Do THIS when meeting a music supervisor for TV & film
March 27, 2025
There is something you may not know you’re doing that can hurt your music in sync.
Leave a Reply
Hey! Give us a shout about anything really.
contact Sync Songwriter
Our goal is for you to start getting your music into TV & film.
Excellent message ! Thank you for such a thoughtful and important subject that I will apply to my path when meeting with music supervisors. Once again your information unveils critical information about the psychological mindset that is so necessary to achieve success.
Thank you for a valuable lesson that will not be forgotten!
Great to hear, Gregory.
Hi Chris, Good Intel And Letting People Know To TAKE Slow Down Approach. Is Very Helpful. Thanks T.J.
Nice!
Good talk! Thx!
👍
Finding the balance between pushing hard enough and pushing too hard is tough. Most days I feel I don’t push hard enough. Is that some magic equation? It’s such a complicated thing for me. Thanks for the input.
I’m feeling push is the wrong way to look at it. And I mentioned in my blog, try to get pulled along by what you are doing with your music, not pushing for people’s attention. I hope that makes sense.
Hey – really nice one! Love the image of a sailboat, and the “pulling” notion. I do think there can be a “pushy” aesthetic out there in the sync education world, and this is very refreshing. Not an excuse for inactivity, mind you – gotta do all the legwork and creative work – but leaving the desperate energy at the door is always a good idea! Who wants to work with someone who is desperate…? Not me! Thanks for this – great insight and reminder!
For sure, Daniel. I am glad that made sense to you.
You got it, Daniel.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Is there such a thing as ageism in this industry?
Great!
Nope! Which is great. Especially not in music licensing.
Thanks very much for this advice Chris. It truly CAN be a fine line between self-confidence and unwittingly coming across as over-bearing or too pushy.
Just last week, my co-writer and I now have a song accepted for sync representation by a great publisher in Nashville. Mostly due to going through the proper channels. Better to be a sail boat for sure!
Cheers, RJR
Good to hear, Robert.
thanks for sharing this.
You bet, Tom.
Love the sailboat analogy. Wrote that one down.
thanks.
Cool!
Thanks Chris,
Having been around the industry doing other skills for over 30 years. I can definatly attest to what you conveyed. Thank you!
Great to hear you backing that up, Philip.
Love this message, it’s such an important thing to remember that connections are meant to be cultivated not “used”. I always think life has a good sense of irony and it’s surprising how often things come full circle if you’re patient and observant enough! Definitely in sailboat mode at this stage of my life/career and trusting that things will end up however they’re meant to!
👍
hi Chris
All good wisdom as per usual though it may be tough on the other side especially if one is a bit green , as it were.
Someone in the Music Business once said to me that the process of gaining a sync placement is a bit like climbing Mount Everest with one hand behind your back.
For success: certain things matter: e.g. gotta have the goods, perseverance, luck timing etc.
It certainly is that hard for most songwriters, but definitely not the ones who have relationships in the industry.
Thank you, Chris for these valuable words! Not being pushy applies to many other things in life as well. ..so it is great advice!My problem or question is..can you be too much the OTHER way… In other words ‘not confident enough?’ This probably doesn’t matter to a supervisor until a relationship has been formed, I imagine…but I tend to be the opposite..and maybe too much that way.
Absolutely, there is definitely a middle ground. Find yours in your own way is what is important. In other words, just be yourself.
Absolutely Bang On!!
Thanks, Terry.
Chris, thanks so much for this. Being pulled along like a sailboat really resonated with me. In my musical journey I have found that gratitude and quiet confidence keeps us on that sailboat!
Happy sailing. 🙂
Great input Chris. I’ve always said that when you push, you’re pushing people away.
Agreed!
Appreciate your BLOG and today’s Blog post!
Thanks Chris.
Thanks!
Chris,
This is great, thanks.
To separate the motives is a timely piece of advice.
What motivates me to create is a strong (and growing stronger) force, and I’ve totally been bringing that energy to my interactions with “the powers that be” in the sync world.
This makes a lot of sense to me and this piece of advice is going to shift my approach.
Thanks,
Brian
Great to hear, Brian.
Thank you. Nice leveling pep talk. Be a dispassionate business person and not a desperado. Flow like water. If they NEED you they will let you know. Do not be a pain in their neck and bother them. The right supervisor(s) for your particular music will come along sooner or later. But…. keep writing and perfecting your craft. Respectful tenacity is I feel the key. Peace and Joy all
Yup! Or polite persistence is another way to call it.
Hello Chris, this is Tyrone a current member with Sync Songwriting. This is a great post on how to work with sync supervisors. Your honesty and genuine concerns for us songwriters, really resonates with me. We can and I do learn a lot of great tips from you. Chris, thanks for being our team mentor.
Hey thanks a lot Tyrone, that means a lot.
Thanks Chris. Always appreciate your advice and input.
