Weird time for music supervisors
July 20, 2025
July is always a strange time for the sync industry. BUT, it creates a great opportunity to get your music into TV & film.
If you’re thinking about pitching holiday music, a great resource for checking which Christmas songs are in the public domain (in the US) is PD Info.
New to cover songs or wondering how to release one legally?
Check out our full breakdown here: How to Legally Release Cover Songs
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Hi Chris,
I totally agree with you about cover songs. Ironically, I just received the master back for the very first cover song I have ever written! It was a blast and I plan to do more in the near future!! By the way, totally enjoying Art of The Song Pitch! Thanks to you and your staff for all you do!!
Hey thanks, Paul! Great to hear and congrats.
Thanks for this : ) – i was so sad I had to drop out of the 2025 Syncsongwriter class due to an accident – but can’t wait til 2026. any advice, since I wasn’t able to do the class??
Lisa Troyer (w/Dawn Yoder)
https://open.spotify.com/album/4wtjFkEMYdvTbk9AFLUeoi?si=wkzAydoqQ4-edOweal7uRA
Hi Lisa, yes, hopefully I will see you in 2026! I will be able to check out your music then.
Hi Chris… What about original Christmas songs?
Lots of room for original songs, but I was trying to point out the advantage of cover songs in my blog. You should give a public domain song a try, just make it your own like and original.
Hi Chris. I covered Wonderful world. It’s not public domain. Its highest streams are during Christmas. How do I find out if my cover songs are easier or hard to license if they’re not mine?
That is a bit tricky and the only real way is to find out from the publisher directly.
Hi Chris- good to see you! I have a Christmas song that placed as a semi-finalist in the Song of the Year contest.
Any supe recommendations? I also got a nice notice from Jason Blume and his referral to a sup friend of his who really liked it but it wasn’t a fit for his project.
Hope all is well. Happy summertime
Tim Madigan
Hey congrats, Tim! There are a lot of supes out there looking for Christmas music, so just remember to target the best you can.
Greeting Chris (Kringle;-):
It’s fun to put on the Santa hat in July!
Covering well known public domain songs certainly simplifies the legal side of things and it’s a fun challenge to create a unique twist on a familiar tune.
I’ve been working on some tracks for this year. At the very least, something to share w/ friends and family and who knows…maybe a good fit for an upcoming supervisor brief…
Cheers,
Alex
PS: thanks for the PD Christmas song link!
Cool! Thanks for sharing, Alex.
I have a short christmas song about an errant husband staying down the pub too long on xmas eve, but vowing to reform – however the lyric is set to the tune of “Scarlet Ribbons” – how does this affect submissions for Sync? I think I have to seek permission from the Publisher (Warner Chappell Music, Inc.) to use an altered version – are they likely to give permission, and if so how do I find the right person to contact?
Yes, that is a whole different can of worms. I would suggest sticking to public domain songs which is far simpler.
Hi Chris, Deck The Halls and Jingle Bells says error.
Not sure what you mean, T.J.
Hi Chris – thanks for the video. I currently have an instrumental Christmas track which I submitted a few weeks back. I see that the deadline is tomorrow. The track is ‘Christmas by the pool’. It’s an Australian take on Christmas, hence ‘by the pool’. As you know Christmas falls in the middle of our summer. Up here in Cairns it is absolutely roasting. I thought it would add a bit of novelty. Listing is S250720XS
Love to hear that! We can always use Christmas spirit from down under!
I DO have a Christmas Song that I would like to get out to as many Music Supervisors as possible, especially anyone working with Hallmark. (I also have one specifically about Christmas Cards). I know that one of the Music Supervisors we have been pitching to has expressed an interest in Christmas Songs and I am pitching it to her next week. I also know I will have to do many pitches to find the person looking for the kind and style of Christmas Song I am offering. Any guidance or suggestions in that regard? As for recordings of Standards and Public Domain Carols and such, I am a songwriter first and haven’t found a reason to record any Christmas Carols, etc. Perhaps, one day I will find a reason to rewrite or rearrange a PD XMAS song and will keep it in mind for future Christmas-in-July’s.
For sure, there is always a spot for originals, but public domain songs are a good thing to experiment with.
Good timing for this blog post. I am just finishing up on a x-mas I wrote … and now wondering who to pitch it to. Am I to assume that most music sups are eventually looking for one? Thanks Chris .
I don’t know about most supes, but certainly ones working on Christmas projects.
Hey Chris.
Yes.. I’m open to covers.
In fact I submitted a hair metal cover of “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry.
I do have some Christmas covers, and I see that at least one of the music supervisors is looking for that now.
I also have a string quartet cover of “Because” by The Beatles which I submitted for my upcoming pitch session. You mentioned in this video that Beatle covers were difficult to license due to the huge expense. Makes sense. Maybe I’ll get lucky.
Hey Chris.
Yes.. I’m open to covers.
In fact I submitted a hair metal cover of “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry for an era-authentic opportunity.
I do have some Christmas covers, and I see that at least one of the music supervisors is looking for that now.
