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A&R & sync licensing management

Production music library

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Our Sync Agency

Here are some of our recent projects and sync licensing placements with various companies including Netflix, YouTube Originals, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Vice and Universal Pictures. 

We work closely with a host of production libraries, both big and small providing representation on either a non-exclusive or exclusive basis and can tailor for specific territories and sub-publishers. We only take a fixed commission of either 20% or 25% on the sync fee (no backend).

We’ve created streamlined tools to manage your masters and the rights information, so onboarding and working with us is super simple. We are always interested in hearing from independent production library companies, please do get in touch to discuss.

Georgia Box is a Music Gateway independent pop artist, shown sitting on a kitchen worktop listening to the radio
Recent work by Music Gateway

Helping funnel composer talent through to production library A&R

We appreciate that A&R is a very personal process. We see ourselves as a spotter, helping funnel talent through our channels and introducing them to established A&R management.

There are no fees involved with this service, it’s a fundamental part of our process to help further people’s careers in the music industry. We do the same with Music Publishers and Artist Management.

How this works purely depends on how you would like to work, but can be as simple as us filtering and sending you composers that we feel are worthy of a listen and introduction.

Let’s get connected and discuss how we can be a channel for your company.

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Film & TV Placements

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Music Licensing Showcase

Various

Our expansive catalogue of independent artists and tracks allows us to provide options for almost any brief and has given us the pleasure of licensing music to some of the most exciting productions across TV and Film.

New Balance

The Autumn/Winter 2020 range by New Balance for Kids Korea collaborated with Anthony Browne clothing to introduce a limited edition line of apparel.

This music-driven campaign required an upbeat popular production and catchy topline suitable for children that could also be re-recorded with children’s vocals.

Bamtone’s “Win The Day” had the perfect fun and youthful energy which the songwriters Scott Horton and Briand Melanson composed. Happy to collaborate with the creative team at New Balance and re-imagine the track with fun children’s vocals, the official song was appropriately re-recorded and released as “Dream Song”.

The Loss Adjuster

Pink Flamingo Films Christmas time black comedy film “The Loss Adjuster” stars Luke Goss, Joan Collins and Kym Marsh.

Hapless insurance loss adjuster Martin Dyer feels his life is spiralling out of control but discovers that even when you reach rock bottom, that some clouds really do have a silver lining. All music treatment for The Loss Adjuster was passionately curated by Music Gateway’s in-house Music Supervision and Sync Team.

Including the official theme song of the film “A Christmas Wish” by Beverley Knight, a modern Christmas bop with a classical feel.

Uniform Wares

UK-based watch brand Uniform Wares, known for their British design and Swiss craft geared up to unveil their new selection of watches through an online campaign.

Their vision was to create an advert that represents their modern and minimalist style and required a track to capture the attention of a young, vibrant and mixed audience.

South London-based producer Ch!mes’ ambient mid-tempo Electronic track “Apparent'' with its distinctive vocal chops paired perfectly with Uniform Wares’ campaign and successfully appealing to their target audience.

NCIS: Los Angeles

CBS

American TV Network CBS’ ongoing crime drama “NCIS: Los Angeles” starring LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnell and Daniela Ruah follows the Naval Crime Investigation Services team as they take on the toughest cases in LA.

Souluvmuziq’s multi-genre songwriter and producer MadD3E’s uplifting R&B track “Know Me Better” featuring vocalist Bluesforthehorn secured a seamless sync to begin episode 10 of season 11 on a high.

Bulletproof Season 2

Sky One

Sky One Sky One’s action-drama series “Bulletproof” follows undercover police duo and best friends Bishop played by Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Adulthood) and Pike played by Ashley Walters (Top Boy) as they pair up to take down criminal gangs across Europe in the pursuit of justice. 5ive 9ine is a genre-bending team comprised of U K Rap pioneer Sway Dasafo and Producer Zagor who landed a Sync for the series’ multiple action-packed promotional trailers with their high-intensity Rap track “Born A King”.

