Andy Lykens

Music Publishing & Licensing Expert.

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Everyone Told Me To Start My New Year With A “Bang,” Here’s Why They’re Idiots.

Everyone Told Me To Start My New Year With A “Bang,” Here’s Why They’re Idiots.

Start the new year off with a bang!

That’s what everyone tells you to do.

But realizing It’s almost the end of January I have to ask:

Does your new year feel like a “bang”?

Better yet, do you know what a “bang” even feels like?

I ask because we often need to experience something directly in order to understand what it really is.

Does success even feel like a bang at all? Like an explosion that happens all at once?

Do you think that you’ll go to sleep one night and magically wake up the next morning feeling like the volume is turned up and your world is buzzing?

To me, any new endeavor feels ominous; something bigger than myself surrounded by doubt and unanswered questions. It literally feels like a fight just to get myself to start doing something…ANYTHING.

And then it gets a little bit better. Maybe I make a new contact or I learn something and do it just a little better. Then it’s right back to struggling.

But it never feels like a “bang”.

The bang of success comes when the reward for the hard work is already here.

It DOES NOT come during the struggle. It certainly doesn’t show it’s face when the whole world, including your own brain, seem to be trying to slow you down or distract you.

So don’t start the new year expecting a huge “bang.” Expect doubt. Expect distraction. Expect not to be perfect. Expect to hit a wall and feel overwhelmed. Expect a struggle.

Expect to keep moving forward no matter what.

Don’t start this year with a bang.

Start with passion, start with some true grit, start with a crazy idea.

But for Pete’s sake, just START and whatever you do, don’t stop.

Then when you feel the “bang,” you’ll know it’s time to pause, reflect, enjoy how far you’ve come…and start all over again.

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Why You Should Be Thankful For Your Lack Of Music Licenses

Why You Should Be Thankful For Your Lack Of Music Licenses

It’s a really special time in United States culture this weekend, Thanksgiving. While most of the folks reading this will be preparing for a turkey dinner with family and friends, a lot of my readers across the globe will be carrying on with their lives as normal.

Either way I hope you’ll find today’s thought interesting and useful.

Many times when talking to artists I hear “I really want to get my music on TV.”

It’s awesome and I love it. It means they’ve done some homework and have discovered music licensing. They’re starting the arduous but rewarding path it presents.

It’s a long journey, equally frustrating and inspiring – this is true whether its your own music, someone else’s catalog, or your new role working in the music industry.

Today it’s important to remember how incredible it is to be able to focus on something like music licensing, no matter how challenging it gets, instead of having to worry about basic needs like food and shelter.

It’s very easy to tell ourselves a story about how difficult things are, but this really just boils down to an excuse we use to pardon ourselves from doing the work.

Today, give thanks – among all the other great things in our lives – for challenges, inspiration, success, and learning experiences (sometimes called failures).

The more we treat obstacles as opportunities, the more likely we are to accomplish real goals.

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Here’s The Fastest Way To Get Music Licensed + 10 Ways Brands Use Music

Here’s The Fastest Way To Get Music Licensed + 10 Ways Brands Use Music

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I’m very engaged with connecting music to advertising. Today, I want to get your wheels turning and get you thinking outside the box.

What is the fastest way to get your music in a commercial?

This answer may make you laugh: start a company.

Originally I thought the answer was “start an advertising agency” but that isn’t really correct though could still be effective.

Ad agencies still answer to clients (most of the time – sometimes they’re given artistic freedom by the brand). So even ad agencies can’t guarantee their final creative decision will be the approved one (even though plenty of times it is).

Music is tremendous at creating engagement and targeting specific demographics that brands can’t help but put it into everything they do.

Let’s look at 10 specific ways brands can use music:

  1. Original content – some brands like Patagonia create amazing content which features the stories or glimpses of active individuals.

  2. Digital shorts – the internet obviously provides a great medium for brands – they’ve got a captive audience (don’t you hate when you can’t skip the commercial before a YouTube video?) and extra time to work with.

  3. Events – Brands often sponsor events where they give out free product, or sponsor performances or activities in exchange to expose their image to a large audience.

  4. Product Demos – Lots of brands make items that are music-centric. Sonos, Jabra, Beats, all of these companies make speakers and headsets and many of them utilize music to demonstrate how great their product sounds.

  5. Promotions – Ever wonder how bands show up on a brand website or facebook page as part of a ticket giveaway? Sometimes it’s because the brand is already using their music in a spot, sometimes they’re sponsoring the event, but this is another great way for brands to use music.

  6. Products – When was the last time you went to Starbucks during the holidays and they weren’t selling a CD or two at the register? It’s all a part of a branded effort!

  7. In-Store – Sometimes to promote the very CD at the register they’ll play it over the speakers in the store. That way when a customer says “I love this song!” the person at the register can reply “It’s on our new compilation album!”

  8. In-Kiosk – Ever use one of those computers at a store to find a product? Sometimes there are videos playing on them – often with music.

  9. In-house – Did you know that music even gets licensed for videos shown at company meetings? Last year, a home-security client ended up licensing “Viva Las Vegas” to use at their annual conference.

  10. Commercial – Duh!

Now, what would be the fastest way to get your music in a film? On a TV show? Let me know in the comments!