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Today I have the privilege of sharing with you my conversation with Mr. Robotic. He is an artist and songwriter in Los Angeles who’s built his company, Music and Robots into a major player in sync and the music business in general.
His company has worked with huge brands and studios such as Netflix, Coca-Cola & Disney+. Sync has had a major impact on his success, so I asked him to share how he got into the business and what he’s focused on to get to over 800 syncs!
TT – How did you find your way to sync music and what roadblocks did you face?
MR – My introduction to sync was when I lived in Chicago, and a friend of mine who was also a rapper by the name of Fokus connected me with someone named JW and he worked at a company called Music Dealers. So I guess everyone in the office already heard of me and they talked to me about music licensing and what it was. A little backstory, The Cool Kids were in an episode of Entourage and that inspired me to want to hear my music in TV too, but I didn’t know that’s what music licensing was. Lol! So fast forward to JW telling me and that you actually got paid for this as well, I uploaded my songs to Music Dealers and literally got a sync in like a month. Think it was $1500. How my brain works is on iTunes it would’ve took 1600 people to buy this song compared to this playing all of 1 min in a pilot on the CW called “The Beautiful Life” with Corbin Bleu. Anddd you get royalties. It turned me into a monster lol!
That sync was my first win.. and at the same time I’ve had a number 1 record on beatport through my collaboration with Dj Bam Bam “Watch the club go” which also all the top DJs were playing and I got on the radio as well on the biggest top 40 stations but via mix show. So it was all kind of a perfect storm.
So because of that I closed a 1 album deal in Italy for that territory for $25,000, and that’s what I ending up using to move to Los Angeles. And a few months before that a friend by the name of Alisha Davis who used to work at ASCAP connected me with a guy by the name of MJ and he became some what of a sync person for me and that’s when I started getting bigger placements and got in my first movies such as Stomp the Yard 2, Skyline etc… so seeing my name in the end credits and on soundtracks was a fun thing. Also, I was networking on my own and built relationships with music supervisors and going to sync licensing conferences. I had a sync on Jersey Shore and negotiated my name being on the screen at the bottom. My song “Earth Girls” was in a huge episode and I sold 5000 singles that weekend.
TT – Can you share where you are now in your career?
MR – I live in Los Angeles and own and operate a multi Grammy award winning music company. We have a little over 800+ syncs in TV, Film and Advertising. I work with some amazing producers such as 2x Grammy winner, Keith Harris (Black Eyed Peas “Ritmo”, Imma be, Will.i.am x Lil Wayne “The Formula”) and reconnected with my friend and legend “D.A Got That Dope” who has sold over 100 million records and has the recent Doja Cat “Demons” record. So we have some exciting things coming!
I’ve also worked with investment funds such as Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Fuel Venture Capital. And just been locking in a deal for upcoming project.
TT – Songwriting & production tips to consider?
MR – I would consider looking at the Billboard charts and see what’s working for your genre of music. Also, I would find scenes of your favorite TV shows and listen to the songs in there and make songs comparable.
Also, I would work on listening to movie trailers as well and see what’s working. Listen to ads and see what’s working, and build separate libraries for each so you can be prepared and have things ready for multiple briefs, as some things only need instrumentals.
TT – General recommendations for musicians starting out in sync?
MR – Relationships, learning the business, investing and patience. Musicians have to remember that music supervisors and agencies are getting tons of music so don’t be discouraged if someone isn’t getting back to you right away. Learn business so you can become a one stop shop so everything is clearable right away. Registered with a PRO, splits are correct etc.. invest in going to some sync conferences and panels as I firmly believe seeing people face to face instead of just emails makes a world of difference if you’re just starting out. And patience, this is a long term business strategy that can add to your overall music business strategy. Also, using syncs as a way to build your music business is crucial instead of spending sync fees on crazy things. You can build a solid business and use it as leverage in other ways to become a successful musician.
My key takeways from our conversation:
- Dollar for dollar even the smallest sync opportunity outweighs downloads and streams
- Use your PRO as a resource for networking
- Network at music conferences. Face to face interactions are key.
- Syncs in popular shows can lead to drastic increases in downloads/streams.
- Be ready for any sync opportunity that comes across the plate
- Use sync as a tool for building your music career