Close

Piccadilly Pictures / Netflix Originals

Actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Prometheus) leads the action-packed Netflix thriller “Close” as a deadly bodyguard hired to protect a troubled heiress. Directed & written by Vicky Jewson.

Working with Music Supervisor Claire Freeman we secured two placements with tracks “Kerbela” from artist Orlando Lanzini and “Middle” from JP.

BROS: After the Screaming Stops

Fulwell 73

BAFTA award winning documentary following the reunion of brothers Matt & Luke Goss from the 80s pop band “Bros”. Watch how their journey to resolve past issues & deliver long-awaited shows at sold-out London O2 Arena gigs.

We secured a sync for Jess & James 60’s pop track “Move” through working directly with established Music Supervisor, Michelle De Vries.

The Terror

AMC

Ridley Scott’s “The Terror” airing on AMC is a 10-part horror anthology series based on the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons.

With a catalogue full of nostalgic & vintage tracks suitable for period dramas, working with music supervisor Natasha Duprey we placed “Candy” by Jack Kluger & Jay Clever and his Orchestra.

The Capture

The BBC

The BBC drama “The Capture” was a huge hit. A 6-part mini-series about a persistent young detective who begins to discover a multi-layered conspiracy when handling the case of a British soldier who is charged with murder.

We placed a techno track for a specific club scene through Music Supervisor Michelle De Vries for this brief, which featured producer Politis’ track “Gravity” within the fifth episode.

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Amazon Prime Original

“The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” is an Amazon original comedy/drama set in 1950s Manhattan following the life of Miriam “Midge” Maisel who is refinding purpose through stand up comedy after her husband leaves her for another woman.

We secured a sync for artist Lily Chao, whose track “Picking Tea Leaves and Catching Butterflies” was placed by Reel Music’s Robin Urdang.

Moffie

Portobello Productions

“Moffie”, 2019 London Film Festival’s Best Film category nominee is a British South African LGBT biographical war drama written & directed by Oliver Hermanus. The film is based on an autobiographical novel by Andre Carl van der Merwe.

Working with Music Supervisor Jack Sidey led to us securing 4 amazing sync placements by 3 separate artists for this film including artists Denny Leroux, Structure and Steve Swindells.

Bloodline

Sony Pictures / Netflix Originals

Critically acclaimed Netflix Original series “Bloodline” is a drama/thriller based in the Florida Keys following the well-off Rayburn family (Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini) who has a dark past which slowly unravels leading to an uncertain future.

A sync placement was secured for the final season with “Never Been Good at Goodbyes” by Mike Goudreau & The Boppin’ Blues Band by experienced US Music Supervisor Mark Wike.

American Soul

BET

Biographical drama “American Soul” is a series on BET based on the ambitious story of Soul Train show creator and host Don Cornelius. Set in 1970’s Los Angeles, this is a series filled with iconic music, dancing & fashion.

We secured 60s soul group Bud Ross & Pals with their lively track “Do Your Own Thing” working directly with Music Supervisor, Ashley Neumeister.

Ashes In The Snow

Sorrento Productions / Lithuania's Tauras Films

“Ashes In The Snow” is a historical drama film based on true events starring Bel Powley (Diary of a Teenage Girl) & Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service). Set in 1941 during Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region, Lina, a young aspiring artist and her family get deported to Siberia.

Our trailer placement was via LA advertising agency Soda Creative syncing independent artist NEVERGONE’s track “Motion”.

Honey

Universal Pictures

Def Jam signed artist & dancer Teyana Taylor stars in Universal Pictures’ “Honey: Rise Up and Dance”. Skyler joins a dance crew to compete for a college scholarship. Discouraged by her family & friends, she tirelessly practices amongst Atlanta’s underground dance scene.

Singer, Songwriter Tyler Shamy scored a major sync with “Work You Out” performed by Spencer Sutherland. Thanks to established Music Supervisor, Adele Ho.

