One of the biggest and most consistent failings I see from artists and rights when introducing themselves and their music to music supervisors is the way they present themselves and their music. And, this failure to properly present themselves and their music leads to lost opportunities. Let’s try to fix that today.
Today, we’re going to focus on how to introduce yourself and your music for the first time, and how to follow up in a polite and effective manner.
Put yourself in the position of the person you are writing. What are their interests and needs? Too often, we begin our letters and DMs by presenting what is important to us. To be effective we must turn this tendency on its head and personalize the letter with the intent to appeal to the self-interest of the recipient. And that, in my mind starts with some sincere recognition of their work.
This starts by doing a little research on who they are, what they do and their projects. If they work at a brand or an agency, start with a salutation, then cite a campaign that you liked that they worked on, and how their creative choices really made the campaign interesting and effective. Similarly, if they work in TV or film, note how their choices added to the authenticity and emotion of the storytelling, if they work in games, how their choices made the gameplay more enjoyable, the trailer more epic, the promo more ear catching, and so on. Just be sure you know what they do and have seen their work that you are citing.
You can do this in a brief paragraph. Here’s an example:
“Hi Mark,
I hope you’re doing great today. I love the work that you did on the HP commercial you worked on for China. They way that “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” blended with the message of the ad campaign was really innovative and effective.”
Simple as that.
Continue to present yourself and your music in a way that appeals to their needs. For the next paragraph, you should then introduce your music. Be brief, and provide them with specific information about you, your music and how you can work with them.
Again, you can do this in a brief paragraph.
“As a way of introduction, my name is Ted Karsten, and I’m a Big Band vocalist and pianist with a catalogue of over 110 original one-stop songs and 75 standards and reimagined covers from the 1930s to today. Here’s a link below to a five-song sampler of my music.”
And then put in a link that doesn’t expire, allows for streaming and downloading. DON’T use WeTransfer or send links from streaming networks like Apple Music, Spotify or Soundcloud. If someone likes your music, and it may work for one of their projects, they’re going to want to download it and share it with their team. And if it doesn’t work for one of their projects immediately, they’ll want that link to work three years from now when they need Ted’s swing cover of 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up.”
Wind things up in a brief, polite way. You’ve said all you need to at this point, so now it’s time for your closing statement – here’s a polite outro:
“I hope you enjoy my music and will find it relevant for your projects. If you wish to find out more information about me, my website is https://tedkarsten.com. Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and most of all for all the great work you do.
Best,
Ted Karsten”
Nice and simple and short.
Don’t forget a decent subject line. Honestly, as a marketer, I really sweat subject lines, they’re hard and most of the advice that’s given about making them goofy or catchy doesn’t work as much as being straightforward and personalizing them. Here’s a few I would use if I was Ted:
Mark, I have original swing music for you
Uptempo swing music for Mark Frieser
Mark, I’d like to introduce you to my music
No gimmicks, just a personalized, straightforward intro.
What about social media? I’m glad you asked. In my opinion, there is NOTHING wrong with reaching out to a music supervisor in a polite way on social media. But, with that said, the approach is a bit different, because communication through DMs is different than an email, so you’ll have to do a condensed version of the email I outlined above. Here’s an example:
“Hi Mark, My name is Ted Karsten, and I really love your work with HP. I’m reaching out to introduce myself and my music to you – here’s a link (https://tedkarsten.com) – thanks for your time and have an amazing day.”
Things not to say and do. Here’s a few phrases to avoid when you are sending out emails. “I have the perfect music/song” for your project.” That’s the kiss of death. Never say this, even if the person is your friend, because you have no idea what is “perfect” fort their project – and most of the time, neither do they. Music choices are ultimately a collaborative decision, and the perfect song is the one that is ultimately used in the project, all you can do is present your music in the best way possible.
Also, if you cannot guarantee that your music is one-stop (you control both the master and publishing and can do a deal) and/or free of samples, you better tell us. Do not say that a piece of music is one stop unless you control 100% of both the publishing and the master. But with that said, if your music isn’t one stop, that’s actually okay, so long as you let us know. The straight dope on this, and I feel like almost no one tells musicians this, is that a great deal of music used isn’t one-stop, and if yours isn’t, it’s not a deal breaker.
One-stop music, while it’s great to have, makes a music supervisor’s job easier and simplifies the clearing process, isn’t the main consideration in licensing a piece of music. What matters more is whether the track works in our project, what is the level of musicianship, your professionalism and your being able to tell us exactly what the rights situation is on any of your tracks.
Because if we know, and we like the track, it’s then our judgement call on whether we’ll go through the trouble of clearing it. Seriously, as concerned as I am about knowing the exact rights situation of every track that comes my way, the fact is, if the music ain’t hitting it, who cares how many stops it takes to get a license? On the other hand, if you have ten separately writers on a track, do us a favor and pick a designated person we can do one deal with instead of having to a separate agreement with all 10 of you .
My apologies for the sidebar here, but I think it is important to explain why and where you should and should not mention onestop when you make first make contact.
And most of all, do not follow up in the wrong way. One of the WORST things people have done to me and many of my friends is using the feature on Disco that lets you see if someone has listened to the music you sent (which by itself is fine), and then after seeing someone has not listened to your tracks yet, sending them a note letting them know that you know they didn’t listen to the track yet. Please, never, ever do this. I know for some the temptation is strong, but please hold back.
After you have sent your music and your letter or DM, here’s how to politely follow up. The right way to follow up to your initial introduction is to wait about three weeks, and send a completely new email. The only thing I would change in the new email in terms of the style is perhaps send a playlist with alternate tracks. Then from there, I would advise waiting until you have a major release or event to share before writing again.
Now, let’s put this letter together:
“Subject line: Mark, I’d like to introduce you to my swing music
Hi Mark,
I hope you’re doing great today. I love the work that you did on the HP commercial you worked on for the Chinese speaking market. They way that “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” blended with the message of the ad campaign was really innovative and effective.
As a way of introduction, my name is Ted Karsten, and I’m a Big Band vocalist and pianist with a catalogue of over 110 original one-stop songs and 75 standards and reimagined covers from the 1930s to today. Here’s a link below to a five-song sampler of my music.
https://swingadingding.music
I hope you enjoy my music and will find it relevant for your projects. If you wish to find out more information about me, my website is https://tedkarsten.com. Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and most of all for all the great work you do.
Best,
Ted Karsten”
And there you go. Feel free to adapt as you need it. If you follow these guides you’ll introduce yourself and your music in a way that’s easy, friendly, focused and most important, effective.