I also have a string quartet cover of “Because” by The Beatles which I submitted for my upcoming pitch session. You mentioned in this video that Beatle covers were difficult to license due to the huge expense. Makes sense. Maybe I’ll get lucky.
Good to hear you are open to covers, but yes, I would avoid The Beatles if I was you.
Hey there!
Always great to hear from you again – I hope you and your whole team are doing splendidly. 🙂 I remember you saying this in our AOTSP 23 – will have to look into this, might be a good opportunity to rekindle the creativity. I did do covers in the past, e.g. of “Wandering Star” by Portishead – but I find it difficult to place them, probably bc of the upfront costs, as you mentioned.
Oh btw I remember y’all wanted to hear about our accomplishments – don’t know if that counts, but I was nominated for the “film sync awards” by bridge.audio this year, with the most recent version of my song G!R!O!W!
That was nice. 🙂
All the best from Munich (and myself ;-D )
Nicolai
Congrats Nicolai! Thanks for sharing, I love hearing the success of my students.
Hi Chris,
Thanks a lot for this video, I had no idea this happened in July! I’m still new to sync so its exciting to learn new things about this side of the industry.
Also agreed on the cover songs, great tips. Already have ideas 🙂
Wish you a great week!
Thanks Paul!
Hey Chris,
I have a couple of public domain Christmas songs that I would like to share for consideration for sync, could you please guide me as to how I can get them across to you ?
Thanks for this very encouraging video.
Best regards
Tuki
Hi Tuki, I only have the bandwidth to work with my students, sorry about that, but maybe we can work together soon.
Great information, Chris. Thank you!
👍
Christmas in July not strange in Australia 🙂
Haha! For sure.
Thanks for this info, Chris. I actually recorded a cover of a well known Christmas song years ago and then couldn’t get permission to reproduce it, much less sync it! I wish I’d known you then! 🙂 I want to do another one, but I’ll check the PD list first!
RE your question about recording cover songs in general, I did one a few years back that was a total blast to do. I’m super happy with it and believe it to be sync-worthy, am just waiting for the right project! Thanks again for all your support and inspiration!
Thanks Fiona!
Yeah Chris and folks, I’m sending my best original Christmas song to the supervisors I’ve meet so far hoping they have a fit for its use. Not sure if I’m going to do a Christmas cover song this year though. Thanks for the reminder Chris.
You got it!
I have over the years recorded a holiday song (original or cover) and then given it away to fans in my newsletter. Some of those are not even out via distribution. I’ve also worked with producers to record a bunch of public domain holiday covers for libraries. Some have sync-ed. I have two great original songs that haven’t hit the right pitch yet with cowriters Geoff Pearlman and Ted Russell Kamp. But as we all know, sync is the long game. Happy Holidays Chris!
You are on the right track, Emily!
Great advice. We wrote a few original Christmas songs and also have a version of “O Holy Night” which is public domain, that we can try to pitch.
Nice!
Hi Chris,
I have a great original Christmas song that might be useful for a supervisor. It’s all about the typical Christmas day lead up events, the day itself etc and has a great singalong chorus.
You can check it out here;
https://youtu.be/3rvpqQlPSYY?si=mi_tF423cecs3wXh
Cheers, Merilyn
Thanks for sharing, Merilyn, I am busy with my student’s music so unfortunately can’t check out all the music that gets sent to me, but know it’s all about building relationships in this industry which is what we specialize at at Sync Songwriter.
We have done our versions of many Christmas standards. So much fun and learned much about developing a standard into something fun. We Three kings into an Americana style and Go Tell it on the Mountain to an Motown version that worked out pretty well. Not sure what to do with them other than our plan was to provide an EP to Lena’s fan’s as a give away for purchasing her other two projects. Still need to Master and go through all of that. It has been quit a learning experience an doing standards and working at developing something kinda fresh. Thanks for incoragement. Came at a good time. We have slowed the process and I can see we need to step it up.
Great to hear and sounds like you are poised to make things happen.
Hi Chris,
I have 3 top notch original Christmas songs and my co-producer on two of them has 2 Grammy awards and 6 Dove awards. I am trying pitches to 2 movies produced here in Louisville. They say they are going to listen but post production is not til November. I also tried blind emails from IMDb. No response to those. These are really fine songs and excellent singing. How can you help please? Would you be interested in reviewing them and let me know if they are in the sync ballpark? Thank you!
Great to hear you are working with such a great producer! Yes you will have a hard time with cold emails. Sync Songwriter wouldn’t exist if that worked. I unfortunately don’t have time to review all the songs that get sent to me (busy with my student’s music), but if you want to connect to the right people in sync you are in the right place.
Hi Chris – What are your thoughts on interfaith holiday songs? I released an interfaith song called A Little Of Both a few years ago that is about how my family blends Christmas and Hanukkah traditions, with the music itself being very Christmas-like in terms of sound. I get that is more specific in terms of lyrical content and messaging but I do think there is an audience for that as interfaith families become more and more prevalent.
That is a great question, Scott, but what I do know is there is a home in sync licensing for every song as long as the production is there.