Sync Gems

Ep 14 Efficiency Meets Creativity: The Art of Custom Music with Jake Dijak

Get ready to dive into the world of custom music and learn from one of the best in the business! This week on Sync Gems, we welcome Jake Dijak, a seasoned composer, sound designer and producer with music placements in movies like "Venom," "The Desperate Hour," and on platforms like Apple TV and "The Beauty and the Geek."
Whether you're a composer, producer, or simply interested in the music industry, this episode is not to be missed. Tune in now to hear Jake's expert insights and get inspired to take your custom music game to the next level.
 
 
03:00 Jake’s story
 
10:24 Custom Work vs Album Work
 
11:56 Trailerizing tracks
 
16:48 The power of Teamwork & Community
 
19:04 Why you have to be organized
 
21:48 Red Flags and how to choose labels to work with
 
26:37 The power of saving time
 
30:00 Creating different ways to create and make a living out of music
 
35:30 Last piece of advice
 
 
 
Get a 10% discount on all Jake’s sample packs using code SYNCGEMS10 at checkout
https://www.astssounds.com/?fbclid=IwAR3p4561dZq1j_8Sr2ZOff7QTGT145YxhD4e4MwNTpBGAavpDOdERWHIXAQ
 
Jake’s site
https://www.jakedijak.com

Ep 13 From Marine to Music Mogul: Brian Mckinney’s Crazy Journey to Success in the Licensing Industry

On todays podcast, Brian shares his story of transitioning from the Marine Corps to starting his own record labels. He emphasizes the importance of mentorship, resources, and being one's own boss. He also provides an inside perspective on the differences between the trailer and TV spaces and how PR has changed. He talks about his winning principles, shares his own "almosts" and mistakes, and shares what success means to him. He also encourages people to pursue their passions and leave a lasting legacy. Throughout the podcast, Brian also provides insights into his own personal style
 
3:44 Brian’s Story- From the marine corps to starting record labels
 
17:14 Being his own boss
 
18:38 Mentorship, resources and it’s importance
 
21:36 The trailer space vs. the TV space- inside perspective
 
25:06 PR and what it used to look like
 
30:18 Winning Principles
 
37:07 Brian’s big ‘Almost’s & mistakes
 
43:02 what is success to Brian
 
49:05 Doing what you are passionate about
 
52:45 Leaving a legacy
 
55:35 Brians style
 
Contact Brian
https://www.brashtracks.com

Ep 12 Creating Long Term Relationships In Sync with Brandon Simmons

Today we have a successful composer in the Ad & TV space (placements in ABC, FOX, BET and more), and family person talk about Creating long term relationships, Analyzing music that is being used, productivity hacks and being efficient & able to do the reps as a family guy
I’ve had so much fun making this podcast, hope you will too
 
1:00 Brandon Simmons
 
5:50 How Brandon got his tracks placed
 
7:41 Analyzing music for sync
 
13:30 current trends
 
19:07 Btandon’s Production Style (three words)
 
21:00 Mistakes Brandon made
 
23:08 Relationships and their value
 
34:23 Being a family guy and being creative
 
41:33 What Brandon would do if he started from scratch with $500 and a computer
 

Ep 11 Creativity, Inspiration & Success with Phil Lober

Today we talk about artistry, about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivations and more with a guy that has started scoring for films at the age of 16, 
After a long time of trying he has created amazing success having his music placed in The Avengers, Aqua Man, Venom, and hundreds of commercials around the globe.
 
We talk about Intrinsic motivations vs extrinsic motivations, we talk about mistakes people make in the sync business and how you can really dive in and explore your uniqueness as a solo artist as well as a sync composer. Phil has had some amazing success in his solo career and talks about it in the podcast as well.
 
3:20 Phil’s story
 
11:04 Starting his artist journey, inspiration, collaboration
 
17:30 Sync & Artistry 
 
19:00 Exploring artistry as a sync musician
 
22:30 Is the sync industry oversaturated?
 
23:55 why you shouldn’t be too emotional
 
28:50 Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations
 
35:15 What is success?
 
41:15 Routines
 
49:29 Making your music interesting
 
57:30 What’s next for Phil
 
 
Check Phil out
https://www.facebook.com/phillipalober
https://www.youtube.com/@phillober1632

Ep 10 Pitching To Disney- What It Actually Takes To Build A Publishing Company In 2023 with Max Elefant

On today's episode we take a peak behind the curtain of an up and coming publisher that has seen quite a lot of success. We talk publishing, we talk hustling, networking, doing the reps and trusting in your path to success in sync and in general
Max Elefant is the CEO of Maximus Music Group (MMG), a publishing company that has had placements on HBO, Nickelodeon, Hulu, Disney and more. His hustle mentality is undeniable and he really opens up about what it takes, he speaks about his dream as a songwriter and his relationship with people and god.
Let me know if you enjoy this one
 
Topics we cover:
 
03:20 Max’s story- from songwriting to starting a publishing company
 
11:32 leaving the ego in check, moving from the spotlight, 
 
14:46 Becoming a publisher and what it takes to get briefs
 
18:18 Why Being Crazy is important
 
20:46 Hunger, Hustle, Motivation
 
22:50 How do you reach out specific companies
 
26:24 Creating a brand as a publishing company
 
29:15  Thinking the sync industry would be easy
 
34:32 Max’s vision for himself as a songwriter and for his company
 
37:50 Being Calculated in the music space
 
40:33 Parting Piece of advice
 
 
Say hi to max:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-elefant-0bba1398/
https://www.maximusmusicgroup.com