Little Drummer Girl

The BBC

An amazing 6-part BBC mini-series “The Little Drummer Girl” is based on John Le Carre’s best-selling novel. Actress and idealist Charlie gets drawn into high-stakes espionage. Starring Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgard & Michael Shannon.

Working with Air-Edel music supervisor Matt Biffa, we secured three sync placements for authentic Greek copyright music productions played during the opening scenes set in Greece.

Private Eyes

ION Television

eOne Entertainment’s “Private Eyes” is a crime-solving comedy/drama TV Series based in Toronto, Canada. It follows an ex-hockey player and private investigator who form an unlikely partnership.

The soulful R&B track “You Wreck Me” by Artists Kaki & Eddy Smith was placed in the opening scene of EP 9,, S3 through Canadian Music Supervisor, Dondrea Erauw.

Girlfriends Guide To Divorce

Bravo / NBC Universal

Produced by NBC Universal “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce” is a TV series following a self-help book author who is recently separated and is navigating her life in Los Angeles as a single woman in her 40s.

Working with NBC in-house music supervisor Kerri Drootin, we secured a sync licensefor Artist Sounds Like Moving’s track “Away”.

Friends From College

Stoller Global Solutions / Netflix Originals

Netflix original comedy series “Friends From College” stars Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Keanu) & Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Avengers). Experiencing nostalgia from their time at Harvard together, a group of friends try to manage their complicated lives whilst entering their 40s.

Music Supervisor Manish Ravel licensed a selection of Polish club music frok us for a nightclub scene featuring Weekend’s tracks “Ona Tanczy Dla Mnie” & “Dalem Ci Kwiaty”.

Destination Dewsbury

Independent

British Indie comedy film “Destination: Dewsbury” based almost entirely in West Yorkshire, follows 4 old friends on a mission to see their dying friend Frank for the very last time. The BBC reported that this made director Jack Spring the youngest feature film director at the time.

A song sync opportunity within the trailer was secured here through Music Supervisor Will Smith using rock band The Great Cynics’ energising track “Whatever You Want”.

Music Licensing

Music Licensing

New Balance

New Balance

Loss Adjuster

Loss Adjuster

Uniform Wares

Uniform Wares

NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: Los Angeles

Bulletproof 2

Bulletproof 2

Close

Close

Bros

Bros

The Terror

The Terror

The Capture

The Capture

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Moffie

Moffie

Bloodline

Bloodline

American Soul

American Soul

Ashes In The Snow

Ashes In The Snow

Rise Up & Dance

Rise Up & Dance

Little Drummer Girl

Little Drummer Girl

Private Eyes

Private Eyes

Guide To Divorce

Guide To Divorce

Friends From College

Friends From College

Destination Dewsbury

Destination Dewsbury

Production music album curation & composer management

Manage all of your master recordings (wav files) & library assets securelyin one solution.

Production music album curation & composer management

Composer management

Manage everything from individual accounts or within our client-branded private network solution allowing your production management to collaborate in the cloud 24/7 from any location with your network of creatives and roster of composers. 

Playlist pitching

Pitching music to clients and music supervisors is a breeze with our professional playlist pitching tool which includes high-quality audio and video streaming and user management controls for customisation.

Metadata & rights management

Metadata and rights management are all handled within your private account database. You can assign song data (works) to files and add ID3 metadata information into your mp3 files. Our inclusive audio library search tool gives you full flexibility to manage your audio and add files to the integrated playlist creator, streamlining the whole curation process.

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Manage demo submissions
Manage demo submissions

Having an effective way of managing the music you receive is key to saving time. Our central tool gives you a branded landing page for submitters to upload and provide their information to you.

This reduces inbox clutter and displays he demos in an easy one-click play format where you can shortlist and manage as you desire. It’s the age-old needle in a haystack scenario that’s the issue, this solution takes the pain out of the process and helps the cream rise to the top. 

