. You’ll want to research what makes the most sense for your own sound with a lawyer, but in general, you’ll want to consider:

  1) You will want to keep your own publishing.
  2) It is easier to consider licensing contracts if there is one sole
  songwriter credit for your music.
  3) It is easier to work with licensing agents if you release your own
  songs as an independent artist. In general, the less parties there are
  in a contract, the better.
  4) It is ideal to evaluate licensing agencies well. Have a lawyer
  review any potential contracts. If you choose a licensing agent, they
  are likely to prefer to be the exclusive agent—so choose well.

Musician Jennifer Clarke is one such . She creates her music primarily as an emotional pursuit. Her productions are deeply personal and soulful. Yet the moment the album is mastered and printed, Jennifer becomes all business. She licensed her song, “More Than I Have,” on the FX Series starring Denis Leary, Rescue Me. Her current album, Trinkets in Rubble, is slated for release in March 2012, when she’ll start new efforts to get the album licensed.

What can you do to pursue licensing? Get in contact with Music Nomad, ASCAP, or use your favorite search engine to look for companies that specialize in the field. Most importantly, never give up. If you knock on enough doors eventually one of them will open.
Singer Songwriter