Ep 9 How To Choose The Best Publisher To Work With- With Grant Borland

In this episode we take a deep dive into different ways your music can be placed, and how you should approach choosing the right publisher for you. There are a lot of super practical tools in this episode so make sure to collect them gems!
Grant Borland is a full time composer. He has placements in netflix, discovery, apple tv, Peacock, Universal & more. He talks publishers, how to choose them, and what to watch out for. We talk about the importance of connecting and genuine connection, we also talk about what editors want, and how to 
 
2:30 How grant started making music for labels
 
6:26 Grant’s background and unique introduction to Sync
 
7:14 first lessons learned about sync, Know rules to break them
 
10:55 How music can convert and get to different placements you don’t expect
 
13:40 Know who to give your tracks to and how to research publishers
 
17:53 Red flags for choosing labels
 
19:09 Community and it’s importance
 
21:32 Collaborating on the higher levels
 
27:40 What Grant do if he started from scratch with $500 and a laptop
 
31:00 Creating unique sounds and why you should do it
 
35:22 What music editors like
 
40:28 The Job of a music supervisor
 
 
Grant’s site
 
https://www.grantborland.com
 
Sample packs (freebies as well)
https://www.grantborland.com/store
 
Raum Reverb:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/effects/raum/

Ep 8 Going Full Time In Your Craft

New years resolutions never worked for me. But something else did.
In this episode I guide you through an exercise that has helped me to go from having $10 in my bank account to going full time in music, and living a life on my terms. I know other people who have used this technique to  manifest the lives they have always dreamed of so I put together this hands on exercise to help you kick off the new year. It is practical and involves visualization.
Hope this can help someone like it has helped me
 
Best,
Roy

Ep 7 From No Placements To A Star Wars Placement

This is an amazing lesson about gradual growth, the process till the first placements, custom music, music business, and way way more.
The best thing about this episode is that it really shows vividly what it takes to rise in the sync business, and how success is made.
What I love about Gregory Tan is that he is an absolute monster composer and is also one of the most humble people I’ve met. He gives amazing insights about his work ethic and practical tips about how to rise to the top in the sync business.
 
 
Gregory has been keeping very busy and only in the last year has had his music placed   in Disney (star wars), BBC, The daily show,  Jurassic Park, Netflix, The Daily Show, and way way more. Just click the links below to see how legit this guy is. 
 
 
2:14 Gregory’s Star war Placement
 
5:20 Gregory’s story
 
11:30 Working in an ad agency
 
14:35 1st placements, how How gregory got his “bad” tracks to work for him
 
23:30 Community and celebrating wins, his own and his friend’s
 
29:23 Excelling and innovating
 
37:38 being business smart
 
45:17 Gregory's Routine
 
51:50 Gregory’s Production style in 3 words
 
55:36 Cheap hacks to get you started in trailer composing for film
 
61:15 Gregory’s goals
 
62:58 Parting advice
 
 
Conect with Gregory Tan:
https://www.gregtanmusic.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtanmusic/

Ep 6 Warner Chappell Composer David Dykstra Talks Shop

David Dykstra is a vet in the music business. He shares about how he went from touring full time to creating a more sustainable life with sync, production, engineering and more. He knows so much about the music industry so I recommend you take out a pen and paper (assuming you're not driving or operating a jigsaw)
I used to envy people who were touring musicians, but what I didn’t know was not only is it very taxing on the body, but also not very sustainable from a business standpoint.
David talks about all of this and drops golden gems left and right for y’all to marvel on and hopefully use on your journey
 
2:20 David’s journey, nashville, touring, discovering sync, working with Warner Chappel
 
13:05 Three legged stool
 
17:26 kindness, respect and their importance in the music business
 
21:04 David’s super power
 
22:50 Knowing your superpower
 
27:50 hacks to get plugins cheap, mastering your craft, collaborating
 
31:37 David’s site (his socials are there too) https://www.ddcustommusic.com
 
 
Music business is a people’s business
 

EP 5 Pivoting, Learning & Growing in the sync business- Eric Campbell

In this Pdcast Eric Campbell walks you through his journey to becoming a jack of all trades in the music business, how he started as a musician but has risen up to so many challenges that I personally don't think I would. it was fascinating to decode his mindset, upbringing and get to talk to him about his career- his amazing connections, how he created his own community and sync agency, how he pivoted in his career to become who he is today. 
 
2:25 Decoding Eric’s mindset- upbringing
 
5:10 How Eric approaches pivoting and diversifying
 
9:45 The power of the right relationship
 
11:20 music supervision and lessons learned
 
14:40 Eric about going to what excites him
 
20:45 Creating & building community
 
27:25 What Eric would do in the sync space with only a computer and $500
 
29:56 Eric’s  production style
 
30:30 The importance of a refference
 
35:00 Last piece of advice
 
 
Connect with Eric
https://ctrlcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/ericmakesmusic/?hl=en