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Showcases

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Everything You Need To Know About Music Production Libraries

There’s now a huge market for sync licensing and a chance to bring in income throughout the lifetime of a track for both publishers and composers. Production libraries are catalogues of pre-licensed music available to be used for syncs. They are a go-to for advertising agencies, music supervisors for TV and game publishers, website builders and production teams.

Their libraries are filled with high-quality, finished tracks ready to be licensed and placed alongside media. They include music of almost every genre and can be used again and again for different purposes and clients.

You can normally download tracks from their production music albums and playlists. 

Production Music vs Commercial Music

Commercial music is made for airplay on radio, music by famous or upcoming musicians that is sold to the general public. Production music is music in the background of trailers, films, TV shows and adverts written by anonymous composers. Music libraries host, distribute, administrate and market thousands of tracks on the behalf of production composers. Contracts in place are usually a 50/50 split between publisher and composer. 

Production music is generally used in the background of a scene, advert, video game. Even though it’s designed to be secondary to the visual content, it should still be catchy, well written and emotive. Production music costs significantly less to license then commercially released tracks and does not require the same clearances from rights holders. 

How It Works

Production libraries, or stock music libraries, are built up of music written by composers. Usually, a publisher will help a composer get their finished tracks into a production library, or composers can be scouted by the library themselves. Alternatively, composers can simply submit music for licensing to production libraries themselves. To be successful in your composer submissions, you must be sure your track has the potential for sync and is appropriate for the library you are submitting it to. It must be of high quality and sync-ready.

Some libraries specialise in certain genres, whilst others carry a whole selection of production music. It all depends on the angle and objectives of the company. Production libraries are always looking for new music as they need a constant supply of new, contemporary content to keep their customers coming back. Those in charge of submissions and acquisition at production libraries must have good ears and knowledge of the industry; what sells well? Is there a market for this genre of music right now? Does it align with other music in their catalogue if they are a niche library?

If the production library like what they hear, they will offer to purchase or license your music. Once a contract or deal has been agreed, the composer’s music will then be available for licensing by outside media outlets. A music supervisor, or any other creative producer looking for music, may then listen to and request to use the track from the production library. A deal will then be worked out between the supervisor and the library for the exploitation of the track, based on how it will be used, and a license agreed.

The supervisor may then legally use the track for their intended purpose and the production library and composer will be compensated for its use. A singular track may be used for a variety of projects as many times as possible; popular stock music can have long and lucrative life-spans. 

How Do Production Libraries and Composers Make Money?

There are two ways a track can generate revenue for the composer who wrote it and the production company that license it:

Sync/licensing fee: usually a one-off licensing or sync fee will be charged by the production library for the use of the track. Sync fees can vary depending on the piece of music, the way in which it will be used and on the reputation of the library. Sync fees are often split between the production library and the composer, however, this depends on the nature of the publishing deal and the contract signed by the composer for the licensing of their music. 

Performance royalties: production music should be registered by its rights holders with a performing rights organisation (PROs) just as commercial music should be. This means that when your music is ‘performed’ publically the PRO will collect and pay you performance royalties. The royalties are once again split, as usually the production library will own the publishing rights and the composer will own the master rights.

Sometimes a PRO will issue a blanket license to a group, such as a TV production company, who will pay a one-off fee to license music represented by that organisation. This is done to save sourcing licenses for each and every track the company wants to license. The PRO will grant the blanket license and the company may use the tracks they wish too, but they have to submit regular track listing reports and setlists. This is to enable the PRO to pay the rights holders their royalties and a portion of the licensing fees. 

Exclusive And Non-Exclusive Library Deals

Some production libraries will ask to be the sole publishers of your music, they will often pay you upfront for your music and out of your mechanical rights. This means that you, the composer, will only be entitled to performing rights. Others offer non-exclusive deals which allow composers to publish their tracks with multiple production libraries. They might not offer an up-front payment, however, they may allow you to keep both your mechanical and performing rights.

Advances For Composers

Sometimes a production library will employ a composer on an annual contract, paying the composer a yearly advance to live on whilst they compose music exclusively for one library. The advantage of this for the composer is a guaranteed income however it must be paid back in full through the success of their tracks. 

