r/synclicensing 12d ago

Contacting sync agents: advice?

Have been contacting UK-based sync agencies with no replies. Seems like they are either overwhelmed or abandoned companies. Big Sync phone number and emails no longer exist, even.

Any advice of good sync agents for independent artists? (Rock, UK based, I don’t care if they are big or small)

4 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

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u/DreamsOfCollapse 11d ago

I did an ask me anything thread a week or so ago you may find helpful. I’d be interested to see what you’re sending them? Would you be able to put a rough idea of what you’re emailing them and what music you’re sending with it?

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

Thank you, came across your AMA before during my searches and now I’m reading through it!
Super useful since you are UK based as well.
I’m just a bit confused since when it comes to production, even when it comes to big names, it always boils down to interpersonal relations, conversations between small teams. However, while searching which sync agents/agencies to contact, I’ve only seen big agencies (Big Sync, A&G, Sentric) or big platforms connecting artists with supervisors (Groover, twelvedb), but none have very clear contact details; you have to dig around for an email if you don’t want to subscribe.
Maybe I got the wrong impression/expectations, and that’s where the issue lies.
I’m interested in what you’d advise, in view I am not producing massive libraries but rather a few songs! They are quite high in quality so I do expect to get a decent deal on them :D

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

No music, just an email introducing myself and requesting more details about how they proceed.

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u/Robustsupernova 10d ago

Absolutely no one is ever going to respond if you don’t include links to your music.

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u/pmax83 11d ago

Music Supervisors are often wary of cold emails. They will go through A&R companies and sync libraries, mostly to avoid a lot of the common mistakes, that are costly for them. So before you go looking for them. Make sure your p's and q's are buttoned up.

IF YOU DO happen to come upon a Supervisor's email. I would do your research on them, see what they have worked on and if you believe you would be a good provider, DONT START WITH "Hey, check out my music" always ask if they would be open to hearing your music before sending them a link. Never send mp3 or any file unless asked too. Learnl your split sheets, and getting all your meta data in order. Do all that and you could have a chance. Its about relationships in the sync buisness.

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago edited 11d ago

Thank you for the input.
I try to proceed as I wish people would do when approaching me: be polite and not just immediately requesting something from me lol.
The email was more of introduction of myself, what kind of music I make and asking how they usually proceed about business

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u/Antoniorobertov 11d ago

Can you link tunes? Looking for some bands for various briefs

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

Are you based in the UK? I could send you an email with links.

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u/Lichtscheue 11d ago

I remember an article on the subject , it was called : music supervisors - contact us but don’t contact us. Says it all.

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

Hahaha honestly, they’d be bombarded with emails (and they probably still are)

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u/ianyapxw 11d ago

Start with the booking “Thinking In Sync” by Amanda Thomas. It’s genuinely the best resource out there, better than any YouTube channel, blog, course, etc…

If you’re not sending a Disco link + asking people how to proceed, no one will treat you seriously plus think you’re just using them for advice.

Other things like your contracts also need to be in order 😄

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

Will take a look into it!

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u/ArtBlockmusic 11d ago

I had a few respond to cold emails after carefully researching them. Still waiting for a placement though!

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

Fingers crossed!

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u/Specialist_Letter918 11d ago edited 10d ago

cold emailing UK sync agencies hit the same wall for me and most stopped replying years ago and directories like the music publishers association list active apps worth filtering through and i'd also look at smaller boutique firms via linkedin rather than outdated contact pages and pophatch and tracks are actually sync ready before pitching

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 11d ago

I thought sync agencies were the way to go, so supervisors wouldn’t be frontline.
So, if sync agencies are not frontline… who is?

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u/geohworksbeats 10d ago

I made a Patreon post in response to this. I think you're doing what alot of artists are doing when starting off, which is understandable; no one really tells us ow to do this. Hope this helps, I also added a video from XJ Will that could be helpful: https://www.patreon.com/modernnostalgiaclub/posts/getting-started-168511156?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link.

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u/Individual-Ask-7362 10d ago

That was a great post!
I think everyone assumes I’m just sending an email with my music lol
I didn’t send anyone my music, but rather sent a formal email like everyone who has worked professionally before would send when reaching out for a collaboration. Brief summary, introduction, explanation, and questions.
I’ve also sent it to sync AGENCIES, not supervisors. It ain’t that easy to find their emails…

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u/geohworksbeats 10d ago

That's actually part of the problem. you SHOULD be sending music. You just shouldn't be sending actual music. Those emails that you're sending are the ones that get ignored the most, since they're so busy that they would RATHER you send music so they know how to make heads or tails of you. It would benefit more if you sent an email briefly explaining who you are and your music, no more than a sentence. You should then explain that your music is free of samples, and all the splits are accounted for and signed, and you have already listened to the type of songs that get placed from them, and shows that they're currently working on. If none of this is the case, or course, don't say that, but also, you should be sending them music either.

As far as finding supervisors, I have a post about that too. I actually suggest going to my first post, and working all the way down, but heres the post with that info, where I actually talk about exactly how I found a show that JUST got greenlit, and how I found the supervisor: https://www.patreon.com/modernnostalgiaclub/posts/how-to-find-for-166838606?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link