👍
Really really great metaphor about treating our music careers like a sailboat (“be pulled, not pushed,” a new mantra I will work to encode into my mind). That’s excellent teaching; thank you for sharing! At this point, I’m still new enough to the music field that I wouldn’t say I have been particularly pushy with my music (actually I’m probably more the opposite and might stand to not be too timid with my music)—but I know of someone who was able to make a living from sync licensing and who shared a story about being overly pushy at first, when working to get his music into film, and how he ultimately realized that he could not go around “pushing” his music onto others. People were either ready to listen to and enjoy his style of music or not. This makes sense to me, and I fully intend to follow/love this idea of being pulled along gently (can’t get better than that). Thank you again for sharing your wisdom!
Great to hear, Anna, and I am glad that made sense.
Hi, Chris!
Love the sail boat analogy. I’m planning on jumping back in to synch. I was in your’22/’23 class I think. I started good relationships with the supes who heard my music, but I have been dealing with some problems . My question to you is how do I approach them now? Do I just indicate I was incognito, but would like to share some new music with them?
It’s always best to hit the iron while it’s hot, but just because it’s cooled doesn’t mean it’s too late. I would start following up with the ones who expressed interest in your music.
It’s good advice.
Sometimes I’m a motor boat.
It normally doesn’t work out with that “hard selling” attitude. But, when I’ m able to be more laid-back, like a sail-boat, and when I’m able to create that dynamic you refer to of having a product which helps them – a client, a music supervisor, etc… – the success rate is much higher.
Thanks Chris!
For sure, Jeff!
I *love* the sailboat analogy – they are so much more beautiful, giving off a serenity that other boats don’t. Taking it further, you don’t want to be able to smell the fuel! The wind smells much nicer 😀
Good start to my weekend watching/listening to that wise advice. Thank you.
Nice!
Great advice. General life lesson!
Thanks, Harold.
Hello, Chris. This is my second read. I’m definitely not the power boat, and having had a lot of sailing years, on big blue waters, I can relate more to the relationships of the crew, the boat, and the weather – without all, that boat won’t go! I believe that I instinctively relate to supervisors in the way that I relate to people that I work with. I’m a psychologist, and my initial work is to get to know the person, and allow them to know me in a way that sets us up for a trusting relationship. So, initially, I gather information about the person.
I think that I intend to first approach supervisors in the same way. I do research, ask questions, share a bit about the song paths. I’ve had good laughs with some, and had some tears with others. I’ve learned about others’ paths to the present. I hope I’m evolving in a positive and useful direction with the songwriting and the relationships.
I’ve determined that I’ll always be learning. I will be giving up my psychology practice at the end of this year, due to a move closer to family in another state. If it were not for the possibilities with music and a supportive community, I’d wait a lot longer to make this move.
It sounds like you are on the right track, Cassandra. Thank you for sharing.
Sailboat is the way. And lots of patience. Thanks for this Chris
You got it, Scott.
Great advice Chris and always love your amazing examples (this time the Sailboat!).
I have found that every Supervisor I have met is so different from the other. Some are interested in getting to know you, some are keen just to listen to the music etc. So it is difficult to judge when to hold back and let them lead or if I should guide them slightly to let them know about me and my music in a subtle way!
The more you know, the easier it gets.
Sound advice for many things in life. Thanks Chris.
👍
Thanks Chris. I’ve spent so many years building the “fan facing” music business so I’ve been very impatient when it comes to building the sync side of the business. So mostly it’s just an internal struggle. It’s hard for me to decide that I’ve done enough work for one day. There’s always more to do and always something to write and get better at production and recording wise. So it’s hard for me to stop and you know, be a husband, father, eat, rest, get some sunshine, exercise, etc…
So you know, Ted, the sync side is much easier to build and it leads to a huge fanbase if you do it right.
Hey Chris: You made an excellent point – that is I’m sure is relevant to us all. How to (let’s say) “engage” with the Music Supervisors is very important. I know for myself, I just try to be real, you know, just myself, not putting anything on. I think it’s something we should all keep in mind.
Perfect! You are on the right track.
Chris, as always I love how your wisdom speaks of the larger picture of how true manifesting works in our world and how to get what we want. Inspiring!
Thanks, Todd!
Hi Chris,
For a recent unsolicited pitch to a music supervisor, I first thought about what would serve them. Once I knew I had a song that might work for a show they are supervising, I used the methods you taught us in AOTSP to “sail in” and introduce myself and offer something that could be good for their project.
As always, thanks for your advice and inspiration!
Good to hear, Alex, but make sure to try and leverage the supervisor relationships you made in The Art Of The Song Pitch rather than cold emails.
Excellent Advice!
Thank you!
You got it, Tibor.
Smooth sailing, catch the wind and let it take u!
Especially for us on the water, you in SD/Baja depending on the season. And me in Venice.
Thanks
Bruce
👍
The thing I’ve taken from this course is – nothing matters except the right song at the right time. You can have a ‘wonderful relationship’ with a sync supervisor but they obviously won’t sync your song unless it’s the one they are looking for. Most of everything else is simply extraneous. Doesn’t mean the process can’t inspire you to push yourself to produce and finish more music than you would otherwise.
Well you need the relationship AND the right song. Both are equally important. That’s why I teach how to figure out what that right song is and give you the relationships at Sync Songwriter.