Composers may be set a yearly quota of successful tracks which they must fulfil, of which the publishing rights will belong to the production library. The composer must pay back their advance through the success of their tracks, and may only see additional royalty revenue once they have paid back their debt to the library.

Who Uses Production Libraries And Why?

Production libraries are attractive options for sync licenses for a whole range of clients across the entertainment and creative industries. TV and film studios often use them as do games publishing companies, often through music supervisors or by their production team. Creative agencies such as advertising companies and website designers, event planners and marketing teams also source music from production libraries for a variety of their projects. Production music has the opportunity to be used anywhere and can be used for many different clients for many different purposes.

Production libraries are an easy and convenient place to explore and source ready to be licensed tracks. Often they hold thousands of tracks that can be searched by genre, mood, tempo, beats per minute, artist and style. This makes it easy for supervisors and other creatives to find music, as they don’t have to go searching all over the internet and through individual submissions. 

Production libraries guarantee music is pre-licensed, this saves time and money discussing licensing terms with all the potential rights holders on a singular song. For commercial tracks, the clearance process can take a long time and can often be rejected by either the recording artist, publisher or the executives at the record label who might not approve of the project. Using tracks sourced from production libraries eliminates these legal discussions and allows for quick and easy approval with only one party.

You may also come into contact with a sync agent, their role is to be a middle man for artists and composers looking for sync licensing opportunities with top music supervisors. Some demand an exclusive sync deal which means if you’re thinking of publishing a composer who has a sync agent, it may be rather difficult.

Setting Up Your Own Production Music Company

There is good money to be made in production music and for many with a good understanding of music business and a passion for it, it can be an attractive business venture. To set up your own production library you’ll need a good platform to host all your perfect music catalogue, a legal team or legal representation to oversee your licensing agreements and a wide scope of music from talented composers.

If you’re wanting to expand your operations but it’s too early to do so, you could enter into agreements with other publishers and work as sub-publisher, assisting in their operations in return for the same promise from them. Sub-publishing means you can harness a global marketplace and open up new opportunities across continents. If you’re starting out, it can also be great for making connections.

Curating And Sourcing Music For Your Library

This is a constant element of running your business, you need new custom music to keep your customers coming back to your library. There are a number of places you can discover new composers and it’s best to try them all.  Explore online music platforms like Youtube and Soundcloud, attend music industry events and network, maybe advertise in music publications and online? 

You’ll need to decide on the style of music you want to be featured in your library, do you want niche genres? Instrumentals? Synths? Cover songs? Full band accompaniments? Classical or contemporary? Or a broad mix of it all? Whatever your speciality, or if your speciality is universal production music, that is how you will have to market yourself. 

Publishing Music and Registration With PROs

When you’ve found some talent and signed their music to your production library, you’ll need to register their tracks with PROs in order to collect performance and mechanical royalties. This will register you as a rights holder and protect your musical copyright, your composer should also register their rights to the track through the PRO in order to collect their royalties. 

In the UK, the Performing Rights Society (PRS) are the main royalty collection agency, tracking your performance royalties and paying you accordingly. Their counterpart, the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) collect your mechanical rights and pay you for these too. The PRS also manages online rights across Europe and are growing their rights protection and payment methods across the world. 

Until the technology catches up and allows full global rights protection and royalty collection, it’s best to register your published work with rights organisations across the world. In the USA, the leading rights organisations are BMI who collect performance royalties and the Harry Fox Agency who collect mechanical royalties.

Administration And Managing Metadata 

As the curator of your production library, it is your job to manage the metadata. When searching for tracks to sync in your music library, clients can find the perfect tracks based on the information listed in their metadata. Metadata information includes the rights owners, writers, producer, date of production, genre, title and recording artist, however, you can also add more information to make it more searchable. Including descriptions of the tracks, beats per minute, mood etc can increase the chances of the right person finding it and licensing it.

