Sync Gems

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

Ep 4 How To Find Your Uniqueness In Sync Licensing with Bryan Nguyen

In this episode we take a deeper dive into custom music and get insights from a label partner. Bryan Nguyen from "Ghostwriter music" (Placements in Man In Black, Ready Player One, The newest Avatar, Mulan and many many more) is not new to the sync space. He talks about his journey to success in great detail, gives you an inside look from the label perspective, negotiating fees, and gives tips about being unique, and how he knows you can do it. He talks about his passion of helping artists to get to where they want, and throws down amazing gems left and right
You do not want to miss this podcast. It is so jam packed with insights.
 
 
2:55 From working in retail to full time music
 
9:00 When Bryan knew he could do music full time
 
10:20 What editors want- Things you haven’t thought of
 
13:40 Sync fees, negotiations, and rates labels negotiate
 
19:15 Negotiating low & high
 
20:26 What are custom tracks?
 
24:00 Community and why Bryan is so huge into community
 
27:20 approaching the sync world with close to nothing
 
28:00 [gem] Why you have to understand and capitalize on your strengths
 
38:00 Why the sync world wants your uniqueness 
 
43:20 How composers can get into the movies they want
 
47:58 Mistakes producers make
 
49:00 Big gem for producers on the come up
 
51:50 Bryan’s production style
 
54:05 Big gem to close the convo
 
 
Bryan’s favorite free compressor
https://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-kotelnikov/
 
Alex Moukala (youtube channel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fb3nXuCo1k
 
Ghostwriter Music
https://ghostwritermusic.com
 
https://www.instagram.com/ghostwritermusicgroup/
 
 
Connect With Bryan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebryguy/
https://www.facebook.com/BryanNguyenMarketing

Ep 3 From Beginner To A Marvel Placement In 2 Years- with Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen

In this interview we talk about trailer placements, how long it takes and how many tracks Sigurd needed to have to achieve over 100 tracks placed in 5 years. We go on to talk about happiness, and we get into well being and the importance of rest. 
we go on to talk about how to know your music is ready for pitching, working with upfront fees, and why it’s an amazing time to be an artist in the sync space
 
2:10 Becoming a full time musician
8:48 The first 2 years in the trailer game
14:00 How many tracks Does Sigurd have
19:40 Developing a Musical Identity & signiture
25:10 Getting the marvel placement
27:20 Happiness, celebrations and gratitude as a catalyst for success
43:20 3 top mistakes composers do
43:50 How to know your music is good enough
47:25 Working with libraries 
50:20 Working with upfront fees
57:34 Being you in the sync business
 
Check Sigurd Out
https://sigurdmusic.com
instagram.com/sigurdthemusicdude
 
Support the podcast by reviewing and giving it a 5 star review ;)
It helps a lot

Ep 2 Sync Licensing Masterclass With Eric Bolivar

In this episode we take a deep dive into sync libraries and communication fundamentals. This episode is pure gold for people who want to get more familiar with sync libraries, and also amazing for people who want to understand the mindset of a very successful producer in the space.
we go through the fundamentals of how to communicate with publishers, how he got his first placements, and how you can learn to improve from the feedback you get. He speaks to the importance of mentorship and the reasons you should always look forward instead of focusing for too long on one piece of music.
Erick bolivar’s music has been featured in places like HBO, CBS, NBC, Fox, Bravo, Telemundo, National Geographic, Animal Planet, History Channel and MTV (and these are not all actually)
He is the real deal and I recommend To listen carefully and take notes 
 
Timestamps:
2:15 Erick’s Background and how he started in music
 
6:35 Starting in the Sync world 
 
10:15 Erick’s first placements and his advice for royalties
 
14:00 Communicating with the sync world, and pitching to publishers
 
18:05 Mistakes Erick made in the beginning of his journey
 
23:45 Placing mediocre tracks 
 
27:10 Ericks Biggest Goal
 
28:45 Erick’s Routine, work process and hacks
 
34:35 3 words that describe Erick’s production style
 
36:07 Contact with Erick
 
37:28 Extra gems from Erick
 
Connect with Erick
 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3958050/
 
https://www.instagram.com/erickbolivar1/?hl=en
 
https://www.erickbolivar.com/home
 

Ep 1 Introduction: Sync Gems

This is the first time I record and release a podcast into the world so I'm super excited to see how this goes.
This podcast is about my goals with this podcast and what my goal is: bringing on the brightest minds to discuss the sync licensing world- from successful composers, label owners, A&R's, editors and more. I want to get these people to drop gems so we can all elevate and become better at what we do, and yes, we can also make some insane dollars in the process. That'$ for fact
I want to understand this world just like you do so I look forward to interacting with you on socials
@roymatz @syncgems (IG)
Roy Matz (linkedIn)
My site: https://www.roymatz.com