How to be Productive with Music (And Sync Licensing) during COVID-19
Many of us all over the world are stuck in our homes for several weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people are still working, taking care of family or educating their kids. A lot of musicians and artists are out of work and sitting around at home. If that’s you, there’s no better time to start building up your sync licensing library. It’s tempting to lay around watching Netflix (I got sucked into Tiger King myself) while waiting for the opportunity to work again.
We’ve never experienced anything like this pandemic in our lifetimes, so it can be difficult to process everything mentally and continue to be productive. If you are healthy and suddenly have a lot of free time on your hands, I think it’s important to continue to be productive. I feel like time is my most valuable asset. As I get older, I’m more selective on how I spend it. How I spend my time now can drastically change my life later on. Building up a sync licensing library is a long-term investment that takes time, and this a great time to work on it.
There is still a big demand for sync-licensing music.
Television and movies may have taken a break in production due to the coronavirus, but a lot of tech companies are going strong because the world is functioning on the internet more than ever. That means companies will be creating more digital ads for Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and anywhere else that they can advertise during this time. All of those companies will need to pay for sync licenses for the music they use in the ads.
Many of these companies will get their music from micro-sync licensing libraries. If you don’t know what micro-sync licensing is, check out this blog post that explains it in-depth. It’s the most accessible type of sync-licensing available for independent artists. I think it’s the easiest way to get started in the world of sync.
Generating sync licensing income diversifies your income.
If you are a professional artist/musician, depending on income only from performing gigs is risky. As we’ve seen with COVID-19, the entire performing/touring industry can be cancelled overnight. Even when times are good, there’s no guarantee that a gig will continue. Gigs come and go, so it’s a good idea to have some other streams of income.
Many famous artists make a large part of their income from sync licensing. When they aren’t touring, they have other royalty streams coming in. So, I don’t think there is anything uncool about being a sync-licensing artist. I think it’s important to have a few different streams of income to have a career with longevity.
The more you can do on your own, the more productive you’ll be.
If you don’t have much money to hire a producer, this is a great time to learn more about producing yourself. There are a lot of affordable or free resources online. This is a great time to hone in some basic production skills. Also, you may learn some production techniques that inspire your writing. Some of the best artists that I work with bring in ideas that are already produced into great sounding demos. Sometimes I will just add a little more production and mixing to take it up a notch. If you have a Mac, Logic is quite affordable. Splice.com has a huge supply of samples and loops for only $7.99/month. These can really get the creative juices flowing.
If you are able to invest some money into your career at this and you need a producer, check out this blog post about how to choose the right producer. Of course, I’d love to chat about helping with production or mixing if you think that I might be a good fit. A couple of artists that I work with have already hit me up about building up their libraries while they have time to do it.
Hopefully you find this post encouraging. I think it’s important to keep being productive and creative during this uncertain time!