Metadata is also important as if it is not all correct, it can affect the protection of the copyright. Metadata must be correct when registered with PROs to ensure all parties are paid correctly. Managing metadata is a time-consuming process given how many tracks you may have in your catalogue, but it’s vital you do it correctly. 

Relationships With Music Supervisors, Music Publishers, Production Teams and Creative Agencies

As the publisher for your composer’s music, it’s your job to promote their music for sync opportunities. This benefits you as well as the composer as you own the publishing rights to their music. If their music is chosen for a sync license, you both get paid. Pitching music from your catalogue or projects with supervisors, producers and advertising companies is essential to the success of your production library.

It’s therefore important that you market and promote your production library, this includes networking at entertainment and music industry events. Building up a network of music supervisors, directors, producers, advertisers and marketers is essential to securing pitches and attracting clients to your library. No one’s going to find your production library if you don’t tell them where it is. Music Supervisors often ask publishers to submit music for tv placements or any other project they may be working on, get yourself on that music libraries list. This is all part of promoting your business, without it, you won’t make any money. 

Keep up to date with current projects and who’s running them, if you make a connection, touch base with them every now and again to discuss your businesses. The most important thing about contacts is keeping them; be friendly, easy to work with and make authentic connections. Making a good first impression is paramount.

Trade Unions And Associations

Music publishers normally have their own trade associations like MPA (Music Publishers Association). You can join MPA to voice your opinion about current affairs and be more involved in what’s happening in the music publishing world. These music publishing trade associations work with PROs to draft industry standard rate cards and they have their input at negotiating blanket licenses. 

Retitling Tracks And Why You Should Watch Out For It

Sometimes publishers will take in tracks and retitle them so the track best describes the mood of the track. When supervisors or other creatives are looking for a laid back, hip hop track they won’t click and listen to a track titled “Jack”, but they will listen to a track called “Laid Back Jack”. Publishers retitle tracks on mostly non-exclusive deals. A composer will have music they made for non-exclusive libraries, giving 10 tracks to a library in Japan, the same 10 tracks to a library in the US and in Africa to represent their music in those territories. These 3 libraries will cross paths one day and claim the same music if they did not retitle their tracks. If the composer has published 10 tracks with those libraries, he needs to register all the retitled names all over again with his PRO so they could be collected on his end. Content ID does make provision as per territory for this.

E&O Insurance 

When starting any business venture it’s always best to protect yourself and your business. Errors and omissions insurance is a professional liability ensure that can protect you against claims of neglectful business and inadequate service. 

If you’re thinking about setting up your own production library, check out our Global Creative Marketplace to start making contacts across all professions in music. If you’re a composer, submit your music here to find opportunities.

FAQ Section

Q: What does production mean in music?

A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performing artist and their music, which may range from recording a single song to recording a full length album. A producer’s role will vary during the recording process depending on the project in hand.

Q: How do you submit music to a music library?

First of all, are you ready to pitch and send your music to the A&R at the production library companies? Are your recordings professionals mixed, mastered and produced as a showreel to present to the A&R professional? If you are ready, here are some handy steps to follow: 

  • Choose only the very best three to five tracks in your catalog and prepare them using a pitching tool, such as this one here.
  • Research the music libraries, production libraries and A&R creatives at the company. Use a CRM tool to manage those contacts
  • Once ready to approach them, ensure you give them a short intro, make it personal to them and give them some context to prove you have gone out of your way to make that approach. Maybe referencing where you met them, or a recent album that they released on their label

Q: What is a production music writer?

A production music writer is commonly referred to as a “Composer” that has their own home recording set up or professional studio and composes music to be sold or licensed to a company that represents production music.

These production companies have a lot of music but are always looking to create fresher music and keep up with the trends including various genres and styles of music.

Q: What are library records or library music?

In simple terms, library music is also known as production music or stock music is music recorded specifically in a context and style by work for hire musicians and composers that sell that music to the production music library labels, who in turn, license it to the clients and end-users for sync with media.


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