**Guest post written by Xander Rushie of School of Sync.

 

 

 

"1. The Best Song Wins - At the end of the day despite all the “tips & tricks” you can utilize to land a sync, you have to write a great song. And if your song is mediocre all the production, arrangement, mixing & mastering won’t tip the scales in your favor when competing against a song that is. With a great song, the mix can be off, the master could be lackluster but the song itself will shine through!

2. Don’t write in the first person - Now there are always exceptions to the rules, but generally speaking when writing for six-figure commercial syncs - try writing from the “We/Us” Perspective. Think about the psychology behind advertising. When a company is shelling out big bucks on a commercial they want to reach the masses and make the viewers feel included, as opposed to watching from the outside and listening to a song about someone else. Perfect example is a song I co-wrote/produced for the artist Mama Haze called “All My Friends” landed a massive placement for Tostitos which was renewed for multiple years.

3. Don’t Bore Us - Get To The Chorus! - This one is pretty straightforward. When writing sync music you are writing songs FOR the “music supervisor” (The person who is hired to pick the song that plays in the spot). Music Supervisors get sent hundreds of song every week/month etc. So if 1:30 has gone by and they still don’t know what the chorus sounds like, they most likely will skip to the next song. A trick is here using a stripped down version of the chorus as your intro leading into your first verse!
+"Song Power" - The Importance of Good Songwriting

4. Treat Each Section As a New Scene - Don’t go overboard here, you still need your song to feel cohesive, but every time you transition into a new section of your song take advantage of the opportunity to create a new “scene” or give the editor another option to use in a different part of the commercial or show.

5. Don’t Be Explicit - You can choose to use explicit language if it fits the song, but just know if your song is vulgar (Especially in the chorus) You are narrowing down the window of landing certain placements.

6. Don’t Underestimate the power of the “B-Hook” - A “B-hook” is a non-verbal hook in your song (Think oooh’s, aaah, La la la’s etc.). B-Hooks are driven by catchy melodies and music supervisors love them because of the “ear-worm” catchiness but also because it is not locked in to any one theme lyrically. B-hooks are commonly used in pop music and a great example of the usage of B-hooks can be found in pretty much any Katy Perry song from the 2000-2010’s era.
+SMARTER Goals For Songwriters

7. Don’t name specific brands/places/dates - This should be a no-brainer when it comes to writing for sync. As soon as you mention that Gucci belt or Mercedes Benz, you just immediately cut out any chance of landing a Louis Vuitton or Cadillac commercial. Also music supervisors love new/fresh music that feels timeless so don’t mention an exact year, by the time the placement comes out the song will feel dated! Lastly if you’re naming a specific state/city/region you are just narrowing down the possibilities of where that song can be placed.

8. Song Titles are Everything - When writing for sync I typically begin writing the chorus of the song and work backwards. Before even writing the chorus, think of a title that is concise, feels natural and explains what the song is about. With the high volume of songs music supervisors go through every day if your title doesn’t clearly set the scene for what the song is about they most likely won’t even listen to your song.

9. Don’t Hyper-focus on pleasing your “Audience” - A lot of artists today are concerned about being “relevant” and writing songs that sound current, which I understand. However when you're writing for sync you should be placing the importance of the “Music Supervisor” slightly above the audience. I have songs that have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in sync, that still have less than 10K streams on DSP’s. Long story short, you're not trying to write a hit for the masses, you're trying to write a “hit” for the music supervisor.
+How to Define Your Audience Demographics

10. Rules Are Meant To Be Broken - Of course nothing in art is black & white. Don’t Do This or Always Do That is never going to work 100% of the time. These rules are meant to help and guide/inspire but they are by no means absolute."

 

 

Related Blog Posts:

+The Life Cycle of a TV Sync Placement

+How to optimize your website for sync licensing

+How To Submit Music For TV & Film

 

 

Bio:

Xander Rushie (schoolofsync.com) is an Artist/Producer based in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of genres with a particular emphasis on Rap/Hip-Hop, Pop, and Electronic. Xander’s rap-alias, Stylo Beddoe, launched his career in the world of sync-licensing after MARVEL featured his song “Last Ones Left” in their series Cloak/Dagger & RUNAWAYS. Soon after he signed a worldwide publishing deal with PULSE Music Group. In 2024 Xander re-up’d his deal with PULSE and has now heard his music in hundreds of TV/film placements, video games and national commercials for brands like Verizon, NFL, Tostitos, Panda Express, Walmart & T-Mobile.