Sync and Music Licensing, advice and opinions wanted

[markjazzbassist]

I'm trying to do some research on this avenue of work. Getting your music in Sync (industry lingo) or your music licensed to play in commercials, tv shows, movies, trailers, etc. Do any of you do this regularly? Is there a service or agency or label you can recommend? I would love to hear any stories (good or bad) about your experiences with this side of the industry or with various agencies and the like.

I have 2 friends that have been very successful doing this and i need to reach out and see who they use. I know there is "Taxi" but i believe that is costly (300 to join, 5 bucks a song), whereas most labels or agencies now submit for free and just take a small percentage.

[digitaldrummer]

I'm interested in this too. A friend of mine uses pumpaudio.com, but that is part of Getty Images Music (since 2007). he told me they took 50%, but I see on the site it says you get 35% and in the "user agreement" there is also 50% listed for "administrative rights". anyone speak legalese? anyway, he has gotten a bit of usage/money in the past.

[joninc]

This is sort of a tricky thing - like anything it's all about building relationships and contacts.

I know a few folks who've taken a popular online course that trains to focus writing and networking for sync placements but most of them have yet to land anything that really pays... It's a very elusive carrot dangling in front of a lot of artists' eyes.

On the other hand artists that I've worked with who have legit publishing deals tend to land bigger placements and make more singnificant $ in this arena.

I've done a few co-write sessions/productions for this type of a thing but it really feels like buying a lottery ticket to me. no placements as of yet.

BTW - 50% split very common with publishers.