Read time: 4 minutes

vidsyn: old norse for broad vision of creative thinking and forward-looking perspective. How will you unlock your creativity today?

There are no secret gatekeepers in sync music.

I hear all the time from musicians that they don’t focus any effort on sync placements because they see it as a futile effort. They think there’s a secret society that they aren’t allowed to be a part of. That you need to pay your way into getting any attention from music supervisors and other industry “gatekeepers”.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Music Supervisors are fans first.

By ruling out the possibility of syncs, you’re closing off a huge potential for growth.

Music Supervisors should not be put on an unreachable pedestal. They are the embodiment of super fans. Scouring the internet to be the first to find a new band, making sure to be the first ones at the venue for the opening act, and being proud of their top listens being a band no one else has heard of.

It’s easy to think that music supervisors have some shady deal going where they only use music some power on high has deemed so. But they’re actually your first supporter and top advocates.

Sync music isn’t about creating music for sync

The more authentic your music is, the more fans and music supervisors alike will connect with your music. Focus on being you and music supervisors will find you.

I’m sure you’ve seen some of my posts describing how to up your odds for sync placements and while all of that is true, first and foremost it’s about writing great music.

Focus on superfans

You’ve probably seen Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans theory, where all you need to have a successful career is 1000 true fans that will support you and buy anything you put out. I truly believe this should be the main focus for new artists.

I believe that many of these “true fans” should be people in the music industry and music supervisors specifically. If 100 out of your 1000 true fans were agents, managers, songwriters, other artists, A&Rs, playlist curators and music supervisors you’d be off to the races.

These superfans not only support you with their streams and dollars but can make an exponential difference in building your fanbase with the opportunities they can provide. And contrary to popular belief, they do it because they love the music.

Work with trusted sources

Superfans take a little more effort to find than your typical fans but it can 10x your results. With 100,000 songs being released everyday, it’s very easy to get lost in the shuffle.

So how do you get to these superfans?

Take a step back and forget what you want for a minute. Think about what these superfans need. There will of course be the artists that they find organically but the majority of their work requires finding someone to fit a certain need. The booking agent needs an opener that makes sense for the artist she’s working with, the music supervisor needs a band that fits the story and emotion they’re trying to portray, the curator needs to provide a certain vibe for the playlist they’re working on. So I say, go where they are.

With so much overwhelm, they rely on trusted sources to provide them with what they need. These are tried and true relationships with companies and other taste makers they’ve built over the years. If you can tap into these relationships you jump ahead of the line instantly. This means finding your booking agent, sync agent, record label or music publisher.

If you treat these trusted sources as superfans, where you can be the key to completing the puzzle they’re solving, you’ll find nothing but opportunities on the horizon.

So remember, music supervisors and other “gatekeepers” are just superfans of music, with no hidden agendas. Focus 20% of your efforts on connecting with them and they’ll provide 80% of the results.